With my identity project I felt I stuck to my theme well and went in depth with photoshoots & extra media I found for my project. With my images I feel I managed to take inspiration from my artist references without directly copying them, and managed to replicate the rock/grunge theme I was going for. However, if I could go back and redo this project I would make sure to have a wider range of photos in different locations, as I only captured images in few areas, and would’ve liked to have a variation of photos taken in different lighting and setting.
ANTHROPOCENE
My anthropocene project is my favourite I have done so far, i feel it went well because i took a wide range of photos in many different areas, and took my time going around making sure i took a lot of images to choose from. I enjoyed going around to the Waters Edge for my photoshoot and documenting my way around the hotel to try and replicate Paul Talling’s work, and for my other photoshoot by La Collette i feel i captured the theme of anthropocene well, and by editing the images in black and white it gave them the theme i was going for as i wanted to capture the darker, ‘ugly’ side of man-made buildings. If i could go back and redo this project i would put more focus into my images at La Colette, as they were taken on a phone so i felt i was not working to the best of my ability without a proper camera.
MY ROCK
This project features some of my best photos i’ve taken – focusing primarily on rock texture, i captured both colours and patterns hidden within the rocks around L’Etacq and stinky bay. I felt i used the camera to its full potential as i took around 300 photos from our school trip. I took photos with different lighting, angle and ISO to focus in on the detail within the rock faces. If i could’ve redone this photoshoot, i would’ve aimed to take photos from different viewpoints, as i didn’t take many photos of the rockface as a whole, so i would try to include a fuller landscape if i were to redo the project.
As much as I love Jersey and the people in my life right now, I still feel like I don’t belong here. I’d like to focus on my own culture and family and explore what it’s like being an immigrant. I want to explore why and how my family has migrated from one place to another, as well as explore how it has affected them.
Why it matters to you?
It’s my past and I think that is important because everything that has happened to me and my family is what shaped me into the person I am today. I feel very disconnected from my own culture and I feel like I don’t belong anywhere (could also be because I have moved so much from a young age) and I wish this will help me understand myself better.
How you wish to develop your project?
I wish to develop my project by looking at mum’s private archive and possibly recreating images from her teen years just to see the difference between life in Romania in the 90s and life in Jersey in the 2020s. I will also look for documents that we have from when we first moved to Jersey that show our status. I will mostly focus on self portraits and environmental portraits of my mum (possibly at her work place) as well as maybe other immigrant people. I own a little Sony digital camera that I take with me everywhere I go and document everything, so I think I could also use the pictures on that as they are mostly of me, my mum and my friends (showing my life as an immigrant in Jersey basically). I will present my project in the form of a photo-book.
When and where you intend to begin your study?
I’m thinking of starting my project in the next 2 weeks or so because I still need more ideas. I’ll start by talking to my mum about her experience and look through our photo albums in order to get an idea of the type of shoots I’ll have to plan. Around Christmas time will be the best time to photograph for my project because every year we invite people (Romanian, Polish and Portuguese) over for dinner which shows a sense of community. I could photograph the types of foods we will have, which will also show how we Europeans celebrate Christmas and how that could be different from people that are from Jersey.
Below I have included my first set of ideas for this ‘Islandness’ personal study, this is a good visual representation of what topics come to mind when analysing the meaning of the word Islandness. Researching for the images meant that I began to think about what photographing all of these different topics would look like and helps me decide the topics I would like to explore in my personal study throughout my future project.
Mood Board
I have additionally created a mood board to illustrate some more images which relate to my mind map above, as these are some examples of different images which demonstrate the themes above. Furthermore, this is good as it shows how the different images look grouped together and helps me analyse which themes could even be merged together and linked up so that I can develop these ideas and make them unique to my personal study.
Future Project
Below I have created an additional mind map to illustrate my ideas for not only the theme of ‘Islandness’ but for my personal study, this is to help me think in depth about the ideas that will be the most manageable for my future studies. These are just my first ideas for my personal study so I may not even develop these ideas, this is just from looking at the mind map above and considering what ideas were my strongest work and the projects were the most enjoyable when creating my ‘Review and Reflect’ blog post.
