Final: Final Evaluation -

Final Evaluation - 

Research Influence on Final Series:

My photographic research, in respect of image bank and in depth analysis, has been a vital component to the construction and production of my work both in my preparatory photoshoots and my examination equivalents.

For example, my initial thoughts about the work of the photographers discussed on the exam paper in relation to connected images was very distant from the aesthetic that I knew I would be striving for but also as relation to the topics and purpose that each photographer and artist worked towards. I was moved by the works of Gordon Parks but felt that I was too distant from the temporal and spatial contexts of that ideology and therefore began adapting my ideas to a topic that was extremely relevant in my own life and therefore came the idea of identity which was partly as a result of Parks' study of segregation as a consequence of racial identity. Additionally, the photographic installations of Nobuhiro Nakanishi were inspiring in the idea of creating an installation but the theme was not as apt as some of my chosen photographers that I later researched. Despite this, the composite work of Patrick Winfield was inspiring in the use of polaroids and these was a technique that I was familiar with and therefore lead my path of research down a series of polaroid photographers such as Dash Snow and Julius D High who greatly influenced my final pieces. 

Development within the Project:

Technical:

Technically speaking I have furthered my understanding of multiple forms of photography in various formats. For instance, my project in both its preparation stage and examination stage utilised polaroid photography. Furthermore, I also used a film camera in one of my preparation photoshoots and instantly felt inspired by the technique and resulting aesthetic. The results of the polaroids and film worked in a similar vein of aesthetic as the resultant photographs from David Shama, specifically in his "7 Eleven" photoessay, and Julius D High's 35mm film series.

Consequently, I have also learnt the difficulties associated with specific styles of photography such as documentary. One issue that arose was the difficulty to incorporate natural and unbiased subjects as the majority of people do not react well to a camera pointed at them. Thus I had to adapt and develop ideas so that I could eventually capture the photographs that I had planned to. To do this I was inspired by the idea of David Shama who, in his "7 Eleven" shoot, hired one main model and allowed her to choose her co-subjects to create a more intimate atmosphere. Also due to the topics of discussion, such as youth and family, I was able to get closer with my camera both physically and metaphorically and create images of natural behaviour much like the way the Vivian Maier.

Aesthetic:
Aesthetically, I developed an idea for my stylisation early on with the link between my penultimate and final exam photoshoots being evidently showcased in my first five preparatory shoots with only a few minor adaptions being present. I have often admired the way that certain photographers and artists have been able to implement a style that is described as an "amateur aesthetic" and this is what I wanted to develop upon for my own final pieces. For example, the style that I have maintained for most of my project has been one of an amateur style scrapbooking aesthetic that also draws from the compositions and layouts of photoessays like those of Herman Krieger. 

Success in Response to Exam Topic:

I believe that I have been strong in my response, research, construction, development and production of my chosen exam topic "Connected images". The reason that I believe this is because of my maintained structure of photoshoots such as the photographic composite installation styles of preparatory shoots 1 to 5 and my examination shoots 3 to 4. Moreover, even the deviation and experimentations that I have taken within the project have still been linking photographs and themes. For example, the entirety of my project can be linked by the theme of identity and its various interpretations relating to the collective identities of age, gender, self and such else. 

Another more explicit reasoning of why my exam response is successful is that the connections between shoots are not only thematic or such but also aesthetic in the technical use of mediums such as polaroid or digital cameras. 

Despite all this, the beginning of my examination work and the desire to attempt to break from a concise stylisation lead me to return to a previously explored idea of photo joiners and studio portraiture. The images that resulted from the shoots were not aesthetically pleasing to my eye as I am someone who has very much chosen their style of documentary photography and the nostalgic aesthetic of mediums such as film and polaroids. I could possibly have improved how I felt about the first two shoots of my exam in that I could have, given the time, created the physical experiments that would have worked both more cohesively and effectively with my other series'. That is the one mini deviation from the connected images theme that I was not hugely pleased with. 

Given the opportunity to improve my work I would have like to create more dynamic installations, like those of Nobuhiro Nakanishi but using different themes and aesthetics, by using multiple mediums and expanding my horizons. For instance, Julius D High travels various American states to study the world and society through his photography whilst I was limited to a much smaller subject matter. I also would have loved to expand my technical skills more so by using various mediums. It has been a desire of mine to use a film camera and learn the development process so that I can use the skills that originated photography. Moreover, I believe that using film would have not only improved my overall aesthetic but also increased my skills of using software such as Photoshop CC 2014 due to the skills such as dodge and burn being terms that initially belonged to film development and editing alone. Therefore I could have improved my work in multiple small areas but I am pleased in my work and believe that it has accurately understood, imaginatively interpreted and developed the exam topic of connected images and allowed me to become a better photographer.

Final: Final Pieces -

Final Pieces -

Shoot 1:

This image was influenced by my preparatory work in that, during my research I studied many polaroid photographers and one who often came up was David Hockney who created a technique referred to as a photo joiner and was created by combining multiple images, he did it physically using polaroids, to create a final composite that is surreal is many aspects. His technique was adopted within the digital photographic communities and as such I decided to implement the technique in the production of the image for shoot 1. Unfortunately, whilst I did plan on making further reference to Hockney with a physical experiment I was unable to do so as a result of time pressures. I had wanted to print each section of the photographs and compile them into a large scale, almost life size, composite installation like the technique of Nobuhiro Nakanishi; I was then going to lay the polaroids around the central photo joiner to create my final idea. 

