EVALUATION:
Isolation was my initial idea for my personal project: it was a broad theme that I felt I could explore extensively and experiment with various ways of showing the different forms of isolation that I brainstormed in order to write my proposal. In this I said that I wanted to start off by exploring various dark room methods of photography to experiment with the traditional ways to develop and display a photograph rather then focusing on digital photography right away. I also thought about the various branches on isolation that I could explore such as physical and mental sides of the theme: I thought I could explore this through the emotions that I conveyed in the image and through the physical isolation of an object in the scene. I feel that I have rounded off this project well: with a lot of experimentation within the art of traditional photography and then aiming my chosen method at an idea that I then developed, taking inspiration from photographers along the way to refine my skills and develop my editing processes.
To start off the physical bulk of my work I began with exploring various dark room methods of photography such as inkodyes, contact prints and cyanotypes: I enjoyed using all of these methods, especially using various development processes when making my contact prints, but I felt that digital photography would be the best route to go down for the rest of my project as it gave me a lot more choice and range in terms of editing the photograph and creating various final outcomes for a single image. If I had more time to complete this project I would have gone on to experiment with the art of film development as I feel that it takes a lot more skill and effort to use this process then any of the others that I experimented with and I think it would create some beautiful final outcomes with some of the images that I took with my digital camera.
The next step of this project was to research the photographers that I wanted to base all of my initial photo shoots on and who I wanted to take inspiration from to not only develop my ideas to create the theme of isolation within a set of images but to also develop my editing techniques and how I framed and composed each individual image as I progressed through my project. After looking at various photographer I settled on three that I particularly liked: Andy Ellis, Todd Hido and Jack Barnosky. I chose these three photographers as I thought that the ideas and themes that they conveyed in each of their images related exactly to my own project and I felt that I could take a lot of inspiration from their methods and editing techniques to help refine my own skills and ideas within this project and to define what I chose to develop as my final ideas.
I took inspiration from the colouring I used in my images within the first few photo shoots from Andy Ellis: I wanted to use colour to represent the happier emotions and use a lack of colour or a faded image to convey the sad and depressive sort of emotion to the viewer. I found that this was very effective when using images of subjects but as I went on to think about how I wanted to develop my project further I decided to change my ideas and use a larger range of shots that did not include a subject to convey similar emotions but in a very different way: this is when the inspiration that I took from Todd Hido and Jack Barnosky came into play.
After I wrote my second proposal and decided to develop the physical side of isolation through the use of nature and objects in the house, reflecting the same emotions that I had previously explored through the use of a subject. I took inspiration from Todd Hido first, recreating his famous set of images called 'Occupied Homes': I thought that this would be an appropriate time to experiment with the alternative methods of conveying isolation and to start developing my final ideas to finish the progress through my project. Although I loved the final outcomes that I created I did not think that this idea would be enough to take me through to the end of my project so I decided to go on and explore the work of Jack Barnosky and the images that he creates with trees.
The first set of images that I produced when looking at the work of Jack Barnosky spurred me to develop a series of photo shoots in the style of his own images and with my own interpretations added on to allow my creativity to flow when taking and editing these images. This was the first time that I had properly developed my editing techniques in regards to using black and white within this project: although I had used black and white in some of my images when exploring the techniques used by Andy Ellis I had not developed the way I changed the balance of each colour separately like I did when trying to recreate the same overall effect that Jack Barnosky creates in his images. After taking three photo shoot based around this idea I then went on to create my final piece which was another development from these photos, using the same black and white editing techniques with extra elements to create the same atmosphere and emotions that I wanted to convey but on a bigger scale.
My final piece was a collaboration between all of the development processes that I had gone through within my project and a mixture of all the inspiration that I had taken from the photographers I had researched and any previous experience that I had with photography from last year. I think that my final piece follows on from the work I had been producing based around trees int heir natural environment and seeing them isolated from the other things around them and not being able to see people or other signs of civilization. I think that this idea was very strong as it conveyed my theme of isolation very well through just the initial appearance as well as having the background of what is symbolises written for each image to ensure that the viewer understood what I was trying to show completely. I also think that my additional elements with my artificial lens blur and the handmade black border make the tree stand out even more to the viewer by highlighting the most vivid parts of the tree and causing an effect so that the viewer's eye is immediately drawn to this. I am extremely happy with everything I have produced within this project: I feel that I have explored a multitude of elements to do with isolation in various ways and taken a lot of inspiration from the artists I have researched and experimented well with ideas and alternative methods of producing the images before I settled on a final outcome.
