Blog 3 Project outcome and personal development reflection
Reflecting on my better lives project I was really satisfied with my final outcome, especially in this period of epidemic outbreak. During this project, I had learned how to present my outcome by participated in contemporary portrait photography lectures. At the beginning of this project, I met many different types of photographers through lectures. Although their styles are different, I got a lot of inspiration in their works.
In the lecture, the teacher introduced us to several different types of photography works, some about self-portraits and some about landscapes. At first, in my understanding, I thought that only self-portraits were considered portraits. Later, through explanations, I learned that the original daily landscape photos were also considered to be a type of portrait. In addition, I also learned about the photographs of different era, from the black and white photos to the current colour photos. Through this series of historical evolution, I have a deeper understanding of portrait. Among the different seminars, what impressed me most is the discussion about fashion portrait, how to take a representative photo? We need to consider many aspects, such as scenes, clothes, makeup, hairstyles, and photo concept, etc. As a creative direction student, taking photos is also one of the skill needs to know. Through these lectures, I learned a lot of shooting skills and will use them to improve my future project.
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, many places have implemented the policy of home isolation, and it has become difficult to take pictures outside, but this has not affected my creation. My final outcome was a landscape shot taken with a Polaroid. I was sitting on the sofa in the living room, and I saw the weather outside the window was very clear. Because of the social isolate, I have been serval days didn’t go out which I feel a little bit depressed. What I want to express in this work is a contrast between the weather outside and my emotion. Although the epidemic affected all aspects of our lives, it also gave me a new perspective on the future life. Combined with the theme of better lives, although my work shows a boring life of quarantine, I think that not going out is actually a social responsibility. Combined with the theme of better lives, although my work shows a boring life of segregation at home, I think that not going out is actually a social responsibility. Especially in this special period, many front-line workers are struggling for the epidemic at this time. All we can do is reduce unnecessary outings, reduce the risk of infection, and reduce the burden on staff. Through this epidemic and the knowledge that I have learned, my attitude towards the future life has changed a lot.
Fig. 1 Isolating portrait (2020)
Reference: Shanyun, L. (2020) Isolating portrait. [Photograph]