Overall what I have really enjoyed about this unit of work is the wide variety of projects to choose from and the diverse ways in which these projects could be looked at to make them individual. I chose to look at unusual portraiture as I felt that this would be the area in which I personally could expand and make my own while maintaining a high quality of photography. Whilst mostly using a studio setting, due to this being a common feature I found whilst completing research I was able to incorporate a few shoots that were on location. This helped me to maintain diversity between shoots. In order to ensure that I look at every aspect possible with regards to my project title I created a detailed mind map which allowed me to get down all of my ideas in a non restrictive yet organised fashion.
The first tasks I completed during the research stage of this project was the discussion and definition pages. The discussion page looked at my initial ideas after choosing which project I would look at for my unit four. This helped with the overall project as I could look back at my initial thoughts when I needed ideas or a reminder of my initial ideas and aim for this task. The definition page allowed me to look at my project title in a more detailed way by defining the key words in my own way and with a dictionary definition. This worked really well as it cleared up any confusion with regards to the meaning of the project title. This page also allowed me to include a few images from the web so gave me my first detailed look into other photographers interpretation of this idea of 'unusual portraiture'. Overall both of these tasks proved useful as I was able to look back and get more ideas for what to do next.
For the image bank part of the project I was required to look at 30 images that fall under the category of 'unusual portraiture' and annotate them, discussing the different photographical aspects put together to create each photograph. Despite this being a very time consuming piece of work it gave me a huge range of ideas of what to include in my own shoots by either borrowing ideas from other photographers or just taking influence to create my own unique ideas. The main areas that I looked at during creating the image bank was the composition, lighting, props and facial expression as by that point it was clear that these were the most common conventions of 'Unusual Portraiture'.
The next task in which I completed for this project was the research log. This included finding existing 'unusual portraiture' Photographers in order to take direct influence from and get even more ideas for my own shoots. I found this part really helpful as by seeing other people work it is a lot easier to understand the task at home than just having the project title. To relay this information in an organised and easily understandable way I created a table including the name of the perspective photographers, the link to their website, one of their images and a brief description of the photograph and the photographer themselves. I then uploaded this to the blog so I could easily refer back to it whenever in need of inspiration or ideas. In order to advance and expand this piece of work I chose the top five of the these photographers and wrote about them in more detail including for images with annotations and how their work will influence my own work throughout the project. This was really useful as some of the photographers had some really unique and effective work that fit the project title really well, whilst also being able to be altered slightly to make my own and unique.
For the first and second shoot I used the idea of oversized or exaggerated facial expression by either using printed expressions and holding them up to the face of the model in a photo booth style shoot or editing the facial features of the model in photoshop to create the desired effect. In shoot one I printed of various different mouths with different expressions and smiles. I attached them to straws so that they were like sort of masks. In the shoot I got Taylor to hold them up to her mouth and took many various photo booth style photographs. During editing I created animations and straight prints that overall I was really pleased with. I think this shoot was very unique and fitted to the project brief really well and created some interesting, individual photographs. This then inspired shoot number two where I took completely ordinary portrait photographs with some exaggerated facial expression. I then uploaded the photographs and edited them using the liquify tool on photoshop making the mouth and eyes oversized and large for comical effect. I think this shoot went really well and despite having seen it done before the results were still individual and my own.
For the third shoot I looked at merging the faces of different people into one new face as well as merging the front and back of a persons head to create unique and interesting photographs. I think this went well however I feel that some of the photographs were not as professional with regards to editing as I would have liked however this shoot did have some unique photographs. In shoot four I looked at adding facial hair during the shoot instead of the editing process to achieve different results. This also led to me using a mask to cover the face of the model. I was really pleased with the facial hair photographs as I feel they were really unique but fitted into the project really well. Overall I think these shoots fit in perfectly with the project title and had some really diverse and individual results.
In the fifth and sixth shoot I looked at using illusion in my work both in the studio and on location. In shoot five I chose to do self portraiture as i felt this was the best way to get exactly what I want from the photographs. I feel this was one of my favourite shoots as the photographs composition and lighting came out brat and the end results of the photographs were really clever. What I would do differently if I were to complete this shoot again is to use a more attractive table or cover it just so that it doest make the photographs look unprofessional. I then went on to shoot six where I decided I would once again look at self portraiture and illusion but on location as I had not done much at this point. Once again I was pleased with the overall outcome of this shoot with specific regards to the composition and lighting. If I were to do this shoot a third time I would look at using more unique and exotic locations just to add a more attractive aspect to the shoot. These shoots fitted in really well to my project title and had some really effective photographs.
In shoot seven I looked at adding face paint to the model in photoshop. I used my nephew in this shoot as I wanted to create a child themed shoot as children are common within portraiture photography. I took as many 'ordinary' portraiture photographs as I could and then uploaded them to photoshop. I then used the various different tools, especially the paint brush tool to create animal faces on the face of my nephew. Despite feeling that these could be improved upon in accuracy I think this shoot worked really well with regards to lighting and composition, especially as this was not in the studio. I also feel the end pictures turned out well and were very unique and individual meeting the requirements of my project. I then came back to this idea in shoot ten when I looked at using real paint in the shoot instead of photoshop. I also decided that I wouldn't create faces but instead would just use the paint in a messy way just to ensure that the shoot differs from others that I have seen and done myself. I was really pleased with the results of this shoot because the lighting worked really well and the focus on the camera came out really clear.
In the eighth and ninth shoot I used food which would be expected to make a mess and photographed them eating it whilst banning them from licking there lips. This went well because it was something that I hadn't really seen done in this way before. The colour and lighting in this shoot was also really clear and good so overall these shoots created some of my favourite images. The reason that I did this shoot twice is because I felt that there were more options of foods to use and the change in background gave each shoot a slightly more individual outcome. I think the contrast in black and white background in these shoots turned out really well.
For my computer experiments i looked at removing colour from pars of my images as well as adding it and changing it. My computer experiments could have been better however I do feel that the effects in which can be added do become a little bit repetitive and bring. I do however feel that there were some interesting images that create even more unrealistic and unusual portraiture. For the print techniques print techniques we were required to use specific instructions to create the following effects on our photographs; Black & White, Duotone, Repetition, Selective Colour, Photo joiner, Soft Focus, Cluster, Weaving, Multiple Imagery, Image within image , Image and text, Overlay, Montage, Framing. I have really enjoyed this part of the project as it is really nice to use specific techniques on my own work to see how they turn out and they turned out quite nicely given that all of my photographs are portraiture.
The physical experiments are another part of the project that I found enjoyable as you actually physically edit the photograph instead of using the computer software that becomes repetitive over time. I find it quite difficult to think of different ways to edit the photographs that actually fit in with the theme of my work however I think I did quite a successful job through creating different backgrounds and merging different images from different shoots. To improve upon this part I would try and create more extravagant changes to the photographs.
For the exam section of this project I redid shoots one, two, six and nine/ten as these were my favourites from the project and had very good results. I was even more pleased with the outcome of the exam shoots than when I did them the first time round as the shoots were consistently good with regards to composition and lighting. Despite finding it difficult to fill the fifteen hours that we were given for the exam I created 15 edits from each shoot which I then compiled down to the best 12 images, three from each of the different shoots. Overall I found the exam a very enjoyable part of the project and am very pleased with my performance during this especially considering I managed to spread and use my time really well.
Overall I have thoroughly enjoyed this project and it has been my favourite throughout two years studying A level photography. I think this has been reflected in the quality of my work as I have put a lot of thought, time and effort into each shoot that I have done. I have completed all of the work to the highest possible standard to which I am capable and have managed to keep to strict deadlines.
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