To gain insight into the task of creating a personal statement and personal investigation I explored the work of a previous student.
To full understand and ensure I would cover ever aspect of this project I looked at the grading criteria.
This helped me analyse the previous students work and give him a grade which will help me understand how to get into the top grade. To ensure a top grade and achieve all the assessment objectives, ideas need to be developed through sustained and focused investigations which are supported through contextual sources which presents a developed understanding of the project. Appropriate techniques and recourses need to be explored and sustained throughout. Appropriate evidence of recorded ideas need to be included and finally a meaningful response personal to the individual that relies their intentions needs to be made. I also looked at the students work in terms of Concept, Editing, Sequencing, Design, Narrative and Aesthetic. Further criteria to assess the students essay:
Considering all this assessment criteria will help me create a well structured and in depth response.
Following on from this I began a reviewing and reflecting process were I looked at an overview of what I have learned so far (both as Yr 12 and Yr 13 student) and how I intend to develop my Personal Study.
The project that has inspired me the most from the what I have explored so far is my work exploring the theme of identity and place through the medium of photography.
Through this project I explored the notion of telling a story in way in which I explored identity in terms of feeling a loss of identity by feeling like an outcast to society but finding identity by fitting into a sub culture. I approached the project through a combination of conceptual
And portraiture style responses
Through this identity project I explored more modern artists such as J grant Brittan who’s work explores the theme of identity through a romanticist style of photography. And more historic representations of Photography such as Claude Cahun, part of the Dadaist movement of photographers exploring surrealism and identity in an innovative contemporary style. Claude is a highly influential artist for me. Claude was able to massively further my knowledge and understanding of contemporary photography as well as give me a perspective on how to approach themes using my creativity through the medium of photography. I therefore also further developed my photographic skills, specifically skills relating how to create narrative with tableaux imagery and draw emotion from the subject I was shooting which has translated to my current work.
I also experimented with more low light photography which was a challenge for me however I learnt from mistakes and fixed them which advanced me as a photographer.
This previous year 12 project is why I want to focus on developing this idea of identity to construct my personal study and investigation.
CHECKLIST – PERSONAL STUDY
Use this simplified list to check that you are on task. Every item on the list represents one piece of work = one blog post. It is your responsibility as an A-level student to make sure that you complete and publish appropriate blog posts each week. All tasks and learning resources are in the planner above.
WEEK 10: 15-21 Nov
Island Identity
WEEK 11: 22-28 Nov
1. Review and Reflection
2. Mindmap
3. Moodboard
Week 12: 29 Nov – 5 Dec
1. Statement of Intent
2. Artists References – at least two
3. Planning & Recording: Shoot 1 – response to initial idea
4. Contextual Studies 1: Conversations on Photography – publish by Wed 8 Dec
Week 13: 6 – 12 Dec
1. The origins of photography: write 500 -1000 words + illustrations
2. Planning & Recording: Shoot 2 – response to early photographic processes or your own project
Week 14: 13 Dec – 5 Jan
1. Art movements and isms: write 500 – 1000 words + illustrations
2. Planning & Recording – at least 3 photoshoots in response to your project. what, why, how, when, where? Bring images with you in the New Year.
3. Self-assessment: Review your work using traffic light system and publish on blog by Fri 17 Dec.
XMAS Break:
1. RECORDING: Produce a number of photographic response to your Personal Study and bring images from new photo-shoots to lessons in January.
2. READING: Key texts (interviews, reviews, articles etc.) about your subject, photo-history and chosen artists in preparation of writing your essay in January.