Shoot 2:

As an extension of shoot 1's ideas the process and links to my preparation work is very much the same. The idea was inspired by David Hockney and his use of polaroids to create a connected image photo joiner composite final image. As such I had planned upon using the below polaroids in their physical form when I was going to make a physical experiment of life size proportions to study my theme of identity but also my exam topic of connected images. 

Shoot 3:

The above and below photographic compositions are a result of my research into both polaroid photographers but also photo essay photographers. Some examples include the polaroid wall installation of Dash Snow, the photoessays of Herman Krieger and his use of black and white and also the recurring themes of identity such as gender or age as seen in works by Nan Goldin and other photographers in my preparatory image bank.

Shoot 4:

These photographic final pieces developed the techniques of production seen in the previous photoshoot and as such draw upon the same ideas that were chosen during my research. For instance, the final composite is inspired by the polaroid wall of Dash Snow, the layout is supposed to show my influence from Herman Kreiger's photoessays and his use of black and white. Furthermore, the theme of youth was present in many examples from my research process and inspired me and my work as it is relevant to me as an individual. Therefore, the theme and style is also developed from the faux documentary pieces of David Shama whilst the collage technique is drawn from one of Collier Schorr's series "Jens F". 

Experimentation: Physical Experiment -

Physical Experiment - 

(Analysis of the composites is present in the respective work diaries Shoot 3 and Shoot 4)

Experimentation: Computer Experiment -

Computer Experiment - 

(Analysis of the images and the process used to make them is present in the respective work diaries Shoot 1 and Shoot 2)

Photoshoot 4: Work Record -

Work Record - 

Plans:

⧫ I will capture images using a polaroid camera (Fujifilm Instax Mini 8)
⧫ I will capture images using a digital camera (Canon EOS 450D)
⧫ I will edit the digital photographs using Photoshop CC 2014
⧫ I will compose all images on an A3 sheet

Hope to Achieve:

My plan for what I hope to achieve in this photoshoot is to continue the idea that originated in my preparatory shoots and was also implemented in my penultimate shoot, photoshoot 3, and that it will show how I have developed my documentary photography skills but also how I have continued to stick to the brief of connected images and my chosen theme of identity. I plan on this photoshoot to study friendships and youth through a style that is reminiscent of David Shama and other such photographers who I have perviously studied as part of my project.

Actually Achieved:

I am very pleased with the final outcome of the individual photographs and the physical experiment final piece. The link to the exam topic of connected images is present in that the photographs work together and the theme of identity continues across all of my photoshoots. The aesthetic is more pleasing to me than my first two photoshoots simply because of my personal tastes and preferences in photographic stylisations.

The theme of youth is well addressed in a series of photographs that make references to polaroid usage, a technique of Dash Snow's, consideration of colourisation, as seen in David Shama's work, and the idea of focusing on a clear and concise theme with mine being youth whilst an influential photographer, Julius D High, was love.

Progression: 

The above photoshoot was my final exam exploration and I am very pleased to end it on such a positive and conclusive ending. I had built a style that I liked for its aesthetic and ideologies but I continued to explore both in my preparatory shoots and my exam shoots before making the conscious decision to return to a similar style that started the project. In this respect I am very similar to my influential photographers in that most have a favoured medium and style and have minimal variation; an example being Dash Snow's polaroid works as his main portfolio whilst his experimentation with gallery installations was less evident. Another example being Julius D High whose main project is the polaroid diptych love series whilst he has another less prominent project using a 35mm film camera.

As this is the last shoot of my exam I will not be progressing any further with more photoshoots.

Process - 

ISO: Various
F/ Stop: Various
Shutter Speed: Various

(Some variations of the process include my use of the black and white filter tool)

Final  - 

The above photographic compilation is one of two physical installations that were formulated as an extension of my preparatory photoshoots and also the examination shoot prior to this one. The above photographs study ideas of friendships and youth culture but from a more positive and less stereotypically mediated perspective. For instance, I developed some of the ideas formulated in my preparatory shoot 4 in that I wanted to depict youth as fun opposed to destructive and hateful or nihilistic. As such I chose the locations of a playground and a petting zoo as I wanted to convey the idea that young people are struggling with their own identities due to the lacking sense of belonging to either childhood and naivety or adulthood and wisdom. There is a no-mans land of age where youth fit and as such I wanted to convey the fun childhood side of my age group and that the images seen in media and photography are too often biased. To further this I wanted to implement lots of bold colours, alongside black and white photography, to emphasise the fun nature that youth strive for but the negativity that often ensues as a result of society. 

This compilation is the second of my final exam photoshoot and was again designed to continue the study and t representations of youth culture within society but also the strong bonds of friendships. The photographs are captured to tell narratives through semiotic symbolism and connotation with one example being the photograph that shows a graffiti statement saying "Graffiti is wrong" and this stuck out to me as it demonstrates the conflicted nature of youth. Furthermore, the overexposed photograph of me and three friends makes me appear almost ghost-like which again links to ideas of walking between planes of childhood and adulthood without a definite identity which is why youth is often portrayed as a time of conflict. Additionally, I wanted to make a link to a media theory that describes youth as an artificial tribe, as coined by Ann Gould, and I wanted to take this idea and change it to fit my project and convey that artificial tribe as something positive, a strong bond of friendship as a result of shared situation, instead of as a group responsible for horrible societal happenings. As such the use of friends in this project helped to create better photographs as a result of the relationships that are evident; much like David Shama said he wanted photos that were in some ways posed but in another way natural as a result of the bonds between the subjects of the photographs. 

Photoshoot 4: Straight Images -

Straight Images - 

Polaroids:

Digital: