Final Evaluation

For my final pieces, I went into various research of artists and photographers, analysing their interpretation when it comes to my topic 'writing'. I looked at a recommended photographer in the exam brief, Nancy Hellebrand, who helped me understand a direct and simplistic presentation of writing,; though the composition was simple, it allowed a viewer to create many interpretations with just the small little details presented. I found her work lacked any challenge for me and the aesthetic didn't match my preferences in photography, so I moved onto the next photographer. Idris Khan used repetitive prints of words/sentences to create other images or present cultural messages; his work was also direct when it came to presenting writing, but he gave the words more purpose by having them create something and be more than just simply their definitions. I enjoyed his work, but the overall presentation didn't inspire me to take my own work into this style, I realised I wanted to incorporate portraiture into my work, as it is a passion of mine and felt this could be a good way to move forward. This led me to finding the artist Peter Strain, he paints portraits while incorporating writing by having the skin revealed as words; this is an abstract interpretation and the aesthetic is enticing for any viewer I felt. Strain, similar to Khan, gave the words more purpose and had them create something instead of just being their definitions, you can link this style with identity since the words in a way define the person in the portrait. I at first believed I would stick to Strain's style for my final pieces, since the style is abstract and challenged my edit skills, and also incorporated portraiture for writing; this fitting everything I wanted. But I didn't feel inspired by this style, it lacked something for me, so I found my last photographer research. Duane Michals creates bordered portraits and adds physical writing onto the photo. At first this seemed simple to me, but I further analysed his work and realised the writing interpretation this took. With all the other photographers, they present the power of words by having them create something else, Michals did this differently. I realised if the photos were not captioned, they owned a completely different interpretation, the photos premise would change because all that is given to the viewer is the photo, leaving them to interpret what is presented in this; but because Michals added in writing, it gave the photos different meanings, photos that could've appeared abstract and symbolic, became simple and humorous. Michals interpretation showed the power of what words can do to premises and presentations. His aesthetic was also soft and welcoming, something my work has never really presented, I saw this as a challenge. I decided Michals work was the perfect inspiration for my final pieces and an interesting way to present the topic 'writing'.

With what I have learnt, through my research I learnt various interpretations for writing obviously, but I also learnt new aesthetics and edits. The composition from most of the photographers I looked into was simple, but owned a powerful effect through small details, this taught me a 'less is more' following for my photos. With my research into Peter Strain, my first shoot on him I struggled to recreate his work in editing, this challenged me to try again in my next shoot. With this challenge, I was able to develop my skills in editing, and performed a complex edit to recreate Strain's work accurately. For my final inspiration photographer, Duane Michals, I learnt to change my aesthetic to something softer, my previous work typically being dark and nightmarish, by brightening the tone range in my photos and when it came to my posing for the portraiture, I was less serious and put on a brighter appearance in facial expressions.

I believe I was successful in my response to the exam paper, out of the options given I chose the topic writing, as I felt I could be very abstract and flexible in what I presented with this topic compared to the other options. In my shoots and blog write up I have been able to meet the AO's expected from me. For AO1, I presented various research and was able to critically analyse the work of others and find inspiration from this. For AO2, I was able to demonstrate and present my skills in editing photos, refining the work to my best ability. For AO3, I made my intentions clear and was able to critically analyse my work in my preparatory shoots. For AO4, I presented my final pieces that meet the intentions I made and respond to the topic writing directly. Where I feel improvement could be made is my decision making, through my preparatory shoots and research in photographers/artists I was very indecisive to what I wanted to do till the very end, this didn't allow me to present as much development on one inspiration then I could have if I made a final decision sooner. For further work I plan to have clear intentions sooner so I can present more development in one area to present my skill in self-improvement.

Final Pieces

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Work Record Shoot 2

Research
Throughout my preparatory shoots, I looked at four different photographers/artists, but when it came to my final inspiration, I chose Duane Michals. Duane Michals is an American photographer. Michals’ work makes innovative use of photo-sequences, often incorporating text to examine emotion and philosophy. Michals' work inspires incorporating writing with portraiture/documentary, the two topics are not merged together and rather placed with each other, one representing the other; linked but not directly.

I have further researched into Michals’ work in my component two blog ‘Photographer Research – Duane Michals’.

Contact sheet

These are all the raw photos taken for my second/final shoot.

Best Photos

These are my best selected raw photos from my second/final shoot.

AO3: Record ideas, observations, and insights relevant to intentions reflecting critically on work and progress.

