Layout for printed images

Evaluation of project

Overall, I think my project turned out well. I managed to stick to the photoshoot 1 idea from when I first planned this project which was a focus on gender stereotypes where id photograph teenagers in their natural environments and explore the activities they engage in. However, I was unable to carry out the other photoshoots I planned. This meant that my project only had one focus which was female teenagers as that’s where most of my images were from. I did manage to take a few photos of males however this was only a small shoot and didn’t end up being in my photobook.

I think the photoshoot I focussed on turned out quite well. I was able to show natural moments in the lives of the subjects by focussing on taking images in the moment and minimising the amount of times I would tell the subject how to pose. I think this worked well as it makes the images a lot more natural and less staged. One thing I really liked about this shoot was the time of day I decided to conduct the shoot. as it was late afternoon/early evening, the sun was beginning to set which made my photos have very good lighting and have a warmer tone which I think makes the images look more appealing to the viewer and brings across a sense of happiness.

In terms of inspiration from the artists I focused on, I think I did well when making my images link quite closely with Justine Kurland in particular. In one of my photoshoots, it focussed on group of my friends who were all girls. This already links with Kurland’s work as she also takes images of groups of girls. The settings of hers and my work could be seen as fairly similar as I also used places such as fields to take my photographs and got the subjects of the images to engage in activities such as tree climbing. In terms of Cindy Sherman, as a large majority of my images surround females I am able to compare mine to hers as a similarity. I believe that, like Kurland, my images would be seen as mirrors as I am reflecting my life through the use of my friends. in comparison to this idea, some of my other photoshoots could be seen as windows as I photograph the subject engaging in activities that is normalised for them (for example dancing) and so this would be a window as its taking a look into someone else’s normal activity that I don’t relate to. One of the photoshoots that focuses on one of my friends dancing links to Cindy Sherman and the idea of female stereotypes as dancing could be considered a female stereotypical sport (especially in the past).