What you want to explore?

For my exam project I want to explore the relationship between growing up in Jersey (mostly teenage life) and the way we value friendships. I chose this as a way to present the theme of simple or complex as some people believe that friendships are simple things that are easy and require little effort, but as many people know it is the complete opposite. I also wanted to connect this to being a teenager as adults sometimes think that we have simple lives but in reality we can sometimes feel that we are put in the most complex situations for our age. Friendships in teenage years can have a great effect on individuals especially when they enter young adulthood, i wanted to portray this in my project nad photo book as i have found great comfort in my friends.

Why it matters to you?

I wanted to base my project around friendships as I have found that as a teenager they have become some very important people in my life, I wanted to portray the need for companionship in this stage of life in my photobook by using questionnaires and portraiture. I believe that in mid to late teen years we develop very stable friendships that we rely on to get through most situations that we are put in, we have new experiences and feelings with them and they helps us understand different sides to every story. Teenage friendships are also valued a lot more as we that they are the only ones that truly understand us.

How you wish to develop your project?

I will be using images of myself and three of my closest friends in my exam project, i chose to only include three of my friends as i wanted to focus more into how females and males tend to have different dynamics in their friendships and as I cannot cater for the male perspective i will be using the female perspective on friendships. I will include individual portraits of our faces and different part of our bodies as well as clothing and shoes. There will also be duo photographs and group images to try and break up the individual photographs. I want to experiment with both naturalistic portraits where the subjects will not be posing and just caught in their natural state but I will also use posed portraiture in the studio to get a more professional look to some of my images.

When and where you intend to begin your project?

I will being my project by getting each of my subject to wear their favorite outfits as it relates to one of the questions that I will be including in my questionnaire. I want some of my images to connect specifically with the questions, I will do this in the photography studio in school as I want and clean and neutral background for this specific photoshoot. I will also be trying to find different places around Jersey where I will be able to create interesting photographs but that also I will be able to match with the studio images. I want to try and get images down in St Ouens, possibly with the sunset as i want to try and recreate an image inspired by Kayla Varley, when you can see the silhouette of her subjects with a saturated gradient in the sky.

For this photoshoot, I had chosen a few scenarios/professions that I wanted to imitate and photograph, mainly focusing on male dominated professions in order to contrast the femininity of my first shoot whilst still leaning into certain themes – such as nurture – to poke fun at some stereotypes/behaviours. I decided to focus on 3 professions: boxers, mechanics and rockstars as they all differ from one another and I thought I could use different props and expressions to create interesting photographs around the topic of gender stereotypes.

Contact Sheets:

Throughout this photoshoot, I was focusing more on embracing each profession and using makeup & props to help me look the part rather than exaggerating like I did in my previous shoot. I did this in order to get a more natural set of images, trying to reference how there are many stereotypes that make it difficult for women/feminine presenting people to succeed in male dominated professions without dealing with prejudices. I tried using composition to get this point across, often getting my face either not in frame or cut off to show how often women can get ignored or cast aside within certain professions despite having the correct skills.

As I went through the shoot, I found myself being the most inspired by the mechanic portion of the shoot, finding different props which I feel helped to elevate my photos to look the best they could compared to the boxer and rockstar set of images where I felt limited in what I could do. I feel as though I will need to revisit parts of this photoshoot in order to improve upon some of these images in terms of lighting and composition – possibly going back to the idea of using bold makeup to exaggerate/elevate the poses to ensure I get the most out of my ideas.

Some contact sheets:

Best Shots:

Overall, I think most of this photoshoot was successful as I managed to create a set of images that I feel add onto my first photoshoot and topic.

Reflecting back on this photoshoot, I feel as though I could retake some of the images in order to make some more interesting/more relevant to my topic as I think I started moving away from my topic/aim towards the end of the shoot. Despite that, I really like the final images from this shoot as they all have different compositions, stopping them from looking too similar from one another regardless of the focus being the same subject.

