As you can tell, I don't go in for heavy editing. Partially because I haven't been taught much about editing but mostly because I don't especially like it.
So there you go. Opinions welcome.
Laters,
P x
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
8 October 2011
Oh Dolly, my Dolly
Didn't quite work out as I wanted but here's the shots I've chosen to edit and use for this Dolly series.
As you can tell, I don't go in for heavy editing. Partially because I haven't been taught much about editing but mostly because I don't especially like it.
So there you go. Opinions welcome.
Laters,
P x
As you can tell, I don't go in for heavy editing. Partially because I haven't been taught much about editing but mostly because I don't especially like it.
So there you go. Opinions welcome.
Laters,
P x
2 October 2011
Simon Roberts
Our next guest speaker was the adorable Simon Roberts. I know when booking guest speakers our tutor doesn't go off looks but if he did Simon would be a winner. Well at least in my eyes. I mean come on look at that beard!
Sadly he came sans beard so I was a little disappointed. Simon Roberts is a vastly different photographer to Ellen Rogers. He's mainly editorial. Which for those of you who aren't too sure that means he photographs images to accompany stories of interest. It's related to photojournalism but isn't as focused on the news, it's more those quieter stories you get in the supplements that come with the Guardian or The Times at the weekend. He had a successful career working for various newspapers and magazines but his more celebrated work are the three big personal projects that Simon undertook:- Motherland, We English and The Election Project. I'll quickly go over each project to give you an idea of his work.
Motherland was Simon's first big project in which he took himself off to Russia for a year. His plan was to capture what hadn't been seen before of Russia, how the people related to their landscape and how life after communism was. He wanted to photograph the patriotism of the Russians and show the reality of the country as a place of growing optimism rather than of devastating poverty. Here's one of my favourite photographs from the book.
I just adore the tone of this photograph and it also rather randomly features my tutor's name as the name of the ship. Like Ellen, Simon utilises analogue photography for his work and shot this using a lens that gave a "as the eye sees" perspective. He told us that he refrained from angling his camera as he wanted to capture the shot as we would look at it straight on in real life. I think this was a pretty wise move on his part as it makes the shots that touch more relatable to look at.
Inspired by the patriotism seen in Russia, when Simon returned to England he decided to do a similar project in his homeland and created We English. Packing up his family into a motorhome he travelled around the country with his large format camera. Now there's a few things that are quite interesting about this particular project. Supported by The Times, Simon published a photo each week of the area he'd been staying in which allowed for readers to not only follow his journey but to make suggestions to him about what to see in the next place he was due to travel to. This was the beginning of Simon utilising the general public in his work. It also built up an audience for the final product of his travels. He also found a new perspective to shoot by taking his camera on the roof of his motorhome and shooting his chosen scene from there. This I think is a great idea. More often than not photographs are taken from the same level as the subject matter so by rising himself up Simon gave his photographs an entirely new look.
If you didn't know Simon worked on film it'd be so easy to believe this shot had been photoshopped. It's a fantastic capture and shows one of my favourite things about England, just how damn green it can be. Simon spoke about how he wanted to make sure his photographs captured a particular time. In one of his shots he's photographed an elderly couple sat enjoying the view from a hill and included in the shot is the couples' car. Now most photographers would find a way to avoid featuring the car but Simon purposely included it as it dated the photograph. He didn't want his work to appear timeless, he wanted them to be dated so people would could at them and know when they were shot purely from the subjects featured. I love the idea of this.
Now his most noted accomplishment is probably being the chosen photographer for the 2010 general election for the Guardian. With this he created The Election Project. Taking a similar approach to this work as he did We English, Simon boarded his motorhome and having thoroughly research the candidates spent the election weeks capturing each of his chosen candidates. Again he shot from the top of his motorhome giving the scenes a fuller story in the photograph. Much like he utilised the general public for We English, Simon invited people to submit their own photos of the hullabaloo surrounding the election in their area. He wasn't bothered by quality and people submitted photos from all sorts of cameras including camera phones. At the end of the election when it came to putting together the exhibition he included all the submitted photographs from the general public as one big display.
The above photograph captures the moment prior to the Duffygate scandal, you remember the one, when after meeting with local resident Gillian Duffy a baffled Gordon Brown resorted to calling her a bigot. I think it's a brilliant shot as there is just so much going on in it. It really lets you see so much more of the scene of that moment. Which is why I think Simon's idea to shoot above the crowd is a genius idea.
