Blog Post 3 – Project Reflection
As part of my Better Lives Unit, I was tasked with delving into what it means to photograph a portrait. Having studied photography in my past I was already familiar with the basics; but remained extremely invested in narrowing down the focus to that of creating a portrait. Throughout the duration of our course we explored the enigmatic definition of a portrait and how one would go about creating one specific to their style. We were exposed to work from renowned photographers of many different times and backgrounds. This made for the expansion of what I thought a portrait photograph to develop into something much more grand. As our course continued it became more and more apparent that a portrait is created out of a specified collusion of feelings and physical elements. Things aren’t always reliant on perfection of the photo or subject in that moment, but much more reliant on whether or not the feelings you’re trying to convey are able to be felt by those who view it.
This being said, when given the assignment to take photos ourselves I realized that it was time to slow down. With the threat of the corona virus confining everyone to their homes and evoking confusion amongst the population, I decided to use my time locked away on learning how to capture a moment as holistically as I can. Doing things that create a rhythmic schedule, diffuse stress, and neglect the enforcement of any parameters on my time spent photographing. I began to implement a slower process when I documented my time at home and begin to truly explore the personable nature associated with a portrait. I decided to work using a large format analog camera, which in itself put me into the position of slowing down, and spent time focusing on capturing images of my surroundings and flat mates with as little pressure as possible.
The photo above is the one that I shared once our task was complete. Remaining true to the process I mentioned earlier, this photo came about through patience and pressure-less experimentation. I spent a large amount of time capturing moments that occurred naturally and provided me with the opportunity to be taken. The photo is of my partner in our flat during quarantine simply resting. It was taken on my large format camera and developed in my bathroom which extended the time spent on the photo and made the process even more personal.
All in all, I enjoyed the exploration of portraiture through this course. Things didn’t necessarily go according to plan, with the disruption of the UCU strikes and the Corona Virus, but I was able to come out with a greater understanding of how I would like to approach photography and more specifically portraiture on a personal front.