DAISY WRIGHT

PORTFOLIO

PHOTOGRAPHY

Through my work with Beyond Ourselves, I got the opportunity to visit Zambia and work with the four disadvantaged schools they support. Within my portraits I attempted to diminish the common stereotype of children in Africa. In first world countries, we are often bombarded with images of deprived and malnourished children living in Africa. Of course, this is true of many African children, but it is not true for them all. I attempted to confound these expectations by picturing children who were happy and were beginning to benefit from public support.

PORTRAITS

“After a brief arrangement of uniforms and quick tidy of hair, the shutter clicks and their cheerful faces are frozen in time”

Words & Photography by Daisy Wright

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SCHOOL CHILDREN

Photography by Daisy Wright

My themes in my photography have aimed to capture people in their own environments. In retrospect, I have noticed a strong theme within my work which permeates throughout much of my photography. I am a ‘people person’ and I feel my photography reflects not just this but also my ability to engage and communicate with the people within the pictures.

My Showcase magazine was an attempt to offer a platform to young people at the beginning of their careers in creative industries. My intention throughout the magazine was to capture them in their working environments and to discover the stories behinds their cho-sen career paths. One of my interviewees was a freelance writer. For these pictures, I decided to focus on the basic tools and raw essentials of writing. For instance, I focused heavily on things like the pencils and pencil sharpenings because I felt this captured the subject in a uniquely creative environment. My decision to use close ups was an attempt to convey a metaphor within the picture; the varying textures and colours being reminiscent of the craft of writing and its different stories and characters.

Photography by Daisy Wright

FREELANCE

Another one of my interviewees in my Showcase publication was a DJ. My initial intention has been to capture the individual in their unique environment; in this case, it was his bedroom. I decided to focus on reflections because his music is a reflection of his own personality and the computer he used offered the perfect opportunity to capture him at work but also highlights a more personal meaning. I chose to use a black and white effect, which is traditionally associated with older pictures, to contrast the modern technology within the picture. I wanted to include all of the technology used in the development and creation of the individual’s music in order to convey a story.

Photography by Daisy Wright

HOUSE DJ

Whilst in Zambia I also attempted to capture photographs of the everyday activities and tasks within the schools. Although the trips main focus was the children, I also felt that the adults that supervised them were an integral part of the improvement and success of the projects. Thus, I wanted to capture images of them performing their daily routines and duties. I particularly like these pictures because of the way they were taken they were quick, action shots -moments that would have been gone in the blink of an eye. They offer a snapshot into the daily lives of the people.

Photography by Daisy Wright

ZAMBIA

“Small bloated bellies become young personalities, with smiles and affections to share”

Words & photography by Daisy Wright

THE COOKS In these images I attempted to capture the cooks at Janna School, in their working environments, performing their daily routines and activities. Although the trips’ main focus was the children, I also felt that the adults that supervised them were an integral part of the improvement and success of the projects.

“Everyday we serve food to the children, we serve with your hearts” - Mary the cook at Janna School

Photography by Daisy Wright

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“His eyes shut tight, shaking uncontrollably with his hands clasped to his heart. All I can do is watch and wonder what his story is”

Words & photography by Daisy Wright

The first brief was to produce a publication that already existed but to add your own individual touch to it. It was important to create a theme that best represented the magazine and this was achieved through the photography, the editorial journalism and the layout. The second brief was to produce a publication of your choice and decide the name, the photography and typography as well as the layout and graphic design. The publication had to show good use of styling and a relevant theme throughout. Within the publication I were to include articles and/or interviews that were appropriate and relevant to the theme.

PUBLICATIONS

Photography & layouts by Daisy Wright

As part of one of my publication projects I was required to recreate an existing magazine. I chose i-d magazine because I liked the themes within their publications and felt the layout was fun and contemporary. I wanted to represent the ethos of i-d magazine so I used inspirational women as my main focus for the publication.

Photography & layouts by Daisy Wright

i-D

For this brief I had an idea for a young careers publication. I chose this theme because I wanted to try and create a publication that steered away from fashion and looked at something more skill based or job related. In terms of layout and design, I wanted to produce something that stood out graphically and by using my existing skills, I was able to achieve this. Showcase is a unique publication that is aimed to inspire, inform and ‘showcase’ the young talent of today.

SHOWCASE

Photography and layouts by Daisy Wright

In my publication Showcase, I wrote a creative writing piece about my time in Zambia. I wrote a diary, which was carried around with me everywhere. This allowed me to express my feelings, my thoughts, the smells, anything that played with my senses, so that I could reiterate and share the amazing moments I was able to be apart of, to others.

EDITORIAL JOURNALISM

Photography by Daisy Wright

BEAUTIFUL GATE

Maroon silk, bold patterned sarongs, joyful tones rippling around the church. I can feel my heart quickening,my stomach twisting, standing fixed in one position like someone has super glued my feet to the floor. I am mesmerised.Voices full of power and hope, lifting the roof of the church and bursting out into the atmosphere, desperately trying to reach God. I shut my eyes and internalise the soulful voices of the gospel choir. When I open them again, I can’t take my eyes off a young boy, forlornly dressed, and standing amongst the other orphans. There are dark wet streaks swimming effortlessly down his cheeks. His eyes shut tight as he sways back and forth, shaking uncontrollably with his hands clasped to his heart. All I can do is watch and wonder what his story is.

