Evaluation
This project seemed extremely exciting when we first got given it. I was nervous about working in a group and having people relying on my photography skills but I was also very happy about new circumstances and experiences. I got my blog up and running straight away and a photography partner. Now all we needed was a stylist or two, we asked around and posted on the facebook group that had been made but unfortunately we couldn’t find one who didn’t have a group. In the end it was clear there were not enough stylists to go round the photographers. This means that for the next project we need to get out there quicker and talk to a wider variety of people. By this time we only had just over a week left to do everything in. We planned to shoot on Tuesday or Friday and had been discussing themes and lighting. It seemed as if things were picking up and it would work out but soon after this I became ill and had to return home to surrey. This was a great stress to both Rachel and me. We kept arranging and rearranging shoots and times to me up, but I wasn’t getting any better so we decided to work individually. Now having less than a week to get everything done was extremely stressful. I felt rather lost as to what my theme should be, I didn’t have enough money, time or energy to create a big set up so I decided to focus on body forms as I realised it was quite a common theme in the photography I had looked at beforehand.
As I had to do the stylist part as well I decided that that I would use the material and clothing to show a fairytale, vintage look but keep it quite minimal. Me and Rachel had planned to use a model called Hannah and her friend Sam, they had suited the innocent looks that we were going for which we could then tamper with and make them more dark or magical. We had also decided that we were going to do a location shoot. Back home I didn’t have much of an option as what I could use, however I found a nice background of white shutters and old fashioned furniture which would fit with the vintage look. Being down in surrey I had no contacts or models so I decided to ask my brother and his girlfriend. Elly is very pretty and takes a good natural picture, but I wasn’t so sure it would work with her posing because she is extremely shy. As I predicted her pictures looked awkward and didn’t work that well. My brother, Toby, has always been very arrogant and works quite well in my photography. He also has a very skinny build like the modern male models of today.
The shoot with them went quite well and i was pleased with most of the pictures. I ended up running out of time with them so i decided to use myself as the model, without showing my face. I figured my hair could bring something interesting to the images as well as the clothing. My Photographer Friend Ben Wallace helped me with the shoots. I was able to borrow a lighting kit and some professional materials, which I used as backdrops and flooring. I was not too keen on being the model but I knew i had no choice in the matter.
The final 5 images that I chose link together with the materials and body shapes. The relaxed feeling of the background makes it different and real. I guess i thought that behind every fairy tale there is some sort of truth. My images show a different side to a fairytale. The black and white effect was taken from the last few photographers I looked at. Considering I had had many problems and been quite ill i think that final images are quite good, i was worried that they may not all link together as well as i first thought because they are all in their own way quite different from each other.
My blog holds a lot of basic information and pictures from Photographers and not so much of my own feelings towards them, i often find it very difficult to put my thoughts on to paper because I’m dyslexic and it makes sense in my head but otherwise it doesn’t! Hopefully next time i can stop myself getting carried away in images and things that i look at and focus on writing and my feelings.
I don’t feel that fulfilled with my work because I still want to create a big set up with more glamorous clothing and bigger ideas. Hopefully in the next project I will have been more on and the ball and organised in finding an appropriate group and this will mean that I have more time and people to experiment and play with.
