My work has been heavily focused around documentary photography in this unit particulary that which revolves around personal identity and as a result of my personal identity and those around me youth culture as a whole.
Research
I have been interested in the work of photographers such as Collier Schorr as a result of her collage series, which focus heavily on youth culture and the identity of youth as well as the photography of David Shama particularly his series 7Eleven which is focused around a group of friends in a kind of mock-documentary style due to the fact that the actions and events carried out are orchestrated however are styled to appear natural. Martin Parr's documentary photography has also been inspirational to me particularly his use of bright and saturated colour throughout his imagery due to the way that the colours used evoke the emotions present in the image. I was particualry interested in his series "Life's a beach" which documented British sea side holidays in the 90's and the emotions of those at the beach. His imagery is satirical to a degree due to the way that the bright colours used often contrast with the British weather giving his images a humorous and striking appearance. In relation to artists who focus specifically on connected images my biggest inspirations have been David Hockney as a result of his work focused around joiner photography and creating images from various smaller images of a subject as well as the work of artist Eugenia Loli due to surreal approaches to collage and the way that she layers image to make intriguing compositions.
Preparatory shoots
My preparatory shoots provided a useful element of my planning and research to my project as they showed me the artists which I wished to primarily focus on such as David Shama and Collier Schorr. I feel that my most successful shoots were shoots 4, 5 and 6 from my preparatory shoots and this is why I choose to further explore the concept of collage photography in my exam component. I feel that the learning points taken from these preparatory shoots lead to me creating a series of striking collage based image with a unifying core style of a medium close silhouette similar to the style of Thomas Ruff in appearance with bold colours adding vibrance and depth. I feel that the shoot that developed most from these three prep shoots was shoot 2 in my exam due to the scrap book collage appearance featured heavily throughout the piece. I feel that my second prep shoot paved the way for shoot 1 from my exam as it focused largely around what the subject perceived their personal identity to be as did shoot 3 in my preparatory shoot. I feel that my final shoot in the exam displayed a natural sense of progression from shoots 1 and 2 in the exam.
Technical
My technical progression in the exam component can be evidenced by my inclusion of both studio shooting and non-studio shooting techniques. This varied approach to my shoots lead to me using both studio equipment such as light meters, soft boxes and backgrounds as well as having to adjust my camera to the elements in my external documentary shoots. I also had to use a range of photographic mediums to create my final pieces such as Instant film and Disposable film cameras which are often troublesome to correctly adjust in order to achieve a good set of images due to fixed apertures and flashes. I have enhanced my editing abilities using Photoshop CC 2014 this year by editing in varying methods such as using mask tools to select specific areas for editing in order to speed up the editing process. I have also been working with colour symbolism in my imagery such as heavy saturation and bright colours to demonstrate the energy and vitality of youth and black an white high contrast imagery in order to represent elements of nostalgia and harsh societal expectations of youth.
I experienced a great deal of aesthetic growth in this project primarily in the way that my project is presented as a collage. I was largely inspired by the collage styles of Collier Schorr and Eugenia Loli which feature intricate cut outs as well as more chunky squared cut outs. In order to create my final pieces I had to learn how to use an exacto blade effectively in order to create smooth clean and crisp transitions. I also had to learn to allot an hour or more to each shoot in order to create each composition as this proved to be a very lengthy process. Time to paint the backgrounds also had to be taken as the paint had to have dried before I could begin to collage the images. All together I feel that the collage technique used throughout my series proved to make my series striking, bold and aesthetically original so I view it as a successful action to have been taken in the creation of my series.
Aesthetic
Success
I feel that my final series does fit the exam brief of connected images due to the fact that in some cases my images are linked through the collage style used in each individual shoot piece therefore meaning that they fit the brief. They also fit the brief on a deeper level however due to the fact that they are all linked to the concept of self identity and the collective identity of youth meaning that on a conceptual level each of my images is linked to another. Finally the images are linked in aesthetic composition due to the way that I have used the same paint colours throughout my shoots therefore giving them a linked colour style which serves to demonstrate the bright energy of youth as well as the acceptance of youth (shown through the rainbow colour scheme used). A link can also be seen through the base appearance of each image as they all feature the silhouette of a medium close up of a subject. I feel that the only changes I would make if I were able to revisit this shoot would be too incorporate more studio techniques such as low key gel lighting in order to play on colour symbolism more through the inclusion of another studio shoot however I feel that this would not have been an appropriate inclusion to make in the series as it stands.