As we wait outside, a swarm of people approach us with hands outstretched, Joyful faces and wide eyed smiles with chipped teeth. After the church service, we visit some of their homes. The children run alongside us, fascinated by our cameras. Their few unusable possessions televisions, microwaves and stereos, are all on display like trophies or precious ornaments around their homes. There are tiny rooms accommodating up to twelve people under the safety of a sloping tin roof. We all cram in and suddenly are overwhelmed by the claustrophobia that the families experience every day. The humidity, the sizzling charcoal, the tangy body odour lingering around the room. Flies dance around the space drawn in by the stench of sweat and the potent smell of old food.

PHOTOGRAPHY AND WORDS BY DAISY WRIGHT

The colourful hanging laundry illuminates the back yard. I notice the freshness of the deep green trees peering over us, creating shapes on the floor. I can see the son sat staring at us from behind the tree. I can’t help but wonder how lonely he must feel, living inside his head and not understood or accepted by anyone in his community, let alone his family. At least in England we have understanding of these things. We have the facilities to help people who are terminally ill, who are suffering from mental health problems, or struggling with money and childcare. Zambia is a lonely and difficult place to survive. I am reminded why this work is so important to give to people who have so little whilst we watch our plasma TVs, and sit in the com-fort of our own homes with electricity and clean, running water.

Driving along a dirt track into the poverty stricken depths of Zambia, I am swamped by the copious amount of advertisements there are. Colossal billboards ruin the untouched landscape. The presence of these billboards advertising expensive products is deeply incongruous given the poverty of the local population.

My ears are filled with the innocent hum of children singing as we approach the school.The crumbling brick and windowless holes in the walls mean the sound of singing explodes out of the classrooms, like a geyser, tremendous and resonant. The children are delighted when they see us. They wave and shout and want to show off everything they have learnt at school.

For this brief, I had to produce a blog, predicting trends for 2014. I had to look into inspiration colour, material and product direction and derive directional and inspirational imagery and explore information from as diverse and fascinating variety of sources as possible. My 2014 trend

prediction was called Eco-Techno.

TREND PREDICTION

TREND PREDICTION FOR 2014: ECO-TECHNO Looking into how upcycling as a trend will develop by the time we reach 2014, technology seems to be highlighting all the areas. With technology constantly improving and companies trying to create the ‘top’ product, it’s a question we all wonder about; what happens to the old unwanted materials? Many designers at the moment are creating technological fashion and looking into how different shapes create a garment. Fashion designers are being encouraged into using sustainable and eco-friendly materials for their collections and some are even upcycling. To have top designers creating something eco-friendly it will also encourage people who look up to them to do the same. Upcycling materials can consist of anything but one of the main types that are recreated and transformed into something fashionable, is aluminium. Aluminium is everywhere, we drink out of it, we drive in in, we use it to cook and there are many more other ways it is used. Aluminium is theoretically 100% recyclable without any loss of its natural qualities. Many people upcycle aluminium from drinking cans and transform them into bags, jewellery and household decorations. The aluminium used for the cans can be easily bent and forced into different shapes to create some interesting patterns.

With the idea of technology, unwanted metal materials and old electronic devices, it can create a look of the future. The idea of using something old and already used, it gives a sense of history as well as something futuristic that tells a story. When you upcycle, you are still keeping the history of the product and are just using nature and time as factors to influence the development. We are in an age where technology is constantly moving forward, it is faster, it is better and fashion is not an industry that likes to get left behind. Designers are helping to move this forward and producing garments that are expensive and sometimes not even wearable, with the idea of upcycling this gives people the chance to create and wear this trend without spending any money.

24 MANDARIN24 Mandarin was a successful start up business, selling handmade jewellery. During the duration of the business 24 Mandarin conducted a number of trade fairs, created an online store and marketed the products through social media sites. My strengths within the business were in marketing, this meant I took the role as marketing director. I am now very experienced in being able to communicate well to the general public, as well as come up with creative ideas of how to market products.

Photography by Daisy Wright

24 Mandarin were a small handmade jewellery company based in the North East of England. It had the ability to offer one off pieces of Jewellery with unique designs and personalisation at an affordable cost to its target market. The company’s unique selling point, unlike its high street competitors such as Topshop, ASOS, Urban Outfitters and Accessorize, is that it was able to adapt the jewellery to the customers specification (Including: Colour, size and material) as each piece was individually made

carefully by hand.

My role within the company was marketing director. I used social media as our first form of marketing. I decided to do this as the company was a student based business, which meant that the majority of the company’s’ target audience would be on sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. This was the company’s way of communicating and interacting with its customer’s in a cost effective way. The facebook page was an immediate hit and within the first day of it launching, it had many ‘likes’ and people talking about it.

Photography by Daisy Wright

I spent 2 months working with Beyond Ourselves in order to gain experience in marketing and events management in a charity environment. This charity works in partnership with four schools in Zambia aiming to improve all aspects of their lives through public donation. My main role during the internship was the creation and development of marketing and publicity materials. This included editing images for brochures and posters, creating press releases and also organising events. From this experience I have gained skills in marketing and communicating a message to the public and I have also developed my ability to convey meaning through simple images which are key skills in advertising and marketing industries.

BEYONDOURSELVES

Photographs taken and edited by Daisy Wright for Beyond Ourselves publicity materials

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At BLUECLOUD we continuously maintain high levels of creativity and excellence with every brand we represent.

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Words & layouts by Daisy Wright

CONTACTDAISY.WRIGHT@LIVE.COM

+ 44 7864521138