23/01/18 (Hear Make Heard)
I have been struggling to find a male model willing to take part in my shoot on such short notice and to come to the location that I have scouted. Luckily last minute I scouted a model on Instagram who was willing to travel to my location and believe that this will be worth it as my test shots taken at my nan's house were more successful in my opinion as a result of the realism that an actual house provides as well as the 1950s props I have available there to make sets from.
I carried out a shoot with the model today and found it to be successful. This was because I found that using a model who was used to being photographed and was comfortable infront of the camera made a big difference to my outcome and the overall pace of the shoot. I found that I really enjoyed working with a professional model who I did not know personally despite initially worrying that this would be awkward and so this has been a good experience as I have learnt the benefits of hiring professionals and not just using my friends or myself which I have done so previously.
However this shoot was not without its problems as the large rooms in the location meant that, when away from the window, natural light was lacking and so I had to use flash which affected the authenticity of the aesthetic. However, I was able to regain this through editing in Photoshop and, by brightening the images I had taken without flash, I found an interesting grain was created on my photos which resembled film photography and thus emphasised the 1950s aesthetic which I was trying to incorporate (as a nod to the 1950s housewife stereotype).
20/01/18 (Hear Make Heard)
I wanted to shoot my models in my accommodation as it has wallpaper, high ceilings and props which are reminiscent of the 1950s and thus are inkeeping with my concept of housewife stereotypes. However, I am yet to find a male model willing to travel to this location as everyone I know is busy with other commitments. Therefore I have decided to resolve this issue by shooting in archway with a material as a backdrop and then collaging this imagery over landscape shots of my accommodation. As well as this, I plan to test the looks on myself tomorrow and so when doing so I will take shots on self timer in the location and might possibly use these images in my publication. Although this will not be as effective as carrying out my shoots in my desired location I hope that this will still enable me to portray my concept of the home/family environment and link this to my styling and looks as both will be seen on the same spreads.
17/01/18 (Hear Make Heard)
I decided to visit my parent's house in order to carry out my interviews. I found talking to my mum about the subject very easy and we got into an in depth discussion about her role as a stay at home mum. However when talking to my dad I found it more difficult to get in depth answers from him. This was because I carried out this interview when he was in a rush and so if I was to carry out an interview again I would ensure that the person I am talking to is relaxed and invested in the talk. As well as this I was not so happy with the content I received from my dad as I felt like he was giving me the answers that I he thought he ought to share and not his true opinions as in past discussions he has shared opposing views to the ones he gave me. Therefore, when carrying out interviews in the future I will try to make a more relaxed and informal environment so as to receive more truthful and natural answers.
15/01/18 (Hear Make Heard)
I thought that the trip to Westminster university to see the menswear archive was very beneficial as menswear is not familiar to me and so it was helpful to see a collection of garments which acted as a springboard for ideas to portray masculinity in a fashion context. There were a couple of garments I found particularly interesting such as an Alexander McQueen suit jacket with a slash in the back (as I thought this violent and rebellious cut could be easily associated with ideas of masculinity) as well as the deconstructed wool coat by Liam Hodges (as I found it's soft texture and light colour an interesting contrast to the dark colours and rigid cuts of stereotypical menswear).
13/01/18 (Sara Kiani)
When reviewing the footage we had taken, my partner and I were very happy with the static portrait shots we had got as we felt their lack of movement made them very striking and effectively showcased our styling. In the future I hope to approach moving image of my styling in a similar way and might even take these clips and create a film of them without fillers and with different music to convey a different concept.
We somewhat struggled to edit our film as a result of lack of experience at editing as we wanted to overlay footage however did not know how to do this in premier. We found that I movie was a very restrictive platform as a result of its inaccuracy as well as how you are limited to a set number of layers. Therefore we decided to create our audio on premier then import this to iMovie so that we could at least edit our audio to a higher standard.
12/01/18 (Sara Kiani)
We were disappointed that we didn't have enough time in the studio to film the footage for our moving image as this would have meant that our poster and film would have matched better as we could have used the same model and lighting. However, we overcame this by using the material that we used for the headscarf in the shoot as a backdrop and matching our looks to this in order to create consistency between our outcomes.
We would have liked to have used the same model for our moving image however she was unavailable. Therefore, we decided to use ourselves to model (switching between photographer and model) and found this to be successful as we played two opposing characters which matched our concept of contrasting views and cultures. We were able to do this as me and my partner have contrasting looks (I am pale with dark hair whilst my partner is more tanned with blonde hair). I found modelling for ourselves to also be successful because it meant that our outcome had a more personal element as well as for practical reasons as it meant that we could take as long as we wanted and were not wasting a model's time. However it was not without its downfalls as, with no mirror, it was challenging to style onto ourselves as we couldn't see what we were creating. We tackled this by taking test shots throughout so we could see what needed to be altered to our looks.
