// S P E C I F I C A T I O N //

“Write a specification with 2-3 ideas about what you are planning to do. Produce at least 2-3 blog posts that illustrate your thinking and understanding. Use pictures and annotation”

ONE

The first path I have investigated plays with the idea of techniques within photography and the way digital manipulation can advance images. Taking words from my post ‘Stereoscopic’, I explored the idea of multiple exposure images as a way to ultimately explore and expand on the idea of environment.

Double exposure photography is an area which aesthetically interests me. The process of combining multiple images to create a final photo – often with colour and contrast variations – can not only be used aesthetically but also symbolically. Tying this to the theme of environment (and possibly portraiture?) could produce some graphically interesting outcomes where people can be merged with their personal landscapes. Working on this idea can involve both
digital and analogue images which I intend to take advantage of in this project. 

So this pathway would involve a set of double exposure images tying people to particular environments of significance for them, perhaps showing how the environment ultimately affects the human form and body.

TWO

The second idea I could follow and develop further is the thought of mental effects of the environment on people – in particular playing to the idea of loss and homesickness. With so many of my peer group on the edge of moving away for university – or being on the other end of the spectrum as the ones who will be left behind – this is perhaps a more unique briefing to follow. For this idea, as explored in my previous post ‘ Run Away’, I would look to shoot a series of portraits featuring a set of characters in two locations. The first would be their home setting, most likely in a bedroom or somewhere of significance to them within the house. The second portrait will feature the same person in an environment of their choice. The point of this will be to show a particular area or landscape they will miss when they leave – most of them to university in a few months time. The images for this project will feature a mixture of front facing images and backwards portraits such as the one below which will highlight the environment chosen by the subject.

The point of both of these idea concepts is to design a project that will allow me to explore environment within a field of portraiture. One is probably more studio focused with the second idea taking me to a variety of locations which is why ultimately I have chosen to focus on this project. To start this idea, I intend to shoot one of the sets planned out in my previous blog posts as a way to test the stability of the project. This will involve a single character with photos centred around their personal fears related to leaving home.