I like that this mind map is simple and easy to follow, I have used images from my past projects to illustrate that I will take inspiration from my past projects and these will be heavily influential for my personal study. I think this is because I work better from adapting my older ideas and making them more detailed and complex. I like that I can use these images and recreate them, as having so many different types (final images and zines) and styles of visual inspiration means that I can just take out the parts of these topics/ projects that I am not interested in and maybe even combine them all together to attempt to create the most successful final project I can.
With my identity project I felt I managed to depict the meaning of ‘identity’ well with my images, i went into depth with the editing of my images in Lightroom and photoshop. With my images I feel I managed to take inspiration from my artist references without directly copying them. If I could go back and redo this project I would make sure to have a much wider range of photos in different locations and different poses, facial expressions, as I only captured a few, and i would have liked to have a variation of photos taken in different lighting and setting. Because this was one of my first projects in photography, I believe I could have done more in my project to receive a better grade and final outcome.
Anthropocene
In this project i think my images could have been edited better and given a better outcome as they are plain and there is not much going on, i could have represented Anthropocene better through my development of images. However i did enjoy this project as i got to take a variety of pictures round jersey which was very enjoyable.
My Rock
This was my favourite project to take part in as photographing jerseys natural landscape is very fulfilling. I had fun creating my photo zine and editing all my different images in Lightroom motley but also photoshop, it was a very nice project going around jersey and really admiring the landscape. Learning how to use InDesign as well was interesting.
Objective: Criteria from the Syllabus: “Essential that students build on their prior knowledge and experience developed during the course. Develop your written dissertation in the light of your chosen focus from the practical part of previous coursework and projects.” Below, I have analysed my thematic work, my use of technologies, as well as different methods, and how I have progressed throughout years 12 and 13.
Themes
Identity
One of my final pieces of my Mum
One of my final outcome set of images – my Grandmother
I think that overall my Identity project has been my most successful project. This was my first exam project in year 12, however, I already had some skills from GCSE photography which gave me a basic understanding of things such as editing and camera handling. Leading up to this exam, and also in GCSE, I developed a liking for photo collages and montages, and I decided to focus on this for my Identity project. I think that my raw images were successful for this project due to my use of a portrait lens, as well as by controlling the lighting. This helped to make my editing and experimenting process easier and improve the quality of my final outcomes.
I think that focusing on a topic such as my own family helped me to become passionate about this project, and want to produce the best quality of work I could. I think part of what made this project good was my use of archival material, photographed using a copy stand. Using a copy stand correctly in my project ensured my archival images were captured in the highest resolution possible, keeping the quality of my work consistent throughout. Furthermore, I think that each piece or set of pictures tells a specific story about my grandmother or mum, and I think this made my outcomes more mature and thoughtful. I am proud of these outcomes, and I think they show a unique family history through generations.
For my Anthropocene exam, I focused on the housing crisis in Jersey. Although this project was still thriving, it wasn’t my best work. I liked my actual images, but my planning wasn’t the best – I had originally decided to create photo collages in the style of Laura Romero, but after my first day in the exam I realised this was not realistic, nor something that was in my desired style of photography. I then produced artist studies of other photographers that were more relevant to my desired outcome and ended with a project on the housing crisis. I think that my overall outcomes were successful, but were slightly rushed due to my change in ideas in the middle of the exam. I’ve learnt from this in my projects since, and try to plan realistic ideas that fit what I like to photograph and what I can achieve in reality.
Another project I had in this project was my editing. In a few of my images, I think I edited too dark with my black-and-white settings in lightroom. This gave me some images that were a bit too dark for my liking, which I only realised when I had received my images from the printers. To stop this from happening again, in my personal study I will use test prints of my final images before finalizing them to make sure they are up to the standard I want them to be. On the other hand, one thing I like about this project is the journalistic element. I found it interesting to research the housing crisis, and then go out and respond to my research with photographs. To take this even further, if I was to do this project again, I could interview people affected by the housing crisis and put this next to my images in my outcome.
This is some of my less successful work. I think my rural landscapes were not as successful partly because they aren’t something I like to photograph. I find it much easier to photograph things that I like, and this helps me to come up with more ideas and better images. Even if I didn’t like the subject of these images, photographing different environments has helped me to figure out what I like to photograph, and what my strengths are.
My final zine and final pieces for My Rock are pieces of work which I’m proud of. I’m glad I had the chance to make another set of zines for this project, as it allowed me to reflect on the previous zine I produced for Anthropocene. I produced a much larger amount of images for this project, on my trip away in the US. The experience and excitement of a new place helped with this, as everything was so new and interesting to me – I wanted to photograph this. I ended up with over 8000 images from my trip, allowing me to select a wide range of images to use in my final zines. Having this amount of images took a lot of sorting and organising, but through my use of lightroom, I sorted them all into their unique categories. I think that the wide range of images I had for this project added more depth to my work, with different styles and ideas.
Technologies
Lightroom and Photoshop – Editing and Experimenting Skills
This is my most recent work. My proficiency with Lightroom Classic has significantly improved, which can be seen in this editing. I now can use things such as ‘Sync Settings’ to ensure all my edits are consistent, which was useful in the “My Rock” project when creating a zine. If you contrast my editing in this project with the editing in my Anthropocene project, there are vast differences: in my Anthropocene project, my edits were often too extreme: too dark, or too much contrast, ruining the quality of the images a little. I also found in my Anthropocene project that a lot of my edits turned out quite different from one another, which was not something I wanted in my “zine – now, looking back I can see I have improved my editing skills since then and can produce more consistent, high-quality edits.
This was my first editing post of the whole A – Level. I had experience with basic editing skills from GCSE photography, however, I had never used Lightroom Classic before. I found it a little difficult to get used to at first, but once I had gotten used to it, I found it a great organisational tool for my images as well as editing. In my first post here, I only adjust a few things in each image and don’t explore all of the tools. After getting to grips with most aspects of the software, I can use it to the best ability and produce effective edits.
This was some experimenting done in photoshop with my still-life images in Year 12. I had begun to develop my skills in photoshop by this point, and through this work on photomontage, I discovered a love for this type of work – I developed this after a little experience with this medium at GCSE in this blog post, and experimented with both handmade and digital montages. After creating several digital montages for this Still Life project, I liked this medium and decided to use it in my Identity exam, where I used photoshop to put them together. This gave me another chance to better my photoshop skills, especially when dealing with multiple sets of images on different layers and documents.
Indesign
Anthropocene
My Anthropocene work was my first attempt at using Indesign, and I found it quite difficult. I didn’t know how to use all of the menus properly and didn’t know how to format my `zine correctly or package it for printing. I hadn’t had a chance to research this beforehand as I decided to use this presentation style in the actual exam, so in hindsight, if I had decided earlier to use this outcome I probably would have found it easier with background research and ideas.
My Rock
This was my second attempt at making a zine, in my My Rock project. I created two zines. I decided to do this because I had a lot of images from this project, of different themes and styles. I wanted to challenge myself with the decision to make two zines, and I think this paid off in my final zines. I like how they show two different sides to my exchange trip, and I think I produced two meaningful outcomes for this project.
In these two zines, I experimented more with different layouts in my zines, such as larger and smaller images on double pages, and different kinds of text on my front covers. I liked using different kinds of layouts in this project, and I found this easier and easier after developing my skills with Indesign. However, I think I still need to develop my experimenting skills in all of my projects and take more creative risks. This is the feedback I have had from multiple assessments, and something I want to develop within my work in my personal study.
I decided to make a mind map of my ideas regarding the topic of Islandness to help inspire me for my Personal Study.
I have decided to explore ideas about heritage and identity, and how these have affected me while growing up in Jersey. I have chosen to look at these photographers because they explore similar themes and I enjoy each of their unique photographic styles. I feel like each style has a lot of photographic potential and I am planning on conducting a shoot inspired by each over my project.
those_who_dream_only_by_nightcole_courval Read the essay and comment on its overall written and interpretative quality as well as its use of critical, contextual and historical references, eg.
Does the essay address its hypothesis?
Essay addresses its hypothesis to its full extent. Refers back to the hypothesis throughout the work.
Does it provide new knowledge and understanding?
Book filled with knowledge and written in a way which creates new understanding very easily and well.
Is the essay well structured with a sense of an introduction, paragraphs and a conclusion?
The essay is very well structured with a long introduction before starting with writing about the artist mentioned in the hypothesis, before finishing with a conclusion which refers back to the hypothesis creating a good sense of knowledge and understanding.
Use and flow of language, prose, punctuation, spelling.