Now I know a few of my classmates found Simon to be a less than interesting speaker but I actually took away a lot from his talk. His advice for doing editorial work was I found particularly inspiring, in that you should work to be the author of your own words rather than the illustrator of someone else's. I'm encouraged to practice my portraiture work as I think working editorials would be a satisfying way to earn money for funding my own personal projects. I've included the links for each of Simon's main projects within this entry and whilst it might not be to everyone's taste I suggest taking a look, especially of Motherland and We English. It's fascinating to see the difference in patriotism in Russia and England.
I know I for one am looking forward to seeing Simon's next project.
Laters,
P x
Sadly he came sans beard so I was a little disappointed. Simon Roberts is a vastly different photographer to Ellen Rogers. He's mainly editorial. Which for those of you who aren't too sure that means he photographs images to accompany stories of interest. It's related to photojournalism but isn't as focused on the news, it's more those quieter stories you get in the supplements that come with the Guardian or The Times at the weekend. He had a successful career working for various newspapers and magazines but his more celebrated work are the three big personal projects that Simon undertook:- Motherland, We English and The Election Project. I'll quickly go over each project to give you an idea of his work.
Motherland was Simon's first big project in which he took himself off to Russia for a year. His plan was to capture what hadn't been seen before of Russia, how the people related to their landscape and how life after communism was. He wanted to photograph the patriotism of the Russians and show the reality of the country as a place of growing optimism rather than of devastating poverty. Here's one of my favourite photographs from the book.
I just adore the tone of this photograph and it also rather randomly features my tutor's name as the name of the ship. Like Ellen, Simon utilises analogue photography for his work and shot this using a lens that gave a "as the eye sees" perspective. He told us that he refrained from angling his camera as he wanted to capture the shot as we would look at it straight on in real life. I think this was a pretty wise move on his part as it makes the shots that touch more relatable to look at.
Inspired by the patriotism seen in Russia, when Simon returned to England he decided to do a similar project in his homeland and created We English. Packing up his family into a motorhome he travelled around the country with his large format camera. Now there's a few things that are quite interesting about this particular project. Supported by The Times, Simon published a photo each week of the area he'd been staying in which allowed for readers to not only follow his journey but to make suggestions to him about what to see in the next place he was due to travel to. This was the beginning of Simon utilising the general public in his work. It also built up an audience for the final product of his travels. He also found a new perspective to shoot by taking his camera on the roof of his motorhome and shooting his chosen scene from there. This I think is a great idea. More often than not photographs are taken from the same level as the subject matter so by rising himself up Simon gave his photographs an entirely new look.
If you didn't know Simon worked on film it'd be so easy to believe this shot had been photoshopped. It's a fantastic capture and shows one of my favourite things about England, just how damn green it can be. Simon spoke about how he wanted to make sure his photographs captured a particular time. In one of his shots he's photographed an elderly couple sat enjoying the view from a hill and included in the shot is the couples' car. Now most photographers would find a way to avoid featuring the car but Simon purposely included it as it dated the photograph. He didn't want his work to appear timeless, he wanted them to be dated so people would could at them and know when they were shot purely from the subjects featured. I love the idea of this.
Now his most noted accomplishment is probably being the chosen photographer for the 2010 general election for the Guardian. With this he created The Election Project. Taking a similar approach to this work as he did We English, Simon boarded his motorhome and having thoroughly research the candidates spent the election weeks capturing each of his chosen candidates. Again he shot from the top of his motorhome giving the scenes a fuller story in the photograph. Much like he utilised the general public for We English, Simon invited people to submit their own photos of the hullabaloo surrounding the election in their area. He wasn't bothered by quality and people submitted photos from all sorts of cameras including camera phones. At the end of the election when it came to putting together the exhibition he included all the submitted photographs from the general public as one big display.
The above photograph captures the moment prior to the Duffygate scandal, you remember the one, when after meeting with local resident Gillian Duffy a baffled Gordon Brown resorted to calling her a bigot. I think it's a brilliant shot as there is just so much going on in it. It really lets you see so much more of the scene of that moment. Which is why I think Simon's idea to shoot above the crowd is a genius idea.
Now I know a few of my classmates found Simon to be a less than interesting speaker but I actually took away a lot from his talk. His advice for doing editorial work was I found particularly inspiring, in that you should work to be the author of your own words rather than the illustrator of someone else's. I'm encouraged to practice my portraiture work as I think working editorials would be a satisfying way to earn money for funding my own personal projects. I've included the links for each of Simon's main projects within this entry and whilst it might not be to everyone's taste I suggest taking a look, especially of Motherland and We English. It's fascinating to see the difference in patriotism in Russia and England.
