PROJECT FIN
My digital media project is called Graffiti, Drugs and the Youth Today. It focuses on the issue of the dramatic changes of youths in this day and age and their expression through art. The photographs I’ve taken are from a warehouse located in Marrickville, NSW where a group of youths reside. The youths express their angst and emotions through graffiti (a controversial form of artwork) and drugs without the interruptions of authority and very little order. It’s true what they say; a picture is worth a thousand words.
My prior skills in photography were limited before this production although through experimentation I was able to produce a selection of photographs that I felt clearly expressed my project. In the production I was the photographer and editor. I used my friend’s Nikon d90 and Slik Pro 400DX tripod for capturing the images and then uploaded them onto a computer running Adobe Lightroom. Adobe Lightroom is an image management database that assists in the viewing, editing, and managing of digital photographs. Once uploaded to Lightroom, I was able to manipulate the photographs’ exposure and add filters to change each photograph to my desire. The photographs were then uploaded to my Flickr account and later on embedded into my Tumblr Blog. The production process ran very smoothly as the people featured in the photographs were not posing but acting naturally which I later discovered is labelled candid photography. The reason I chose candid photography over posed photography is because candid photographs are an outstanding way to capture the true emotion and portray the unaffected impression of a given instant. A posed photograph usually has the person putting on a façade while candid photography eliminates that. As these photographs weren’t posed, I had to take many photos in which I only choose 14 to illustrate my project. The process of choosing which images were worthwhile was a very tedious but vital part to this project. In the future if I was to do this project differently I would get a second opinion on the choices of photographs, as the choice to decide from was extensive. The experimentation of different camera angles and the ability to focus on specific detail allowed me to really have some fun with this project. At first I wasn’t really sure how to take a properly focused photograph as I was used to a point and shoot method of photography but with an SLR you are required to manually focus and determine shutter speed etc. After a quick tutorial from my friend I picked up the process and was able to produce a number of quality photographs. A tripod is a very useful tool in photography as it’s used to stabilize and hoist a camera, which eliminates unwanted blur and distortion.
I learnt that when undertaking a digital media production you must realistically plan your schedule. My proposal was to film a video on the charity Dreams2Live4 although this project wasn’t able to happen as to follow the participants of the charity would take plenty of time that I didn’t have. Although I am extremely happy with the end result of this new digital media project, I would like to undertake my initial proposal further on in my university degree. I learnt how photographs were correctly taken on equipment such as SLR’s and edited on industry-suited programs like Adobe Lightroom. I learnt how to upload to an online photo management and sharing website such as Flickr. As digital media productions are being created, edited and produced at all times, it’s interesting to see how I decided to direct my digital story. This digital story could be shared virally and people from all over the globe could view and comment their ideas on the story. My Flickr album would be seen by many people on a global spectrum if I shared it on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. I believe my digital media production would take off virally with the pop culture of the youth today as it explores the emotions behind graffiti and drugs which has always been an explored mystery by the youth of today. I incorporate the innovation of the youths as they made makeshift clothes hangers and use their creative minds to produce works of art on the walls of their home. I can only imagine what other innovative ideas and progressions to the warehouse will be.
My project is shared online at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/65179687@N04/
