Personal Statement 2
Part of applying to university in England involves writing a very long page about yourself any why you should go to uni. This is my second personal statement written to apply for University of the Creative Arts
Creating and capturing memories for other people brings me so much joy and putting smiles on people’s faces fills a hole inside that’s been made by seeing so much sadness in the rest of the world recently. Through my photography I try to capture all of the tiny moments and objects I see in my travels and love to show an honest world with minimal modifying. I'm greatly inspired by Duane Michals as they change how you perceive the world in a surreal, dreamlike way however I also love Vivian Maier’s work as she captures so much truth and shows life as it was. Studying photography is much like studying aspects of history as you get such a deep understanding of how people used to live and even strange customs they used to have like Memento Mori photography. History is a huge part of all art however I am more interested in how photography opens a whole new door of understanding our past and how we also see our own current events.
Although being mostly interested in photography I also have a deep love for all art forms as it aids self expression and helps to outline issues that people may not of known about before. Damien Hirst and Alexander McQueen are my two favorite artists as they didn't care about how ‘weird’ they seemed to other people which is something that I follow everyday. One person's strange is another person's beauty so I believe in always trying to be your most true self and I feel like this reflects in a lot of my work and also in how I dress/present myself. When I visited the Alexander McQueen exhibition at the V&A I thought that all of his work was seamless and incredibly powerful and it made me feel lost for words. McQueen's work goes through many themes however there is always a link to the natural world and to history as these were his two biggest interests, finding out who he is and finding out where he fits in this world. Fashion has been a universal language forever and it continues to find more words and ideas all the time however with McQueen’s pieces I feel as though I can fully understand his views on the world and how he speaks through his art. There's a huge crossover between fashion and art which is perfectly shown by artists such as McQueen and Versace, the clothing that they place on their models are items that you would never see outside on the street but are exhibited on a runway much like a grandly framed painting. Designers like to create small installation pieces too to dramatize the show or to add depth to their collection.
Creative events management is also a big passion of mine as it is about creating something seemingly seamless to those that attend, much like all of McQueen's clothing. I am not a person that accepts ‘No’ for an answer, when my school cancelled the end of year Prom I decided that was not acceptable and that I would put it on. I developed, planned and delivered the event, determined to make it special for the students. Although hard work, the event had a magical atmosphere but few were aware of hours spent venue hunting, budgeting, risk assessing, decorating and planning entertainment.
I am a hands on learner with a practical approach, I love to experiment and test out new things with a belief in learning from all my mistakes. An example of this is my love of being immersed in the darkroom where I have had to do many test runs of the image until I get it to look exactly how I imagined. I get inspiration from all across the creative arts, not just from seeing exhibitions such as the Fox Talbot exhibition at the Science Museum or the Robert Rauschenberg, but also seeing plays or films, such as Helen McCrory in Medea or The Scottsboro Boys at The Young Vic.
Going to UCA for Foundation hasn't always been in my plans, yet as I've been considering my future I feel as though it would help to broaden my artistic skills and would also assist in building my confidence in learning from my mistakes. I have a lot of anxieties over failing or not being able to make something perfect immediately so studying at UCA, experimenting and trying out lots of new things will not only help to place my photography contextually but make me feel more comfortable in things that are seen as wrong or not good enough.