I know I for one am looking forward to seeing Simon's next project.
Laters,
P x
Ellen Rogers
Despite having Jillian Lochner set us a mini brief for a photoshoot, my college tutor Dan thought it'd be a terrific idea to book two guests speakers to come in for our first proper week back at college. Thankfully both of them were very interesting in their own individual ways so I couldn't begrudge the lost work time too much.
The first of these was the delightful Ellen Rogers.
In her own words Ellen is an all analogue fashion photographer. However she does work on more personal projects as well, again all with analogue photography. Her work is pretty unique on the market not only from her use of film but from the whole style she adopts in her photography. It's not likely to crop up on the pages of Vogue but you would probably catch some of her shots in Vice. I'll post a couple of examples for you to nosey at.
As you can see she has this really unique and beautiful style. I simply love her work. Funnily enough I did have the idea of trying to hand tint my own photographs for an experimental project at some point. Ellen doesn't hand tint in the way I'm thinking, with pens, but instead uses some very complicated processes of which she would tell us nothing about. She's very secretive like that. But when you have such a particular look to your work and need to ensure originality then you wouldn't go around telling everyone you meet how to recreate your work would you?
Now she doesn't solely work on fashion photography, I imagine like a lot of photographers who work commercially she takes commissions in order to fund the projects she's really interested in. Being interested in the Occult and generally strange things Ellen's more personal work has a deeper, mystical sense to it. It doesn't always completely differ to her fashion work but there are certain photographs of her that have a very strong, almost disturbed feel to them.
Not that I imagine she'll ever read this but I hope Ellen wouldn't mind me sharing this particular photograph and the accompanying history behind it with you.
If I remember rightly approximately a year ago Ellen's mother passed away which is naturally a very distressing and upsetting time for anyone. Following her mother's funeral Ellen wanted to capture on camera the flowers around her mother's grave but each time she visited she couldn't get her camera to work. Growing more and more distressed by the possibility of missing out on this photograph Ellen made the decision to take the flowers from her mother's grave home with her (she'd been previously told this wasn't allowed so she was technically stealing). She promptly arranged for a model and surrounded the girl with these dying flowers and began shooting. One of the resulting photographs is the one you see above. Now even without that story the photograph gives off a deathly but peaceful feel to it, like the young girl has passed away but has done so calmly and without fear. When you know the story behind the photograph you see just how personal an image it is and for Ellen it was a therapeutic process to finally capture these flowers and the emotions that undoubtedly come along with losing a parent. I think it makes for a beautiful and haunting photograph, it's definitely amongst my favourites of her work.
For the most part of the day Ellen talked us through some of her projects and gave us some advice for working in the fashion photography industry. Which may not quite be my chosen path but was good to know nonetheless. She was a great guest speaker and for the second half of the day she kindly gave her opinions on the work of my classmates who were brave enough to show it. I've taken some influence from her work and seeing her commitment to working entirely on film over digital has given me the confidence to continue with my own explorations with analogue photography.
I highly recommend that you check out her website, Ellen Rogers or even her Flickr. If you happen to have some spare cash then I'd say invest in her book, Abberant Necroplis, as it's a beautiful photography book to own. I may well treat myself to a copy as it's just gorgeous.
So there you have it, the wonderful Ellen Rogers. Check her out.
Laters,
P x
The first of these was the delightful Ellen Rogers.
In her own words Ellen is an all analogue fashion photographer. However she does work on more personal projects as well, again all with analogue photography. Her work is pretty unique on the market not only from her use of film but from the whole style she adopts in her photography. It's not likely to crop up on the pages of Vogue but you would probably catch some of her shots in Vice. I'll post a couple of examples for you to nosey at.
As you can see she has this really unique and beautiful style. I simply love her work. Funnily enough I did have the idea of trying to hand tint my own photographs for an experimental project at some point. Ellen doesn't hand tint in the way I'm thinking, with pens, but instead uses some very complicated processes of which she would tell us nothing about. She's very secretive like that. But when you have such a particular look to your work and need to ensure originality then you wouldn't go around telling everyone you meet how to recreate your work would you?
Now she doesn't solely work on fashion photography, I imagine like a lot of photographers who work commercially she takes commissions in order to fund the projects she's really interested in. Being interested in the Occult and generally strange things Ellen's more personal work has a deeper, mystical sense to it. It doesn't always completely differ to her fashion work but there are certain photographs of her that have a very strong, almost disturbed feel to them.
Not that I imagine she'll ever read this but I hope Ellen wouldn't mind me sharing this particular photograph and the accompanying history behind it with you.
