Blog 3 – Project outcomes and personal development
Despite unforeseen circumstances regarding COVID-19, I have found enrolling in contemporary portrait photography on the Better Lives unit to have proven successful in encouraging students to consider alternative ways of engaging with photography. As sustainability, diversity and social responsibility were the focal point of the unit, I have been able to develop concepts regarding photography that I would like to pursue and include what I now feel is imperative to consider.
Having looked at Cindy Sherman, Claude Cahun and Keiji Uematsu’s work, we have seen how we can create our own signature. Due to this, I have found I prefer taking more relaxed, almost candid images as I think they are able to capture the emotions within a moment more effectively. Especially when photographing my family, this has been more convenient as I haven’t had access to professional equipment or been able to create an interesting set. Reflecting on what I had learnt prior to beginning my project, I was able to be more resourceful and therefore sustainable by using my own garments to style and household objects to establish a set. Although, had circumstances been different, I would have liked to visit vintage stores around London to style my model in a way that fits her body perfectly in order to establish a solid silhouette. I would have also enjoyed photographing a series of women to see the ways in which diversity can affect the overall outcome of an album.
Although difficult, I have found adapting to the current pandemic much easier than I initially expected as the face-to-face sessions already informed us of the ways we can perform photography without access to professional equipment. For example, the ‘Lux’ app allowed me to check the ISO, aperture and speed of my surroundings and how to use them when aiming to create a certain affect. Prior to embarking on the contemporary portrait photography unit, I was unaware of the app or the three features to consider, let alone how to use them. For my images, I predominately used natural sunlight as I found it created a much warmer glow than artificial light and allowed me to play with shadows in an interesting way that I believe would have been much more difficult to achieve with lighting equipment.
To conclude my project, I have found contemporary portrait photography to be insightful regarding the ways in which we can manipulate an image with camera settings that was unfamiliar to me prior. In terms of the sustainability, diversity and social responsibility focus of Better Lives, the initial lectures made me consider my individual impact on global issues and how I intend on adjusting my work to recognise the three. With regards to my final project, I was able to adapt to the unfortunate circumstance and produce photographs I think reflected what I have learnt throughout the unit.