Week 15: 5 – 9 Jan
1. Literary Sources
2. Essay Question
3. Essay Plan
Week 16: 10 – 16 Jan
1. Essay: Introduction
2. Essay: Paragraph 1
3. Practice: Edit photoshoots and evaluate
Week 17: 17 – 23 Jan
1. Essay: Paragraph 2 & 3
2. Practical work: Define Story & Narrative
3a: Photobook: Select book and deconstruct narrative, concept and design
3b: Film: Select film and deconstruct narrative, editing and sound
Week 18 – 19: 24 Jan – 4 Feb
1. Essay: Conclusion, bibliography, proof-read and hand in draft Mon 31 Jan
2a: Photobook: Write a book specification; narrative, concept and design
3b: Photobook: Moodboard and create Blurb account
2b: Film: Storyboarding; narrative, visuals and sound
3b: Film: Moodboard and begin editing
Week 20: 7 – 11 Feb MOCK EXAM
1. Essay: Publish final essay with illustrations and a bibliography
2a: Photobook: Complete design and include essay in Blurb
2b: Film: Complete editing film, export and embed on blog
3. Print: Select a set of 5-6 final prints for mounting
4. Blog: Review and complete all supporting blogposts
5. Statement: write 100-200 words and save in folder
Final outcomes & Deadlines:
Essay (2000 words): 28 Jan 2022
Photobook / Film / Prints: Last day of Mock Exam
GP 13B: Wed 9 Feb
GP 13C: FRI 11 FEB
Week 21: 14 – 18 Feb + H-TERM
1. Photoshoots: Selection, editing, experimentation and evaluation (from each shoot.)
2. Planning & Recording: Evaluate current images made and produce new images/ photoshoots for half-term.
3. Deconstruct Photobook: Select book and analyse narrative, concept and design (from week 17)
4. Book Specification: define narrative, concept and design for your book + moodboard of design ideas (from mock exam.)
5. Photobook Design: Clear progression of your design process, including prints screens of layout with annotation (ongoing.)
Island Identity
Tue 15 Feb: Complete this Island Identity Survey
The survey has been commissioned to conduct some research to explore the integration of ethnic and minority communities in Jersey to fulfill one of the recommendations that was made in the summary report of the Island Identity Policy Development Board published last year. A short survey has been designed to gather views on this issue and on the themes of belonging and identity.
This survey is part of the Island Identity project that was commissioned by Deputy Carolyn Labey, Assistant Chief Minister, Minister for International Development and Chair of the Island Identity (IID) Policy Development Board. On Tuesday 15 Feb they have arranged an event Jersey Dialogues – Exploring and Celebrating Our Island Idenity at Radison Blu Hotel with the formal programme running from 1:30 to 5:30 pm includes talk and workshops with high profile speakers.
1. Describe which themes, medium (photography, film), approaches (documentary, tableaux, conceptual), artists (incl contextual references to art history, movements and isms) and photographic skills, processes, techniques and methods (incl learning new software) inspired you the most and why.
2. Include examples of both previous and current experiments and imagery to illustrate your thinking.
3. Produce a new mind-map and mood-board based around how you interpret one/ or both theme(s) of IDENTITY & COMMUNITY using new artists inspirations and visual references etc. Reflect on the Island Identity project and also consider themes more broadly (see below)
4. Write a Statement of Intent that clearly contextualise;
What you want to explore?
Why it matters to you?
How you wish to develop your project?
When and where you intend to begin your study?
Make sure you describe your chosen theme (IDENTITY & COMMUNITY), subject-matter (topic, issue), artists (inspirations, references) and final outcome (photobook, film).
5. Plan your first photo-shoot as a response to initial ideas. Must be published on the blog by Wed 2 Dec.
First Project: Identity and Place.
For our first project we were focusing on Portraiture as well as learning how to use the settings on our camera to create different images without it being edited heavily on photoshop. We experimented with things such as aperture, shutter speed and white balance.
I focused on the photographers Claud Cahun and Edward Honaker throughout this project. Edward Honaker is known for using photography to express his mental health. An example of how he does this is using a slow shutter speed whilst people are moving and I used this as an inspiration for my first shoot of this independent project. In addition to this I wanted to try and morph my models’ faces in another shoot. This meant I had to go into photoshop and gave them a whirlpool like structure on their face. Honaker’s images still inspire me and I would like to use his methods of editing in my personal study.
