Evaluation

Evaluation

For my final major project, I worked with the theme appearance. Within this, I wanted to look at a wide range of topics, such as discrimination and beauty. I thought giving myself a broad subject would allow me to produce a lot of work, which would all be really different from each other.

At the start of the project, I struggled finding a subject to start photographing, which would be a good point to go from. I decided to work a lot with skin, taking digital macro photographs of skin. This led me to photograph bodies and portraits, focusing mostly on people for my project. Photographing these subjects was something I really enjoyed, as it allowed me to photograph a lot in the studio, and work really close up with people, almost removing their identity in some of the images. The majority of these photographs are black and white, because it makes the models look softer, and it really compliments the skin when using soft lighting.

My final set of photographs were really bold colour portraits. I originally wanted to make magazine covers, but using real women and minimal photoshop to avoid falling in to the stereotype of false beauty, something I had wrote about in my work. After creating some covers and articles, I decided to abandon the idea of using text with my work, as myself and tutors thought it held back my work. In the end, I shot the work I had originally intended to do, but without the writing. It was something really different to do, because it was a massive contrast between my black and white work which I had used previously.

All of my photographs were taken digitally, on a Canon 1100D DSLR camera, most of which were also taken with a 50mm 1.8f lens, which allowed me to have a shallow depth of field within the frame, drawing attention to specific subjects. A lot of my work was created in the studio, using Bowens lights with soft boxes attached to make the models look bright, with smooth skin, which is a recurring theme within the photographs.

I have enjoyed this project, as I’ve been able to focus mainly on photographing people. In future projects, it is very possible I will revisit my theme of appearance, because photographing these subjects and models has allowed me to develop and mature as an artist.  

Exhibition

For weeks, we have been setting up our exhibition, transforming our classroom into a gallery to exhibit all the students work. This has consisted of me sanding boxes, painting, mounting, framing and hanging my work ready for the night on the 18th of June.

For my exhibition, I had decided against using my final colour portraits, and went for some of my stronger work instead. These were the photographs selected.

Photographs selected, mounted and framed, which I had done independently. 

Photographs hung for the first time. I noticed that when the landscape photographs were hung, they came away from the wall because the hangers were too low down, so I unscrewed them and rescrewed them higher up to stop the tilting. As well as this, the photographs started to come away from the mounting board, which after feedback from tutors I decided to change, to avoid putting myself in a worse position for my final grades.

Although the photographs needed remounting, I arranged the frames properly so that I could easily finish my pieces after mounting.

After moving the hangers, the photographs sat nicely on the wall.

During a group crit, I got some fantastic feedback from both tutors and students. A main talking point was the order that my work was in (as seen above). Having the nude woman as my centerpiece lead to a big discussion, as it was feared that it sexualised my work due to the 'male gaze', but on moving the photographs to have the bodies together, I felt it sexualised it far further than before, having two nude women together. I also felt that it split my work apart, seeming like two separate sets, and I didn't like having a landscape and portrait next to each other. We tried rearranging the photographs a few times, but myself and my peers preferred the original arrangement, which I returned my work to.

Also, I remounting the photograph of the man on the far left after reprinting it to make the photograph smoother in the frame. I also put all the photographs against the glass instead of slightly back, which stopped the problem of the prints coming away from the mounting card, the final mounts can be seen below. (This is not the final order, this is experimenting by moving the prints)

Beauty Portraits 3

These are the last photographs from my final pieces. They're all taken in the same way as the previous shots, with a single light on the model with a soft box, and a light with a gel on the background to colour it and brighten the photograph. 

I decided to use a teddy bear in this photograph, as they're very feminine and soft, so I thought it suited the theme. I really like how these have come out, the model's skin looks smooth and warm, which makes the model look better. 

Beauty Portrait 2

This is the second shoot I have done towards my final pieces, sticking with the original theme but without the text.

Using a light with a red gel on it allowed me to change the colour of the background, this is the first shot of the background, because the model wasn't there to have the light on, so it made the background a lot brighter than with the model there.

I shot the flower again to see what it would look like with a different model and background, but I prefer the original photograph.

I used a fence as a prop, but the bottom can be seen in the frame, as well as the top of the curve. I used it similar to the way I used the flower, simply to split the photograph up a little bit and to give it something more than a simply portrait.

These were the final photographs from the set, I like the composition and the lighting in the photographs, but I think the first one doesn't have enough shadow in it, so I massively prefer the second. As well as that, I don't think the expression on the model's face turned out as I expected when I was photographing, very little detail was picked up by the light, unlike the second photograph which really shows definition on the face.

This is my favourite photograph from the set. I will put this towards my final pieces, including the photograph with the flower. 

Before

After

The final version has a slight amount of contrast added, but compared to the original there's very little difference. 

I like the composition of the frame, the model is centred, whilst the fence is positioned so you can't see the bottom or sides. If I reshot the photographs, I'd probably move the light further away from the model, to make her skin look a little bit paler.

I think it fits in with the earlier photograph because of the style it's shot, and I'll definitely finish the set off for my final pieces. I think the photographs, whilst simple, are turning out great. I think producing more to complete the set would be the best plan of action

Magazine Pieces

This is the first piece I have made for the magazine ideas, which is based around anorexia.

This is the second draft I produced. I moved the text away from the stomach, because it covered up too much of the subject. Also, I have shortened the piece to make it easier to focus on the photograph.