Unfortunately, we only had one jacket to work with as all of the other garments had been taken by other pairs for that day and so we really struggled at first (to the point of panic) to make a look with just a jacket and scraps of material as it would have been much easier if our look had come with trousers. However, we eventually overcame this as we had the idea to stuff the black material into the front of my tights to create the illusion of a skirt. We found this to be successful as the long drapes referenced the structure of traditional Iranian dress and thus incorporated our concept. however, using this material meant that we were left with the smallest black scrap to create our headscarf with and so a jagged edge can be seen at the back. Next time I would resolve this by sewing it under but we did not have a sewing machine to hand.
We also faced an issue when creating the look on Georgia as she was unable to fit into the jacket and this was the only garment we had to work with. In order to overcome this we firstly thought she could hold it however we found that tying it to her shoulder was more effective as it meant it was still worn and thus part of the outfit. As well as this, the way we tied it (rapping with white string) effectively conveyed a sense of restriction and thus fitted with what was being said about modest dress in some of the audio recordings.
11/01/18 (Sara Kiani)
My partner and I really struggled to decide between two images to use for our poster. This was because we felt like one showcased our concept well as a result of the pose and facial expression of our model which was clearly stereotypically Essex and sexualised with a strong sense of character. As well as this this image showcased our styling better as the headscarf was more visible. However the other image worked better overall visually as its composition and framing was more successful. Therefore we decided to use the second after getting more opinions from class mates and friends. This was a difficult decision but we made it as we thought that the second image would be better for people looking at it with fresh eyes however we were caused to prefer the first image as a result of our investment to our concept. We acknowledged that viewers of our poster would prefer to see a more successful image in terms of aesthetic as oppose to one which related to our process more (this is not to say that the second image did not convey our concept).
We found that when we had merely Kiani's logo on our image the poster lacked something. I think this was because our concept of Essex stereotypes and clashing cultures suggested flamboyancy and over the top decoration yet the aesthetic of our poster was too clean and empty. Therefore we experimented with adding other elements to its composition such as a border and a squiggle in the corner (contrasting marks to convey the contrasting cultures). However, once we had this printed out we realised that this was not successful as the squiggle looked out of place and irrelevant. We also acknowledged from printing in the cheapest way possible, the importance of the finish of our paper as matte did not do our photo justice and so we will use a gloss finish when printing next time.
We thought that without the squiggle but just with the border the poster was still missing something, however we were stressed over the time pressure of finishing our video and so have decided to revisit the poster after we have completed our film.
05/01/17 (Sara Kiani)
It was challenging to create a concept for the shoot without having seen the exact garments we would be working with as this made it difficult to be certain of a colour scheme etc. As well as this it was difficult to research Kiani as the internet had little material on her. However I was able to resolve this issue by finding out practitioners that inspire her from her reposts on Instagram and then researching into these.
It was at first slightly off putting having to carry out research in a pair as I am not used to carrying out this stage of creative development with someone else. However, me and my partner resolved this by researching separately and then discussing our finds together. As well as this, developing an idea in a pair was, to some extent, challenging as we had to communicate each stage of our thought process as oppose to just rolling with our own ideas. However, this was actually rather beneficial as it meant that other opinions and ideas were contributed and another person could fine tune, critique and improve upon my suggestions.
22/12/17 (Hey Reilly)
I liked some of the images I had taken of the looks for the previous blocks that were not Polaroids and so decided to use them in a row to separate the map blocks on my feed. I wanted to communicate the idea of how catcallers usually outnumber their targets and use intimidation tactics and so duplicated myself in a male look and surrounded an image of a female look with these layers. I started by duplicating the same image of myself facing straight on however found that this looked too symmetrical and made the Photoshop techniques I had used look too obvious. Therefore I decided to use various images/poses of the same look in order to create a more realistic and visually varied image whilst still conveying a sense of unity and togetherness about these figures. I also started by having my figures on a plain white background as to not distract from them as well as to fit the colour scheme of my campaign. However, I found this to be unsuccessful as it also looked too fake and unnatural and flattened my images as there were no shadows etc. Therefore I decided to use an image I had taken of a place where I had been catcalled. This image was at a tube station which I felt worked successfully as a background to this image as it had a dark and thus threatening atmosphere, emphasising my message of intimidation. I overcame the issue of keeping the white of my colour scheme within this image by posting it with a white border around the edge which I thought to be successful as this highlight matched the light colours of the female look, making this figure the focus of the image which was my intent.
14/12/17 (Hey Reilly)
When creating the posts for my fillers/the map collage I faced various difficulties. For example it was difficult to get my model to pose his hands in the ways that I wanted as he had strange joints and when I put these images onto the collage they didn't look right. Therefore I decided to place images of the outfit stereotypes of cat callers and found this to work better as it reinforced the stereotypes I was reversing and appropriating within my styling. I decided to photoshop the colour of my map to pink in order to emphasise the feminist nature of my campaign and contrast the masculine images which I collaged over the top.
