Specialist Photographic Practice

[katiebealeyspp]

APPRAISAL OUPH505

SPECIALIST PHOTOGRAPHY PRACTICE

This module has been all about testing our abilities in the most common genres of photography, we have been practicing fashion, commercial, documentary and fine art.  We have done this through collaborations, group work and also individually.

 The first project we were set was a rush mini-brief.  We were given a title in the morning that we had to produce for by that afternoon, the title was on Commercial photography.  I feel my skills in this genre aren’t very experienced, meaning I wasn’t content with my result; however the short space of time we were set was a good challenge for me to supply the work quickly and efficiently.  I wanted to display how customers react to the fast moving world of consumerism.  I focused on the consumers point of view rather than looking at the high street brands that are included in your typical retail photography.  My view on this project was not as enjoyable as work I’ve done before mainly because it’s new to me and I felt I couldn’t produce spectacular work as I found it hard to think of ideas.  However, I think the challenging short space of time we were allowed was a good thing as it pushed my boundaries out of my comfort zone.

 The second brief we were given was the fashion brief, we were put into groups and had to create a photo shoot idea in a Hitchcock theme and then display the work in a Vogue or Vice editorial.  First we decided to do a Vice theme as it gave us more freedom as Vice has a care free layout but they are also have a famous history of ‘anything goes’ for theirs magazines.  We decided we wanted a model that could be explicit, which lead us to using a drag artist; luckily a team member knew of someone who does dress in drag, this made it perfect for us to go down this path with our idea as it was easier for us to contact the model.  We researched into Hitchcock’s films just to gain knowledge of the scenes we needed to design our shoot around however we already knew about his famous obsession with blondes, so we decided to use this as the theme in our editorial.  When it came to the photo shoot day we worked well as a group and all pitched in in all roles, we had good group dynamics which lead to a stress free project. I found this brief satisfying as I have been interested in fashion photography in the past and Hitchcock has always been a very inspiring artist to me, I feel made me more passionate about the final outcome. Our peers agreed that we were spot on with our styles and that our result definitely looked like something Vice would publish.

  For this assignment we had to produce was in the genre of fine art, a tableaux photograph. I first researched into tableaux artwork as it was a completely knew type of photography to me.  When I initially got this brief I knew what style I was going for, which then motivated my research. I definitely knew I wanted to use multiple subjects in my final outcome for this task. After exploration I wanted to go for a style like Julie Fullerton-Batten as she has always been an inspiration through my photography career.  I chose to use photo manipulation to achieve my final image, using the effect of repeating my model creating a strange and unnerving feeling to the photograph.  I am very pleased with my final outcome of this assignment, it has tested my editing skills on Photoshop but I feel looking at the photograph I produced it was edited seamlessly.

 For the fourth task we were set, we had to collaborate with Creative Advertising third year students, this was for an advertising campaign for Old Jamaica Ginger Beer.  I researched into the brand to gain a better understanding of how they advertise their product and the kind of styles they go for.  This gave me more knowledge on how I should shoot the idea the Creative Advertising student had.  I feel we supplied everything the third year needed to produce the final outcome how he wanted it.  The end product worked really well. Our group communicated a lot which made the whole project run very smoothly.  My overall opinion on this brief isn’t that positive, I don’t think collaborating with third years was useful for level 5 at all, mainly because we are at completely different stages in our education, I think if we could have teamed with second year Creative Advertising students it would have been far more beneficial for both parties.  However I am happy with what I personally achieved in the group, I fulfilled my clients needs.

 For my final project I was really excited to carry out the work, I was inspired straight away when I read the brief.  For the title ‘It’s Grim In’t North’ we were asked to produce a series of images for the Guardian Weekend Magazine (client) and create a personal portfolio of the collection of images.  I decided to focus on the Northern side of things for my theme as even though many say its ‘grim’ I see a beauty underlying that.  I decided from quite early on that I wanted to produce physical books, for both the magazine piece and the portfolio, so I thought it would be interesting to collaborate with a Graphic Design student to help with creating and advising on my choices for the books.  The couple of test shoots I did made me more prepared for the final shoot, taking into consideration the time and location I needed to shoot. The photo shoot, editing, printing and binding processes all went as planned, as were a great success and definitely my favourite final outcome of this module.  I found collaborating a very rewarding experience and made the procedure easier as I could bounce thoughts off someone with a better understanding of publication design.  After this brief I’m definitely thinking of producing more publications for future modules.

