In terms of my progress through my exam project, I am making steady progress and am approaching my first couple photoshoots fast; both are over the next couple of days. I have already completed a practise shoot with my girlfriend Lucy; I did this on Saturday 10th March at Les Quennevais Estate and the blog post outlining the shoot, my intentions for it and the product form the shoot will be uploaded in another blog post soon but I am focusing on finalising the plans for my first two shoots taking place on Wednesday and Thursday this week.
The shoot on Saturday went well and it was a useful practise exercise for me to complete so I was aware of the tools on my camera and how to use the settings in relation to my new lens as it was the first time I had properly used it for a shoot. There are many positives to take from the shoot but a lot of improvements I can make also and I know where to improve for my first two shoots this week.
For the two shoots taking place this week, one on Wednesday and one on Thursday, I want to base myself with my model in a different location to where I was on Saturday but I do intend to come back to this location at Les Quenenvaus Estate at some point during my exam.
On Wednesday for my shoot with Peter, I intend to use the urban look of Minden Place car park and in particular, the top level where it is open air but I may also explore the other level as well as the stairs in the multi story car park to base some shots as this will also provide a urban feel. However, I do want to carry out a recce report for the location before my a shoot tomorrow and will be doing this sometime this afternoon. This will give me a better idea of what the area actually looks like and its dimensions and any possible risks or hazards that we could come across. As well, it will allow me to understand the types of shots I may be able to capture. Furthermore, I will need to take into consideration that it is likely the car park may be full with cars and I need to decide whether I feel this is appropriate for my photoshoot and I need to take into consideration the lightning as I will be working solely with natural light.
My second shoot is with Max and this is taking place on Thursday 15th this week. For this, I have decided to base the afternoon at Snow Hill/Green Street area. I want to take a range of shots at Snow Hill and all around this area; on the bridge above the entrance to the car park and on the road adjacent to this bridge running along the right side of the car park which leads down to one end of town where Petit Baguette cafe is. I will be utilising this area as well the surrounding areas in town and on any suitable streets. I am yet to fill the models in on these pans but I intend to do this today.
The idea for my project is to capture insignificant events and objects and show the spirituality within them. There’s a lot of different things that I plan to capture throughout the project. The photographer Rinko Kawauchi is my main inspiration for my idea and I really like her concepts and the subjects that she captures. The different thinks that I plan to capture are things that we see everyday but ignore because of there insignificance. Things such as light and shadows, abstract shapes and objects, different angles of the body and fragmenting everyday scenes.
I wanted to name the project something simple, catchy and something with a deeper meaning. The photographer Rinko Kawauchi has inspired me a lot through the process of coming up with ideas. She is a Japanese photographer so I started searching up different meanings of words in Japanese. My project is based on finding the beauty of everyday things and situations. I intend to focus on the purity and depth of things that we claim to be insignificant. The saying that I came across that I liked the most was ‘Wabi-Sabi’. The definition behind this word works really well with my project. Wabi-Sabi means “a way of living that focuses on finding beauty within the imperfections of life and accepting peacefully the natural cycle of growth and decay.” This is what I aim to explore in my project and is why I decided to name it Wabi-Sabi.
The images above is a mood board of different objects and scenes that I plan to capture within my series of images. The different things include images of the human body ranging from old people to young people, but fragmenting them so that I focus on particular parts. I want to capture images of shadows ad light and the different ways we see it throughout the day. I also want to collect a range of images to do with nature, such as the sea and flowers, trees, however I plan on capturing them in an unusual way. I also plan on taking image of animals such as insects and insignificant creatures.
Once I’ve done all the shoots I will choose a collection of the very best images to display as a group. I also plan on creating a video studying the light and the way it changes throughout the day.
For my project I want to research and learn more about spiritual connotations within photography. I started by researching some photographers because I wanted to annotate certain images that contained a spiritual connection. The word spiritual means relating to or affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things such as the body. The word spiritual creates religious connotations however I don’t plan to lead into religious aspects. The spirituality that I intend to focus on in my project is the purity and depth within insignificant events and scenes. I aim to capture the small details of everyday that people perceive as insignificant and portray them in a more detailed, beautiful way. All though these objects and events may seem insignificant they lead onto and contain a much more deeper sentiment.