Very well written language and flow. Very well punctuated and spelt.
Use of specialist vocabulary relating to art and photography.
Very good vocabulary, a lot of specialist words relating to art and photography used throughout the essay.
Analysis of artist’s oeuvre (body of work) and key work(s).
Long and in depth analysis of artists work showcased in the essay.
Evidence of wider reading with reference to art history/ theory, political discourse and/or socio-economical context.
References to history and political discourse used within study.
Use of direct quotes, summary or commentary from others to make an informed and critical argument.
Quotes from artists used in study to create a good and critical argument.
Use of referencing system (eg. Harvard) and a bibliography.
No bibliography.
Use of illustrations with captions listing name of artist, title of work and year of production.
Illustrations included within writing with artist reference, title of work and year of production not included.
The Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown dependency, meaning that it is not part of the UK but is rather a self-governing possession of the British Crown. However, the UK Government is constitutionally responsible for its defence and international representation. There are three island territories within the British Isles that are known as Crown Dependencies, Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey which make up The Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man. The Crown Dependencies are not part of the United Kingdom, but are self-governing possessions of the British Crown.
When did Jersey become self governing?
In 1204 King John lost the Battle of Rouen against the French King Philippe-Auguste. The defeat signalled the loss of continental Normandy, united with the English Crown since the invasion of England by William the Conqueror in 1066. The Channel Islands, part of the Duchy of Normandy for more than a hundred years at that point, might have been expected to align themselves with the French King in 1204, but there were persuaded to side with King John instead, leading to the Channel Islands becoming a Crown Dependency.
Battle of Rouen, 1204
Among the privileges which the King granted Islanders was the right to be governed by their own laws and he instructed them to select their 12 best men as Jurats who, sitting with the Bailiff, became the Island’s Royal Court. A warden, later to become governor, was appointed by the King to organise the defence of the Island.
Jerseys Constitution
Over a period of time, the Royal Court began to consult with the people through the Constables of the parishes. This consultation with the 3 estates of court and people was eventually formalised into what we now know as the States of Jersey. Significant constitutional changes in 1856 and 1948 saw the introduction of Deputies and Senators into the States and the removal of the Jurats and the rectors. However, the 12 Jurats remain the lay members of the Royal Court and are today chosen by an electoral college comprising members of the court and the States.
Great Britain’s Territories
The Crown Dependencies have never been colonies of the UK. Nor are they Overseas Territories, like Gibraltar, which have a different relationship with the UK. The constitutional relationship of the Islands with the UK is maintained through the Crown and is not enshrined in a formal constitutional document. The difference between crown dependencies and overseas territories is that, British Crown Dependency means that you are self-governing but the British Crown maintains its possession of you. On the other hand, British Overseas Territory means that you are a British colony that continues to have a constitutional link with the United Kingdom.
I have included my first mind map for my project on ‘islandsness’, these are the ideas that first come to mind when thinking about what I want to include in my project. Creating the mind map has helped me to think and plan out what I could do for each idea, it has also allowed me to figure out what will be the best idea for the future project. the mid-map has also helped to pick the ideas that are actually doable and the ones that will be harder to portray through photographs.
Mood board
Idea 1:
My first idea is to photograph the economic divide that we have in Jersey, I would include images of the types of housing showing the upper class, middle class and lower classing. For this idea I would also include environmental portraits and I think that there are a lot of different occupations in Jersey which I most cases show the level of class. I will be able to make binary opposites collages which will create a more interesting final project. This is also a strong way of showing what island life is like for different people.
Idea 2:
For my second idea i would use the theme of identity and wok in how living on a small island disconnects us from other counties and even our families that live in different places. Many people who live in Jersey have moved away from the home counties where their families are, meaning that they are alone here which can sometimes have major effects on these relationships. Living in Jersey can also be claustrophobic as some do not have a connection outside of the island. Similar to my mum and dad when they moved over here they only had friends while their families wee back in England and Ireland, for most people this is where your friends become you family. This is similar to my situation, where I have my ‘Jersey Family’ and then my blood family. For editing I would take inspiration from my identity project as I enjoyed the editing process and found the experimenting in photoshop interesting. Finally, I have chosen some photographers that I might include in my project, Carolle Benitah, Birthe Piontek, Joachim Schmid and Diana Markosian.