I believe that the first shoot allowed me to realise I enjoy doing portrait photography and that I would like to do it more often in my spare time as well as the main chunk of my personal study.
These images were used in my project to highlight that life shouldn’t be people obsessing over looks of themselves or others; but instead should be about personalities. I want to convey this message more throughout this project as I believe we can all wear a mask and not show who we truly are. We need to realise that we only have one life and we need to focus on the positives rather than dwelling on things that could happen or things that could be said etc.
Project 2: Pollution
For this second shoot, I wanted to show different types of pollution. I focused on air, water and plastic pollution. I tried to incorporate Portrait photography as much as possible.
The artist who inspired me the most for this project was Jeremy Caroll who created a photoshoot to highlight how deadly plastics are to ocean life, by putting humans in the sea creatures place.
I asked my model to wrap a plastic bag around her neck as well as shoe laces, receipts and a face mask to show that even the pandemic is causing global destruction to wildlife. The model then attempted to pull the rubbish from her neck.
For air pollution I asked my model who vaped to exhale I as was taking the images of her. This then allowed my images to show an exaggerated version of what the world will look like if we carried on emitting the gases that harm our planet.
I would like my images in this personal study to be eye opening like both Honaker and Caroll’s work. I wand people to understand that not everything is as it seems. People can be going through things without you even noticing. Someone could be the most popular person in the world and still feel alone and helpless.
Mindmap and Mood Board
This is a mindmap of ideas for my personal study. It highlights the areas I would like to focus on. My main idea is to highlight the fact that no one is how they seem. I would also like to include a juxtaposition throughout my work. This is why I have depression as well as happiness on my mindmap.
From your Personal Investigation based on IDENTITY & COMMUNITY write an overview of what you learned so far (both as Yr 12 and Yr 13 student) and how you intend to develop your Personal Study.
1. Describe which themes, medium (photography, film), approaches (documentary, tableaux, conceptual), artists (incl contextual references to art history, movements and isms) and photographic skills, processes, techniques and methods (incl learning new software) inspired you the most and why.
2. Include examples of both previous and current experiments and imagery to illustrate your thinking.
The first theme that we explored at the start of year 12 was abstract. We showed this theme through a variety of different forms, such as still life photography, landscape photography, and documentary photography. One of the key artists we studied was Albert Ranger-Patzsch, and his project ‘The World is Beautiful’. We produced a response to this project by photographing normal, mundane objects and turned them into images which were aesthetically pleasing and appealing to the eye. We did this by using a range of techniques on Photoshop, including adjusting the white balance and the contrast on the images. Another artist we studied was Alfred Stieglitz, whose photographs differed from Ranger-Patzsch’s in that they were a lot more organic and soft in form, whereas Ranger-Patzsch often had straight, geometric shapes throughout his images.
The next theme we looked at was portrait photography. During this topic we began to use the photography studio with a professional setup and proper lighting. I enjoyed this theme the most because I felt that I had more freedom to make the images that I wanted, and I enjoyed using the studio and the lighting. I was able to manipulate the set up of my photographs in order to achieve the look that I was aiming for, and so I liked having more control over the whole process instead of coming across the idea for my image due to chance. One artist that we studied was William Klein and his collection of candid and street photography. We compared Klein to various other photographers, including Henri Cartier-Bresson and Arnold Newman.
The next theme we looked at was landscape photography. This involved going out to different locations around the island and taking observational photographs. One key artist we studied was Ansel Adams. We analysed his images in depth in order to understand the best techniques for taking photographs in an outdoor environment, such as the camera settings and the correct lighting. In our response to this theme, we carried out several different photoshoots of various landscapes and compared our images to the artists that we had studied, trying to find any similarities and differences between them.
Our next theme was identity & community. We have carried out several photoshoots throughout this theme; for example, when we took photographs of the old buildings around St Helier and in the French, Portuguese, and Merchant’s Quarters as a group. Additionally, we had to conduct independent photoshoots in small groups as a part of our NFT project, and also produce a 30 second film, complete with sound. We used different skills that we learnt through various workshops about animation and embroidery to produce our final NFT project.
