This week we built the graduate show and set everything up ready for exhibition. The process of doing this was stressful as there was a lot to do, and we had to do this alongside adding finishing touches to our projects. My chosen way to exhibit my work was to create a hole in my board, in order to show my video as if it is part of the board as I feel this looks professional. Over the week we have arranged the boards by sanding, painting, and moving them around with the help of the technicians. I documented some of the process on my professional Instagram account, with the hashtag #brightonshow18 so it is likely to be seen. Below is a photograph of the finished exhibition space at the end of the week.

At the beginning of my final major project, my ideas were very broad and I had planned to focus my project on the theme of feminism. The intention for this project, was to produce work that wasn’t revolved around the stereotypical areas of feminism such as: body hair, periods, etc. I wanted to focus on global issues that didn’t just affect Western culture such as, child marriage etc. My first initial research was around these areas, and I brainstormed some ideas to do with this theme. As my research progressed, my interests and ideas started to change. I found myself watching a lot of

documentaries, and started producing ideas around this aesthetic. As well as this, my topic started to change and I wanted to focus my project on something that was personal to me, which is my reason for chosing culture as a theme.

As I originated from Portugal, I was very aware of the beautiful traditions that we have that are exclusive to Portugal. I also wanted my project to be something that I would enjoy doing and connect with. My research at this stage was focus on looking into documentary style photographers, and exploring the traditions that Portugal has. Towards the end of the project, I found that my work was mainly inspired by Dafy Hagai’s concepts, and Tito Mouraz’ style of connecting with his subjects in a documetary style. I also looked at current issues and things that are happening, which would give my project a “purpose”. I concluded that in time full of chaos and dispare, I wanted to produce something that was happy and uplifting. From there I decided to propose a series of books that would celebrate the women and the culture of different countries. I decided to start with Portugal as it’s close to my heart.

My process to produce my final major project involved flying to Portugal, and doing a series of shoots over 2 weeks. I shot mainly friends and family, and made sure to portray the main traditions that Portugal has. I found this experience very positive and inspiring because I got to experience these traditions that I hadn’t experienced since being a child. I feel that my work tells a narrative with every shoot, and does a good job of showing a few select different traditions that Portugal has.

Overall I feel that my work progressed and changed a lot since my statement of intent at the beginning. I am happy with the outcome, and I feel that I was able to produce something that is different, and celebrates the culture of Portugal. In terms of this project fitting into the world of fashion, I feel that the shoots give a different style of editorial shoots by being in a documentary style, and featuring mainly older women. I also feel that it could be a feature in a culture section of a fashion magazine such as i-D and Dazed.

Over the last week I have spent time putting my images into the layout that I had produced before easter break and finalising my photography book. As the images that I had taken differed slightly from the layout plan that I created, I had to make some adjustments so that the book would flow, and be aesthetically pleasing. My process for creating the layout was to separate it into individual shoots but adding titles to each front page. However, I wanted to do it in a way that still made it flow as one photo series. In this tutorial, we discussed some changes to make to some of the positioning of the images so that the gutter line wouldn’t trim important parts of the image.

The easter break was the time that I completed the bulk of my final major project. As planned, I travelled to Portugal for 2 weeks, and completed a series of photoshoots to be able to produce my book that I have been planning. I found the experience extremely positive and uplifting, and I was able to experience traditions that I had not experienced since I was a child, which was very inspiring. I began by shooting some friends and family in their own homes, and my process was mainly to make them comfortable and capture them in their natural day to day life. I relied solely on natural light as most of the time it was sunny, and on the days that were not sunny, the overcast lighting actually worked very well with the images. In some areas where I had to rely on incandescent lighting I struggled a little on adjusting my camera as I had no access to lighting kits. I also travelled up and down the country to find Portuguese traditions and landmarks that I could photograph. This included photographing some ladies in the mountain ranges, and also attending dress rehearsals for the “rancho” spoken about in my sketchbook. I began the post production of the photographs after each shoot, to ensure I have enough time when returning back to England to produce the book and get it sent to print.

Alongside the photographs that I took, I asked some family members to record some footage of myself taking the photographs, and also some of the scenery. With this footage I will create a behind the scenes video, to show at the graduate show. Overall my easter break was extremely successful and I managed to take enough images to produce my book to celebrate Portuguese women & Portuguese culture.

 

This week’s small group presentations were extremely useful as it was with a tutor that specialised in marketing and PR. It was useful to hear her advice as she is looking at our projects (photography & styling group) from a different perspective. In this group crit, I was able to discuss my ideas and listen to feedback from peers and tutors in order to move forward successfully with my project. From this tutorial, I gave my project a purpose, and realised that I need my book to be something that fits into the fashion communication industry, and needed a “purpose”.

Over the next week, I will figure out where my book will fit into the market, and give it a reason for being produced.

This week we were introduced to the media centre requirements form. This form is an important part of our exhibition, and it was good to be aware of what we needed to do in order to borrow equipment. Hearing about this form also made me think more into my final outcomes, and if I wanted to/needed to make use of any of the equipment. This was the week that my ideas began to progress even further, and I started to think about producing a video as an extra for my project.

Over the past week I have put some of my ideas into practice, and completed a test shoot around Brighton. My aim was to test out my process of photographing strangers in a candid way. The experience did not turn out as I expected, and I concluded that in my final images in Portugal I would focus on photographing mainly friends and family, as it was easier to have a connection, therefore the images will looks better. In this tutorial I spoke about my test shoot, and explored the idea of making a connection with the subject.

Test Shoot images: