1. Describe which themes (Nostalgia, Anthropocene, Home, Feminity/ Masculinity/ Identity etc,) 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.
Anthropocene
The Anthropocene Epoch is an unofficial unit of geologic time, used to describe the most recent period in Earth’s history when human activity started to have a significant impact on the planet’s climate and ecosystems. I enjoyed learning about this topic as you could interpret it differently, for example, doing photoshoots of trees that have fallen down, electric towers, erosion. It meant I could experiment and had a wide choice of subjects I could photograph. I was able to demonstrate my skills using photoshop where I edited an electric tower, compared to the simple landscapes that I produced from these photoshoots. Axel Braun ( artist reference) collects case studies on contentious infrastructure projects in order to trace humanity’s development as a geological force. His studies focus on human-altered landscapes as by-products of discourses and processes that describe the techno sphere as it brings forth the Anthropocene. My response:
Overall I liked this topic as I was able to experiment a lot and capture the same (theme/idea) but completely different pictures. However, I wouldn’t continue to develop this particular topic as its quite simple and not as challenging as I wanted.
Femininity/Masculinity/Identity
Out of everything I have studied and responded to throughout this photography course this topic is the one I’m very passionate about and will continue to develop/expand my knowledge around this theme which will then allow me to interpret it in a creative way which I can then reflect that creativity into a photobook which ill design as my final project. When studying this theme in year 12 the aim was to find an artist that presented femininity as ‘innocent, young, caring, healthy’, Justine Kurland had produced some really good images which demonstrated those ideologies. However, to now develop this I will be producing images which will portray the opposite of those stereotypes, it will show how as girls specifically change (being older, meeting new people, understanding themselves, temporary happiness over long term happiness) focusing on all the problems/phases most teenage girls face. My photobook will have a nostalgic yet deep emotional feeling to it as it will show femininity in the past and what girls used to do when they were younger (nostalgic) and then compare that to how lifestyles change and how femininity is now interpreted for me personally and how things have changed (good and bad).