Below are the images which I have chosen as my final prints to be mounted once they were printed out, as my focus of my photography was still life I wanted to keep the mounting of my images simple as it follows the typical structure of still life photography. There were two processes which I carried out when creating my still life images, these were to use black card and create window mounts of one or two images, or spray mount my images on to foam board which I would then cut out and mount on some black card. I am really happy with how all of these images turned out while mounting as they all look uniformed and organised well amongst one another as a set of still life images.

Design

Covers

An idea for a front/back cover could be to create a cover similar to my last photobook, where I use an image that has been edited in photoshop to have a more angular and slightly more contrasting look. This

To edit the image I used the Filter Gallery – Cutout filter with these settings to create the effect. Unlike the last cover, I won’t be editing the colour or lighting as I would prefer this image to be darker with the same colours.

Here I have experimented with the same technique using another image:

The next experiment I did was to make an image similar to Meeks’ front cover, where the image has had its contrast removed and altered to only have one colour. I chose to use green as it makes up the vast majority of the image I used.

In the end I chose to use the first cover I made, as I think it fits with the aesthetics of my book being an image of a natural landscape which has been altered in some way.

Title/Text

To start arranging the title of my photobook, I started by looking for the font, position, size, etc. I would be using for my title. I would like to use a serif font, as that would give my book a more classical look, which is largely the aesthetic I was going for for the front cover.

The first font I found was called ‘Bookman Old Style’, the image above is in the bold setting.

The next was called ‘Book Antiqua’, the image above is regular

The next was ‘Papyrus’, above is regular

Another was Garamond – in bold

Next was Elephant – regular

As for the title itself, I thought about incorporating words/phrases such as ‘sublime’, ‘woodland’, ‘artificial intelligence’, as well as their synonyms. An idea I had would be to write a prompt as the title (I was thinking of the list ‘sublime, woodland, artificial intelligence’ which gave me this idea) which would work well with the themes of the book. ‘Ancient woodland, modern software’ was another idea taken from my Statement of Intent blogpost.

Next I started to focus on the positioning of the title:

In the end I decided to use the top right orientation as it is the darkest point in the image, which would allow for the title to be slightly more readable.

This is how I designed the text on the spine

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Layout

To start creating my layout, I made up the page spreads…

This will be my final layout for the book, I tried to make the sequence symmetrical like my other books as (as said above), it provides a nice sequence and connects all the images together.

This is a version with white paper, personally I think the white looks better for this book as it makes it seem slightly more traditional in it’s presentation, although the layout of the images themselves prevents it from being fully classic.

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Final Layout

Below is a list of images of each page spread of my photobook.

(The exclamation marks are for the AI generated images due to their resolution)

To create my photobook i used Adobe Lightroom Classic that works with Blurb the online photobook publishing company which is what i will use to get my book printed.

The first step i took towards creating my photobook was going through all my best images from each photoshoot and selecting which ones i wanted in my book.

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Next i spent time comparing the images and deciding which images work best together.

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I then focused on the layouts of the images on the page. For example weather the page was going to have multiple images on it as well as how the the images were going to fit on the page. Meaning would the images take up the full page, would they have a boarder all round or would they have a boarder on just two sides.

Lastly, I experimented with the order of the pages in the book.

I began by placing my second image over the first image and sizing out how big i wanted it.

Using the Magnetic lasso tool, I manipulated the image to have 2 of the same characters, in order to create a story for my subject, I believe it makes it seem ominous as if something was about to happen when she walks down the road.

I began by placing my image into photoshop, i then used the magnetic lasso tool to cut out the outline of the mirror on the wall.

I then placed the image a second time into photoshop where i then dragged the image onto my first photoshop window, using the resize tool i resized the image to fit in the mirror. I then placed the second images layer behind the first creating the mirrored illusion.

Financial services are a highly important part of the economy of Jersey.

Jersey is considered to be an offshore financial centre and one of the most economically successful OFCs in the world. Jersey has the preconditions to be a microstate, but it is a self-governing Crown dependency of the UK. It is sometimes considered to be a tax haven. As of 2021, Jersey has received an AA-credit rating from Standard and Poors. The first ever bank in Jersey was established in 1796. The island was the first jurisdiction to bring in the world to bring trust and company service providers within a regulatory regime. Jersey-based financial organisations provide services to customers worldwide, including multi-currency banking, offshore mortgages and investment solutions. It is home to banking organisations from across the globe. In June 2020, it was reported that there were 13,450 jobs within this sector. According to Jersey Finance, a group which represents financial sector companies from the island, Jersey represents an extension of the City of London.