My Ideas

My intentions for this shoot was to challenge my typical aesthetic in my photographs; instead of taking such a serious meaning to my photos, I create something lighter in appearance and meaning. I also wanted to improve my writing skills when it comes t humour to make the photos more pleasing to a viewer. When analysing Michals' work, I found him to use obvious and simple wording to be mildly humorous, this wasn't in all of his work, but most of it. Michals' work also presents the power of what words can do to premises and photos, completely changing a presentation with a few words, I find this impact inspiration into presenting the topic writing.
This shoot is presenting the behaviour of millennia’s when it comes to being in front of a camera; the millennial subject being me. I wanted to present the attitudes of a teenager in a humorous way; I found Michals’ work to be humorous and wanted that style to present a teenager's mind. The use of words is to recreate a photo’s message, removing interpretation that a viewer usually creates. The sentences in these photos are quotes from the teenager themselves, explaining either how they felt in a photo, what they wanted to present, or simply just a statement from them. I wanted to create almost a documentary piece, where I am documenting this one teenager and their attitudes, the captions similar to notes or explanations, but their revealing the thoughts held by this teen.

AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques, and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

Use of Camera

I used a Nikon D3400 DSLR camera and a tripod for every photo taken. The camera was in manual mode, shutter speed at 1/160, aperture on F4.2, and exposure at ISO 100; I also used flash since it better revealed the details of my facial features. These were the exposure settings because the bright atmosphere around would bring too much light into the camera if say the shutter speed was put to a lower fraction of a second; these settings make sure the photo is not overexposed with the combination of flash and general lighting.

Shoot Process

Since these photos were taken of myself, I had to capture myself using self-timer while my camera was on a tripod, I used someone else to make sure all the camera settings, focus, and alignments were right. Once making sure everything was set right, I put the camera on self-timer (taking a photo every 5 seconds for 5 photos each time) and posed in a way that presented a confident teenager's attitudes.

Final Pieces

Firstly, I used the spot healing brush tool to remove any blemishes or imperfections on the skin. This removing any possible heavy distractions.

 Secondly, I pressed CTRL+SHIFT+A to open up the 'camera raw' edit box. Using this I adjusted the exposure and overall contrast settings, such as the highlights in the photo, to create a softer black and white appearance. 

 Moving forward, I felt the background in the photo was too dark from the exposure edits, but the subject was contrasted perfectly. So I added an adjustment layer of 'curves' and brought the centre point higher to brighter the tones in the overall photo. I pressed CTRL+I to invert the effects of this layer and added a layer mask to this.

 Using a white soft brush tool, I 'painted' where I wanted the brightened effect revealed, that only being the background.

 Thirdly, I have to create the borders to the photo. I pressed CTRL+R to open the ruler borders. I decided a two inches thick border would be the most flattering for the photo, so I dragged measurements out to make sure my border is lined up, two inches out.

 Then, using the crop tool, I dragged out the frame of the photo to the measurements, creating the white borders.

 After looking through a range of possible fonts to choose from, I chose 'rage italic' as it is aesthetically pleasing and rough lined, creating a more authentic appearance to physical handwriting.

 For each photo, I create a sentence that would best fit the appearance of the photo, something I feel this teen would say about himself or the photo.

 I adjusted the size and angle slightly to create a more authentic appearance.

I also added my initials to these photos, something Michals did in his work. I felt it would appear more professional.

This is the complete photo.

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This is how I created the photo collages.

 Firstly, I'd decide the photos I was going to put together, and make sure they are edited the same as all the other photos.

Then, on one of the photos, I converted it into an actual layer rather than a background. Then adding another blank layer and filling this with white.

Then with this added layer, I use the crop tool to drag it out to the usual two inch borders for my photos.

 Using the ruler marks, I add lines around the actual photo; this is so I know how far my photos in this collage can go out before it passes the borders.

 Then, holding down the SHIFT key, and on the move tool, I bring down the size of the first photo, making its width reach the 11.5 inch mark on the ruler; I felt this size was fitting for the collage.

 Now I add in the second photo, it'll add on its larger (original) size, so once again, holding the SHIFT key, I bring the photo size down, same as the other photo. I bring this photo to the opposite corner as the first photo, this was the most aesthetically pleasing composition to do.

 I can now finish off the photo by adding in the writing. I use the same font and sizing as I do with my other photos, and position where I feel it best fits.

 As usual, I add my initials to trademark the photo.

This is the complete photo.

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

My research into Duane Michals has helped me find a new aesthetic to challenge myself with. My work has been typically heavy in tone and dark in meaning and atmosphere, Michals' is work light-hearted and gentle in appearance, he uses the power of words to mould his premise of the photo and removes dark suggestions. I find his work welcoming and brighter in calming, I believe I am able to recreate this aesthetic.

AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements. 

These are my final pieces.

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Evaluation

Overall, I'd say this shoot was very successful. I was able to meet my intentions, which were to create a documentary piece where I document a teenager and reveal their thoughts and attitudes. Creating this by using the photographer Duane Michals' style, with a soft tone aesthetic, and using writing captions to better document the teen in a humour, light-hearted way. I was able to improve on my writing skills by changing the perspective of the writer. The teenagers thoughts and statements on the photo make the photos more humorous and is able to change the premises to a lighter aesthetic.