Comparing my Work to Claude Cahun’s:

I feel as though my images have some similarities to some of Claude Cahun’s work due to the posing and overall aesthetic of my images. I was inspired by Cahun’s more casual work for this shoot, trying to achieve the same laid-back atmosphere that they created within their work. I feel as though I managed to use a nonchalant pose that mimics the mood that’s portrayed in some of their work, making the masculine nature of the posing/clothing seem more unisex. I turned my image black and white – not only to match Cahun’s work – but to enhance the different tones within the image, helping the different parts of my image come together as one rather than having colour as a distracting factor.

However, my work does differ from Cahun’s in certain aspects such as the composition. Their image is taken from a distance, using their surroundings as a way to accentuate their image [i.e: using the mirrors reflection] whereas I decided to keep my image close to eliminate any distracting factors, trying to focus on my face and the expression which changes how the image is being viewed as the eye is being guided to my face with no room to look at anything else.

For my final project I decided that I would like to make a photobook alongside prints of my final images. I felt like a photobook would allow me take more inspiration from Kawauchi’s work, and that placing my images in a book would give them a new unique way to be interpreted based on their order and placement.

I tried to keep this in mind when selecting my images for the book, trying to focus on using images with interesting colours and light, taking inspiration from my artist references throughout the project.

For example, unlike in Kawauchi’s, Eggleston’s photobook uses a variety of image sizes and shapes, giving some more variety.

Both of my inspiration books are relatively large, to show all of the detail within each image, so I kept this in mind when designing my own photobook. Neither had a focus on a clear narrative, instead focusing on showcasing an array of abstract images, leaving it to the viewer to interpret the meaning of them.

I decided to use Lightroom’s image selection process to mark my images as different colours, based off of what I felt were the main colours within each individual image. I also decided to use the star rating system to decide which images I wanted to use the most so I knew what I wanted to focus on in my photobook.

Before starting to assemble my book, I decided on the specifications I wanted to use, including size and paper type.

I decided to use a large square book like I did for the last exam, I liked the size and general feel as I felt it could show my images very well. I also picked to have a hardcover image wrap instead of a dust jacket as I just generally prefer the look, and it is the style used for Kawauchi and Eggleston’s books.

I decided that when I started assembling my photobook that I should make multiple draft versions with differing compositions, allowing me to find the best possible layout.

The first photoshoot I carried out was located up at Fort Regent. I took these photos during midday at around 1:30pm hence why most images involve a blue sky and bright sun. I chose to travel to Fort Regent because it contains many simple structures as well as a view of all buildings throughout St Helier. Since this was my first photoshoot for my project, I didn’t collect too many images as I still wasn’t sure if I wanted to follow through with my idea, however after photographing up at Fort Regent I decided I want to carry on with my idea. I gathered a total of 120 photographs spanning from simple close ups of Fort Regent, to distant shots of the buildings of St Helier.

Contact Sheets:

Best unedited images:

My photograph in comparison to Matthieu Venot image:

Here are 11 of my favourite unedited images I took during my first photoshoot in preparation for my exam project. I attempted to follow a similar style to the artist of Matthieu Venot with simple close ups backgrounded by a light blue sky, however the sky wasn’t clear enough to fully execute Matthieu’s style of photos. As you can see in my comparison of my image to my chosen artist, Matthieu image is displayed in a much brighter temperature with vibrant colours. My image compared is not edited so I feel as if I could make my image a lot more similar to Matthieu’s by changing features such as the exposure, temperature, tint and contrast. I want to attempt to create images and edit them to make them much more vibrant and eye catching to help me develop further into my recreation of some of Matthieu Venots images.

For my next photoshoots, I want to follow a similar style of my previous images with a simple close up on a bright sunny day. I am going to go to locations such as, Westmount apartments, Waterfront and also walk around town photographing any interesting and unique structures which I think would suit my idea.

Lightroom edits:

Evaluation

Overall, I believe I could’ve carried out a better photoshoot by making sure of the right camera setting as around 50% of my images came out either too bright or out of focus. However, with the images I did take I think they turned out well and had a good response towards my exam project. For one of my images I wanted to follow the style of Matthieu Venot which I think I did successfully however I didn’t carry on following this style as I think it wouldn’t have looked good for many other of my photos. Also, I think I could’ve taken more images of these buildings so I would have more to work with and edit for my project.