In 1961, banks began to establish offshore operations in Jersey to meet the growing demands of British customers. In the 1970s, Jersey authorities decided that bank licences should be limited to the top 500 global banks. The Jersey Joint Stock Bank was a Methodist concern in which the chapels and most of their members kept their money. There were two other joint stock banks, the Jersey Mercantile Union and the Channel Islands Bank. However, in 1862, Jean Le Neveu became the principal director in a new banking venture trading in St Helier as Le Neveu, Sorel et Cie. On 10 December 1863 a deed was passed in which the company acquired the premises of the English Union Bank, and it may have been as a result of that acquisition that the name English and Jersey Union Bank was coined, although Le Neveu, Sorel et Cie continued as the firm’s ‘social signature’ on their banknotes.

Jerseys decline is tourism

The number of people visiting Jersey between January and May 2022 is down by more than 40% on the same period in 2019. There were only 8,170 day visits in the first five months of this year – an 80% drop. Holiday visits are down by 50% and business trips have fallen by 21%. Visits from the UK have dropped by a third, while Channel Island visitor numbers have more than halved.

It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when the decline in tourism began, although a significant pointer would be the Seymour hotel groups plans for a large new hotel at Portelet in the 1980s. The was a large groundswell of local feeling that this would have a detrimental visual impact upon Portelet bay, but eventually planning permission was granted. By that time, however, the Seymour group had decided that the decline in the tourism market meant that the project was no longer viable, and decided not to go ahead with the building. In part, this can be seen as a consequence of the changing tourism market. Sea travel was not as popular, as lower air flights and package tour operators had opened up the continental market, and soon even further afield, as Laker Airlines provided low cost flights to America.

By the 1990s, there was a market decline in sea travel, and the UK route was no longer viable for two competing companies, and only Condor ferries remained. In an attempt to boost travellers, faster vessels, the so-called ‘wave piercers’ were brought into play, with the facility to take cars on a roll-on, roll-off basis; unfortunately, they were subject to the vagaries of local sea conditions, and could not sail in bad weather. The frequent cancellations and re-scheduling meant that a growing number holiday makers became disgruntled with the service, and their holiday memories of Jersey were not happy ones. Eventually, the newly formed Jersey Transport Authority was forced to take action, and putting the new contract out to tender ensured that Condor entered into a service level agreement; this involved reinstating one slow ferry service to provide a poor weather contingency. The year 2002 saw the Condor group up for sale to any prospective buyer.

By 2002, the Tourism committee seemed unable to define a clear market strategy, talking of concentrating on ‘infrastructure’, although precisely what this vague term meant was never apparent. The jewel in the tourist calendar, the ‘Battle of Flowers’, celebrating its 100th year was starved of funds; the Clipper race, which promoted Jersey throughout the world, had trouble gaining any sponsorship. The Tourism committee also seemed to be pinning their hopes on the planned hotel on the harbour waterfront boosting the lost visitor numbers, although there was no guarantee that this would be the case, and no indication how the obstacle of high air travel would be overcome or the high cost of living and recruitment of staff. Meanwhile, existing hoteliers called for firm monetary incentives rather than vague promises. No one has yet considered the UK strategy of tax incentives for ailing industries, although this might be considered a viable alternative.

What you want to explore?

I am going to explore the simple aspects of portraiture in consideration to George Georgiou and Paul Fusco’s work. The majority of simple approaches in which appear initially simple at first are conceived from complex concepts that challenge the viewer and raise important issues. I will be acknowledging how this applies to my pictures. My project will be linked to that through images taken of people i see on the bus capturing them in there true nature, i want the subject to never know I’m there and just act as they normally do in everyday life.

Why it matters to you?

This project matters to me as i currently have crashed my car so am stuck getting busses around so it is like what i see through my eyes for this portion of my life and i try to capture that in how i edit and represent my final outcomes. It doesn’t only just matter to me as i can learn more about myself, but also because how i can learn more about individuals without them changing the way they are for the camera and are just in true nature, having a closer insight on their identities. I also feel that this links to todays society where everyone puts on a fake mask online, photoshop there photos, and pose but it never reflects who they truly are and i aim to capture that in this project.

How you wish to develop your project?

I wish to develop my project by going on multiple bus routes around different areas taking a range of different shoots experimenting with different angles, lighting, locations and to match the people i see and my own personality creating a better understanding with the meanings behind my final images.