 Throughout this term I have learnt new skills and have begun to find what genre of photography I’m more into, it’s motivated me to be professional with my work and has gotten me to push my career in photography forward with the start of my personal blog (HAVAGANDA). There have been some projects that have been challenging to me but I have learned lessons in working through those hurdles that I can use in the future.  I found the final project the most satisfying to work on and it’s made me more aware of other mediums to express photography.

[katiebealeyspp]

PORTFOLIO PUBLICATION: HAVAGANDA

These are just a small selection of the pages from my portfolio I also made in my collaboration with Alex (Graphic Design student). This is just to once again to showcase my final selection of photos for this brief, however I was more creative with it as I had more freedom with the design choices because this was my own publication.  I called it HAVAGANDA as I have recently started a professional blog that is constantly updated with a select few from university projects and also personal shoots.  It’s something that I want to keep doing and building on, and hope that it could be successful one day.  My plan is to do a publication for every final project to exhibit every new series of photos. I chose to create my portfolio as a book as I was inspired by Street Dreams publication layouts, I wanted it in a small format so its easy to look at and was also considering for mass production as it would be a good way to keep the costs low whilst also advertising my work in an easy and friendly way.

The only imperfections I have found with this book is that in the binding process the centre was off slightly so some of the pages haven't come out perfect however this is the first personal publication I have made by hand so I will just learn from my mistakes in future.

[katiebealeyspp]

FINAL OUTCOME

These are a few of the pages from my magazine, including the front and back covers. This is a publication showcasing the photos for It’s Grim In’t North, I have taken these images in the outskirts of Leeds to show how even though the centre of town is new and pristine, the outer areas are still derelict and gloomy, like Leeds was a couple decades ago.  Many of the businesses in this area have been abandoned and left for decay and nature regrowth and thats what I’m try to display in these pages.  I created the magazine as a physical book as I prefer having work to hold in my hands rather than just on a screen.  I kept to the clients (Guardian Weekend Magazine) sizing and the front cover themes but added my own creative layouts inside, inspired by Street Dreams publications.  With the help of my Graphic Design student I collaborated with I made the book by hand with a staple bound as this is the way Guardian Weekend Magazine binds their publications.   Inside my magazine I have added body text that has no meaning, this is just to show how the text could be played out by the clients (Guardian). I think collaborating with a Graphic Design student has worked really well and has made my work come out at its full potential, I would definitely do this again as the dynamics in the partnership were enjoyable.  It was nice to step out of my comfort zone. Overall I am very pleased with how the book turned out, I feel I kept with the briefs guidelines however I added my own twist to the project.

[katiebealeyspp]

I sat with Alex (Graphic Design student) and we talked through the layouts, texts and ordering of images whilst we worked on InDesign.  We decided mixing up the different layouts (full bleed, bordered, double page spread) for each page as this keeps the piece interesting for the audience and Guardian Magazine doesn't have a set layout, they also have a variety of layouts for each page.

[katiebealeyspp]

After looking at the layouts I sat with Alex (Graphic Design student) and we debated which looked best.  We have decided the more central text looks better. I chose this photo for the front cover as the blank spaces I think works well for the client, Guardian Weekend Magazine uses blank spaces a lot on their front covers and places the texts in those areas.

[katiebealeyspp]

GUARDIAN RESEARCH

I’ve researched the Guardian measurements and layouts to see what the Guardian Weekend Magazine should look like so that my outcome is precise.

[katiebealeyspp]

FINAL SHOOT

These are some of the final photos, I narrowed all my images down to my favourites then asked my peers which ones they appreciated more and thought went better with my aim, this helped me chose the really strong ones and have more of an insight to how my photos will be perceived by an audience. So now I have 17 images for the Guardian Weekend Magazine and my portfolio. Even though these sites are supposedly grim I wanted to show a type of beauty to them, what I saw; I showed the beauty through reflections and sometimes symetry. I felt like I didn’t need to edit the images as I wanted them slightly dim and dark to keep the realness in them. In my research into Mathew Merretts work he uses a prominent, usually colourful, object in many of his images to make a dull seen brighten up, this could be any thing or an object.  I have also done this in some of my photos as I really liked the effect it can give a ‘grim’ scene.