From your Personal Investigation based on IDENTITY & COMMUNITY write an overview of what you learned so far (both as Yr 12 and Yr 13 student) and how you intend to develop your Personal Study.
Previously in year 12 , we have studied many different themes, such as ; Anthropocene , portraits , abstract and landscapes as well as still life photos. This allowed us to explore all areas of photography which is helpful when it comes to year 13 as we now know our strong points and what area of photography we enjoy doing the most and are the most skilled at. We have also had a lot of experience with using the studio lights and camera settings in year 12 which all comes to hand now. Personally my favourite part of year 12 was when we did portraits as I loved using the stuido and a plain white backdrop as I view portraits as a very powerful way of presenting photography as you can do so many different things with it and edit them in all sort of different ways. I like when you have a whole camera set up ready to use in the studio instead of just going out in the natural enviornment and taking photos of what you can find. I liked having everythiing set up and pre-planned which made my photoshoots in year 12 a lot better.
I studied a variety of different artists in Year 12 which really helps when creating your own projects as you get inspirated by an artist who photographs similar ideas to what you want to achieve at the end of your shoot. This lets you come up with some more ideas and make sure you have a basic outline of what you want to do and photograph but in your own interpretation. For my personal study I will research artists that photograph similar concepts to what I want to do when I plan my study.
Some examples of my previous year 12 work was when we did head shots and I really enjoyed exploring the idea of double and multi exposure. I really enjoy the editing part as using Photoshop in year 12 has allowed me to learn so many useful skills and tools for editing my images. For my personal study I want to use photo shop when editing my images as I used it throughout year 12 a lot and think it makes my final images very strong and the best quality. An example;
Currently we are looking at the theme of Identity & Community, which we have started to develop ideas on through looking at Jersey’s history and identity. This helps in creating a basic idea of the theme , as we live in Jersey it’s important to understand our history and what factors make Jersey and what attracts people to it. Therefore in this personal project , I want to study the theme of identity through using portraits and studio photos as I think they will link very well together and it was my favourite part of year 12. We also went around Jersey , the town side and photographed different landscapes / sites around Jersey which showed how there’s so many different communities in Jersey, such as French/Portuguese quarters and old houses from the war. An example of my work;
Review & Reflect
From your Personal Investigation based on IDENTITY & COMMUNITY write an overview of what you learned so far (both as Yr 12 and Yr 13 student) and how you intend to develop your Personal Study.
1. Describe which themes, medium (photography, film), approaches (documentary, tableaux, conceptual), artists (incl contextual references to art history, movements and isms) and photographic skills, processes, techniques and methods (incl learning new software) inspired you the most and why.
2. Include examples of both previous and current experiments and imagery to illustrate your thinking.
3. Produce a new mind-map and mood-board based around how you interpret one/ or both theme(s) of IDENTITY & COMMUNITY using new artists inspirations and visual references etc. Reflect on the Island Identity project and also consider themes more broadly (see below)
4. Write a Statement of Intent that clearly contextualise;
What you want to explore?
Why it matters to you?
How you wish to develop your project?
When and where you intend to begin your study?
Make sure you describe your chosen theme (IDENTITY & COMMUNITY), subject-matter (topic, issue), artists (inspirations, references) and final outcome (photobook, film).
5. Plan your first photo-shoot as a response to initial ideas. Must be published on the blog by Wed 2 Dec.
1. Describe which themes, medium (photography, film), approaches (documentary, tableaux, conceptual), artists (incl contextual references to art history, movements and isms) and photographic skills, processes, techniques and methods (incl learning new software) inspired you the most and why.
2. Include examples of both previous and current experiments and imagery to illustrate your thinking.
The theme that has inspired me the most in my Photography A-level course has been the Identity project for the mock last year. The theme allowed me to, “successfully talk… about past experiences in my life and… turn it into art.”
