Final Evaluation (AO4)

Final Evaluation (A04)

My work has developed significantly through both me discovering new styles in which to present my work and also through the prior research done to help me create this series of compositions related to the exam topic of Juxtaposition. At the beginning of my preparatory shoots, I experimented with researching the artists recommended by the exam paper, which in my case was the work of Frank Gohlke. In this research, I developed a general understanding of the theme of Juxtaposition and I felt that this gave me a good idea of the type of photography with which to start my preparatory shoots. As the work records progressed, I was researching other photographers not listed in the exam paper, and this helped me to experiment with both landscape and portraiture photography which would eventually inspire me to create a series of images including both landscape and portraiture photography. I experimented with the work of Jerry Uelsmann, Naro Pinosa, John Stezaker, Alana Dee Haynes and Alma Haser which helped me to build my own style of work which is now being used to create my final compositions. 

I feel as though my work has also developed significantly through the use of the preparatory shoots in component 2. I was able to experiment with both landscape and portraiture photography, as well as using both photoshop and physical manipulations to gradually develop my own style. At the beginning of the preparatory shoots, I was experimenting with using side by side shots to show a juxtaposition of day and night, old and new and a contrast in weather. However, as these shoots progressed I started to incorporate portraiture photography after researching into the work of Alana Dee Haynes, who used her work to show a juxtaposition between the human form and cartoon like drawings. I then took both of these types of photography and decided to experiment with putting them together, similar to the style of John Stezaker and this is how I was able to develop my style through the preparatory shoots in order to create the style I used on my final compositions.

My photographers research and research log, as well as preparatory shoots influenced the final series of images that I created in a significant way as I was able to take pieces of different images that I had discovered, as well as the images from the photographers I had research and redesign them with a hint of my own style and development. For example, for the final series of images I was heavily influenced by the work of both John Stezaker and Alma Haser and I feel as though you are able to see this in my work. However, you are also able to see how I refined this style and added an element of my own style to create my final pieces. For example, for my first work record I took elements of John Stezaker's work by combining landscape with portraiture, but I decided to make mine slightly more abstract in the way that I present them. Additionally, in my second shoot I took inspiration from Alma Haser in the way that she presents her work but I also decided to take it a step further and make it slightly more abstract rather than using the same technique, which is something that Haser tended to do within her work.

Comparative Images

 

I have learnt a lot through the project and my work has also developed significantly in the process of producing this project and also producing the final images for my response to the exam question of Juxtaposition. Throughout the project and through editing photos for the preparatory shoots I was able to learn more skills on Photoshop and use these skills frequently in other parts of my project. When shooting my images for the portraiture side of my exam shoot, as well as throughout the preparatory shoots, I was able to learn more about the manual settings used on my camera. For example, I was able to know that when using my camera for taking portraiture pictures using a mix of the flash lighting and natural lighting, I needed to have the manual camera settings set as 1/200, f5.0 and ISO 1600 (or 800 depending on how much natural light there was available during the time of shooting. I also experimented with using a tripod and the different angles it was able to provide. I also experimented without the tripod and holding my camera in different ways to be able to get a different angled shot, or experiment with my camera skills in general. As well as developing technical and operational techniques, I was also able to develop the way in which I present my work. In all of my preparatory shoots, I was using an electronic portfolio to display my work and for the exam, I have decided to have an online portfolio but also to present them manually and mount them onto card. I feel as though this gives them are more professional look. I also had to do this because I had been physically distressing and manipulating the images and scanning them back into the computer, I thought it would be interesting to be able to mount them professionally as well as having a digital portfolio.

The topic that I decided to choose for the exam is Juxtaposition, and in response to the exam I created a series of images that loosely reflect the styles of both John Stezaker and Alma Haser by producing a series of portraiture images, and using both landscape images and copies of the original portraiture images to produce abstract portraiture images that reflect the theme of Juxtaposition. Overall, I feel as though my work record one images link to my initial ideas well as I was able to use both landscape and portraiture image to create a series of abstract compositions that could have a few different connotations or interpretations depending on the audience. This reflects the style of John Stezaker, which is also something that I said I wanted to do in my initial shoot plan for the first work record. I feel as though the series of images from work record two overall links to my initial idea well as I was able to print out two copies of the same image, and physically manipulate and distress one image and layer it onto the original copy to create images in the same style as Alma Haser, which is something that I had decided to do for this second shoot. I feel as though this image does fit in with the style of Alma Haser due to the fact that her images have also been physically manipulated to create an abstract style of composition and create connotational meaning. I did try to make mine slightly more abstract than her work to differentiate her style with my own. 

I feel like my work was the most strong in the first shoot in which I was basing my work loosely around the work of John Stezaker and the way he combines both landscape and portraiture work to create abstract images. The reason I feel as though this was my strongest point was because it allowed me to be creative and produce abstract images that reflected the theme of Juxtaposition. I also feel that these images also have the most amount of connotational meaning and I feel as though they have more of a story behind them, as well as many different meanings depending on who is receiving the image. I felt like my work could have been improved slightly in the second shoot in the way that I presented my work. Although I felt they were based around the work of Alma Haser and I aimed to make mine slightly more abstract, I felt as though I could have experimented more with the way that I layered the images, as I felt like a lot o the time I was layering in the same way but cutting them in different directions.