When and where you intend to begin your study?

I intend to start my study in and around st helier at busy times of the day in order to see as many people as possible just going about there normal lives i feel this is a good starting point to find what places feel safe and have meaning to them so i can capture them as they normally are.

Overall I am very happy with my final images and photobook from this project and feel that it works as a nice conclusion for my time on the photography course. This project allowed me to explore more abstract concepts and imagery, taking inspiration from photographers like Eggleston and Kawauchi, and allowing me to further experiment with light and colour.

I decided to compare my image to this one by Eggleston because of their similar subjects, both being images of trees. Eggleston’s image is a bit darker and focuses on the yellow tones of the image, and how they contrast the lighter grey background. My image’s leaves are much darker and greener while the background is much lighter creating more contrast. I also adjusted the hue of the wood to make it warmer against the leaves and background. While there were ways I could have taken more inspiration from Eggleston’s editing style, I wanted to allow myself to make creative decisions of my own as well to create a body of work that is coherent across my artist references.

For my next image I chose to compare similar images between me and Kawauchi. Kawauchi’s image is much lighter and monochromatic, showing the silhouette of a building through a window covered in raindrops, it is simple yet effective, creating an emotive image with quite a simple composition. My image uses the condensation of one of the enclosures in the reptile house at the zoo, and shows some lines where the water has run and disturbed the droplets. I increased the saturation of the colours to try to add another layer of visual interest beyond just the texture on the glass.

Finally I decided to compare my image with one of Yu’s because of the use of reflections. In her image, the reflection is very detailed and cool toned, contrasting with the warm lighting through the window. It is an intriguing image and very visually pleasing with her use of colour and composition. My image uses less contrasting colours and the reflection is not as clear because of how bright it is, and I possibly could have achieved a closer look by moving closer to the glass. Despite this I am still very happy with my images overall and feel that they display a lot of techniques both in and out of the camera.

Some of my best images from across the entire project. I feel that I was successful in exploring the idea of more abstract photography through light and colour, even if I did stray a little from the exact styles of my artist references. I also could have been on more shoots to have more variety in my images but I am happy with what I did end up taking and editing, as these images encouraged me be more creative and experimental with them.

Selection:

I began the selection process for my final images by putting all my images into one collection on Lightroom, allowing me to easily see them all at once. Then, I filtered the photos so I was only being shown the images that I’d previously gone through and marked as ‘pick’, making the selection process slightly quicker.

From here, I began to go through each image and mark in blue some of my favourite images that I thought would work well for my final piece and began to map out what images could go together in purple, starting to get an idea of how the final mount up will look like.

Editing:

Next, I began editing my images, making sure the image groups I created looked similar to one another as to not have images that look out of place. This took some time and experimentation as I needed to try match the saturation, exposure and contrast in each of my images in order to create the most effective result.

I didn’t want to use a lot of colours in my images and I felt as thought they’d be distracting, especially as I knew I was going to have busy looking frames which along with colour would be too much for my project.

Final Images:

These are my final images that I printed and grouped together for my final project.

I decided to start experiment with how I could organise my images on photoshop so I knew what size to print my images, allowing me to decide how I wanted my images to be presented in terms of what types of frames I wanted to use. I decided to start digitally as I would have the option to adjust some images that I felt needed adjusting before committing to any final images. Then, I printed out some of my images onto normal printer paper and began to experiment with different ways that I could layout my prints physically.

Some Experiments:

I experimented with different backgrounds, switching between white and black to get a visual for what would compliment my images best whilst changing the sizes of my images along the way, allowing me to find the layout that I think works best. Then, once I printed my images, I decided to experiment with some of my images by themselves, making sure I was committed to laying out my images as a set rather than individual images.

this is my first of 2 final outcomes over all i was very happy with this one i tried to lay out the images so that they flow into each other with all having similar colours i feel that this one turned out well

for my second final outcome i decided to edit the photos i was gonna use in a window mount and merged them together and am very happy with the outcome this is my favourite one and glad it turn’t out well

i put all of my final prints into a virtual gallery you can find below

https://www.artsteps.com/view/644ba228dfa9cef4a1b20fda

Evaluation

i was sceptical at first about this project but over all i feel that it turned out well i felt i stuck to my artist references very well and am glad i did i like how m final prints turned out with one monochrome and one colour project which i feel work very well against each other so over all i am very happy with this project but if i was to do it again i would try getting some shoots outside of St Helier and at different times of the day to have a larger range of images