Evaluation
I have really enjoyed this project as i feel I have been able to work as if I was a freelance photographer to some extend and it’s given me the chance to go ahead with large scale shoots I have wanted to do. I have learnt a great deal during this brief, I have also improved greatly as a photographer even though I still feel I am at the very bottom of a mountain with regards to photography. I have really pushed myself during this time and I am please with most of the work I have created during the time.
I started off the brief with the idea that I wanted to go out and shoot mainly fashion based photography to build up a portfolio of fashion photography. I also knew from early on I wanted to really push myself as a photographer and come up with a concept for a large scale fashion shoot myself and do something over the top. I was really bored with ‘fashion’ in it’s current state and I knew I wanted to shoot something rather eccentric, I was thinking along the lines of Geishas and Alice in Wonderland, when I decided to shoot a Tudor themed ‘fashion shoot’ with some kind of concept behind it. I was really inspired by Lee McQueen who sadly passed away around the time the live project began, I loved he’s eccentric approach to fashion it was almost theatrical, he has been the biggest inspiration behind this shoot. One of the most recognised Tudor faces if not the most is Henry the Eighth. I wanted to play with the idea of Henry and he’s six wife and use the rhyme ‘divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived’ as a basis for the shoot. I started to come up with ideas and researching into both Henry and he’s six wife’s. I had to also work out away to get hold of clothing from the Tudor period, which I was in luck and found almost everything I needed at the West Yorkshire playhouse. I then started to ask around for models which I would need seven of, a hair and make-up artist, stylist, and assistant. This was a lengthy process as it was not easy to find a team of 10 people who would all be suitable for the job and were available all on the same day. I knew I also wanted to use smoke within the shoot which meant I would need both a smoke machine and generator. Me and Jay Maude from the year above brought a smoke machine and luckily Matt from the AV department had a generator I could use. I also had to loan two ranger kits, strobes, an array of lenses and various umbrellas and soft boxes for the shoot which was another load of stuff I would have to cart to the location. There was so much to think about on the day not only did two models and my stylist pull out the morning of the shoot, which luckily I had thought about as there there would be a big possibility of this happening especially relying on so many people, I purposefully asked more models than I needed so if they could not do the shoot, I would not a model short.
The morning of the shoot I had to get everyones hair/make-up done and dressed before we got to the location which was 20 minutes away (which I had to also arrange transport for) Me and Jay had to set-up all the lighting and smoke machine and make sure the images were looking how I wanted them and correctly lit, Unfortunately even though Jay was a great help with setting up the shoot he had to leave as soon as I startred shooting so I didn’t have an assistant, but some how I managed to make it work without one. I made sure everyone knew what they were doing, as well as tell each model what to do in each shot, which I made a lot easier for myself by storyboarding every shot I wanted to get well before the shoot which made every shot that little bit easier and quicker to get, even though I prefer to work with the idea when I am actually shooting it really helped generate ideas. I managed to shoot everything I wanted in around 3 hours and get everyone and all the equipment back to mine without any problems. As a whole I was so happy with how everything went and I really proved to myself that if I set my mind to something that I can most probably achieve it. With regard to the final outcome im not as happy as I would have like to have been but I still really like what I did get.
I also was asked to be a photographer by my friend Charlie who is on he’s third year of visual communications in Loughborough. The shoot was based on the drug Mephedrone. This involved my lugging a lot of camera equipment and lighting down to Loughborough on the train and supposedly photographing what Charlie would ask me to photograph but he did not really know what he wanted and had left a lot of the art direction down to me. I rather liked some of the images and Charlie was really happy with them which was the most important thing. The images were shown to an NHS researcher who really liked the images and are still at this point discussing whether they can use the images or not. Apparently they want to buy one of the images to display in the youth rehab centres. There main concern was that there was a drip hanging in a screen which is not medically correct, and they are not allowed to display anything that is not 100% medically correct. This has help me think for future jobs especially anything in this kind of field that there are a lot of rules and regulations some images have to pass before they can be displayed.
I also entered the Leeds ‘Best Shot’ competition hosted by Unite and the Faversham. The brief was to take a unique shot of Leeds. I entered an image of a bus shelter which got me a place as a runner -up and I managed to earn myself £250. I really enjoyed this competition and I am going to enter more.
My friend Ed who is a producer and DJ asked if I would photograph him for some promo shots he needed. He told me that he’s new EP is entitled Gargoyles so I was thinking something rather dark, I also took a few brighter shots so he has a variety of images to choose from. I really like this shoot as it allowed a lot of room for creativity and I could do what I wanted really. Ed was really happy with the final images and the images are going to be used on he’s latest EP. The same day my friend Tom came over as well and asked if I could take some photos of him so he could illustrate over them as a sort of collaboration. I was really into the idea and shot loads of different stuff for him to go away with and illustrate over I an really looking forward to seeing how they look.
I wanted to start taking more photos so I began taking a photo a day and uploading it to flickr, but I really did not like this way of working as it seemed really forced and I had little idea of what I wanted to photograph even though from this I did get some really nice images I will probably use in my portfolio.
I was also asked to helped out James Rhodes from third year assisting on shooting Dinosaur Pile-up’s album cover. as I know my way around the studio lighting. I was generally helping out with the lighting and running about getting what ever was needed whether it be a pair of wire cutters to cut the guitar strings to fetching tripods and film. It was really interesting working as an assistant and we were using the Medium format cameras with the digital back to test shoot which are so good and James shot the final images on medium format 120 film. I want to do a lot more assisting jobs as it helps look at shoots differently and it nice to step away from behind the camera now and then.
I was asked by Joe Durnam if I would photograph the night he put on at A nation of shopkeepers, I went down and took a load of photos which are now used on there website.
As a whole I really enjoyed the live brief and feel it was really successful, I have got a good body of work for a portfolio and I am now going to spend my summer looking for placements ready for next year.