I found cutting out my images on Photoshop and organising the crops for my layout very time consuming and fiddly however I found it was worth it for the end result and looked better done on the computer than printed out and physically stuck as this would have meant the images would have been affected by poor print quality.
I was slightly disappointed with the resolution quality of my images once I had created the crops for my Instagram layout as, in order to do so, I had to screenshot the image multiple time which lowered its quality. In order to resolve this I found that doing this on my Ipad as oppose to my iPhone improved the quality slightly as a result of its retina display however it still was not as sharp as I would have liked and if doing something similar again I would take the time to find another solution such as taking screenshots on a mac or ask for advice from IT (I did not have access to this at home).
05/12/17 (Hey Reilly)
I found this brief slightly difficult to understand at first in terms of what was expected of me to produce as a final outcome. However, today's session clarified this for me as completing a short version of the project in pairs allowed me to carry out the creative process required of me over the holidays but with support and reassurance that I was on the right lines. I thought that my partner and I collaborated well together and managed to complete a successful campaign as our hashtag clarified our message, whilst our visual imagery sparked intrigue, had humour and parodied recognisable blog posts/magazine articles thus making it relatable to our target audience. However, I felt that we could have tailored our campaign even more to our target audience as we ended up parodying low level magazines such as heat as oppose to the high fashion magazines our pair said they were interested in in their interview. However it could be argued that this meant that our work was still targeted to our audience well as they would share this dislike of low level magazines.
It became apparent to us after receiving feedback from our pair that our campaign was not as clear as we thought it was as our pair did not grasp our message that we were criticising the pressure that women receive about their outfits on the red carpet. From this, I will ensure when carrying out my campaign over Christmas that I make my message extremely explicit (as oppose to only present in a small hashtag) in order to make an obvious impact in the busy environment of social media. I will ask friends/family to tell me what they think my message is before posting and/or when developing my ideas for my campaign to check that my message is clear.
04/12/17 (film and the moving body)
It became apparent to me whilst organising the filming for my project that my concept was more challenging than I had first realised when developing it as it required me to be filming across the entire weekend with different models across London in different time slots. Organising my filming around the availability of my models required me to have good organisation skills and I felt that I managed to carry out my project as effectively as possible whilst working around my models. If filming again I would have liked to have had a finalising shot with all of my models together to conclude. However this was not possible as they were not all free on the same day and so to overcome this issue, whilst editing I creating a concluding sequence of quick profile shots of each model one after the other to still create a sense of unity between the girls.
In terms of my casting, I think I could have chosen girls who were a bit more diverse and with more interesting visual talents (e.g. skateboarding) so that I could have captured them carrying out their talents in movement. However I was limited to my close friends and their availability as a result of the short notice the time restraint on this project created. Therefore I overcame the lack of visual material to communicate my message that females are talented by including subtitles of my models professions as they appeared as well as filming my shots in significant locations (e.g. outside Sasha's uni to visually demonstrate her success and hard work ethic).
I came across lots of problems whilst filming which effected the quality of my shots (e.g. poor lighting, football matches taking place where I had planned to shoot etc). However I managed to overcome these issues by quickly finding alternative locations and altering the exposure of my footage in premier. However, I would like to come back to this project when I have more time and refill some parts so that all four models sections are in the same lighting.
It was also challenging working with my models who were not performers as they required a lot of direction and editing to make their sequences look natural, fluid and confident. I also think the extremely cold weather did not help as it was hard to keep them motivated and to engage in spontaneous fun with the camera. I overcame this by over filming so that I had plenty to choose from when editing and as a result, my project was more successful than I had expected it to be whilst filming once I had edited my footage and chosen the best moments. However I do think that as a result of the Long length of time my filming took, my editing was rather rushed and I did it all in one long sitting. Therefore, at a later date I hope to return to my film and improve my editing as I think I have footage that may have been better than the parts I quickly selected yesterday.
In order to improve my film I would experiment with shooting clips whereby groups are supporting and featured in the background in order to emphasise the power and control of my females (as I would focus my camera work on them) as well as to strengthen its association with rap videos. However whilst filming over the weekend this was not possible as I did not have enough people available to help at short notice.)
28/11/17 (film and the moving body)
I found today's class extremely useful as I have never been sure what is the technically accurate way to produce a story board and so from today I will now be able to communicate the planning of any moving image piece I create effectively in my sketchbook. I also learnt the importance of repetition when creating story boards and plotting narrative for a moving image as it is important to keep redrawing a story board, re ordering the action and developing different parts so that a fine-tuned outcome is created. Therefore, when creating the story board for my film I will draw it on post it notes so that I can adapt my first draft with more ease and experiment with the order of the narrative/action/shots. I also learnt the importance of directing the camera in a story board (as well as how to show this through arrows), and thus how in all stages of developing an idea for a film, camera angles and positioning should be considered. As a result I will be more aware of how I intend to capture the movement in my film as I choreograph it and so these two elements with be much more intertwined.
