Composing An Exhibition

As the final exhibition dooms on me, I have started to compose mock examples of what will be my space during the exhibition. I wanted to think of added elements that will make my exhibition both personal, but unique, therefore asked my subject to include a small story or experience from their point of view. As these are testers, they were not to be the final extract, however I have found they give a lot of personality to my photographs. You can really tell who was a bit more shy about giving themselves away and those who were a lot more confident and creatively added elements of humour to the photography.

For instance, ‘I’m trying to make more friends here…’ is included in the small extract from the individuals own experiences, I thought that small extracts like this would be interesting to use as titles for the images. It causes reaction from the viewer but also this is a part that best describes how the individual thrives studying in a different country.

My aim is to collect these from all of my subjects, putting them alongside each image. For this to progress to a better level, I believe a book will be ideal as I can include all of the notes and the images alongside. This could include small elements of locations. However if this is not ideal, I would like to add multiple images of the same person, showing the conversations I have had with my subjects and how the individual has co-operated with me, and the lens.

Interview Assisting

As you may have read in previous posts, I involve myself in a lot of filming sessions, to expand my knowledge with moving image technology, as well as, still imagery. In the past few weeks I have been helping out in lighting and sound recording sets for a member of HudMotion’s documentary on the Millenial’s, and their use of YouTube and gaming websites. This was both because I was interested in experiencing something new with film, where I could introduce my experience with lighting, which has come from previous studio experimentations. But, also because this is a subject I have looked at with my use of photography, therefore I am highly interested in how this could be interpreted using the creative field of film making.

The converse between filmmaker and subject was interesting because of the relationship between the two. Linking with my current practice on the citizens within globalisation, the subject was slightly nervous and on edge, where previous people were a lot more confident and had researched in to the subject they were speaking about. This may say a lot about both the operator and the subject, however it seems in post-production awkward tense atmosphere can be removed, unlike that of an image.

The Archive of Modern Conflict

During a short trip to Scotland, I visited the well known Stills centre of photography. This is a very intimate and unique gallery, that was established in 1977 and has been highly successful from then on. A gallery which then becomes very personal, this is purely due to the welcome that you have when presented in the gallery, however still has a high amount of influential power. On this occasion that I had chance to visit the gallery it showcased a range of dominant work that backdated to the 80’s, all of which gave very strong indication that photography really has created large significance throughout British, and history in general.

The exhibit in particular was the Archive of Modern Conflict, one of the factors interesting me the most is Bertha Jaques’ : Plant Study, where she created cyanotype photography of wildflowers. The botanical flowers in printed on stock, are almost poetical in imagery, very subtle and beautifully created. There becomes a huge comparison between Jaques’ work, and the work of Maxwell Hayes’ Duk-Duk practice, which looks at the tripe of the Tolai people, creating complete contrast between harmony and intensity.

Stills: Centre of Photography

John Stezaker :: The Whitworth Gallery

This week I visited Manchester’s Whitworth Gallery. There was a mixture of Stezaker’s practices on display in this exhibition, including his projects, ‘Masks’ and ‘Untitled’. They both make use of mixed-media, and his way of appropriating imagery to mean something they don’t originally.

‘Untitled’ was a piece that definitely appealed to me, because of the way that he has used well-known imagery of famous cinematic faces, to then incorporate couples together by slicing them, then placing them on top of one another. This is something I have particularly found interesting to look as an influential guidance throughout my personal work, because of the profile that is introduced with these portrait images.

This piece of work, is something I have already investigated in with previous practices of my own work, however looking at it in this context, is something I have found even more appealing. This is due to the framing and arrangement for the images themselves, in a way to work as a flowing piece of work. He seems to find the perfect pieces to put together and create a new meaning for imagery, even with the portraiture photographs. However, in ‘Masks’ this is what the work is doing, by using a mixture of postcards and found imagery, he creates new foreground for imagery and their narrative behind it. 