What was photoshoot 2?

My second photoshoot consisted of taking photos of the objects which I had used in my initial photoshoot during the day, singularly or in groups, and introducing other objects such as different accessories/perfumes/etc. By carrying out this project during the day it made the background appear clear and bright due to it being white, creating a vibrant contrast between the colours of the different glassware and objects. Throughout this photoshoot I also tried to work within the style of Jaroslav Rossler and Paul Outerbridge due to the objects which I have chosen to use and how I want to further edit these photos in the future. I enjoyed this photoshoot to an extent because I was able to see the objects and their finer details/colours in more detail compared to using a spotlight within the night time and I was also able to experiment with different compositions of how I wanted them to appear in their layouts.

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Most successful shots –

Above are the images which I chose to be my most successful shots, I did this on Adobe Lightroom by going through the images I had taken and selecting ‘P’ for pick to mark them as images which I wanted to analyse further. How I decided what images I wanted to choose as my most successful I went through a process of selecting ones; which were clear and had no shakiness, experienced with various angles such as from the side/centred/birds eye/etc, had an unusual formation due to the way that they were taken and how the objects worked with one another, how the images related to my artist references. Personally, I think that I chose a variety of images as my best shots that have a variety of potential on how I could use them in further ways to edit, I really liked the photos of the singular fork, the spoon and the fork, as well as the perfume and perfume boxes because I think that they work well in representing still life images too.

Colour coding and rating –

To further select a smaller amount of images which I can use I decided to begin a process of colour coding, this process which I had done before for my first photo shoot consisted of me putting images into two separate colours, green and yellow. I used green to recognise and sort the images which I felt 100% sure on using in my work to edit and yellow to organise images which I still was unsure of due to them not working well together or being repeats if images which I had chosen beforehand. This process made my selection process easier for me because I was able to think of different pros and cons of each image and this further helped me when it came to organising my images to be rated as a part of my selection process.

The rating process was used by myself within my work to organise my photos in to a final 8-10 images which I can use alongside other photos from my other photoshoots when editing. I decided to organise them in to two categories; 4 stars were used for images that I decided I did not want to work with as I felt as if they were too plain in how they appeared, and 5 stars which were images that I felt related well to my artists which I have chosen and had further potential with editing in different ways as well.

Evaluation of some images I chose to be my most successful –

Image 1:

• I like how there is a dark band of colour around the edge of the image, creating a heavy contrast against the vibrant colour further within to the plain white background. This creates the idea of a barrier which is protecting others from what may be in the middle of the cup because the colour red can be seen as a sign of danger.
• I like how the cup gets darker in the middle of the photograph, this adds depth in to the photograph.
• As the photo is taken from a birds eye view this emphasises the fact that you are looking down in to the glass due to the effect of depth created from the darker colour in the middle.

Image 2:

• I like thw simplicity of the image as it is a singular fork in solitide.
• I liike how there is also a slight shadow underneath the fork as it starts off quite dark yet subtle and trails off.
• I like the way that the fork curves within the photograph because the image is quite plain so this adds some difference and subtle variety in to the photograph.
• In further editing of this photograph, I will experiment with different ways to crop the photo to enhance how it appears within being the main focus of the photo.

Image 3:

• I like the placing of the spoon on top of the fork as it creates different lines, shapes and bends within the photograph and with further editing this can be manipulated through different effects e.g. filters/black and white/exposures in Lightroom and photoshop to transform how the photo turns out.
• I like how there is a slight refection in the spoon of the surroundings and then how there is also a reflection in the fork of the spoon. This is a subtle effect of reflections which I wanted to include within my work.
• I also like how the camera has captured the imperfections of the spoons and the forks, showing the wear on them and how they have come from a household that use them frequently which adds character and story to the image.

Image 4:

• This photo reminds me of a photograph from Jaroslav Rossler which he also took but from a dofferent angle, which I wish that I experimented further with but could achioeve through editing in different ways.
• I also like how the height of the perfume bottles work alongside one another as it adds dimension towards the photograph as if they were the same height they would look too uniformed.
• In further editing I will make sure that the photograph is recentered as it is slightly wonky due to how it was taken, but this is not a big issue.

