Blog Post 3: Project outcomes and personal development reflection task information
During the Better Lives Unit, my tutors pushed me to do the best work possible as well as try and develop my own unique personal style within portrait photography. During workshops we were invited to work with one another to help expand our knowledge; this allowed us to meet new peers, but also work alongside new ideas, concepts and perspectives brought on by others. This made us have ability to connect with other students from the different subject areas around the university together with emphasising the College’s ‘Better Lives’ themes of; Sustainability, Diversity and Social Responsibility through the exploration of these contemporary photographs.
When beginning this unit, it was a valuable opportunity to work with new values and a chance to encounter new prospects. Fashion photography is mainly devoted to showcasing clothing as well as other fashion accessories. However Contemporary portrait photography allowed for more experimentation-based view. However, due to the current environment we are living in with Corona Virus; this prevented many activities and events occurring during the duration of the course. Because of this, the Better Lives structure had to be modified and therefore led us to move to an online, interactive space.
This meant that there were limited socialising opportunities, which hindered the process of taking pictures of others, outside of the household in addition to experimenting further. I was however able to get some feedback and one way around this matter was to photograph people who I currently live with; but also creating portraits of myself. Amongst this I also trilled taking stills of an open space, hence creating a “portrait of someone who wasn’t there”. Personally, I thought this concept worked very well with the current situation we are all facing. This allowed for a deeper meaning in the photographs to be presented, with an opportunity to concentrate on the social responsibility not only towards ourselves, but to those who are most vulnerable in this current time.
When taking self-portraits one of the key pieces of advice given to me was being able to let go of the notion of “perfection”, as this would allow me to be more open minded and have a chance for further trial and error. When creating a self-portrait, I did not have an initial direction therefore I felt overpowered; but after careful consideration and brainstorming a few prevalent ideas a theme was able to guide me in the correct direction. Some of the crits which were given spoke about how some of the best photographs conveyed a story or took the voyeur on a journey. This mainly focused on creating a sense of various emotions that the viewer may feel, therefore I decided to take my pictures in black and white (additionally editing some), Thus when capturing an image in black and white, many generations would feel automatically connected to the message behind the image, linking this with diversity within target audiences. This ultimately also detaches the distraction of colour, allowing the viewer to solely focus on the photo.
Overall, I believe that the Better Lives unit allowed me the opportunity to experiment, grow and adapt; as well as taking into consideration the different prospects in using social responsibility, diversity and sustainability throughout.