This series was one of the most successful. It looked at the models routine. I also tried to photograph the make up and jewellery, as this is part of my brief, however I did it so that it fit with my concept. This series was a little more staged compared to the other photos I have taken, for example I discussed with the model what to do and styled it in a relaxed, comfortable way. By doing this it allowed my model to be free in what they wanted to do, with slight direction from me. The use of lighting creates such an atmosphere which fits well with my concept as it allowed me to edit the highlights and shadows in post production without losing any quality or details.
Category Archives: AD395
Final Major Project
Mum Shoot
This shoot focused on a single mother who’s children have moved out. Out of all of the photos I have taken so far, to me, this series made me feel the most emotional. I think this is because I know the back story of the model, but I tried to show this through my images.
Again shooting in black and white, like the other images, I believe this gives the images more depth as it enhances the solitude/isolation feel. The use of silhouetting creates a mystery to the model and makes the viewer question why have I blacked out the models face? The reason is that I wanted to show the vulnerability of the model is so that the viewer can empathise, and also put themselves in the models shoes and see if they can relate to their own personal experiences.
(All photos taken by me)
3nd House shoot
I wanted to develop this series by looking more into what the model did. I found that when she wasn’t sat by the door, she was just constantly studying which I found really interesting. I found this captivating as, again, it was just her alone, doing her own thing, in her own world.
The styling in these images was completely left to the models comfort as I didn’t want to interfere with the naturalness of the environment. I believe this gives the images more depth to them as they are completely left to the models choice, which fits well with my concept of being a fly on the wall.
(All photos taken by me)
David Hockney Inspired Experiments
For these experiments, I wanted to look at fragmenting my photographs, similar to David Hockney, to see if they created a different opinion. I wanted the viewer to look and at first glace not know what they are looking at when viewing my images.
I think the initial three experiments worked well, but I didn’t have enough images to continue on with, and create successful collages.
These experiments were inspired by David Hockney’s photo portraits collection. I used some of my images to create these collages and tried to use parts of photos that would work together. I believe these collages are successful because they fit with my uncomfortable theme, especially by zooming in on certain features of the person. (All photos taken by me)
Following on from the previous experiments I decided to use more techniques for this one. Some parts of this image were successful however to improve this I could select certain parts of the three images on the left rather than the full face portrait.
I wanted to continue using black and white to fit with the rest of my images. However I will experiment using colour to see how that works.
This experiment focused on more macro shots. I wanted to continue on with my uncomfortable feel to my images so decided to focus in on certain parts and zoom in to make the viewer unsure of what they are looking at. I also followed on with the high contrasted look to see how it worked and I think certain shots worked really well such as the eye on the left and the upside down lips.
High Contrast Edits
After speaking with my tutor, we discussed whether I should completely darken the surrounding area around the model. This experiment worked well because it isolated the focal point even more and added to the intimacy of the images.
I experimented with the series already taken and I believe they worked quite well for the house and studio shoot, but not as well with the Sam shoot. I believe the viewer won’t get the same emotion as you do from the other two when looking at those experiments.
(All photos taken by me)
Beach Shoot
Second House Shoot
Uni Shoot
For this shoot I wanted to mainly focus on the lighting of the image as well as the isolation concept. I decided to use only natural light from the window which produced some really interesting lighting and shadows. This photoshoot was successful because similar to my other shoots I shot a variety of angles to experiment with the isolation feel.
Art Studio Shoot
This shoot was done in my friend’s art studio in Brighton, where I took photos of him while he was creating some of his artwork. I wanted to be like a fly on the wall and take some candid shots of him in his own world. Carrying on with my concept I decided to shoot in black and white, and take a variety of shots with a range of different angles and compositions. I wanted to take a couple of uncomfortable, close angle shots to see how they worked with my concept and also take a couple of wide angle shots to show the emptiness of the room. However, this shoot was different from my others as, although he’s isolated, he has voluntarily isolated himself by doing something he’s passionate about.
I think by shooting in black and white it doesn’t divert the viewers’ attention. It also adds to the isolation aspect of my concept. However, I feel like the images need a bit of post-production to make them more effective.
House Shoot
I wanted to look at real people in their real routines so I focused on one of my housemates just having a smoke. I wanted to document this because it is a part of her everyday routine. This was a test shoot for further possible shoot to be done here, using the same model. I decided to shoot in black and white to develop my research photographs, however, I also edited some in colour which I thought were suitable.
For my next shoot, I will make the scene more posed and directed, focusing on the lighting to make it more dramatic and to try and focus on my concept. This shoot was quite successful because in my opinion, it got across my social isolation concept, being emphasised by being in black and white.