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Email to Annelise Philips. I decided to email Annelise for many reasons, but mainly because she influenced my current project. I asked her a few burning questions, about the industry and how to get into an agency. Plus questions about her practice and work. I am still waiting to hear back.

Potter Rachel wants to work with me again! Yesterday I had an email from Rachel asking if I could shoot some still life for her. I emailed her back with yes, of course I would love to. However, it couldn’t be a worse timing with hand in. I explained I could this week, but would love to shoot with her at the weekend if she is free.

PHOTOGRAPHIC AGENCIES. Agencies are a great way getting support with your work. With an agency you will gain more commissioned work however a small percentage from you to the agency. I’ve looked in to various of agencies with the help of the AOP website. Ideally, I would like to be represent by an agent. After going through all of them, I need to pin point which agencies are best suited to my type of work. Here are a couple I have found: East Photographic East is an agency for creative artists, based in London and New York. They are committed to championing work they believe in. Their roster has been carefully curated to include a broad spectrum of talent in photography, moving image, set design and styling. From the beginning they have focused on artists who truly embody their creative output, both commercially and in their personal projects, while working at the highest level. East Photographc has been an agency who I’ve admired for a long time. What stands out for me is how they include the artist’s personal work- which is then turned into commissioned work. Looking through various of artist work, I can see my work visually placed there. Most of these artirs capture ‘life’ around them, similarly to me. I will be emailing East Photographic to see if they offer any work experience or internships. Bransch “BRANSCH ON THE FINE LINE BETWEEN ART AND COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHY” BRANSCH is an international photo agency that represents the best visual artists around the globe. With individual and unique modes of artistic expression, there is a BRANSCH artist for every job, large or small, in every industry. In addition to high levels of artistry, each BRANSCH artist also possesses the utmost in technical skill. Clients can rest easy knowing that their shoot is in the hands of a seasoned, expressive artist who can collaborate with their ideas to bring dynamic, fantastic ideas to life, in any media desired. Braasch is also offering an intern job in New York, which I have applied for.

CONTEXT: WHERE I CAN SEE MY WORK: FREUNDE VON FREUNDEN. FvF is an independent and international publication documenting inspiring people from diverse creative and cultural backgrounds. Their content aspires to present multifaceted personal perspectives that offer impressions of cities, various artistic industries and international urban living. By introducing real people and stories from around the world with an honest and authentic approach, FvF attracts a global readership and remains borderless. I feel my work (especially from this term would fit in to FVF’s publication quite nicely. I can combine my people’s skills as well as my photographic technique of capturing people in an authentic moment in to a realistic but visually appealing approach. I will be contact FVF- emailing them some samples of my work so far and asking if they are taking on intern’s or work experience at all. CEREAL Cereal is a little bit different compared a FvF. Cereal creates a simplistic visual aesthetic. The design is clean and minimalistic. I can see my work contributing to Cereal’s publication very well. In previous work, I created a similar visual aesthetic, telling a story of amy travels. Cereal is all about lifestyle and travel; my two main genres for photography. Cereal is based in Bristol, and therefore will be emailing them for possible work experience or placements. THE SHELBY Todd Selby is a photographer, director, author and illustrator. His project, The Selby, offers an insider’s view of creative individuals in their personal spaces with an artist’s eye for detail. The Selby began in June 2008 as a website where Todd posted photo shoots he did of his friends in their homes. Requests quickly began coming in daily from viewers all over the world who wanted their homes to be featured on the site. The Selby’s website became so influential — with up to 100,000 unique visitors daily—that within months, top companies from around the world began asking to collaborate. The Shelby is very similar to FvF. Capturing people at home or in the studio really appeals to me. For me, I get to see the inside of their person’s life for a couple of hours. While telling a story thought the photographs. Like FvF, I have contacted them by submitting a few of my recent shoots, asking if they offer any internships or work experience as a photographer or in their department. OH COMELY As you well know, Oh comely has been a major inspiration throughout my work. The visual aesthetics string everything together for me. The art of their story telling through their delicate images is something that appeals to me. Previously I have emailed Oh comely asking for internships/work experience (check old posts) Sadly, they don't offer any internships or work experience but they did say if I was ever in London and fancied a bite to eat and coffee then let them know. They are always happy to meet students. However, now that I have finished university, I shall email a couple of the photographers there and ask how they got into the magazine, and offer them any assistance if they needed it. KINFOLK Kinfolk is a slow lifestyle magazine published by Ouur that explores ways for readers to simplify their lives, cultivate community and spend more time with their friends and family. I have already applied for an internship in Canada for Kinfolk- weather I will get the experience is another matter. All I can do is apply and hope for the best. However, the only difference between Oh Comely and Kinfolk is, Kinfolk seems more to be prestigious than OH comely seems more relaxed. I’ve noticed that all of these lifestyle publications have the same aim. Weather that is telling a story of a particular person, or creating visually aesthetic images. I can see my work among all of these publications. The question is which one would best suit me. I feel, I will need to start somewhere with The Shelby or FvF to get my feet on the ground. I feel these two would be good starting point- as I have a feeling they are in a much more relaxed environment compared to Kinfolk/Cereal. Oh Comely sits between the two.