The premier workshop was also very beneficial as it made me aware of not only how to operate the software on a basic level but also the different effects available (eg fading, doublescreens etc). As a result of attending this workshop I will now have more confidence when editing my footage as well as more creativity in my outcome as I plan to experiment with having more than one screen playing within another as well as including black boxes over my models features in order to convey my feminist message.
21/11/17 (On the Street)
Developing my looks without the partner I had collaborated with was somewhat a challenge to begin with as the atmosphere and pace was naturally different and I was no longer working with my model but instead just onto them. As well as this I only had half of the materials and so was more restricted when creating my black looks. However I overcame this by adapting to working on my own and had to be confident with my ideas as I was no longer receiving a second opinion during the process.
I would have liked to have got more images of the clothing outside (on the street) as I believed these shots worked better as they gave an interesting juxtaposition between high fashion, other-worldly clothing and an everyday setting. However I was unable to do so because of the weather as well as my models feeling uncomfortable with being seen in public in the looks. To overcome this in my future work I will choose settings that are more secluded but still on the street or shoot at times where people are unlikely to be around (eg extremely early or late). It was also difficult when outside in the wind and travelling up and down stairs to keep my styling as I had created it as parts would fall out of place. I attempted to overcome this by securing with string and masking tape.
I found the aesthetic of the polaroids to be successful as the frame clearly emphasised each look and the colour quality gave a fitting atmosphere. However I would have liked to have got polaoids of every look but was unable to as for the start of the shoot my camera did not have batteries. After receiving feedback in my tutorial I intend to research the history and uses of polaroids in fashion photography and use this knowledge to determine how I shall incorporate them into the layouts of my publication.
17/11/17 (On the Street)
After looking at the work of Teller and Weegee I decided to experiment with bringing a disposable camera on my night out. I chose to use a disposable camera as I was interested in how Teller's camera choice meant that he is not restricted by the technical restrictions of photography and can take spontaneous snapshots. As well as this, this type of camera was more suitable for my environment as it was easier to hold whilst dancing and I did not have to worry about it being stolen etc. Weegee's work inspired the setting of my experimentation as I liked the idea of capturing youth culture in a club environment and revealing moments that happen in the privacy of darkness, despite being in public spaces.
I faced many challenges whilst carrying out these photographs. The first one I noticed at the launch party was having the confidence to approach people when I was not a known photographer and ask them to be in my pictures. I could have overcome this by getting candids however I would have still been noticed as a result of my flash. As well as this I wanted to explore the result of having a posed figure with business in the background and hope that this creates an uneasy juxtaposition.
Another issue I faced was the lack of inspiration I initially had in the second club we visited as I was not particularly interested in anything anyone was wearing and the people were not very diverse. However, as the night went on I attempted to overcome this by searching in unexpected places for content eg the floor.
I think it would have been more successful if I went to a club that I visit regularly as this would make my work more personal to me and I would know what to expect and be able to somewhat plan my images beforehand. Therefore, to develop I plan to try and capture the outfits worn in places familiar to me eg the area where my accommodation is situated and maybe juxtapose this everyday fashion with the high fashion I documented at the launch party within my publication.
I am also facing issues as a result of my camera choice as I am finding it difficult to find somewhere that will develop my photos in less than a week and so I am unable to review my outcomes.
Overall I enjoyed using a disposable camera as I enjoyed how it was spontaneous and your shots were limited and thus had to be better considered.
27/01/18 (Hear Make Heard)
As a result of the time I have to take away from this project in order to create my portfolio, I feel like my publication is not as successful as it could have been as my layout is quite rushed. As well as this, due to time pressures I have had to print it out on matte white paper with saddle stitch binding whereas I had planned to print it to resemble a newspaper in order to emphasise my theme of breadwinners reading on their commute. Therefore, I intend to revisit the layout and printing of my publication when I have more time and after receiving feedback from my tutors on this mock up. To improve it, I plan to come up with more creative ways to layout my text whilst still resembling the column structure of a newspaper (for example playing with use of title or creating images out of text to go alongside my columns of writing).
As well as this, my practical work was made more difficult as a result of losing my sketchbook and thus not having my plans to work from. I overcame this by starting again and replanning ideas for layouts as well as referencing the research I had carried out on workflow which I still had access to.
22/01/18 (Hear Make Heard)
I overcame various issues when carrying out my photoshoot. For example there were lots of dirty marks on the wall which could be seen through my translucent backdrop and so I had to stick white paper underneath. I found this to be effective as it meant my backdrop looked more like wallpaper as oppose to material and thus fitted with my concept of the domestic environment and stay at home dads.
