Personal Development • Twestival

I got offered the opportunity to work with Twestival on their Manchester event, documenting the night with a colleague at University, for the promoters. It was an amazing experience, and I met many artists whose work I found inspiring. Taking to other people in the freelance trade was helpful as well, as they shared with me their ups and downs, and how they would have progressed differently if they had been given the opportunity again. It was a great experience, and I plan to do more event photography in the future!

"Yet To Be Realised" workshop

We continued the project today titled "Yet To Be Realised" which was like a Chinese whispers forming photography. 

Group A began with a photograph of a bridge in the suburbs of Manchester with a woman walking through. She seemed to be dressed in formal attire as if she was going to a party or a professional job. This then lead on to a photograph that Tobias captured some years ago of a WW2 memorial statue in front of a McDonalds which he though represented the hidden Manchester and the change from traditional Manchester to commercial Manchester. He made sure the bird was in there as a representation of darkness, how the war has been forgotten by consumerism and McDonalds being a monopoly in the food industry. The third photograph was of a McDonalds chip packet, as the photographer wanted to represent someone who was scared of going into McDonalds for one reason or another, and when they finally got in there, all they could manage was a small bag of chips. I like the literal meaning of the photograph, the photographer has taken a day in the life approach to the narrative and I think it opens up the narrative more to interpretation. The fourth photograph was of a Topshop display, and the photographer who took this was basing the narrative on her friend who works in Topshop who goes to McDonalds everyday for her lunch, and how it has become a ritual. Again, this opens up the narrator to a complex and more interesting future narrative, but making it more personal to a certain person. However, from just looking at the photograph, I would not have guessed that meaning. The next photograph was from a BBC programme looking at the changed in the Manchester high street from the 60's and they have edited together a photograph from a street in Manchester from the the 60's and one from the modern day. Sophie wanted to show how the high street changed everyday and fits into the popular things in society. Topshop is a youth orientated company that focused on the "hip" things in society and what young people are interest in. The next photograph was chosen by Joe and showed four people from the 60's walking down a street together, in a black and white format. He chose this because he liked the older look of the photograph and it reminded him of people walking down a high street. The final photograph was of the popular band from the 60's The Beatles, jumping off a roof. Gary wanted to show a fun photograph to conclude the series, and he thought that the people waking down the street looked like The Beatles. I thought this was a good concept, and was well thought out to match the era and the character in the shot. Lawrence commented on the fact that The Beatles were not wearing overcoats and Gary should have considered this within his piece. From a personal perspective, the characters could have taken the overcoats off and then had the photograph taken so I do not think it should be something that should be taken too serious, from a professional point of view.

My group, group B, began with a famous photograph by Martin Parr of the elderly lady sat in the deck chair with the British flag covering her face. Kelly chose this photograph as she thought it had narrative potential and she personally liked the photograph. So do I! Warren then chose a photograph of a homeless man led on a bench shielding himself from the cold with an American flag. Everyone has mixed opinions about what this meant, some people said it meant no matter how bad times are, some people still love their country and stand by it even when their country had failed them. However, some said that they thought that it meant that they were clinging to the last hope of being saved, and it's the only thing they have left. Then Cherry took a photograph, which I received as my Chinese whisper image, of an American flag flying in the wind. I will go more into this in another blog post which will focus on my thought process and what I based my photograph on. The photograph following mine was of a pocket watch, Bee based her idea on the  idea of waiting and what that person might be waiting for. She noticed that the interior was quite dated, so she used a pocket watch to keep it in the era of the photograph being taken. The following photograph was sourced by Milly and because Michael wasn't here, we had a gap in our narrative. Michael sent Milly a photograph of a iPhone, so Milly sourced a photograph of someone walking to work in a suit with an iPhone, showing how technology has become so integrated in society we would notice when it was gone even though it is a luxury. The set then concluded with Jade's photograph which was of an artist she liked at work, sketching a portrait of a king off a deck of cards, which weirdly links back to the first image of patriotism and the royal family.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this idea, and thought it was a good way of analysing a photograph and thinking about its true meaning!

Review • Sean Smith: Iraq 10 Years On - A Photographers Story

Today, our course visited the Imperial War Museum to visit the Sean Smith exhibition looking at the Iraq war throughout its length, and the impact it has caused throughout Iraqi society, as well as back in America and Britain.

A lot of his work looked at the people who lived in Iraq and the soldiers of Erica and Britain at work, protecting, or not protecting, the members of the community that lived there. I cannot begin to imagine the conditions that both the civilians and the soldiers lived in, the entire photographic body of work evokes emotions that I have never felt before. I know one person, whom is not a close friend or relative, who has been deployed to a different country, so have not personally felt the pain and torment that comes with being an army wife or mother. However, after viewing these pieces of work, I can imagine what their family and friends must go through everyday.

This is one of the most thought provoking images that I looked at whilst viewing the exhibition. It was soon after Saddam Hussain does, the statue was pulled down from the centre of Iraq, ending the frightening rule he had over Iraq. I remember this incident, not well, as I was only about 9/10 years old. However, you can tell by the urgency in the soldiers eyes that what is happening has to happen fast, however, there is also a sense of happiness in his eyes, maybe hope that the war will soon be over?