The images below are by Rinko Kawauchi and they are examples of images that contain spiritual and deeper connotations. Although the images captured are events and objects that happen and are seen everyday, the way that Kawauchi frames them makes them unique and pure. Her series of images are bright and highly detailed which helps emphasise the spiritual elements.
After researching about the Disposable Camera Project I decided to do one of my own because I wanted to experiment with my freedom of expression and see what scenes would catch my eye more. I really liked the way I didn’t have to think of the technical side of the image by making sure the camera settings were right because I was using a disposable camera. This allowed me to focus more on what I was capturing. The images and the shoot below was my final outcome of the project.
These are all 24 images from the disposable image camera shoot. Not all the images turned out the way I was planning but I am happy with the overall result. I took the images over a period of 24 hours. I wanted to capture different scenes and objects that weren’t necessarily perfect images. I wanted to take images that would create a story, and something with unusual aesthetics.
After collecting the images, I scanned them into a jpeg form so that I could edit them. I edited the images very simply because I didn’t want to manipulate the images too much. I know the images aren’t perfect but I really like that natural imperfect look.
As an experiment I also wanted to do some contrasting edits of the same images. I choose one of my favorite images and edited it in contrasting ways to see what style suited the image better. I first edited a colored version which I really liked, and then I created a black and white version. I like both versions because of the variation between the light and the dark within the image. I really like the movement within the image and the way the light reflects of the water is captured really well. The image as a whole contains a spiritual atmosphere which was what I was trying to create.
The image below are light spill images because the scene or object I was trying to capture didn’t turn out the way I had planned, however I like the effect that they created.
Overall, I am very happy with the shoot and the final outcome of my images. I know that by doing this experimental shoot I have learnt more about how to perceive the world in an unusual and original perspective. I learnt about how to be more creative with what I am seeing and taking.
This shoot was all about capturing the experience and spirituality of the one of the elements – light. I was trying to create the physical and also the metaphysical in my images, the idea that there is something extraodinary that can be seen beyond the normal object. These images link to the idea of creationsim because I believe they not only appear similar to how when light first became introduced to the world, but they also appear similer in appearmce to the consatntly changing world that is occuring but poeople don’t seem to realise as dramatically and as quickly as it is. Similarly to the work of Alexander Mourant, I wanted to capture the atmospheric tones that try and reaweken many of society’s lost connection with the continual processes of change that our own relationship holds with this planet, something I believe science has allowed us to do. This in itself explores the relationship of freedom and limitations because what can be seen by some, can’t be seen by others. And for those who do see, theere is a sense of awe and wonder that I am trying to invoke and express within these images. In order to do this, I am trying to communicate my own spiritual interaction with my faith and am trying to implement the idea of why not how change occurs in reference to science and the theory of creation.
Best Images)
Chapter 1 – Genesis
[1:1] In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth,
[1:2] the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
[1:3] Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
[1:4] And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.
[1:5] God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
Overall I believe my shoots were succesful despite how initially I felt it hard to gather inspiration in what to physically take, as light (which isn’t an object) is intangible. I experimented with different sources that reflect light but eventually decided to focus on the single light source that lights up everything – the sun. The spiritual significance associated with the sun, I felt was important to capture. In the bible it talks of light seperating the darkness. In today’s world, there is so many areas that I believe link the two and so therefore I tried to include light and darkness as a binary opposite in my photographs. Areas that include the darkness is the idea that people are starting to miss seeing the light, and the ever wonders of change and freedom involved in this. Therefore in these images I wanted to explore the notion of change, reecording it, and why I feel it is importan to recognise how as humans we can use this to reignite our relationship with the freedoms of nature. However in this regard, I believe it is also important to consider the limitations of this in that we essentially don’t know what the causes of where we are going with thss livelihood of spiritual interaction in this world is taking us
Second-wave feminism – 1960s to 1980s, focusing on reducing inequalities in sexuality, family, the workplace, reproductive rights, de facto inequalities, and official legal inequalities;