This was the second piece I produced towards the magazine ideas. It is a first draft, so the likelihood is that the article will be changed, but I like the structure of the image, and the finish that has been made. The articles were a spin off from the magazine covers idea, which I think look better than the first cover I produced, so following this path is a definite option. A big part of this that I like is that other people have contributed opinions, to provide a less biased approach to the work, having the thoughts and feelings of others really strengthens the work. 

Although I probably won't make a full magazine, having a couple of articles to go with my photography seemed like a good approach. I thought this was a good was to do it, because photographs can create feelings and a reaction from the viewer, so put alongside words, I felt that the reaction brought on could be stronger. One problem which was highlighted during a discussion with my tutor is that the reactor from the viewer could be persuaded by the words presented. I think this could be the case with some of the pieces, but I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, for example with the tattoos. Tattoos are interpreted badly by society, so opening their eyes with other's views may not be a problem.

Following the pieces I have made and feedback from tutors, I have decided to leave the idea of articles and covers. I will be focusing entirely on photography again, as the work I produce is a lot stronger than it is with the text. I'm going to stick with the idea of photographing people to look good with minimal editing, as I think it's a really good subject to follow, proving that people can look good without the use of editing, and that people don't need to change.

Magazine Covers

For my final pieces, I was looking into creating magazine covers, but with 'real' women instead of airbrushes, tightened models which give an unrealistic image to the viewers. These were the first photographs I took to put towards these pieces.

I like the contrast, and the range of colours in the photographs, in my opinion, it makes it look more like a magazine because it has a happy, warm feel to it. The bright flower in the centre of the frame instantly draws attention to the subject and the model, whilst the subtle colour in the background really splits up the model from the empty space in the frame. Using a flower instantly added a warmer feel to the photographs, and because it's covering half the model's face, it made her a lot easier to photographs. Only having half a face to focus on got rid of any uncomfortable looks the model might of had, and in my opinion, made better looking photographs.

I will likely reshoot some similar kinds of things to produce a wider range of final pieces. If I was to make more, I would probably stick with using objects as well as models, because it really brightens the photographs up.

The main focus on the photographs were using little/no photoshop, avoiding changing the models appearances with airbrushing and similar tools. The only editing I have ended up using is a small amount of contrast in the photographs, purely to make them look brighter and bolder, the appearance of the model has barely changed. 

Before

After

The photograph was naturally bright and bold, so the contrast was a very minor change to the image.

This is the first draft of one of my front covers. I think it's a good first attempt, but in some ways it looks too 'cheesy', making it look more serious and more like a magazine (mainly with the text) would improve the work massively. Because it was the first time I'd done anything like this, I found it difficult, which is probably why it didn't look as good as I'd first intended, but it's a good starting point to lead me on to further work. It has also led me to make short articles related to my work to go alongside the cover/covers I might make. 

Weight

These are some photographs I took based around weight. My original idea was to do long exposures of breathing to capture all the movements in the stomach, this was my attempt at it. I used a single Bowen's light with a soft box to the left of the frame, creating a thick shadow on the model's back. This highlights the detail on the model's body in the ribs and stomach.

I don't think the long exposure captured it well enough, although it was a good attempt, it can't be seen very clearly. The model moving made it blurrier rather than a long exposures, which put me off the idea. After that, I decided to photograph the model normally, and overlay the images on each other. I got the model to breath in as far as possible, and out as far as possible to create the biggest difference I could between the two states.

I massively prefer the overlapped version rather than the long exposures, it's a lot clearer rather than blurred. I did it on photoshop by overlaying the images, and making the top one a lower opacity so that the bottom photograph can be seen through it.

The intention with this work was to show the reality of a person's figure, and often how they see themselves. Although it's not the case with all of the people suffering from eating disorders or weight problems, a common mentality is seeing yourself a different size to what you are, motivating you to lose weight more, so I felt the work I produced was appropriate.

Final Major Project Proposal - UAL Layout

Taiyo Onorato - Marzahn

Perfectionism

These are some short pieces on perfectionism, which were forwarded to me by a friend, who sourced them from a counsellor. They focus on the psychological side of perfectionism, how to identify yourself as a perfectionist.

This led me to look at people who undergo surgery to achieve 'perfection' in their appearance. It's a really common thing with celebrities, which I think influences people to follow a similar route to try and change their appearance, unrealistically. A lot of the time, the surgery is unnecessary too, below is an example of it, Megan Fox who didn't look bad beforehand, had surgery anyway, creating a bad influence for young girls particularly. 

Although the change in Megan Fox can't be seen a lot in that picture, some change themselves to look almost inhumane because the surgery is that drastic.

As well as surgery, advertisements featuring celebrities are also unrealistic, mainly because of the amount of makeup plastered on them, and how much they are edited and manipulated. They are made to look 'perfect', which gives an unrealistic view on how people look, mainly women. This is a good example, Beyonce on the cover of Vogue is made to look absolutely flawless

When without makeup and editing, her skin isn't as smooth and bright, her eyes have have bags and darkness and her face doesn't look as skinny. 

They wouldn't be able to put the real photos of Beyonce on the cover, because she doesn't look 'perfect' enough, so it wouldn't sell products, whereas this unrealistic version of beauty that is portrayed will sell, because people aspire to look that unrealistically good. 

This led me to think about how I can link my work in with this, shooting photographs in the style of Vogue and other popular magazines, but with real people, without the editing to look like the real Vogue. I might create a series of front page spreads with 'real' women, maybe even with a couple of articles to go alongside expressing views against plastic surgery.