03/10/22
This semester’s theme for Interdisciplinary Practise is called ‘Everyday life’. When brainstorming ideas for this theme I started taking notes over October and came up with these findings:
After my first tutorial I confirmed with Miranda that I would be going ahead with the 4th idea from the list I made, the idea is called ‘Photography of everyday life’. Sounds fairly vague but it’s actually going to be extremely broad and will lean on to the 2nd semester for the spring show. The idea involves creating a book with each chapter being a time of the day with photos of what people are doing with a small biography as well maybe a quote from the person too. Each chapter will be as follows: Chapter 1: 9am, chapter 2 10am and so fourth. I wanted to be a lot more broader in scope with my ideas this year which is what lead me to this decision, this will allow me to get up and personal with the general public and friends and tutors with their day to day lives.
04/10/22
Today I enquired to a member of staff at the film department about what they thought about the idea of photographing people as they work/teach etc. and he stated that it would be best to seek permission first (obviously) and to enquire to two other head members of staff for their thoughts too. When it comes to properly starting this project, its going to be quite a challenge but in retrospect I think that the more the ambition the more the reward/satisfaction. I will have to devote my entire mondays to this project as the other weekdays are going to be busy with the other modules and so on.
The difficult nature of this project means that by the end of week 2 I will have to decide (based on my progress) whether this project is appropriate or not and whether it is doable, as there is going to be a lot of permission granting and general cooperation of people for it to be a success.
05/10/22
Notes from class:
A sort of motif for today is how an onion doesn’t have a centre but it just keeps going and going. Find the pathway to explore. Giving space and time to dig into yourself and your own creativity. Today we had our first I.P introduction/lesson with Miranda giving an outline for the course/module, a rough outline of the marking criteria and learning outcomes. Bibliography was also mentioned. Overall view of blackboard was covered too. There was also a discussion of professional development involving proposal forms and exhibitions, vital towards a career.
An idea can turn your path into the great unknown or something completely different but relevant at the same time.
Today I managed to start my project properly by arranging to photograph 3 people, one had to move to tomorrow though. Below are photos from different times, a lot more were taken but i would rather save them for the final entry/project showcase. The new macro zoom lens is fantastic and releases an incredible bokeh effect, leaving the subject completely focused and detailed:
06/10/22
Later I will be photographing someone in the school of art whilst they are doing their daily painting at 2pm. I also have a photography class at 12 which I may try and co inside and take more photos, we will see.
3rd subject allowed for photographs at 2pm. I’m really starting to enjoy capturing the extreme close up details of what’s happening in the moment. All photos are being edited in RAW format with only dumping of the shadows enabled via Affinity Photo. Each subject that I have photographed have given their thoughts from the exact moment i took the photos.
Overall a really good start to the first week of term, this progress will keep up each day and will move on to people I haven’t met yet.
07/10/22
More photos done for the 7pm chapter, the photos like these will start to show a stark contrast when compared to what happens at other times of the day. Showing what it’s really like for people in the everyday setting. These photos for instance show the diabetes routine before dinner with insulin intake.
Thinking ahead towards the exhibition side of things, whether it’s hypothetical or real, I have researched into design programmes for books and will start learning the software required. The software I have decided on is Adobe’s Indesign. I then studied the measurements needed for a bifold brochure and started a rough attempt just to start learning the software in preparation for the final product.
09/10//22
The short film ‘Pockets’ by James Lees is an observational film about what’s inside the pockets of people living around London. The film holds extreme close ups on the people that are filmed which maintains an extremely raw and personal feel to the style of filmmaking. They then go one to talk about what they use in their pockets and the meaning/use behind the items.
The observational filmmaking is what inspired me to some degree to style the photography in the same way (extreme close ups, raw imagery) etc.
Excellent start Mike, beautiful sensitive set of photos, the close up zoom lens is working really well, the details are intimate and evocative, not giving too much away. Yes the permission will be a factor and arduous at first, as you say you need to clarify quickly whether the project in its full ambitious state is possible, but I don’t doubt many alternatives will present themselves to you, so keep going with what you can. Try to be attentive to spelling and grammar so the posts read smoothly.
Thanks Miranda, I just checked it and there were a lot of grammar mistakes. Thanks for letting me know for future reference.
Mike