LOOKING INTO PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIOS/INTERNSHIPS: Due to knowing a fair amount of recent photography graduates, the majority of them are now working in various of studios. I contacted a few of my friends and asked them a few questions on what it is like to work there, and if it the suitable route to go down on. Most of them replied with yes it is. You get to meet and network while you are working. Plus you get discounts on the actual studio. Here are a few studio’s I have found already and a job:

Final Evaluation on BA3b: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PEOPLE AND PLACES.

At the start of this project, I was set out to create something literal and personal to myself. Piecing two images together that could possibly tell a story. One photograph would consist of a person, then the second photograph would be a place or an object referring to the person in a literal sense, but the visual aesthetics would be the same; yet captured in an authentic way.  The start of this project proved to be slow moving, mainly because I didn’t have a clear direction on what I was exactly working towards. I therefore went back to my treatment board and images that I adored. This then gave me a more of a clear direction, and from that I undertook my first shoot with two close friends; Ella & Ollie. I focused on my treatment board so much that I gained a successful shoot; creating soft, delicate portraits of them both. My next shoot proved to be harder than I realised. Matching up a landscape or a still life to my friends was a tricky one, so therefore I deiced to focus on flowers for Ella to emphasis the idea that flowers are feminine and soft like women. With Ella’s soft features this worked incredibly well. However pairing Ollie was harder- I needed more structure to suit his features. Being unsuccessful with Ollie, I deiced to give my shoot a little more direction and focused on people at home. This was a good idea as I could capture the person in an authentic manner and then capture the still life around them. However, when it came down to it the situation at the time was harder. This was mainly due to the limited space in my models house and it was completely different to my treatment board. I felt I needed to have more control. But nevertheless, I gained a successful paring for that shoot; similarity with Ella’s paring with the flower (playing on the idea that flowers are seen to be a feminine and delicate object) I therefore played upon the weather conditions at the time- rain! I managed to capture Karolina looking somewhat sad. We associate rain with sadness - (methodically). I then felt I needed some practice with capturing people in the authentic moment, so then I quickly shot Emma on the grounds of university. This was a good practice for me, as I know Emma isn’t very confident in front of the camera I therefore talked to her and tried to get her to seem comfortable in front of the camera. I styled Emma’s clothes similar to my treatment board- focusing on the grey and muted tones, with a dash of pink! Overall the shoot was successful as I managed to gain what I want with the help of researching Laura Pannack’s work. I deiced to experiment on the next still life shoot; again focusing on flowers making sure I gained the right colours and feel. Even though the shoot was a success, I felt the images were too forced, I set them up to make them look ‘right’. Instead of photographing naturally. The paring did’n’t go to plan at all. I deiced to try one more time, and focused on someone who I didn’t know and who was used to the camera. I purposely picked someone who I didn’t know as I could gain a fresh idea of them on the first meeting. I also wanted someone to be comfortable in front of the camera, this would make capturing the authentic moment of them more easier. Mona was the person for this. Mona portrayed quite of a raw, gritty aura. She wasn’t delicate like a flower (not saying that’s bad!) But this game me some indication on what to pair her up with. Sadly I didn’t gain any images of her surrounding, however I did pair her up with previous/old photographs taken on an iPhone with a similar visual aesthetic which worked quite well and complimented both Mona and the still life.  Still feeling mediocre about my work. I decided to change the direction completely and pushed myself further outside the box. I decided to focus on people with job roles. People who I am interested in, such as craftsmen, florists, potters, and creative people. This direct approach would give me some idea on what the still life/place could be. I could explore in terms of story telling as well create possible editorial commissioned work for these artists. Photographers Linda Brownlee, Annelise Philips and India Hobson pushed my work further in terms of a certain visual aesthetic. I still wanted the images to link to my original treatment board. I therefore focused on particular artists with a certain visual style; minimalistic. My first shoot was with a local florist; Jo. I told Jo to go about her day and I would capture her while she was working. After gaining strong portraits I then focused on still life and landscapes around Jo’s home and studio. I was totally at awe with her surroundings that I had to capture everything! After the shoot, I came back with more than I hoped for, and with very successful images that I am happy with. I felt I completed my aim; capturing a person in an authentic manner with a matching still life/landscape next to them- revealing a story behind the person. My next shoot was of a potter; Rachel. I chosen a potter due to it’s desaturation of the clay. I would be gaining all of these shapes, which I could play around with when creating a diptych of the two. Potter Rachel was another successful shoot. I was happy with the images, and again created images that could be used in a commissioned sense.  If I was to do the project again, of course there wold be change and alternations however I felt I learned a lot more because I didn’t gain the images I wanted for the first time. This project will be still on going, so it’s never going to be a end. After emailing photographs to the florist and potter- the potter emailed me back saying how beautiful they are, and wondering if I could do a still life shoot of her pots, as well as her friend’s pots. I said I’d happily would. Not only, I gained a couple of commissions from this project but I gained a lot of publicity, especially on instagram. The photographs I have posted of the porter and florists have gained the most likes, and a new client! I shall continue with posting images onto the internet, in hopes of new work to come.

