updated portfolio
DESCRIPTION
graffiti tagTRANSCRIPT
Georgia Duke
Photography
Portfolio
Contextual statement
Following the weekly briefs to complete of varying technical and conceptual difficulty I have produced my first portfolio for my photography module. I have really enjoyed completing the week to week briefs and producing photographs for this purpose as a first time.
When approaching the first brief, self portraiture is something I know quite little about so I found reading the article on reflections on self portraiture very helpful and immediately knew what I wanted to fulfil for this task especially as I took a more personal approach and rather than just taking a picture of myself I wanted to be creative and take a more in depth approach. I felt this work very well and showed my ability to think more outside the box. When given the second assessed brief unfortunately I wasn’t there to participate in the workshop provided, I was able to get up to date through blackboard but I feel would of benefited me more being involved in the workshop, however I did buy a new camera and was able to study the manual and if puzzled look online at tutorials to help with my 10 photographs. I feel that my process differed in which the way I took my photographs I planned before I captured and I wanted to ensure I didn’t take cliché images I wanted to be more creative and imaginative. I wanted to approach the brief differently and inspire myself by carrying my camera around and making full use of it through my pictures. I definitely feel like the feedback received in lesson really helped towards improving my images and especially after seeing all my peers photographs and hearing their feedback made me push myself further to reshoot my photos and improve them. For example when seeing most people had taken photos of moving cars for the movement task I wanted to approach it differently and use the task to create a different photo to everyone else for my idea of movement.
Improvements need to be rectified and helpful feedback always helps to rectify them completing the briefs especially towards the end made me realise I needed to manage my time more effectively when given briefs to complete, the more time you spend on something the better it will be. I need to improve on planning and using brainstorms to help my ideas process. For future reference I will use brainstorms and include one or more ideas so if all else fails with my original idea I will always have backup and eventually my second or third idea might be better than my original was intended to be so I definitely feel that managing my time better will ensure I get the most out of the brief.
I found week 3 was one of my favourite briefs, I really enjoyed researching different photographers and looking at their work and finding out which photographers interested me most. I feel I worked very well with this task because I found getting feedback from my peers really helped the production of my finished image. Originally I chose to recreate an image from Jo Spence’s photographs I hadn’t put much thought into it at the time and wasn’t happy with my finished image after working on it in Photoshop. I then decided to
change my idea and research more into the list of photographs and wanted to set myself a challenge and recreate a famous photograph showing off my Photoshop skills and the way in which I could photograph with difficult shadows and lighting. I was very happy with my recreation of famous Andre Kertesz image of the fork resting on the bowl, however following this I feel I didn’t set myself a challenge with the 4th brief for my portfolio of adding or removing something from an image that already exists on one hand I worked exceptionally well in showing my ability to work with the tools provided in Photoshop given that Photoshop isn’t a program I’ve really worked with before but, in terms of following the briefs and doing what it asks in term of subverting the meaning I didn’t fulfil this in the way that I should, for my first attempt, what i should of done is found a better image maybe through the use of magazines or the photographers that were introduced to us and applied my Photoshop skills creating an image that makes its audience look and then look again rather than just a typical image that hasn’t really subverted or changed its original meaning, with my image I first produced you are likely to look at it and think it was an image already taken. After showing this to the class i realised i had to create a new image in time for the portfolio due date. It was helpful seeing what everybody else came up with and also, what feedback they received. I was then able to go away and work on this brief again using a different approach, this time not only applying my Photoshop skills but creating meaning to the image.
Through the use of looking at famous photographers this helped me to develop ideas for my own approach I was going to take to my photography I really enjoyed looking at Andre Kertesz photos and the theme he carried through with the use of shadows and the use of black and white images, I was really inspired by those particularly which is why I chose to reinvent one of his famous photographs. I also really enjoyed looking at Martin Parr’s work because of the use of colour and how fun it looks.
Overall I am very pleased with my first attempt at creating a portfolio, I have really enjoyed taking photographs for the briefs to complete week to week and found that gaining feedback from Katrina and other peers enabled me to correct where I went wrong and improve my use of camera skills. If I were to do this again I would ensure I manage my time effectively and look for inspiration such as going to different environments and areas I would also work more on Photoshop to develop new skills and understanding of the use of tools I am able to apply to my photographs.
Critical Reflection
For this particular brief I began by practicing as, I knew Illustrator wasn’t a program I was
familiar with and I knew it would take me some time to grasp and take advantage of the tools.
I found it personally quite difficult mastering a way of using text to represent myself. I
wanted to use graffiti style text as I am very interested in graffiti and street art and enjoy the
fun look of the text, I wanted to use this type of style so I began by sketching on a piece of
paper. I am not a confident drawer so this was a task for me. For inspiration I looked at
graffiti art on the web, I found this very useful in pin pointing the type of style and colours I
would use for my own typography. I particularly found looking over again the slideshow
shown to us in lesson was useful in knowing what style and colours I liked best. I also, used
the internet to look at different types of graffiti art and a few other examples to give me some
ideas and inspiration.
I wanted to challenge myself so I spent time on trying to draw in a graffiti style, I wanted to
try drawing text I wasn’t use to doing myself and wanted to go for something different and
unique. The text had to represent me therefore I did not want anything loud and over baring, I
prefer simple text and quite prefer a plain white background that allows you to focus in more
on the text and what it says. I also liked the idea of not filling my text as, I found when I done
this it ruined the look of my text and you weren’t able to see the detail.. I found looking at
text with lots of colours, images, lines etc makes it hard for the audience to tell what it says. I
have gone for quite a groovy text which is thick and slightly 3D. I began by sketching and
experimented to see where it would take me and I came up with this style of text. I have
chosen to use the colour blue mainly because I feel it’s a good representation of me, my eyes
are noticeably blue and I like to think they stand out which is what I wanted my text to do. I
did not think it was necessary to have a background colour I added bubbles around the text to
emphasise it and enhance it and as I was using blue as a colour I thought bubbles would add
to the effect and symbolic of me being bubbly.
Qualities of my work are I have taught myself to draw in a graffiti style which is something I
have never tried before therefore I think it’s a great attempt and shows I am able to set myself
a challenge and do something I haven’t done before. Disadvantages could be that my design
is very simple and might not catch audience’s attention although this is my own preference
some would say it does not stand out. If I were to do it again given the time I would research
more typography and possibly practice a few styles of graffiti instead of just the one idea and
see whether my second or third as sometimes they could be better than the original.