Feminism occurred through a series of waves, where feminist focused on different aspects during each wave and as they gained the women rights, or the freedoms which they were fighting for they moved on to the next wave which would push for more rights for women. the first wave of feminism was often taken for granted, women in the late 19th to early 20th centuries, realized that they must first gain political power (including the right to vote) to bring about change was how to fuel the fire. Their political agenda expanded to issues concerning sexual, reproductive and economic matters. The seed was planted that women have the potential to contribute just as much if not more than men. As this wave was the initial emergence of the whole movement it was more about setting the scene and showing that women really where capable of as much as men are. The second wave of feminism occurred just after the second world war, during this wave equality and rights in the workplace as well as fighting for sexuality, famility and reproductive rights for women. Coming about in the 1960’s, Second wave feminism was also part of a widespread social change movement that included of course, civil rights and gay rights activism as well. Second-wave feminism spread through small consciousness-raising groups where women joined together to discuss how sexism affected their life, work, and family. Second wave projects focused on economic and social inequalities between the genders, and highlighted injustices like the glass ceiling and the wage gap in business, as well as the hyper-sexualization and commercialization of the female body. The third wave of feminism followed on from the second, the reaction from the second wave brought the mass participation of many feminists and then the third began to look not so much at the shared experience of women but acknowledges the differences of women. Third wavers embrace a variety of feminisms, emphasizing diversity in all its forms: race, gender, class, sexual preference, political views and lifestyle. The varying feminist outlooks continue to be present today. The main issues we face today were prefaced by the work done by the previous waves of women. We are still working to vanquish the disparities in male and female pay and the reproductive rights of women. We are working to end violence against women in our nation as well as others. We are still fighting for acceptance and a true understanding of the term ‘feminism,’ it should be noted that we have made tremendous progress since the first wave. It is a term that has been unfairly associated first, with ladies in hoop skirts and ringlet curls, then followed by butch, man-hating women. Due to the range of feminist issues today, it is much harder to put a label on what a feminist looks like.
Feminism in Art and Photography
For my project i am going to focus on making images which follow the second wave of feminism as this was where it looked at sexuality and i am really interested in how women began to be presented in different ways and were presented as the beautiful actress as well as emerging portrait photography of empowering women and this is what i want to capture in my photography. The Feminist art movement emerged in the late 1960s amidst the fervor of anti-war demonstrations and civil and queer rights movements. Feminist artist focused on recreating the art world from what had previously been male dominated to recreated it to contemporary artwork which pushed the boundaries and abolished the stereotypical idea of the women in artwork. Feminist art created opportunities and spaces that previously did not exist for women and minority artists, as well as paved the path for the Identity art and Activist art of the 1980s.
Key ideas:
- Feminist artists sought to create a dialogue between the viewer and the artwork through the inclusion of women's perspective. Art was not merely an object for aesthetic admiration, but could also incite the viewer to question the social and political landscape, and through this questioning, possibly affect the world and bring change toward equality.
- Before feminism, the majority of women artists were invisible to the public eye. They were oftentimes denied exhibitions and gallery representation based on the sole fact of their gender. The art world was largely known, or promoted as, a boy's club, of which sects like the hard drinking, womanizing members of Abstract Expressionism were glamorized. To combat this, Feminist artists created alternative venues as well as worked to change established institutions' policies to promote women artists' visibility within the market.
- Feminist artists often embraced alternative materials that were connected to the female gender to create their work, such as textiles, or other media previously little used by men such as performance and video, which did not have the same historically male-dominated precedent that painting and sculpture carried. By expressing themselves through these non-traditional means, women sought to expand the definition of fine art, and to incorporate a wider variety of artistic perspectives.
(http://www.theartstory.org/movement-feminist-art.htm)
Examples of Feminist artists;
Cindy Sherman
Joyce Wieland
Frida Kahlo
Artemisia Gentileschi
Lilith Adler
Caroline Folkenroth
Candice Raquel Lee
Jennifer Linton
Martha Rosler
Rachel Stone
Victoria Van Dyke
William Blake
Artemisia GentileschiArtemisia GentileschiJoyce Wieland – She will remain in the phenomenal world filled with ignorance with her sheep, and not go with him – 1983. Oil on canvas, 25.5 x 38.2 cm. Collection of the Artist.Joyce Wieland – The Artist on Fire – 1983. Oil & canvas, 106.7 x 129.5 cm. Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa.
For my project, as much as models and the actual concept is important, now these two important factors are more or less decided upon and finalised, it is vital that I chose the specific locations where I will be shooting wisely.
After looking at several artists who have inspired me and observing their work, I have realised the importance of setting and where the shoot will be carried out. Most of the artists I have looked at this far have been streetwear photographers who photograph their subjects, most of the, on the street and in urban areas of where the may live. I have come across a few times, examples of where photographers have shot in a studio set up where the background is an infinity screen and this would have been done in a typical studio. Doing this achieves much different results then when shooting on location in town or on the streets where photographs become more informal and more characterised as a result.
Using a location for a shoot adds much more character to the subject and brings out their personality more than if you’re shooting in a studio, in my own personal opinion, and this is what I what to achieve in my onw photographs as I will be focusing heavily on individual people who will essentially make up the body of my project. It is important that I show them as best I can and to do this, I feel the use of urban areas to heighten and emphasise the focal point of fashion and clothing brands such as The North Face, Tommy Hilfiger, Carhartt, Supreme and Stussy in every shot. These are the types of brands I expect my models to wear.
For my shoots, I do not intend to tell my models what to wear and instead leave this up to them because if I ell them what to wear and or the style they should attempt to achieve in their look on that day, this will take sway from the realness and rawness of what my shoots should be where I am photographing the way teenage boys in this modern day express themselves and how they do this through what they wear where it is so easy to be judged, fell judged or judge someone based on their looks and what they may wear. I will, as a means of heightening the emphasis on freedom, leave the choice of outfit up to the models. I know that whatever hey may wear, whether it connotes vibes of a vintage feel or street feel, it will fit into what I want to achieve. And so to coincide with this emphasis on fashion, I want the locations to also be fun, fitting, vibrant and I want them to hold an element of exclusivity – that when I am photographing my subjects in these locations, it feels exclusive and important to focus on the location as much as the subject.
Filmawi photograph subjects against plain walls which work very effectively.
Furthermore, a concept I want to explore is the effect that photographing the location on its onw as well as the subjects within this location may have. I believe this idea could work well because I could pair an image of the bare location with another image of my models in that exact location but from a different perspective – because the model will be the focus. It would be interesting to see the effect of focusing on the features of the location and then talking an element of this away by pairing it with an image that could be seen as worse – that I am ruining what may be a location of beauty by placing some teenagers in the centre of it. I retrieved this idea from Tiane Doan Na Champassak’s work and in particular, the book I looked at called ‘Sunless’. This project saw Champassak visit prostitutes in Thailand through booking appointments with them, and instead of visiting them for the reason everyone would think – to engage in sexual activity with them, instead Champassak went along to these prostitutes place of business, whether it be a hotel room or their apartment and photographed the location – the area in which he found himself as well as images of these men and women naked on the bed. He produced a book which confronting questions regarding gender and sexuality and it was same up of alternating images between harsh, very heavily contrasted and shadowed black and white images of the location and much more delicate and elegant close-ups of the prostitutes naked body which were much more vibrant tin colour and the curvatures of some of the women’s body’s imitated that of the walls and decorations that Champassak found in their apartments. This concept of dividing a body of work up through alternating images between location shots and subject shots is very effective and is something I could experiment with.
It is important that I begin to plan where I want to shoot and that I have an idea of different locations and setting on the island that I feel may work best. I have not gathered many ideas of locations to shoot in yet but intend to in the next few days so that I am not lost for ides when it comes to the day of shooting. In Jersey, there are many areas of urban scenery that would be perfect but it is about finding these areas because I am yet to discover them. Looking at the work of Grout and Arrowsmith as well as pioneers in street photography such as Bailey and Klein, they have used the mundane settings of streets but with the addition of lively subjects who are performing for the camera, the locations can come alive and I feel this is what I can achieve in my work.
Ali ArrowsmithAli ArrowsmithAli Arrowsmith. He also uses the effect of photographing a bare location without the presence of any humans and then juxtaposes this with an image of a location, the same or different but with subjects dominating the foreground.Ali Arrowsmith
Examples of locations where I have thought of to shoot thus far include areas like town, however, not on Kings Street because this is often too busy and crowded with people shopping and therefore, I would focus more on smaller and quitter alleyways and side streets in between shops in town. Furthermore, it would be great if I could find some areas in Jersey where there is a long stretch of wall with some graffiti on. However, it is likely that I may be out on location and coincidentally come across a perfect little spot of wall that has some colour on and would be great as a backdrop for a couple of shots.