As well as this, I was restricted by the small size of my backdrop and my male model was very tall so I had to be careful with the angles which I photographed him as to not get the edges of my backdrop in shot. I experimented with having him sit down in some photographs as well and found this to resolve the issue however chose not to include these shots in my publication as they did not fit my vision of awkwardness and family photos inspired by Balenciaga SS18 as much as the stood images did.
Additionally, I found the height difference of my models to also be an issue but resolved this by having my shorter model stand on a box. Although this meant I was unable to get full length shots as I had envisaged, I felt this to be a better option as it minimized the distracting height difference and made the idea of them being married more obvious/believable and thus communicated my concept more effectively.
When I came to edit my photos it became apparent to me that the lighting of this shoot which was brighter and more colourful did not match the lighting of the self portraits I had taken previously. This was problematic as I had planned to use both in my publication and wanted to have consistency between shoots. I plan to overcome this by including images from each shoot on different pages as to not make the lack of consistency in terms of lighting too noticeable. I hope that the consistency of stylistic approach and subject matter will counteract this problem.
18/01/18 (Hear Make Heard)
When discussing my concept in my tutorial, my tutor highlighted to me how my publication could benefit from including interviews from a couple whereby the roles are opposite to my parents. I agree that this would be a good idea as it would build more content for my publication and offer contrasting viewpoints and situations. However, I would only be able to contact these couples through social media as I will not have time to meet face to face between now and the day I plan to edit my publication. Therefore I am worried that I will not receive the same level of in depth discussion as I did with my parents and thus the interviews will be imbalanced. However in order to overcome this I might present these interviews differently to how I present my parents' as I may just include key quotes alongside my imagery. Additionally I am concerned that this will broaden my topic too much and cause my publication to be less specific and personal. However, I could overcome this by keeping a personal element by discussing my personal views in my editorial and including self portraits, then progress by broadening the subject and my sources within the body of my publication.
16/01/18 (Hear Make Heard)
At first I struggled with the concept of carrying out a creative process whereby the visuals were considered secondary to text and content. I found myself naturally having visuals and styling ideas as a start point and had to keep reminding myself that the focus was on research editorial and interview. Therefore it was beneficial to carry out a practice of planning a publication as this allowed me to familiarise myself with the steps I will have to take in this project. After carrying out this practice I have learnt that I need to gather sources and text content, then create visuals to portray this. As well as this, today I learnt from looking at the layout references from magazines and publications such as Fantastic Man and 1 Granary that it can be effective to consider text as the most important element of your layout and to consider typography prior to visuals. As a result, when making my publication I will acknowledge the importance of font, text size and colour to draw people into my written content as well as to visually create a tone of voice to my words.
As well as this, from looking at other people's spread practices and hearing the feedback that they received I learnt the importance of including space and spreading content out (not cluttering spreads with too much imagery). Therefore when creating my publication I will ensure I leave appropriate amounts of blank space to highlight key parts of my content. As well as this, from hearing other's feedback I learnt that it is important to consider a spread as something that should be viewed as one/together and to not be restricted by the middle fold. Therefore when creating my publication I will include imagery and text which over laps the middle of the page so that my spreads are not viewed as two separate works but are considered together.
I found that I became invested in the concept that my partner and I developed about the pressures men receive to breadwinners and the stigma of being a stay at home dad as this is a topic I feel personally connected to as a result of the dynamics of my parents which has influenced my view on this topic. I also thought our thought process was successful as it was inspired by a garment in the Westminster archive (Alexander McQueen jacket) and the idea of a suit and what this connotes (business men, breadwinners, importance, masculinity) and was then expanded into a personal issue which reflected wider issues. Therefore I have decided to carry on with this concept for my publication as I feel it is relevant in contemporary fashion, holds historical context and I am personally connected to the ideals surrounding it.
15/01/18 (Sara Kiani)
I was happy with our outcomes, especially our video as I thought they were visually strong, inventive, unique and showcased our concept clearly. However, after the criticism areas for improvement were made apparent to me as Kiani highlighted how we could have included more shots similar to our opening shots of women trying to make themselves beautiful. Therefore, if I was to revisit this film I would shoot more footage of women applying makeup as oppose to just close up shots of our styling to use as fillers/backgrounds. Additionally, Jo highlighted that our consideration of our materials when styling could have been stronger as we used wrapping of wool to show restriction however a thicker material such as rope might have worked better. Therefore, when styling in the future I will now acknowledge the importance of material to have symbolic meaning.
10/01/18 (Sara Kiani)
I found it quite challenging to prepare for the shoot without owning the garments as this meant we were unable to make sure that our props matched our look however I attempted to resolve this by testing the look the day before whilst wearing clothing similar to Kiani's garments. However, I do feel that our styling would have been much more successful if we were able to plan and try out the look beforehand with the actual garments yet I do recognise that this is not always achievable when working with a designer/one off collection.