The medium (photography film) has influenced a lot of my future ideas for this new project on Identity and community. This is because the film my class colleagues and I produced touching on the theme of religion and the LGBTQ+ community, has allowed greater knowledge to flourish into how important it is to have a narrative and sequence in the film you are producing. I know this because the group and I struggled to find the right way to share my story through a film; how can we make a film that isn’t for or against homosexuality or homophobia but still raise awareness in both the communities and their duties. For example, if you’ve got same sex attraction and are Christian, instead of worrying if it is wrong to be in a same sex relationship or not, you should, “…seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” And if you are simply religious and don’t particularly agree with LGBTQ+ lifestyle, instead of spreading hate comments and come across homophobic you should still love these people for Jesus said, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. ” He said this because, “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you, “Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”” This powerfully shows that instead of accusing people of their sin, Christians should be directing people to God instead of away.
Claude Cahun
Shwod took the name Claude Cahun in 1917 and have since explored self-portraits, exploring themes such as sex and gender identity in their work. However, their work was largely opposed because homosexuality was seen as shameful and disgraceful in the 20th century and beyond, but their portrayals were powerful, with some people liking it. We can see that in the image above, due to Claude’s reflection in the mirror, we can clearly see that they have seen themselves as a guy/lesbian and are looking at the camera with pride but charm, showing that they know who they are.
Claude Cahun has influenced my ideas for this project as I will be talking about identity and mention sides of homosexuality so Claude Cahun serves as comfort as I know I won’t be the only one talking about this.
Documentary Photography has been probably my most liked photography approach as it allowed me to share people my story. Through this I was able to bring into light what struggles I face quite on a daily, the sort of comments one can get. This is really useful because it provides hope to ones going through a similar event and they can look and see that I’m still here showing them that if I can do it so can they. This is professionally shown through my Identity project:
During my NFT project, I have experimented with Adobe Premier; software that allows creation and editing of videos. During it I learned how to properly format a narrative, how different fading animations may portray a thought to the viewer. For example, if we are slowly fading from a portrait scene to a different scene, the viewer may see that as the character’s thoughts and aspirations.
This successful technique can be clearly seen throughout the final film titled ‘Love Thy Neighbour’:
The embroidery also influenced a lot of my ideas for this new Identity & community personal investigation as it allowed me to create a narrative through a variety of images. This can be seen in the following blogpost:
As we can see, the embroidery workshop has allowed me to use “my own struggles and life experiences and implementing them in to a physical art work. For example:
“The words “Je t’ai aim” suggests that an event happened in a love story and all you want to say is “I loved you” but you can’t get yourself to finish the phrase because there are lots of people around, a lot of opinions, thoughts and worries.” This is evidently shown in this embroidery because the word “aim” isn’t grammatically correct in French, it should be “aime”.
In conclusion, I agree to a large extent that my past projects are useful for this project. This is because it has helped me to create new ideas for the Identity project. For example, learning about Premier will be made useful for this project as it allowed me to present and narrate a story using videos, images and music. I will therefore use this knowledge to figure a way of talking about my identity through a combination of videos, images and music.
3. Produce a new mind-map and mood-board based around how you interpret one/ or both theme(s) of IDENTITY & COMMUNITY using new artists inspirations and visual references etc. Reflect on the Island Identity project and also consider themes more broadly (see below)
During my time looking at the topic of Identity and Community in year 12 and year 13 I have learnt various ways in which to produce a final image or piece, in turn discovering what themes, mediums, movements, techniques and methods inspired me the most. With this I mainly focused on the medium of photography, however I have also explored how this form of expression can be elevated by incorporating other mediums such as embroidery and animation into my work. This was evident when looking at the works of Yulia Makeyeva, who adds to her photographic pieces by including textile and needlework in and around her images. We were also given the opportunity to take part in a workshop with her, learning the art of embroidery and experimenting with collage and stop motion animation.