My mate was telling me about an area near Fort Regent where there is brick wall and on this, someone has spray painted the words ‘Welcome To Jersey’ and if I could find this spot, this may be very effective.
Other areas like skate parks would work well where I can also get some shots of some of my models actually skating if they are of this group of people who skate regularly. There are quite a few skate parks in Jersey and give off the perfect urban look and feel.
I have also thought to photograph at Les Quennevais estate for example as I know this area well where there are garages upon garages in rows that would look great as a backdrop because the are not too busy with textures, patterns or colours and would quite subtle but effective as a setting.
Furthermore, one location that I am set on using and will probably be the basis for one of my first shoots is Minden Place Car Park in town and in particular, the top level of this car park as it is open air and overlooks St Helier and its vast array of building tops.
William Klein uses a much wider lens, probably a 24mm and focuses on landscape orientation. He uses this lens and physically gets up close to subjects to capture facial expressions. Klein used the hustle and bustle of streets in town to add action to his shots.
some ideas for locations
Minden Place Car Park, top story
town – back streets and side streets where it is less busy (maybe Kings Street)
To aid my understanding of my own project to help me produce responses to artist research and other research in the planning stages, I have chosen to produce a manifesto which outlines my intentions for my project looking at male fashion and it’s link to how males can express themselves as they develop in adolescence.
In my manifesto, I will outline my aims for the project as a mini statement to help both myself understand where I want to go with it and to help my audience understand where I started and if I have carried out my rules/intentions as stated at the beginning.
what is a manifesto?
>> a public declaration of policy and aims, especially one issued before an election by a political party or candidate.
Manifesto’s have become vital to art and conceptual art/photography to provide a way of thinking that may not have been considered before. Manifestos can change peoples views and opinions on things and completely alter the way a person may view art. This is shown in the manifesto below where in artist, Grayson Perry in his Red Alan Manifesto states that popular art work will be displayed above head sol we can see it. This is an very interesting thought and words ‘popular’ and ‘see’ have been emphasised through underlining and capital letters. Manifestos and the rules set in manifestos can be quite controversial but it is the controversial nature of manifestos that can make them so impactful.
An example of a industry-changing art manifesto that had huge impact on the way people changed their view of art from what was originally believed art was a few decades ago is the manifesto produced by Grayson Perry of the Red Alan Manifesto in 2014.
The image below shows the document produced by Perry entitled the Red Alan Manifesto. In Red Alan’s Manifesto, created for the Royal Academy, Perry provides a witty response to some of art’s biggest issues, such as: Can anything be art? Who decides whether art is good or bad? The manifesto is written under the authorship of Red Alan, a ceramic sculpture of his childhood teddy bear, Alan Measles.
Red Alan Manifesto
For my manifesto, I will be creating a set of 5 rules that I intend to follow for all my shoots that I aim to carry out in this project. These 5 rules will be the basis of my thought processes and I will attempt to obey these rules at all times because they will be the foundation for creating exciting, new and different work that challenges my comfort zone and own skills as a photographer. From these rules, I hope that it will encourage me to no longer create any more boring art as first pioneered by John Bald.
I will use the screenshot of my note on my iPhone where in which I wrote a paragraph/statement advertising my need for any models for this project I am carrying out. I uploaded this advertisement for people to help on my Instagram and I will use what I wrote to inform my rules to create this manifesto that will provide a basis for the way I approach the construction of imagery that will in-turn give the body for my fashion photography project.
The image below shows that screenshot of my notes app on my phone in which I wrote a couple paragraphs stating what I was after and then I uploaded this to my Instagram story.
The rules of for my manifesto come from this advertisement based on what I was first after at the beginning of this project.
screenshot of notes screen where I wrote a statement advertising for models and then uploaded to Instagram story
My manifesto is shown below.