I was also challenged by the time limit that we had in the studio as I felt like we were too rushed for my model to really get into character and to create a good atmosphere to get the best shots possible. However it was beneficial for me to experience working in this pressured time limit as I learnt that it is useful to quickly move on once you have captured a particular shot/pose/set up instead of reshooting the same image over and over.
We found that because of the camera we were using which did not have a zoom lens we were unable to shoot the moving image in the studio as we had planned. We also felt that the time limit made this unachievable as the movement we wanted from our model required multiple attempts/takes. Therefore we made a quick decision during our studio time to shoot our stills only. This was a good decision as it meant that we could try out more poses and thus giving us a greater selection for our poster.
We decided to increase the saturation on the face of our model and the brightness of her hair in Photoshop in order to exaggerate the Essex stereotype that we wanted her to convey and thus clarifying our overall concept. We thought this was necessary as we realised after shooting that our poses meant that the body was arranged in such a way that hid the elements of our styling which communicated revealing mixed with modest. For example the way that she leant on the chair in our chosen photo meant that her exposed underwear could not be seen in the shot. As well as this the head scarf had fallen down slightly. We decided to use these shots instead of ones which showcased our styling better as we found them to be more successful as images for other reasons such as their framing and the model's facial expressions. Therefore the editing in Photoshop was necessary to compensate with the conviction of our concept.
31/12/17 (Hey Reilly)
It became apparent to me when carrying out this project how much my concept had caused me to improve upon my Photoshop skills as all of my posts required editing. This therefore was a very beneficial project for me as it allowed me to put into practice the skills I had learnt in the Adobe induction that I attended.
I decided to replicate the layout of the first block of my campaign but reverse it so that the polaroids appear on the right and the map on the left. I did this to maintain consistency yet not be too repetitive. I also felt that this layout achieved a good sense of balance within my campaign, broken up by the middle verticle row which offered contrasting content. I wanted to use the pink map again in my posts in order to maintain consistency and a clear colour palette however I did not want to merely repeat it but on the left as I felt this would not provide enough variety or any new information. Therefore I decided to have a large scale look layered over the map. I felt that this was successful as this larger scale created a clear contrast and point of focus from my other posts. As well as this, I was happy with my styling in this picture as I felt it successfully encapsulated male and female stereotypes and thus communicated a sense of jarring confliction, in-keeping with the hostility and negative sexual tension apparent in cat calling.
I was set back when completing this post as, not only did I have to face the same issues when taking the photographs of myself in my home which I had before, but when editing my images on photoshop I had forgotten to save and then the programme crashed and so I had to repeat hours of lost work. This meant that I was not able to complete as many posts as I had hoped to that day however I shall overcome this by making twice as many the next day that I work on my campaign.
15/12/17 (Hey Reilly)
I faced various problems when taking my photos at home. For example due to the weather (as well as being indoors) I was forced to work with very poor lighting. In order to overcome this I used flash with my camera and felt that this was quite effective as it added to the exposed/harsh theme that I was trying to create. However I think it would have been more effective to use flash in good lighting to really emphasise the idea of being exposed and thus if I was to do this again/ if it was not so cold I would take the images outside in daylight with flash.
Another issue I faced was the lack of plain walls in my house (I did not want to take my images on distracting backgrounds as I wanted my styling to be the focus and also wanted all backgrounds to match the colour scheme of my campaign). This meant that I had to tape strips of white wallpaper together and hang them over the brown blinds in my kitchen. This was somewhat problematic as it meant that I had to block even more light from the room. As well as this the seams had lines however I found that this was not an issue as using the flash meant that the camera did not pick them up.
As well as this, it was very challenging to take the photos (I had my camera on a tripod set to a timer) whilst in the clothes as it was not easy to move in the looks. However I tried to make this easier by setting up my camera before getting changed so that all I had to do whilst in the outfits was press the button.
I had planned to use the pictures taken on my DSLR as backgrounds for the posts of my Polaroids (by cropping them so that they picture zoomed in details). However once I laid out my Polaroids next to the pictures for my other posts (the maps) it became apparent to me that I needed to have backgrounds which would connect these two aesthetics together. Therefore I decided to placed enlarged pictures of the items on the map as backgrounds of my Polaroids in order to connect my posts and make my campaign more consistent and linked. However I do not want to disregard the images on my DSLR as I found some of them to be very successful and so I plan to use them to break up my campaign with rows of them between my blocks to prevent my campaign from becoming repetitive and thus losing followers interest.