If I remember rightly approximately a year ago Ellen's mother passed away which is naturally a very distressing and upsetting time for anyone. Following her mother's funeral Ellen wanted to capture on camera the flowers around her mother's grave but each time she visited she couldn't get her camera to work. Growing more and more distressed by the possibility of missing out on this photograph Ellen made the decision to take the flowers from her mother's grave home with her (she'd been previously told this wasn't allowed so she was technically stealing). She promptly arranged for a model and surrounded the girl with these dying flowers and began shooting. One of the resulting photographs is the one you see above. Now even without that story the photograph gives off a deathly but peaceful feel to it, like the young girl has passed away but has done so calmly and without fear. When you know the story behind the photograph you see just how personal an image it is and for Ellen it was a therapeutic process to finally capture these flowers and the emotions that undoubtedly come along with losing a parent. I think it makes for a beautiful and haunting photograph, it's definitely amongst my favourites of her work.
For the most part of the day Ellen talked us through some of her projects and gave us some advice for working in the fashion photography industry. Which may not quite be my chosen path but was good to know nonetheless. She was a great guest speaker and for the second half of the day she kindly gave her opinions on the work of my classmates who were brave enough to show it. I've taken some influence from her work and seeing her commitment to working entirely on film over digital has given me the confidence to continue with my own explorations with analogue photography.
I highly recommend that you check out her website, Ellen Rogers or even her Flickr. If you happen to have some spare cash then I'd say invest in her book, Abberant Necroplis, as it's a beautiful photography book to own. I may well treat myself to a copy as it's just gorgeous.
So there you have it, the wonderful Ellen Rogers. Check her out.
Laters,
P x
A small warning.
I've been back at college for just a little over a week now and I'm due to update my blog regarding all that so I'm giving a little warning to expect a fair few posts tonight.
So when I last wrote I was up at ridiculous o'clock ahead of going back to college to enrol again. Due to the excitement of seeing everyone again I didn't feel tired until I got home afterwards. But it was so good to see everyone. There were a few staff and course changes. Our beloved Lee Garland of Lee Garland Photography has sadly left the staff as he is simply far too busy with his actual career. This genuinely upsets me as Lee is a cracking guy and a lot of fun to have around. He's pretty stylin' too and can't resist jumping in front of the camera himself if he gets chance. But he has said he'll come back to visit us at some point. Plus he usually takes on a few students as assistants for shoots so I'll have to pop him an email soon time to remind him how great I am. He's yet to be replaced on the course but as far as I'm aware the plan is to have Jim Naughten come in for two days a month to work with us. He came with us to Seville back in April and our tutor has just spent a month with him in Africa so he's quite the friend of the course really. It'll certainly be interesting to have someone of his calibre to come in and give us advice. We've also lost our dry as a bone graphics tutor Max Gattie. He's no big name but he sure leaves an impression.
As for my class mates, well one of my best friends Jack has deferred for a year in order to focus on his assistant job. Of course I'm gutted about this but I think Jack has made the right decision. He'll get much further with his own career if he spends this time assisting than at college. He'll be deeply missed but thankfully I can always text him and call him a gimp whenever I want.
As for the rest of my class, well they're all the same really. I've missed the amount of laughing our class does. I imagine our tutors are torn between loving and hating us. We always get our work done but in our own time with a whole heap of laughing throughout. We haven't really been set any proper unit briefs yet though. We knew before we returned that we had to plan and produce a photoshoot of our own choosing. So that was the main thing we've worked on this week. But I'll write up on that later.
It feels good to be back at college. I still thankfully get my 4 day weekends as my schedule is full days Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I'm so glad the schedule was worked out like this rather than with silly half days here and there. It works out so much better for everyone like this. I already feel that bit happier having those 3 days at college a week. It doesn't seem much but being around so much laughter really helps.
I have a few more posts to write up about what else we've been doing this week but I'll do each separately. For now I'll leave you with this photograph. Says quite a bit about our class really.
Laters,
P x
So when I last wrote I was up at ridiculous o'clock ahead of going back to college to enrol again. Due to the excitement of seeing everyone again I didn't feel tired until I got home afterwards. But it was so good to see everyone. There were a few staff and course changes. Our beloved Lee Garland of Lee Garland Photography has sadly left the staff as he is simply far too busy with his actual career. This genuinely upsets me as Lee is a cracking guy and a lot of fun to have around. He's pretty stylin' too and can't resist jumping in front of the camera himself if he gets chance. But he has said he'll come back to visit us at some point. Plus he usually takes on a few students as assistants for shoots so I'll have to pop him an email soon time to remind him how great I am. He's yet to be replaced on the course but as far as I'm aware the plan is to have Jim Naughten come in for two days a month to work with us. He came with us to Seville back in April and our tutor has just spent a month with him in Africa so he's quite the friend of the course really. It'll certainly be interesting to have someone of his calibre to come in and give us advice. We've also lost our dry as a bone graphics tutor Max Gattie. He's no big name but he sure leaves an impression.