The photographs were displayed in a one-four-one composition. One big photograph was displayed, followed by four smaller photographs in a square format. They were all part of a smaller series within the exhibition, and therefore all related to one another.

A lot of the photographs were not nice to look at but showed the real side of the Iraq war, not the filtered news we see on the television or hear on the papers. It's an accurate report of what went on in everyday life. The photographs contain blood and gore, wounds and women crying. Some people who viewed the exhibition, such as my friend who came to the exhibition with me, didn't understand why the photographer simply stood back whilst the pain and war was going on. Was he not emphatic to the situation at all, or was he simply there for the photojournalism and his job, feeling helpless to do anything for dear of getting hurt himself. I hope it is the latter. His photographs are inspiring, and have given me inspiration to take on the brief given to use from Areas of Photgraphic Practice B to the best of my ability!

This was my favourite photograph from entire exhibition, it is just compositionally perfect, the man in the foreground fighting for the spotlight photographically with the helicopter. The sunset in the distance makes the photograph look warm and promising, when in reality, there is a prisoner who is suspected of committing terrorist crimes about to be "dealt with", in whatever way that may be.

Review • Grayson Perry, The Vanity of Small Differences

I have been looking forward to seeing and reviewing this exhibition for some time. As I am a fan of Grayson Perry's work, and I have followed the progression of the idea for this set of work from when he announced it on his website. Seeing his work in the flesh, as well as seeing sketches of how it was made and the process her took.

The Adoration of the Cage Fighters was the first piece of work in this series by Grayson Perry and looks at a scene from Tim's great grandmothers front room. The entire series follows the life of Tim and his inevitable downfall at the end, at the hands of consumerism and a life surrounding by branding. We can see the mother holding Tim, wearing what can only be described as a clubbing outfit. To the right, we can see her friends, looking ready for a night out. In Perry's artist statement he says "...ready for a night out with her four friends, who have perhaps already been on the 'pre-lash'". As I gathered from the photograph, Tim obviously did not have the best start to life, which a lot of people say can either make or break a person's future.

The second tapestry in this series is titled The Agony of the Car Park and features Tim's stepfather, Tim and Tim's Mum stood on a hill overlooking the town in which he lives - Sunderland. It is loosely based on the painting "The Agony in the Garden" by Giovanni Bellini, with the computer magazine that hangs out of Tim's bag indicating his early interest in software that later becomes his successful career. All the photographs link visually, and although you cannot see that by just gazing at the tapestries, if you stand and concentrate for a period of time, it all fits together like a giant jigsaw.

Expulsion from Number 8 Eden Close shows Tim, now a undergraduate studying computer science, and his then girlfriend walking together, with two situations on the right and left. The left shows Tim's parents with their luxury car, looking dark and scary, maybe hinting at the sad family background Tim grew up in? To the right, we see the opposite side, his girlfriends family welcoming Tim to the family home. In the text that accompanies the image, it reads "their house (Tim's parents) was so clean and tidy, not a speck of dust... or a book, apart from her god, Jamie. She says I have turned Tim into a snob. His parents don't appreciate how bright he is. My father laughed at Tim's accent but welcomed him onto the sunlit uplands of the middle classes".

The Annunciation of the Virgin Deal focusses on the successful selling of Tim's idea to Richard Branson who owns Virgin Media, and the sudden wealthiness of Tim as a businessman. To the left, an elderly couple read, with his child on the floor playing. This piece looks at the ignorance of people due to technology and how we ignore people who are right next to us for virtual communication.

The penultimate tapestry is titled The Upper Class at Bay and is based upon the famous Thomas Gainsborough painting of the landed gentry. The couple who have just become millionaires watch the old aristocratic stag with its old tweed jacket being hunted down by the dogs, which represent tax, social change, upkeep and fuel bills. Behind this scene, there is a protest movement occurring, protesting against the upper class and the "fat cats".

The last tapestry in the series is called #Lamentation and shows the downfall of Tim and the life that he has lived. Tim is at the side of a road, after a car racing accident left him for dead. His second wife, stood at the side in tears, he handbag spilled out over the phone and he iPhone is smashed at his feet. His dog lies dead by the side of the car, a victim in a stupid race where Tim did not wear his seatbelt, blinded by his own stupidity. Again, this tapestry echoes the technological downfall of society, people in the background take photographs of the incident, presumably to upload to social media sites and send to the news.

Personal Development • ETO Jeans

As I am using this blog as an outlet to express my thoughts, I thought it would be good to share my experiences regarding my photographic practices over the past year and what I have achieved - what I am proud of. I started off the year with many opportunities, and found myself so stressed with little time to conduct personal projects, that I had to give some of those opportunities away to other people. I now know that there is such a thing as "too much".

I took on a project from the company ETO Jeans and I can safely say it is one of the best things I have done to date, my hard work paid off and I got my work on a billboard outside the Trafford Centre in Manchester as well as in the world recognised magazine Drapers.