I found modelling in my own photos to have some benefits as well as some downfalls. For example it meant that I had more control over the poses and facial expressions however I think that it can sometimes be easier to direct someone else to carry these out as then you are able to see the results as the photo is being taken as oppose to just after. As well as this I liked how I did not have to rely on a model to turn up/didn't have to work around their schedule. However I was not able to carry out the project without assistance (as I needed others to tie me up etc) and so modelling myself still didn't mean I could carry out the project entirely alone. Additionally, modelling myself and thus somewhat removing myself from the role of photographer showed me how much I do enjoy being the role of photographer as I missed having control over the composition and angles of my images. This surprised me as, prior to this, I always thought of styling as my only interest however didn't realise how much I also enjoy the photographic element of a shoot.
13/12/17 (Hey Reilly)
I came across various problems today when trying to take the shots of my styling. Firstly, because of the constrictive nature of my looks it was extremely difficult to dress myself and so I had to resolve this by asking for assistance from my friend who helped me belt myself etc. This was problematic however as I was unable to see and adjust the looks for myself and instead had to rely on her descriptions of how the clothes were sitting to tell if it was how I wanted.
Also, as a result of being in the pictures the angles and focus were limited as I had to place my camera on a tripod, set the timer on and then run into shot. This resulted in poor quality pictures from unimaginative angles. However this taught me that it is not purely styling that I am interested in as I noticed the difference my use of camera work makes to showcasing my looks (and thus the importance of my photographic input when creating my images).
I was not happy with my results from today as a result of the poor lighting of my photos. As well as this, when looking back at the two male looks I had created I noticed that the large number of belts and ties I had used in them overcomplicated them and it was the female look which was more simple that was the most effective. Therefore I intend to remake the male looks but simplify elements.
As well as this, from the issues I faced today I decided to improve upon my plans for the layout of my campaign and decided I will take polaroids of my looks (to resolve the issue of badly executed photographs as the polaroid medium will be inkeeping with the test-like aesthetic of my shots) and layer these over enlarged details of the same image to better match the styling photo to its background as I was worried me collaging images onto location backgrounds would look unrefined.
05/12/17 (film and the moving body)
After receiving feedback from my tutor in the screening I noticed how my third model's presence on camera didn't correspond with the rest of my models as she came across more jokey whilst the others were serious and in a strong character. Therefore in order to improve my film I intend to shoot my friend who is a performer and replace these shots. I realise now that when directing I was not certain enough of what I wanted of my models and or the exact mood I wanted them to portray. This resulted in a range of responses to my direction (some serious, some jokey) but now after viewing all of these and putting the video together I can see that the serious ones work the best and so I will be more clear with my new model that this is how I want her to play her role.
I noticed when watching others work that I had taken quite a different approach to everyone else for my filming as mine was more humorous and had a political commentary as an undertone whilst others were more abstract and symbolic. I am not sure whether it was a good approach of me to take as it was different to my work which has been successful in the past and watching other class members who had taken a more stylised approach made me re-question the strength of my own work. However I still feel that this approach holds some strengths as it meant my work was more engaging and clear to my audience, thus strengthening the impact of my message.
29/11/17 (film and the moving body)
I found it difficult to create a story board for my piece as its narrative is not in story line form but is instead a message and mood. Therefore there is no sequence for me to plot out and instead I was planning on taking my shots then devising a narrative when editing them afterwards. However I was aware that a story board would be necessary tomorrow in my tutorial to help me communicate to my tutor my intentions and so I tried to make a rough plan of how I would order my shots however they are likely to change as, because of the nature of my choreography (focusing on natural gestures and stances) I am limited to how much of my content I can plan beforehand.
I found myself developing my styling and choice of location based heavily on the research I had carried out into rappers and imagery surrounding this genre. This was helpful as it will ensure that the aesthetic of my piece alludes to elements of rap videos, making my message/critique clear.
I found it quite stressful to have to rely on my models cooperation and ability as I am aware that the execution of my piece heavily depends on my models' confidence in front of the camera and there is only so much that I can direct/choreograph to help that. In order to eliminate the possibility of not liking the way my model moves etc I have asked people to last minute shoot with me if I am unhappy with the results of one of my models. As well as this I have made my intentions and planning extremely thorough so that I have to rely on spontaneity as little as possible. Additionally, the quick paced, fragmented nature of my editing should help to hide any awkwardness or lack of confidence in my models as I can edit the footage so much that it will be difficult to see their real movement.
27/11/17 (Film and the moving body)
I found the wide range of references and videos we were shown today very useful as it made me aware of all of the different narratives and approaches I could take, however I did find the big budget films a bit intimidating for a task whereby we only have a couple of days to shoot and no budget.
I really enjoyed the movement workshop as I found it interesting how much movement content can be developed from a simple gesture and thus how we do not require trained dancers or hours of choreography to develop interesting action for our films. This workshop also caused me to think about the significance of camera work (angles, proximity etc) to how the movement is conveyed to viewers and how switching techniques can dramatically alter the message told/mood. Therefore as a result of carrying out this workshop I will be more creative with the ways in which I shoot my film (testing out various angles, proximities and techniques eg hand held). As well as this I now recognise the significance of minimal gestures and moments of stillness and so will emphasise these in my piece by zooming in on them and or including moments of pause.