As for my class mates, well one of my best friends Jack has deferred for a year in order to focus on his assistant job. Of course I'm gutted about this but I think Jack has made the right decision. He'll get much further with his own career if he spends this time assisting than at college. He'll be deeply missed but thankfully I can always text him and call him a gimp whenever I want.
As for the rest of my class, well they're all the same really. I've missed the amount of laughing our class does. I imagine our tutors are torn between loving and hating us. We always get our work done but in our own time with a whole heap of laughing throughout. We haven't really been set any proper unit briefs yet though. We knew before we returned that we had to plan and produce a photoshoot of our own choosing. So that was the main thing we've worked on this week. But I'll write up on that later.
It feels good to be back at college. I still thankfully get my 4 day weekends as my schedule is full days Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I'm so glad the schedule was worked out like this rather than with silly half days here and there. It works out so much better for everyone like this. I already feel that bit happier having those 3 days at college a week. It doesn't seem much but being around so much laughter really helps.
I have a few more posts to write up about what else we've been doing this week but I'll do each separately. For now I'll leave you with this photograph. Says quite a bit about our class really.
Laters,
P x
22 September 2011
Back to school.
Yes it really is 4:35am as I begin this post.
My sleeping pattern has been totally messed up this past week in that I've been going to bed at roughly 6 in the morning and waking up about midday. Last night I shut everything off at 10pm and was probably asleep by 11pm. Then I woke up at 3am and haven't been able to get back to sleep since. So what choice do I have but to start my day now?
I'm due back at college later today, at 9:30am to be precise. It's only to enrol again and do those silly tests for your Maths and English skills. But I am overwhelmingly nervous about it. I feel like I'll no longer fit in with the rest of my class having been away for two months. But there's also a part of me that isn't bothered by this possibility. I kind of want to be left to my own devices this year. I'm actively choosing to exclude myself somewhat. I wrote up a lengthy plan of action for college this year and I intend to stick to it. And sadly that means somewhat distancing myself from my classmates. I don't want any distractions this year. I'm aiming to do better than my first year and coming out of this course with a grade to be proud of. As well as a portfolio of work that I'm actually happy with.
We already have our first mini project, a studio shoot with photographer Jillian Lochner. She's coming in to do a lighting masterclass with us and has asked us to plan a shoot. It does mention this is being done in groups but I don't know how collaborative a project they're expecting. Maybe I'll find out later today. But more than likely, knowing my tutors, we won't find out until the day before or the morning of the shoots next week. Still, it's best to be prepared whatever happens.
So I'm back to education after a summer of relaxation. I'd say I'm ready for this but following the past week or so of being home I'm not so sure anymore. I'll over thought like I usually do. Really must curb that habit.
Of course the very best part of going back to school is a return of the glorious student loan. I can finally treat myself to some new clothes and new shiny things. A 35mm SLR is at the top of the list so expect to see a post about that soon enough.
My sleeping pattern has been totally messed up this past week in that I've been going to bed at roughly 6 in the morning and waking up about midday. Last night I shut everything off at 10pm and was probably asleep by 11pm. Then I woke up at 3am and haven't been able to get back to sleep since. So what choice do I have but to start my day now?
I'm due back at college later today, at 9:30am to be precise. It's only to enrol again and do those silly tests for your Maths and English skills. But I am overwhelmingly nervous about it. I feel like I'll no longer fit in with the rest of my class having been away for two months. But there's also a part of me that isn't bothered by this possibility. I kind of want to be left to my own devices this year. I'm actively choosing to exclude myself somewhat. I wrote up a lengthy plan of action for college this year and I intend to stick to it. And sadly that means somewhat distancing myself from my classmates. I don't want any distractions this year. I'm aiming to do better than my first year and coming out of this course with a grade to be proud of. As well as a portfolio of work that I'm actually happy with.
We already have our first mini project, a studio shoot with photographer Jillian Lochner. She's coming in to do a lighting masterclass with us and has asked us to plan a shoot. It does mention this is being done in groups but I don't know how collaborative a project they're expecting. Maybe I'll find out later today. But more than likely, knowing my tutors, we won't find out until the day before or the morning of the shoots next week. Still, it's best to be prepared whatever happens.
