Blogpost 3
My better lives option was photography. This project has allowed me to find out more about different photographers, aesthetic approaches and conventions along with getting more knowledge about technical aspects that photography involves e.g lighting, ISO, exposure etc.
I have found “Home portraits” project particularly interesting as we have been introduced to some historical examples of portraiture in the home and portraiture under lockdown which has helped me a lot when I was developing my personal outcomes.
These photographic series (Figure1) have been made during self-isolation in which I often found myself sitting on the window ceiling and watching people that tried to carry on with their days in these difficult circumstances. It also felt like I could connect with those people through camera lens. In addition to that I feel like this activity has resulted in developing a greater empathy and understanding of people which can be certainly linked to Lorrain Gamman’s lecture where she told how empathy is regularly utilized by designers to understand the perspectives of others.
When it comes to describing technical aspects of creating this work my main rule was to take photos of people from above so it almost looks like a CCTV and creates the atmosphere of observation. My editing process included inverting the picture into negative and then overlaying it on top of the initial image. I have added the grain to give depth to the images.
Self portrait
Figure 2 is my second outcome where I experimented with photographing in the dark with a flash light. Usually I feel more confident behind the camera rather than in front so I just had to improvise. I like that my face is hidden behind the curtain in this picture which looks a little bit mysterious and abstract
I have been really enjoying the work of Johny Duffort lately and I feel that it had an influenced on both of my outcomes. In a certain way. I really like his faded photographs usually with a contrasting spotlight on the subject.
Also I tried to give a self-portrait image an analog like look but without actually using the film as it often cannot be recycled referring back to Better Live theme of sustainability.
To conclude, I have really enjoyed the Contemporary portrait photography class as it has challenged my creativity and helped the further development of my photography skills.