EXHIBTION PRINTS

With university work taken over everything, I have honestly been putting off thinking about exhibition prints. However, not completely! I’ve been in touch with a few printing agencies who do great student discounts and give their wisdom when it comes to exhibiting. I am not exhibiting this terms project. I do like what I am doing, however I feel my strongest images are from last term. I feel they are completely unique compared to any other work I achieved, and I guess they surprised me when I got the roll of film back to see what I captured. I’ve deiced I don’t want a frame. I feel a foam board or a foamex board would be Ideal. The prints are going to be no bigger than A4. So I will need to think carefully about how to hang them to the walls. This should be resolved tomorrow after my phone call with Jack Quick from Metro Imaging.

PHONE CONVERSATION WITH METRO IMAGING

“Hi Katie, If you are free today or tomorrow then we can arrange a time for a meeting or phonecall? Otherwise Sara is free on Tuesday. We can give you a set of paper samples to look through when you come in, we also have a wall with every different kind of print and mounting and framing examples so you can get a good look at the various options. All the best, Jack” Sadly, I wasn’t able to call Jack today due to hand in. However, I emailed him back about a phone call tomorrow. Hopefully on the phone would be more easier then trecking all the way down to London. If Jack gives me the right advice I will be able to order the prints online in time for the 9th May!

REFLECTION OF ALL THREE YEARS:

Looking back from where I started to where I am now has only been a rollercoaster of emotions and changes. University has pushed my work further than I could ever imagine. It helped me to challenge my ideas and my practice, both technically and conceptual. Throughout of all the three years, I managed to gain my first assisting job with Joakim Boren and Wayne Lennon. I experienced new culture through the Erasmus experience in Germany which helped me to push my ideas forward to what I am really passionate about. I experimented in different formats, such as film and digital. Forced myself out of my comfort zone to undertake projects which I never thought would be possible. Gained published work through various of clients and of course, branded myself as a photographer. Creating business cards which are suitable for my context, and saved up for a beautiful portfolio of my finished work; ready go out into the world as a starting photographer and graduate.

conscientious-deactivated202207

Photography is too easy in a superficial way, and in consequence is treated slightingly by people who ought to know better. One does not consider Music an inferior art simply because little Mary can play a scale. What we need in photography is more sincerity, more respect for our medium and less respect for its decayed conventions.

Alvin Langdon Coburn, in:

The Future of Pictorial Photography

, 1916 (via

conscientious

)

For @deanleivers

(via indiahobson)

Looking at different layouts for my website: I’ve had the same layout/theme for years, so a change would be nice. However when scanning for different themes on format. I can’t find a better one than I have now. Especially for my type of photography. Ideally, I would like to have my images big as possible on the screen- with quick actions to see thumbnails, and max 2 clicks to see ‘projects’ and other work. Above shows another theme which I have thought about having. however, I personally think the scroll is faster than the click to the ‘next’ button.