So I'm back to education after a summer of relaxation. I'd say I'm ready for this but following the past week or so of being home I'm not so sure anymore. I'll over thought like I usually do. Really must curb that habit.
Of course the very best part of going back to school is a return of the glorious student loan. I can finally treat myself to some new clothes and new shiny things. A 35mm SLR is at the top of the list so expect to see a post about that soon enough.
25 June 2011
Irregular.
I haven't quite settled into coming up for ideas for blog posts or really what I want the content to be yet hence the irregularity. I do suspect it'll be a real mixed bag of stuff because I'm that kind of person. If I expect to gain readership then I've got to be more disciplined with posting. I know I can't commit to every day but perhaps I should set some sort of schedule?
So what have I been up to since I last posted? Well truthfully not a great deal. I submitted my book cover design and had my final tutorial of the year at college. My tutor finally acknowledged my depression but still managed to patronise me. It's a talent she has. Still, at least college is done with for the summer and for that I'm grateful. As part of the final tutorial I had to come up with 3 SMART objectives. I'll briefly cover what SMART stands for.
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Action orientated
R = Realistic/relevant
T = Time bound
I've always felt stuff like this is bullshit but I came up with 3 objectives anyways.
1. To produce a documentary series of at least 30 images of my time of Portugal by the end of July, this is to be a combination of street photography and portraiture of the local people.
2. To re-shoot my Time and Place final idea by September and have A3 prints made of the 5 image series.
3. To produce 3 separate zines, each featuring a different photographic subject matter. The images are to be shot by the end of August and the zines are to be produced in September ready for the return to college.
They all seem rather uncomplicated and for me perfectly accomplishable but I am notoriously shite at finishing what I start. I am in some aspects determined to complete them just to prove my tutor wrong but I struggle to work to what other people expect of me. I just make things harder for myself I guess.
However I do really like the idea of doing the zines and I'm looking forward to completing those. I've held an interest in zines for a long time now and when we had some MA students come in to assist us with the book cover design, they set us a mini brief of producing a zine. Of course me being me and being unable to focus on more than one work project at a time I didn't give it much attention. I came up with several ideas for it and I've still got those listed in my little notebook. So some of those ideas will come up to life and no doubt I'll think up others as I go along. Hopefully they'll be a mix of my film images and my digital images. Of course the ideal outcome of these is to get my work out there in a different way and hopefully generate a bit more interest in what I photograph. I'm planning on leaving some copies around Manchester and seeing what becomes of them.
And now I can't publish this post without mentioning the 4th objective that was set for me. My darling friend Jack kindly made up an objective for me when I asked for some inspiration. My tutor actually read it back to me during the tutorial as well.
4. Take a Portuguese husband come September. I shall make him my muse. He shall be my parlour servant and my lover - depending on performance in all areas. Results pending.
Truthfully I wouldn't say no to finding some Portuguese hunk whilst I'm over there but I don't think I should be so hasty to marry him. So thanks Jack, I'll make sure I work on it.
Laters,
P x
So what have I been up to since I last posted? Well truthfully not a great deal. I submitted my book cover design and had my final tutorial of the year at college. My tutor finally acknowledged my depression but still managed to patronise me. It's a talent she has. Still, at least college is done with for the summer and for that I'm grateful. As part of the final tutorial I had to come up with 3 SMART objectives. I'll briefly cover what SMART stands for.
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Action orientated
R = Realistic/relevant
T = Time bound
I've always felt stuff like this is bullshit but I came up with 3 objectives anyways.
1. To produce a documentary series of at least 30 images of my time of Portugal by the end of July, this is to be a combination of street photography and portraiture of the local people.
2. To re-shoot my Time and Place final idea by September and have A3 prints made of the 5 image series.
3. To produce 3 separate zines, each featuring a different photographic subject matter. The images are to be shot by the end of August and the zines are to be produced in September ready for the return to college.
They all seem rather uncomplicated and for me perfectly accomplishable but I am notoriously shite at finishing what I start. I am in some aspects determined to complete them just to prove my tutor wrong but I struggle to work to what other people expect of me. I just make things harder for myself I guess.
However I do really like the idea of doing the zines and I'm looking forward to completing those. I've held an interest in zines for a long time now and when we had some MA students come in to assist us with the book cover design, they set us a mini brief of producing a zine. Of course me being me and being unable to focus on more than one work project at a time I didn't give it much attention. I came up with several ideas for it and I've still got those listed in my little notebook. So some of those ideas will come up to life and no doubt I'll think up others as I go along. Hopefully they'll be a mix of my film images and my digital images. Of course the ideal outcome of these is to get my work out there in a different way and hopefully generate a bit more interest in what I photograph. I'm planning on leaving some copies around Manchester and seeing what becomes of them.