If I had more time to finish the project and develop my ideas further then I would have liked to go to a variety of different locations to see the trees in a larger amount of different background: for example I would have liked to experiment with going to see the smaller trees that grow around the beaches to create a very different atmosphere to the images of the trees in the graveyard and in the forest. I think that this would have added nicely to my development within this project and would have been another element to the build up of the final piece that I could have included. However, I am happy with what I have done and the images that I have created show my journey from my initial idea through to my final idea and the development for both which is what I wanted to ensure I did: I have shown a development through my style of editing, taking my images and my inspiration through the project.
To start off the physical bulk of my work I began with exploring various dark room methods of photography such as inkodyes, contact prints and cyanotypes: I enjoyed using all of these methods, especially using various development processes when making my contact prints, but I felt that digital photography would be the best route to go down for the rest of my project as it gave me a lot more choice and range in terms of editing the photograph and creating various final outcomes for a single image. If I had more time to complete this project I would have gone on to experiment with the art of film development as I feel that it takes a lot more skill and effort to use this process then any of the others that I experimented with and I think it would create some beautiful final outcomes with some of the images that I took with my digital camera.
The next step of this project was to research the photographers that I wanted to base all of my initial photo shoots on and who I wanted to take inspiration from to not only develop my ideas to create the theme of isolation within a set of images but to also develop my editing techniques and how I framed and composed each individual image as I progressed through my project. After looking at various photographer I settled on three that I particularly liked: Andy Ellis, Todd Hido and Jack Barnosky. I chose these three photographers as I thought that the ideas and themes that they conveyed in each of their images related exactly to my own project and I felt that I could take a lot of inspiration from their methods and editing techniques to help refine my own skills and ideas within this project and to define what I chose to develop as my final ideas.
I took inspiration from the colouring I used in my images within the first few photo shoots from Andy Ellis: I wanted to use colour to represent the happier emotions and use a lack of colour or a faded image to convey the sad and depressive sort of emotion to the viewer. I found that this was very effective when using images of subjects but as I went on to think about how I wanted to develop my project further I decided to change my ideas and use a larger range of shots that did not include a subject to convey similar emotions but in a very different way: this is when the inspiration that I took from Todd Hido and Jack Barnosky came into play.
After I wrote my second proposal and decided to develop the physical side of isolation through the use of nature and objects in the house, reflecting the same emotions that I had previously explored through the use of a subject. I took inspiration from Todd Hido first, recreating his famous set of images called 'Occupied Homes': I thought that this would be an appropriate time to experiment with the alternative methods of conveying isolation and to start developing my final ideas to finish the progress through my project. Although I loved the final outcomes that I created I did not think that this idea would be enough to take me through to the end of my project so I decided to go on and explore the work of Jack Barnosky and the images that he creates with trees.
The first set of images that I produced when looking at the work of Jack Barnosky spurred me to develop a series of photo shoots in the style of his own images and with my own interpretations added on to allow my creativity to flow when taking and editing these images. This was the first time that I had properly developed my editing techniques in regards to using black and white within this project: although I had used black and white in some of my images when exploring the techniques used by Andy Ellis I had not developed the way I changed the balance of each colour separately like I did when trying to recreate the same overall effect that Jack Barnosky creates in his images. After taking three photo shoot based around this idea I then went on to create my final piece which was another development from these photos, using the same black and white editing techniques with extra elements to create the same atmosphere and emotions that I wanted to convey but on a bigger scale.
My final piece was a collaboration between all of the development processes that I had gone through within my project and a mixture of all the inspiration that I had taken from the photographers I had researched and any previous experience that I had with photography from last year. I think that my final piece follows on from the work I had been producing based around trees int heir natural environment and seeing them isolated from the other things around them and not being able to see people or other signs of civilization. I think that this idea was very strong as it conveyed my theme of isolation very well through just the initial appearance as well as having the background of what is symbolises written for each image to ensure that the viewer understood what I was trying to show completely. I also think that my additional elements with my artificial lens blur and the handmade black border make the tree stand out even more to the viewer by highlighting the most vivid parts of the tree and causing an effect so that the viewer's eye is immediately drawn to this. I am extremely happy with everything I have produced within this project: I feel that I have explored a multitude of elements to do with isolation in various ways and taken a lot of inspiration from the artists I have researched and experimented well with ideas and alternative methods of producing the images before I settled on a final outcome.
If I had more time to finish the project and develop my ideas further then I would have liked to go to a variety of different locations to see the trees in a larger amount of different background: for example I would have liked to experiment with going to see the smaller trees that grow around the beaches to create a very different atmosphere to the images of the trees in the graveyard and in the forest. I think that this would have added nicely to my development within this project and would have been another element to the build up of the final piece that I could have included. However, I am happy with what I have done and the images that I have created show my journey from my initial idea through to my final idea and the development for both which is what I wanted to ensure I did: I have shown a development through my style of editing, taking my images and my inspiration through the project.