25/11/17 (Film and the Moving Body)
I decided to collaborate with Georgia when creating our clips of movement as firstly we had been brain storming ideas together and so it felt natural to progress as a pair and secondly for practical reasons as one could model whilst the other filmed.
We decided to mix staging with documentary in our approach as we staged the situations/movement however had little control over how the clothes would move. We decided to focus on the movement of clothes on the body and situations whereby clothes get moved (eg taking them on and off, jumping around etc). I felt that our experimentation was somewhat successful as it caused me to think more deeply about situation whereby our clothes our moved in daily occurrences however I think we could have pushed our experiments further by trying different situations and locations (eg windy weather), different materials/garments (eg large sheets) and maybe could have experimented with found movement of garments/documentary approach.
20/11/17 (On the Street)
I really enjoyed the styling workshop and found its quick pace to be challenging but allowed for spontaneous responses/creations and meant that I approached the task in an experimental manor as I was not refining my creations.
My partner and I decided to collaborate whilst creating our looks as we found ourselves naturally helping each other and putting forward ideas whilst modelling and so decided to both take credit for all of our creations. I enjoyed working with a partner as it meant that we were able to bounce off of eachother's ideas and assist eachother in moments when we became stuck.
I think I would have preferred to set our images with a backdrop as it was difficult to position the body against the white wall so that no distractions in the background could be seen. However, after receiving feedback I came to appreciate the subtle props/detail in our backgrounds which were unintentional (eg pillars) as someone remarked that these framed our looks and benefitted the images. I believe this was successful as a result of them being blurred.
I found the words black and white to give me most inspiration when creating our looks which was surprising as when sourcing materials I found these to be the least inspiring words from the list. I think that I found these best to work with because the materials we had brought in for black and white were large sheets of material and varying textured fabrics (eg fishnet tights etc) and so created more interesting looks when styled as opposed to the conventional clothes we had brought for the other words. In order to progress I intend to develop the looks I created, focusing on the words: black, white, shapely and shapeless. I intend to develop them by experimenting with outdoor settings, simplifying/complicating the styling and creating more looks with a similar approach.
When placing my images into a grid I did not consider the narrative I was creating but after receiving feedback in the presentation I realised that this was an element I was supposed to consider. Therefore I recreated my grids and placed images together that were of the same mood and/or colour scheme.
16/11/17 (On the Street)
I really enjoyed experimenting with breaking the conventions of photography as it allowed me to view this practice in a more creative way and not be discouraged by my lack of technical ability.
The first strategy that I applied (placing myself infront instead of behind the camera) connected me and my images, causing my work to be more personal and thus more successful. It meant that when people view my work, they could not ignore that I, the photographer, was on the journey and thus it was a documentation of me as oppose to just my surroundings.
I thought that the consistency of my images was successful as I was in the same position just different backgrounds each time, however to improve this I could have made this consistency exact. Also I would have liked to experiment with changing my position, maybe having a different body part in front of the camera each time and positioning myself in more interesting ways.
When creating my grid for this journey I ordered my photos in the order in which I took them and found this to be successful as it introduced a sense of progression and was a realistic documentation of the journey I took.
I thought that the simplicity of this series was successful as it gives them a documentary feel, however I could imagine that some would interpret them as simplistic and so I would like to receive feedback and suggestions on these images to be sure of whether the simplicity works or not.
The second strategy I applied (taking portraits in landscape as oppose to portrait orientation) meant that much more background could be seen and thus made it slightly more difficult to ensure the figure was the focus of the image, especially from far away. Therefore to overcome this I tried to shoot as close as possible to my subject and blur the backgrounds. As well as this, when developing my grid I created a layout whereby I zoomed in on details of my portraits to highlight the focal points to my viewer.
I had intended to have every portrait with the head and feet cropped so that it looked like they should have been taken in portrait (thus emphasising my approach), however as a result of the spontaneous and quick nature of street photography I was unable to carry this out. However, I found that this quick/spontaneous approach instead gave unexpected and more interesting results as my control was taken away.
I found my feedback from my tutor really interesting as he had picked up on a theme that I had not noticed within my work (that all of my figures were looking outside of the frame and thus sparking interest as to what they were looking at). He noted that the group image disrupted this theme and so I developed my grid by removing this image and positioning all of my images so the figures were facing outwards from the grid. I found this to be more successful as this common element linked all of my images together, creating a harmony within my grid.
I experimented with creating a layout made from just one image to see if it was possible to create a narrative from a single static still. I found this to be successful as it introduced new meanings to the image, allowed me to highlight details and caused the grid to have a colour scheme.