And now I can't publish this post without mentioning the 4th objective that was set for me. My darling friend Jack kindly made up an objective for me when I asked for some inspiration. My tutor actually read it back to me during the tutorial as well.
4. Take a Portuguese husband come September. I shall make him my muse. He shall be my parlour servant and my lover - depending on performance in all areas. Results pending.
Truthfully I wouldn't say no to finding some Portuguese hunk whilst I'm over there but I don't think I should be so hasty to marry him. So thanks Jack, I'll make sure I work on it.
Laters,
P x
13 June 2011
I told you...
I did say I wouldn't be one of those post a day blogs. However I didn't mean to leave it a week. And I've not even come back with anything substantial to say. Just wanted to post some work I've hastily just completed following a serious phone call from my serious tutor. I could rant on about college as I'm so angry at the way the course is run but I'll just post and go.
We were giving a mini brief to tie in the Penguin Design Awards. The brief was to plan, shoot and design a book cover in the hope of submitting for the competition. We were given this brief at a ridiculously late stage in order to submit for the competition and we were actually in Seville at the time of the deadline. Unsurprisingly I didn't submit for the competition and despite having planned the work never got round to shooting and designing. Until last week, when it's the final deadlines for our work and I have to hastily put together this friggin' book cover and I can't find the template anywhere. Needless to say I just didn't submit. Hence the serious phone call this morning, "you have to submit it or you won't get into 2nd year". Cool story bro.
So I've hastily put together this.
Definitely unworthy of any award except maybe "Shoddiest Piece of Work Done by a Student Following a Serious Phone Call from Serious Tutor". Catchy title no?
I'd go into explaining my design but there's little to say. If you've read the book then the photo relates to a plot point. The font was chosen because I like it. I left the spine white because I like that on books. It's as simple as that.
Anyways I'll do a proper post at some point.
But for now, laters.
P x
We were giving a mini brief to tie in the Penguin Design Awards. The brief was to plan, shoot and design a book cover in the hope of submitting for the competition. We were given this brief at a ridiculously late stage in order to submit for the competition and we were actually in Seville at the time of the deadline. Unsurprisingly I didn't submit for the competition and despite having planned the work never got round to shooting and designing. Until last week, when it's the final deadlines for our work and I have to hastily put together this friggin' book cover and I can't find the template anywhere. Needless to say I just didn't submit. Hence the serious phone call this morning, "you have to submit it or you won't get into 2nd year". Cool story bro.
So I've hastily put together this.
Definitely unworthy of any award except maybe "Shoddiest Piece of Work Done by a Student Following a Serious Phone Call from Serious Tutor". Catchy title no?
I'd go into explaining my design but there's little to say. If you've read the book then the photo relates to a plot point. The font was chosen because I like it. I left the spine white because I like that on books. It's as simple as that.
Anyways I'll do a proper post at some point.
But for now, laters.
P x
6 June 2011
Uh oh...
Sometimes you go to college and your best friend shows up wearing the exact same outfit as you down to the long, silver necklace and lip piercing. We're too cool.
2 June 2011
A sense of accomplishment.
Hey again,
Another post so soon could lead anyone to believe that I'll be one of those daily posting bloggers but I'll tell you now that won't be the case. I just happen to have the time right now.
I've just stopped working on my sketchbook for the day and boy do I feel good about it. I won't lie and claim to have had control over this brief all along. I didn't do any work for 6 weeks. Barely even thought about it. But then in this last month I've turned it all around. I started my sketchbook and have now almost filled it. It's as up to date as it can be right now. The only things I have left to do is shoot some photos of my dog at his home and write up my final idea. I had many different ideas for this brief but in the end decided to focus it on sci-fi conventions.
Why sci-fi conventions? Truth is, I used to volunteer at them from being 17 to 21. It started with my love of Lord of the Rings and went from there really. But I gave up the conventions when some of the other volunteers began taking their job too seriously. After all I was there to have fun with my friends. Not be bossed around by people who'd been working the conventions for less time than me.