I was also fascinated by embroidery artist Billie Zangewa, who relates to the theme of identity and community through her autobiographical portrayals of womanhood and motherhood, using the technique of needlework. Another aspect of Zangewa’s work that interested me was her representation of the importance of women in society and the oppression they suffer coinciding with the feminist movement. In addition, I have also explored the medium of animation and learnt how to use programs such as Adobe After Affects in order to create such pieces, through the workshop with local animator Liam Nunn. With this we experimented with different sequences and movements, ultimately creating a ten second simple animation. This linked with the identity and community of the island due to the fact that Nunn has worked on various projects that showcase our islands unique identity with companies such as Jersey Dairy.
During year 12 I also developed my understanding and gained a new appreciation of the original photographic process and pioneers of photography on the island during the late 19th century and early 20th century, such as Emile Guiton who used the Autochrome process invented in 1903 to develop his photographs. This knowledge was gained through class visits to the Jersey Archives, which holds thousands of images that tell stories of the islands evolving identity. With this I found this particularly interesting as by looking at archived images it gave us an insight to the types of people and communities existing in Jersey at the time. We related this to our personal identities by researching our own family archives, and learning more about our lineage and regional backgrounds.
Overall however, what inspired me the most was when I had the opportunity to look at the work of Carolle Benitah, and her use of stitching and collage using archived family photographs to display her own personal identity, and how she wants to change it. This work inspired me to create work in a similar style to her, to showcase the identities of different people’s regional backgrounds, experimenting with collage.
I decided to create a basic mind map on the things that I think help to develop an individuals identity, such as family, appearance and hobbies. I did this to create a basic visual representation of ideas to focus on when looking deeper into my project.
I have also made a mood board to help understand what section of identity I want to focus on for my project. When looking at my mind map and mood board, I decided to focus on family and heritage, as they have influenced other parts of my identity such as beliefs and hobbies.
In my opinion, Jersey is unique because the community is really close due to the small population. The scenery of Jersey has a big impact to the community, especially in summer as there is a variety of beaches and parks. Jersey also has an extensive history, such as the Occupation and the Liberation. Jersey is important to me as I grew up here along with all my family, making it a big part of my identity.
Those who were born and raised in Jersey would be the only residents considered as ‘Jersey’ in the past, with a lack of diversity in the island at the time. Majority of residents in the past were white, English, French or Jèrriais speakers. The concept of being ‘Jersey’ has changed drastically since then and has become a lot more diverse throughout the years. Despite not being born in Jersey or moving away from Jersey at a young age, many might still consider themselves as ‘Jersey’ in more recent times. However, many people may not consider themselves as ‘Jersey’ despite being born and raised in the island, due to having a multicultural family. This proves that the definition of being ‘Jersey’ has become an almost vague concept.
Despite the closeness of the Jersey community, there is still disagreements between citizens, which prevents a cohesive environment for many. For example, protests around Jersey have caused disruption to the positive outlook for the community, such as the concept of low income for teachers, debating Covid restrictions as well as those protesting against the Covid vaccination. In order for Jersey to solidify a cohesive and positive island identity, the community needs to work together to form agreements and compromise to create a fair environment to everyone. Furthermore, helping those in need will assist in solidifying a positive Island identity.
Due to the Jersey population consisting of the same nationalities of people for such an extensive time, some have taken a negative outlook onto those who have immigrated to the Island since, especially people of colour and non-English speakers. Despite most not having an issue with a more diverse community, some still have a traditional view on the Island’s identity and will try to preserve that traditional ‘Jersey’ identity. For this reason, I believe that racism is still a big issue within the Island and the increase in diversity to the island is inevitable, meaning racism to minority groups in Jersey require severe punishment in order for the community to live in peace, despite the nationality of the citizens.
Photography has played a huge part of Jersey’s unique identity since the first developed photographic techniques. Due to the extended history of Jersey, many have relied on photography to re-tell these stories. These important photographs are now held in museums for further generations to see both the celebrations and hardships of the history of Jersey in a physical form