The Whitworth Gallery

Postgrad Fair

In the past week visited the Postgraduate Study Fair at the University of Huddersfield, as I have already applied I just wanted to learn about financing and how I would get through the year financially. This was very helpful, and I would advise anyone to visit these type of events, it gives you an insight in to what you really need to know on the basis of postgraduate study.

During this, I was able to properly meet with Rowan Bailey, one of the lecturers on the course. It was very comforting to speak to my future lecturers and explain to them the type of photographic practice I am currently undergoing. It also made me confident in the choice I have made to get me in the right career directions.

Final Interim

This week was the final interim, for the final year students, and for me personally my thoughts were on the pairings of my images and how they would work well together. This was a thought triggered because of my title ‘Conversations’, Stella realised that it would show my title well if I were to place two images together as a diptych, one image with an intense look towards the camera, and the other a display of the conversions me and the subject were having, and possibly creating some form of relationship with the viewers as well.

This is one of the diptychs I felt did not work as well as I would have hoped, due to the similarities of both images. This therefore, has definitely put me to the conclusion, that these specific images will not be ones I include in my final show. This is why instances and situations like this become very helpful.

A lot of the feedback received asked me to look at moving image, however I feel that these images show this in small snippets, it looks at the movement of our conversation.

Bake Sale

This week we hosted a bake sale in SU of the University, this was to add to our money raised so far. As a group we did really well, persuading people to help contribute to our final show. We were very happy to raise almost £100!!!

Career plans for the future…

After changing my mind on my career path (from PGCE to MA), I decided to book a slot with the careers office. This was to give me a piece of mind, for where I wanted to go after graduating. A lot of people have told me in the past that they struggle on where to go next from this point, however I want to be ahead of my plans, and really know where I want to be for the next step. She spoke to me about my plans, and we had a basic brain dump of ideas, this was very helpful to think realistically about my goals, and where I would want to be in a few years time.

This has made me think about the Digital Media MA course here, at the University of Huddersfield… Especially as a few days ago Rowan, who teaches the MA course, gave an amazing description of the course and what will be included in this. Now for the applying!

The Scottish National Portrait Gallery

As an investigation in to my personal practice I chose to attend The Scottish National Portrait Gallery, this therefore would help me develop my ideas in to the world of portraiture and to progress my project further. One exhibit that was on show, was that of the BP Portrait Awards from 2017, which showcased some of the best portrait paintings from 2017. I believe paintings are a highly influential way of working on portraiture imagery, solely due to the origin of portraiture how it has influenced other photographers themselves.

Featured photographs used famous faces, from the likes of Her Majesty the Queen, to Susan Boyle.The imagery all had individual reasoning behind them, however it was the framing and composition of the imagery that was something I was interested in looking at. This is to correspond with my personal imagery, in a way to see what steps I could take when photographing portraits, and what may be the best ways to bring out character.

Harry Benson photographs Queen Elizabeth II, with the use of negative space, however still displays a regal essence with the use of colour and displayed material in the images. This is something that needs to be thought about, which will be brought in to consideration, when creating my photography.

In contrary to the composition of the imagery, the display and exhibition itself, on how the images are placed for the public to see, needs to be highly considered throughout my work. Where some are placed behind a frame, with glass separating the viewer from the image slightly, others have used theirs large-scale and intense for those viewing. This is something I much prefer, especially the large scale print, bringing the picture larger than life-sized.

Class Crit

To help me in progressing my work further, I worked together with my peers to create a small test pin-up in a way to give and receive feedback for the work we have produced so far. As much as this was just a small test, this was extremely helpful for me, because I was able to analyse my work in a different way that looked intricately at the photographs I was taking, and the way I was displaying them. The feedback was made via post-it notes, meaning none of the feedback was verbal to one another, both making the process of it easier, but difficult due to the lack of reasoning I was able to give to my peers on my work. Leaving it to the interpretation of the viewer.

These sessions allow me to present my work at their current progression, and it gives me the ability to see what I was succeeding in, and what would need some more improvement throughout the work.