After BA Hons:

I still remember the first day of uni like it was yesterday. Everyone sitting on floors of West Garth as Juneko read out everyone’s names, and how James.S gave the talk of ‘be nice to everyone’ and how quickly the three years will go. He wasn’t wrong! I still can’t believe graduation is just around the corner. Such of a scary but exciting thought! In terms of plans after uni, I still don’t know. Nothing is set in stone yet. I ordered a NUA MA course book as that could be a possibility (even though it will be unlikely as the thought of being in education for any longer will just frustrate me.) The idea of getting an internship is appealing. I have researched several internships. However, most of the internships I am interested in are aboard (Canada for Kinfolk - as an example). In my opinion Internships are a good way after post grad of getting out there, as I will be still in that mentality of ‘work work wok’ from university. Plus it will help to network around, and travel! Travel is another opportunity. As I have mentioned before, I have been asked to go to Shanghai after uni to work part time as a teacher, teaching english. However, it would be an amazing experience and I would get some amazing shots over there - due to the culture difference. However, travel in general appeals to me anyway.. It will give me a ‘break’ as well as work on my portfolio creating personal projects for myself. Yet, I feel taking a ‘break’ in this type of industry isn’t ideal. The photographic industry is awfully competitive.. So I feel I have to get my foot in the door, weather this is done by assisting, intern, or moving to london to get a job in a studio or something. Ideally, I would love to get my foot in the door straight away and get commissioned to go travelling- best of both worlds there! But that isn’t going to happen straight away is it? However, while I think about my options and of course I will continue to look out for jobs, contact photographers and agencies. I will be in Norwich until August- saving up for whatever that big step is. After the big book group crit, one of the agencies asked what I want to do in life; besides becoming a photographer. I quite like the thought of an Art Director or location scouter. Thinking about what I’d like to do (Job role) Where I see myself in 10 years time: (make small steps to get there) Research how.

Well, this just hit the nail not he head. Also in great timing too (close to finishing university) An inspirational video from photographer Olivia Bee discussing what is aeuthentic, her own photography and talent is basically an illusion.

Postcards & Stickers from moo. Sadly, due to my current circumstances with money, I can’t order any postcards or stickers from moo. However, here is mock up of what they would look like. I personally think postcards is a good idea, especially if you want to send something with your prints like a ‘thank you note’ or a brief message. Stickers is also good, especially wrapping up your prints for delivey. I decided to do personal photographs (from my portfolio) as well as wedding photographs- incase I have more wedding in the future.

My final template I used for printing. Due to not so grand knowledge of photoshop and templates. Mike gladly helped me in creating this template for my prints. The Grey and the white area is the size of my paper (A4) the White area is the size of my prints. The inside guidelines in the white ares is going to be my border. I decided to have a boarder around my prints so people can pick up the prints without directly touching the photograph. I know it isn't a big border, but I wanted my prints to stand out more than the boarder. I feel if I have a very big boarder then my images will be quite small inside the box. Especially when they are only A5 to start with. Mike suggested I put all of my images in the layer box, on top of one another- this will be the easiest way to print as I can toggle the eye icon on and off.

PORTFOLIO FINISHED. Conclusion: Finally, I have finished my portfolio. I couldn’t be any more happier with it. It honestly was worth every penny. (Even though I am now pretty poor.) I am happy that I can switch and swap prints really quick especially if I was seeing multiple clients in one day, and I am not so restricted. I like how small my prints are comparing them to A3 portfolios. I feel smaller makes a bigger impact, as for some of them you can really pull the print up close to you without having to worry about ruining the print (if it was in a3 or bigger.) In terms of order.. I feel this order works. Starting with my current work, and ending in later work, this is because clients will be able to see what I am doing now. Instead of the work i’ve done a year ago. Again, I couldn’t be any more happier about my portfolio. This is for life.

This morning I had an message via Instagram about shooting for Lucy at her event: http://theseasonsatlassco.com This event looks like it’s right up my street! I said I will be able to do it without a doubt. We agreed on travel expenses will be paid for, and me staying at hers. I said, £200 is more than enough. I feel I can pull this off, due to my specific style and recent connections with potters and florists. I can apply my photographic skills to this commissioned work! I can’t wait. Lucy said she will be in touch with me sooner about finer details.

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