Chance, change  and challenge 

At first when I was introduced to this project I found it hard to understand the concept and the meaning behind Tom Pope’s work as there was no explanation and most of his videos were in silent of him doing a repetitive performance. However after the day at the Societe where Tom explained what he was trying to achieve,I got a better understanding of the idea of pushing boundaries and his videos made more sense to me. I also liked that we were working with a photographer making our work more practical which is something we haven’t done before.  I found this project interesting because it was something I hadn’t given much thought to or questioned before. I also like the fact that we were working with the archive and got to explore Jersey’s history, before this I wasn’t aware of the archives existences.  I think it was  challenging to think outside the box however the more the more you think about it the easier it becomes. In France I was able to do most of the ideas that I had planned to do and I was pleased with the outcomes.

Family, faith and community 

At the beginning of this project when we were first introduced to documentary photography, I thought that it was a powerful form of communication. I enjoyed looking at ethics within documentary because I think it is a interesting and a subjective topic which allowed me to think deeper, although I didn’t find any right or wrong answers I was able to develop my opinion. I also like that we were able to draw on real life situations such as the Vietnam war which documentary had a big influence on, this also gave me a better understanding. I also learned about the sub genres within documentary such as photojournalism and street photography which is something I hadn’t done before.

At the beginning of this project we started looking at the theme of family. I enjoyed exploring this theme both taking photographs and researching other family photographers. I found that I connected with this theme more than the others although I think it’s more personal than the other two themes. When I first started photographing my family I felt that I was making them vulnerable and opening them up to be judged, however after a few photo shoots this ‘feeling’ faded. I started to explore the theme of community through research and a photo shoot however, I struggled with deciding what and who to photograph. Due to the lack of time I didn’t get to explore the theme of faith, which is something that I would have liked to do as most of my family is religious.

Overall I enjoyed this module and I am going to carry on with the theme of family for my personal study by photographing my mum in her working environment.