Simple – easily understood or done; presenting no difficulty.

Complex – consisting of many different and connected parts.

Above is the mind map which I created of initial ideas regarding the themes of ‘Simple’ and ‘Complex’. I decided to split it into two sections, even though some ideas may overlap, this is because it makes it easier to organise what ideas work well alongside each other and what ideas work well in either theme. Initially, I really liked the idea of studying the simplicity of graffiti but then realised that it can also overlap with the theme of complexity and that Jersey does not have a lot of graffiti around which would make this a harder theme to look at. Also while creating ideas, I came across the idea of studying the complexity of still life in shadows and reflections, mainly in glassware or various kitchenware, this is because I liked how they were able to produce these different and unusual designs/patterns within them as they reflected on different surfaces and how their designs/colours can alter how they may appear on different backgrounds. This idea became quite intriguing to me as many of us would view shadows as a simple idea which we may come across briefly, but their is a complexity within them of how shadows can be manipulated and changed through different lightings, locations, backgrounds, etc which can be used to tell a story or create a visual image that we may not think of imagining, which could relate to historical context regarding how women were related to being in the kitchen or having home duties.

Moodboard for theme of ‘simple’ –

Here is the mood board of initial ideas that I made regarding the theme of ‘Simple’ in photography. I started off by looking at the use of graffiti photography, but started to realise how I was not keen on the photos as they looked quite messy and unorganised and lost that ‘simplicity’ which I saw they had previously as well as how there is little graffiti that there is in Jersey. Therefore I moved over to exploring still life photography, this is in relation to how there is a simplicity within the still life objects and colours and how they can be so easily composed. This is due to if you have a select number of objects which you reuse as they work well alongside one another, due to their colours and how these may contrast against each other, and represent the simplicity of still life objects.

Moodboard for theme of ‘complex’ –

Here is the mood board of initial ideas that I made regarding the theme of ‘Complex’ in photography. To begin with, I started off by exploring the themes of shadows and reflections within still life photography, which I was drawn to due to the complex way that simple kitchenware for example could create different types of shadows or reflections on to various surfaces. I really liked the effect that simple glassware and utensils had as they created these bold shadows that draw you towards them as they have a black/white composure that create these bold shadowed photographs. I also liked the use of different coloured marbles and glasses that may be formed in unusual ways, this is because the shadows and reflections which they created. I feel as if this theme of reflections/shadows in different kitchenware can link towards feminism and how woman are often disregarded and linked towards the kitchen and other traditional household roles. This could be represented in my work through the use of different glasses/utensils and how the darker, bolder glassware/utensils show how people are still stuck within this old fashioned mindset compared to the open, more colourful glassware and utensils which could represent how women have been able to eventually move past this stereotype but can still feel slightly trapped and linked towards it.