[katiebealeyspp]

FINAL SHOOT

This is a contact sheet of my final shoot.  I’m really pleased with how it has come out, I have a wide variety of locations for this shoot that I’d planned since my test shoots, the time of day was perfect too! I took the photos in Hyde Park and Kirkstall areas, this is mainly because I think these are the most run down areas I know of Leeds.  The main location was near Kirkstall, it was an abandoned site with plants that had grown back through the concrete, massive piles of bricks that had clearly been there for months, flooded areas, graffiti and anti-social behaviour was apparent and it was right next to the canal which you could visibly see pollution in; I felt like this was the correct environment to display the ‘gruesome’ side of Leeds.  

[katiebealeyspp]

TEST SHOOT

For this shoot I focused more on puddles after getting inspiration from Shane Vincent, I was trying to capture the reflections in them to see to parts of the photo.  I also wanted to try and shoot the pollution there was in the water, it didn’t come out as clear as the naked eye, even after changing the aperture and shutter speed, but I will try and improve on this for the final photo-shoot.

[katiebealeyspp]

TEST SHOOT

This test shoot I tried doing at twilight so that it gave a dull and moody effect, I thought this worked well, but because it’s the winter season, the light quickly turned to dark and for me this wasn’t as appealing in what I was aiming for.  So I may need to rethink at what time of day I take my images, I think it should be slightly earlier when I head out to take them.

[katiebealeyspp]

COLLABORATION

From my research, I’ve found Street Dreams really inspiring and a think it would be a great way to exhibit my work and also to create a unique layout for the Guardian Weekend Magazine. So I’ve decided that I want to collaborate with a Graphic Design student, I sent out an email to the whole of Level 5 and got a response from Alex Robertson.    After some brief emails explain what I would like to achieve we have started to meet to discuss in further detail. The reason why I want to do a collaboration is because I think if I have assistance with someone who is experienced in this field will help me create a professional publication.

[katiebealeyspp]

STREET DREAMS

Street Dreams is a publication that focuses on different genres in photography however they mostly focus on street photography so this is the perfect publication to look at for this brief, not only is the photography outstanding the layout is up and coming and original, this is inspiring me produce a publication for this project.

[katiebealeyspp]

SHANE VINCENT

This is another Instagram I’m very fond of.  I found both these Instagram accounts through the publication Street Dreams Magazine.  I like the style of this photographer, it may be something I want to apply to my photos, maybe just in the respect of editing but probably shooting as well. 

[katiebealeyspp]

Mathew Merrett

This is another photographer I admire, his style has always been ‘decay’ and grim scenes, however I find he has a way of making them have a beauty to them.  Each of these photos is from a different series of his (from left to right: Urban Decay, Urban Decay, Still Mine Series, Street Lights), I want to incorporate his style into my series too, I like the drained colour he has in his images whilst a lot of them have a flair that stands out; a vibrant coloured door or cone, or symmetry and reflection he uses a lot too.

[katiebealeyspp]

INSIGHTING

This is an instagram I have been following for a while now, I’ve always appreciated every image they post and they have really inspired me to get into documentary and street photography.  I want this sort of style to come through in my final series.

[katiebealeyspp]

From top to bottom: Lewis Baltz Robert Adams- Tract House, Westminster, Colorado 1974 Paul Graham- Troubled Land Paul Graham- Troubled Land Robert Polidori- Zones of Exclusion

These photographs are what I picked out from our seminar on Documentary photography, they are the ones that really spoke to me and stood out.  When I got the brief the mix of these styles is the look I want to go for with my series of images.  The look of abandoned and deserted scenes, these look the most striking and will get across the main aim of the brief to the audience, Its Grim In’t North.

[katiebealeyspp]

IDEA

For this project I’ve decided to capture Leeds in its grimmest form.  I realise this is a pretty obvious idea that I’ve taken from the brief, however I’m going to make it look more unique and stand out through making a physical publication.  Leeds city is on the uprise and has become one of the main cities in the UK for business and for commercial.  I plan to go out of the centre of Leeds and find the horrible derelict areas to show the truths of the city and how there is still a long way to go before its at the highest level it could be. I want to experiment with photography using symetry and reflection.