'hmu' (hit me up) manifesto_ make it fun_ speak to people you haven't before or haven't spoken to in forever_ ignore the factor of awkwardness and get on with it_ be cooperative _ just take the photos
Alexander Mourant is a London based photographer who was born in 1994 in Jersey in the Channel Islands. He has
Mourant’s project Aurelian was based off a recent trip to Africa called Cairo to Cape Town: Africa’s Plastic Footprint which was documenting the shifting cultural and geographical landscape of Africa. Aurelian which is the study of the passing of time and slippery nature of memory is linked to this trip in Africa where change was being documented. This is because Mourant wanted to explore after this trip not just his memory of it, but how it has affected him. Therefore this project is dedicated to envoking the experience of this trip to Africa as over time his memories and emotions clashed as an intense longing for the tropical landscape he had left behind and his past relationship with this developed. In environments that reflected the experience of Mourant’s recent trip to Africa, it was in the atmospheric environment of the butterfly house that Mourant found his subject. He was interested in the symbolism of the flight of the butterfly through across science, literature and art. “These hot, artificial environments are used through the work to probe the nature of experience, such as an assembly point, or an artist’s studio, as an envisioned idea where time is not absolute but continuously contained and all-encompassing”. In doing this he chose to experiment with a slower-paced, more conceptual approach that explores the metaphysical qualities of photography.
In my project I am very interested in exploring the concept of originally evolution is how we got here, and creationism is why we are here. Therefore I am becoming increasingly interested in exploring the metaphysical within the physical and I believe the theory of evolution vs the theory of creationism acts as a strong backdrop for this. Including in this, I am interested in recording a story of why the world was created and in doing that, explore the freedom found in nature in the ever continuous series of miracles that occur as change in nature. Therefore Alexander Mourant is useful as a strong artist reference as I believe as his images are not only capturing his experience, but also these surrealsist images help reflect Mourant’s vision of the world. This is not in terms of vision in terms of sight, but Mourant’s ability to capture nature in a way that connects spiritually with him. I similarly want to explore the way I see change and freedom in nature as something that has a purpose, and something that is based on my experience as a Christian in the ways in which I see the freedom given to plants, animals etc in terms of survival and change. Therefore this project I believe is starting to head in a direction that explores spirituality in the continuous process of change found in nature, but also heavily links to previous project of faith in the family and environment.
I chose this image as I really like the strong atmospheric tones which I believe encapsulate the idea of capturing experience in a photograph. I personally believe the blue filter is effective at connoting trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven. These connotes I believe reflect Mourant’s relationship with his memory and experience because this is suggesting that his memory, his relationship with past experience is a power and force that is not only spiritual but also he has a living connection with it. This is similar to my work that I want to explore in that creationism explores the notion that we are here for a reason and in order to achieve this, I believe I will have to capture the experience of my own beliefs to explore and explain why change is so frequent in nature an in doing this this explores the notion of freedom. As I will be looking at why I believe life forms have a purpose, I want to explore the physical vs the metaphysical (in other words otherworldly) show the connection that has been lost with nature by humans. I believe Mourant has achieved this successfully through the blue filter. Aside from the symbolism that the filter itself was a piece of church glass window, I like how Mourant has captured atmospheric tones that reflect for me how the elements of this world are not just elements, but they were designed by a creater in an original, naturalistic viewpoint. For example I like how the bird, is sitting on top of the trees and debris, this but also as well how everything appears connected and part of the same body. Furthermore the composition of the image fascinates me because I like how their is a border like feauture to the bottom third of the image. This in a sense gives the image a strong grounding, as we go from harder elements to more delicate and softer ones as we move up the image. Aside from the blue showing how everything is connected, contrastingly by having such a range of elements in this structured order, it is easy to get the impression that objects are still unique. Both these factors link to my interest in exploring the Theory of Creationism in how everything in nature is connected but also how it is unique from each life form.