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Least successful shots –

Above are the images which I chose to be my least successful shots which I had taken throughout my second photoshoot. I did this by selecting ‘X’ for images that I wanted to reject, the way in which I decided this was through; repeats of images, the framing of images, if the images were blurry, if they were too plain in how they appeared and if the objects which I had chosen to use did not work well together. Personally, I found it quite difficult to decide on images which I chose to be my most successful due to being my least successful throughout this photoshoot, this is because I did not enjoy how this photoshoot was done during the day instead of using a flashlight to create different shadows and reflections. If I were to do this photoshoot again, I would look into using a mirror, this would help with gaining different perspectives and reflections, or even a small spotlight to help with creating different shadows and manipulating where they fell on the background.

Evaluation of some shots I chose to be my least successful –

Image 1:

• The image is off centred and wonky which I do not like as the object in the glass isn’t straight which also doesn’t help the glass to appear as if it is in an upright position.
• The detailing at the front where it is slightly chipped is blurred, this doesn’t give the effect of it being as worn as I would like it to be as you are not able to see it.
• I do think that the detailing on the glass is quite precise in how it appears, this means that you are mostly able to see it all clearly as it is quite different and unique.

Image 2:

• Only the front half of the glass is in focus whereas the rest in the background is out of focus which I do not like even though it does create a depth of field within the photograph.
• The colour of the glass isn’t that clear or as vibrant as I would like it to be and it becomes quite light at the back which makes it appear as if it is lost in the white background.
• The image is too simple in its composition, there is nothing exciting or intriguing about the image and how it looks.
• I do like how the natural light falls on the side of the glass and creates a subtle yet effective shadow which is varied in it’s colour as it is lighter in some places compared to others where it is darker.

Image 3:

• I do not like the placement of the hair clips on the ladle as they look as if they are falling off and as if they have just been placed there randomly.
• The ladle is not as shiny as I would like it to be in the light, appearing to be quite dull which makes the blue clip get lost within the photograph as well as it blends in.
• There is no shadow or dimension in the photograph which could have been created by adding an extra spotlight or some sort of forced light which makes the object look as if it floating.

Image 4:

• The ladle is tilted due to the way that it is being held, this makes the image seen as if it is quite off centred and as if the perfume bottle is falling off.
• I do not like how I have placed the perfume bottle and the ladle together, personally I do not think that they work well alongside one another.
• Due to the light colour of the perfume, as well as being in a clear bottle, it gets lost within the background of the photograph and you can’t see the logo on the bottle that says the name of the perfume.

My idea for this exam project is to capture unique angles of contrasting architecture throughout Jersey, focusing on the binary description of simple & complex. Inspired by photographers such as Gabrielli Basilico and Matthieu Venot, I will use techniques such as low angles or framing to capture a series of Images showing variety in architectural design.

To me simple & complex simply means the physical/ visual appearance of something, whether it be an intricate finance building or a simple flat block blended into the sky to look like a painting. This is why I have chosen to focus my study on architecture as it can often be described as on either end of this scale. I do however believe that while a photo may be perceived as simple upon first looks, when given meaning &/or context something simple can also be complex. This could be things such as historical or cultural significance of the building, usually related to its history- for example Buckingham Palace is frequently photographed as it represents the wealth and status of the royal family, and England how ever it also represents the divide between the classes in England. I will be using this sort of association by creating pieces based on Jersey financial buildings + new high end apartments as they stand at the centre of Jersey inevitable gentrifiation.

I will be presenting my work in the form of framed prints, varying in size- some of which I will be framing next to each other in order to give contrast (eg simple candid shot of a wall next to a complex photo of a church) as well as pieces which appear as somewhat complex patterns art on first look. Alongside this I will be attempting to create a sort of collage of some of my prints . In order to further expand my project, I will be sampling the sounds I hear while I am taking these photos, and producing a sound track to play over a display of my images. I plan to use things such as bird noises, cars passing by, the echoing voices from children inside fort regent etc to give my photos some more depth and link to my previous idea on how context creates complexity.