So as I went from idea to idea for this brief I considered the thought of returning to the conventions and doing my documentary project on the fanatics who attend them. It was such a last minute decision but despite the expensive train everything else seemed to work in my favour towards this idea. I wanted to hire a lens for the shoot so asked on Facebook if anyone knew of any local companies. I was recommended Calumet and when I gave them a call was told that pretty much every lens had already been rented out. The guy I spoke to kindly checked to see if any were due back and it just so happened that the perfect lens for me was due back the day before I set off for the convention. And as the rental period was over the weekend I would only have to pay for one day's rent. Just perfect. Then I needed somewhere to stay and my best friend came to my rescue. Although in the end we stayed with another one of our best friends. With my new lens I felt more confident about shooting and had a really good time at the show getting over 600 shots.
When I got home on Sunday I went through a quick selection process and whittled my choice down to 40 shots. Monday morning was spent putting together the necessary book and purchasing it. Got a call from my dad to say it'd arrived today.
So today I spent some quality time catching up on my sketchbook work and filling it with as much writing as possible. Now all it needs is the mini brief on my dog including prints and the write up from the convention.
Considering I've got all this done in a month I feel amazing. I've stayed off college to complete this work and no doubt my tutor will be pissed when I show up with something she hasn't had any involvement in. But what I've realised about my studies and my photography is that I have no desire to take photographs to please anyone else. I'm happiest when my photos are for me. And this project has been for me. I'll have this book and it'll be a reminder of the time I spent working at these sci-fi conventions. Even if I get the most basic of pass marks I won't care. I'm happy with my photos and happy with the work I've done in my sketchbook. I believe in this project and I'll defend it if my tutor criticises it.
I just feel so good right now and after a period of suffering from severe depression it's especially good to feel like I do right now. I feel more myself again. So for the rest of the night I'm just going to relax.
Back to work tomorrow, I'll be spending the day annoying my dog by following him round to take photos of his home from his perspective. Sounds arty right?
Laters, P x
Another post so soon could lead anyone to believe that I'll be one of those daily posting bloggers but I'll tell you now that won't be the case. I just happen to have the time right now.
I've just stopped working on my sketchbook for the day and boy do I feel good about it. I won't lie and claim to have had control over this brief all along. I didn't do any work for 6 weeks. Barely even thought about it. But then in this last month I've turned it all around. I started my sketchbook and have now almost filled it. It's as up to date as it can be right now. The only things I have left to do is shoot some photos of my dog at his home and write up my final idea. I had many different ideas for this brief but in the end decided to focus it on sci-fi conventions.
Why sci-fi conventions? Truth is, I used to volunteer at them from being 17 to 21. It started with my love of Lord of the Rings and went from there really. But I gave up the conventions when some of the other volunteers began taking their job too seriously. After all I was there to have fun with my friends. Not be bossed around by people who'd been working the conventions for less time than me.
So as I went from idea to idea for this brief I considered the thought of returning to the conventions and doing my documentary project on the fanatics who attend them. It was such a last minute decision but despite the expensive train everything else seemed to work in my favour towards this idea. I wanted to hire a lens for the shoot so asked on Facebook if anyone knew of any local companies. I was recommended Calumet and when I gave them a call was told that pretty much every lens had already been rented out. The guy I spoke to kindly checked to see if any were due back and it just so happened that the perfect lens for me was due back the day before I set off for the convention. And as the rental period was over the weekend I would only have to pay for one day's rent. Just perfect. Then I needed somewhere to stay and my best friend came to my rescue. Although in the end we stayed with another one of our best friends. With my new lens I felt more confident about shooting and had a really good time at the show getting over 600 shots.
When I got home on Sunday I went through a quick selection process and whittled my choice down to 40 shots. Monday morning was spent putting together the necessary book and purchasing it. Got a call from my dad to say it'd arrived today.
So today I spent some quality time catching up on my sketchbook work and filling it with as much writing as possible. Now all it needs is the mini brief on my dog including prints and the write up from the convention.
Considering I've got all this done in a month I feel amazing. I've stayed off college to complete this work and no doubt my tutor will be pissed when I show up with something she hasn't had any involvement in. But what I've realised about my studies and my photography is that I have no desire to take photographs to please anyone else. I'm happiest when my photos are for me. And this project has been for me. I'll have this book and it'll be a reminder of the time I spent working at these sci-fi conventions. Even if I get the most basic of pass marks I won't care. I'm happy with my photos and happy with the work I've done in my sketchbook. I believe in this project and I'll defend it if my tutor criticises it.
I just feel so good right now and after a period of suffering from severe depression it's especially good to feel like I do right now. I feel more myself again. So for the rest of the night I'm just going to relax.
Back to work tomorrow, I'll be spending the day annoying my dog by following him round to take photos of his home from his perspective. Sounds arty right?
Laters, P x
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