Aomori is a project done by Alexander Mourant following his Aurelian project. This links to the previous project because Aurelian used atmospheric conditions to create a metaphor for elsewhere that he has a connection with. However “Aomori, meaning ‘blue forest’ in Japanese, is a synthesis of two existential ideas – the forest and the nature of blue,”. By exploring this relationship, I like how for Mourant it is him demonstrating how he translates his experience into his photographs. The color blue and the environment is effective because it encourages how we perceive and connect with nature and the Forest is the vocational emphasis of the study of the progression of how nature changes and evolves. “For me, the immensity found in the colour blue, encourages a deeper reflection on our past, present and future. In the same way, the presence of the forest and the density of its nature, arrests for us, the relentless progression of time.” This links to my project of exploring creationism and the process of elements and change in nature because likewise with my project, Mourant is shooting the images that is led by his spirit. I believe this inspires me in order to achieve images that explore the qualities found from the Theory of Creationism in the elements in terms of how the world was created, but also why the world was created. Susan Bright commented on the religious symbolism of Mourant’s work,: ‘the spiritual history of the process seeps through into the image, to a time when the land was a place of worship,’. This strikes me heavily, obviously being religious and this having a direct link to my previous project Faith but for me nature is something beautiful and I firmly believe that many Westerners have lost touch their connection with the nature and by with that the world. Therefore in my project one significant aim of mine is to reignite that connection by highlighting how and why I believe their is something more to the elements thatn just their physical composition and how these charestics breeds new life and change into the world that is very beautiful. “As temporal dimensions crumble, objectivity leaves us. We are found in a still, oneiric state, contemplating our own accumulation of experience.”
I like this image because it signifies continuous change and growth but also the rate of growth that is experienced and found in nature. This image I believe is symbolic that nature and the change in nature isn’t random but purposeful and planned as opposed to an accident that happens randomly. This image is also a strong metaphor for how the world was created as something which we are not necessarily sure where it came from, where we are going but we know we are going there and I like how Mourant has referenced the process of change over time. Because the flow of the river arguably is random, then it could be mentioned that creation is random. This links to the idea of freedom in that creationism gives freedom to evolve, linking both theories together. What particularly strikes me about this image is how Mourant has focused on capturing smooth tones of water. I like how effective this technique is at emphasizing furthermore how the metaphor for change isn’t so much focused on the individual element but how all the elements are reacting together and moving as one. The image above I have selected because this emphasis of all of nature being in perfect harmony, being created as it was meant to be; I feel is important to note as constant change in nature is a freedom in its own right. For example, not just the water emphasizes this but I believe by Mourant including the rocks and the banks, I believe this successfully shows the change and therefore freedom in these forms of elements over the years as their relationship with the river has changed. In my image, I want to explore the freedom in change as a gift of creationism, and I believe this image is a strong reference to this aim.
Once I had decided what it was that I wanted to follow through with for my exam project, this being fashion and streetwear photography of young people in Jersey, I felt it necessary to begin thinking of the types of models and different people I want to represent the face of my project so began collating names; a shortlist as such and then from this, I approaches a couple of people privately via a direct message on Facebook Messenger. I did this before I had distributed an advertisement for models to come forward if they are up for helping me. I approached, primary, two teen guys that I definitely knew I wanted in my project; these were Emanuel Nobrega and Max Feighan.
I first approached Emanuel through Messenger – a social media site that allows users to chat directly. I explained to him my intentions and what I wanted from the shoot an told him it would be my first shoot and would act as a practice/experimentation for e to understand what I want to achieve from the shoots to follow. We were chatting on this app and we were getting closer to arranging a date when we came across some difficulties – he wasn’t free for the next week and half because of other commitments. I knew this was going to be a problem when I began approaching people to be a model for my photoshoots because it heavily relies on when other people are free. However, I have to work around this and this is what myself and Emanuel did. I was looking to carry out a practiced shoot this week to get myself underway as soon as I could but I knew this was going to be difficult when I was advertising for models very last minute. However, myself and Emanuel have arrange for us to shoot on the week beginning the 19th March when we are both free and I believe we will be shooting on that Monday 19th after school at 4pm. The positive to take from our chat however is that Emanuel is up for helping me out and this is great.
After chatting with Emanuel and discovering that he wasn’t free for the next couple weeks, I approached my another mate I was keen on including in the project – Max Feighan. I knew I wanted Max to be a part of this project from the start but asked Emanuel if he would be my first model because of more friendly relationship with him – I have never really crossed oaths with Max but I was aware that I was going to have to work with people I had never really interacted with before.
I began talking to Max on Messenger as this is a very easy and accessible way to talk and it is quick – people respond quickly and there is the ability to, on the app, create plans for the participants to state whether they are attending or not. After explaining to Max my intentions and asking him politely if he would be willing to help, I got a very positive response from him as he said he would be very keen for this prospect. This then kick-started our further discussion where we began to arrange dates and times. Max told me he would be free during the middle of the week next week and once I was aware that I was also free, we put in a day and time and after talking with each for some time we had a plan arranged and this is set in place for next week. We will be shooting on Thursday 15th next week at 4pm and I am yet to organise a location to meet to shoot. I told Max I would be in touch with him closer to the time to arrange a location – something I need to plan more thoroughly before my other shoots.
With regards to location, I want to shoot in an urban setting. I have told myself that the “street” will be my studio as do not intend to enter the studio at any point because this is not what my project encompasses – it encompasses the teens of Jersey and where they spend their time most – where they show off their style – on the streets of Jersey, late at night – in town where Kings Street is filled with teens in groups being rowdy and showing off. I will be using these settings to base my photoshoots.
The screenshot of the note written on my photo which I then shared to my Instagram story
This was my method of advertising for models to come forward; I wrote up a note on my phone explaining what I was doing for my project and for models to come forward if they are willing to help and fit my vision which was briefly explained in this not also. I told them to private message me on Instagram but also said that I will be approaching people myself – which is what I ended up doing for most of my confirmed models and knew this was going to be the most efficient way to confirm people. I attempted to make the note/advertisement informal so that it didn’t seem too serious and too make myself look more appealing for people to be willing to help me. I then shared this screenshot onto my Instagram story where the photo would stay for 24 hours and then be removed. However, I may re-upload this closer to a time where I need more models but for now, I have a solid variety and number of people who have confirmed they are willing to be part of the project. I also followed up this photo with another bunch of text where I advertised my need to compete a shoot this week so if anyone can fir in a 30 minute to 1 hour shoot in their week, to come forward.
From this advertisement, as I stated above, I did not get many people come forward independently and tell me they were willing to help – which I was aware may happen when I shared it to my Instagram. This is why I explicitly approached people I definitely wanted to be models for different shoots over the next few weeks. However, from my persistence in asking people and persuading them to help, there was a positive turnout and response of people who wanted help. I privately messaged around 10 people on Instagram and fro this, they were all willing to help after I told them my intentions and showed them the type of work I wanted to replicate. So, from my first distribution of advertisement, the models confirmed for my project looking at fashion and streetwear among teenagers in Jersey are: Emanuel Nobrega, Max Feighan, Harrison Cummins, Peter Le Gal, Jai Petrovic, Alex Rogerson, Charlie McBride, Alex Amy, Jasper Crocker-Kilic, Peter Jones and Lucy Rountree will be model for my very first practice shoot where I experiment using my camera equipment and types of shots I want to achieve. I will be shooting with Lucy on Saturday or Sunday of this week and this will be a very informal and relaxed shoot because I am comfortable with her and have done several other photoshoots with her before for previous projects and the success form these has filled me with confidence that I can achieve positive results from this practice shoot. As well, Emanuel has told me that his group of mates would be willing to do a group shoot at some point also and so this is also confirmed. All models will be shot on a individual shoot apart from Charlie and Alex who have said they would do a shoot together after my suggestion for this. This is the same for Jai and Alex.
Next week, for my first couple of shoots I will be photographing Petr Le Gal and Max Feighan and these will be separate shoots in separate locations. I am shooting with Max on the date and time stated above and will be shooting my mate, Peter Le Gal on the day before my shot with Max, on Wednesday 14th at 4pm.
I decided to send to this advertisement as early as I have before I have really done any thorough artist research and references/analysis on my blog because I knew it was vital to get models confirmed so that I can be filled with confidence that I have a good array of models confirmed and can arrange dates/times/locations at a alter time when I actually need them after I have carried out through research and planning as well as a couple of practice shoots. I have also disclosed this information to them and they have all told me this is fine.
Furthermore, as you can tell from my lost of models above, they are all male apart from Lucy who will act as my practice shoot and may not be included in the final product. I have chosen to recruit all male models because I am unsure yet whether I want to focus my project solely on teenage boys and their behaviour/look/style/personas or whether I want to bring in a couple of female models. I am unsure on this yet but I am leaving more towards focusing it solely on boys so have confirmed all male guys. However, later on the project, if I feel I want to introduce the presence of females, I may do this and have some people in mind of who I could use. I also think another concept that could be effective would be if I was to produce ‘couples’ shoots where I photograph a guy and girl who are in a relationship. This could be effective and have retrieved inspiration for this from a couple of Vicky Grouts shots.
