Final work in the exhibition
So after lots of preparation, painting and cleaning the exhibition was now complete. The event started with a private viewing last Friday, plenty turned out and the atmosphere was very good throughout the night. I was very pleased with my final work and how I had decided to present them. I was worried that it was going to be too difficult to put up but managed to find someone to do it for me. I had a lot of compliments on it, especially the way it was presented.
Some people I had invited could not come to the private viewing but hope to come in the week. However I was pleased that my old college tutor came and saw my work, he taught me my main photography skills three years ago and lead me to go on to do my degree. Friends and family also turned out to see the work and it did feel very fulfilling presenting my images after all the hard work.
The postcards I had made for the exhibition nearly all went on the opening night so I had to order some more. I hope that this means my name and work has been put out there and someone may get in contact one day. Overall the exhibition went very well, everything went as planned and it hasn’t put me off doing another exhibition in the future!
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Rota for the gallery
One of my roles towards the exhibition was to organise a rota for the manning of the gallery. This was to be divided between the group and at least two people had to be on each day. To make this easier for myself I created a simple table with the dates on and passed it around the class. The people who were there on that day got first picks of what day they wanted/could do. The remaining days were then left for me to fill in. After I had filled in the remaining days one problem I had was members of the group then wanting to change and swap, leaving me to rearrange dates with other people instead of them sticking to the original plan. It wasn’t hard to complete the rota task as I feel I am good at organising things, it was just rearranging dates that had already been finalised due to people wanting to swap.
As well as doing the rota I had to to a handover pack to go with it to leave in the gallery. This included everyones name and contact number incase somebody didn’t turn up for there shift and security numbers. It also included instructions of how to open and lock the door when arriving and leaving the gallery. It was easy enough to get everyones number and then to put it in a list, all of this information was then put in a folder for the gallery.
This task was well suited for me, as I said I am good at organising things and believe that everyone in the end was happy with the days they are doing in the gallery and so far there has been no further changes or people not turning up.
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Reflective Summary
When I first started this project I knew I was going to produce fashion based photographs. I wanted to explore not just fashion but also makeup which is why I started photographing makeup/beauty first. I felt that these images alone didn’t really work for me, I felt they didn’t have a narrative behind them but they were only the beginnings of my project so I learnt from this. It was then decided that I should focus on a story then incorporate the makeup within it. I was always keen on the circus idea and so I felt it would bring out the best in my images and this is where I started.
I am very happy with my final images but this hasn’t come from not having a few worrying moments. Make up artists letting me down last minute meaning I have had to cancel shoots and book someone else and then ordering my frames; they were not sent out on the day I had advised meaning they arrived 4 days later just in time for the hand in. However I believe everything else went to plan, some things changed along the way from my original proposal but this was only to better my images and the overall outcome.
One of these changes was advice I was given by my mentor Ludwig Haskins. From the beginning of my project I always wanted my images to be in colour. After I did my final shoot and we looked at the images together he suggested to put them in black and white and to see how they compare. He wasn’t keen on the colour processing that I had done and said that they looked flat. I took his advice and edited them to black and white. I was still not 100% sure if this was what I wanted. I asked advice from other colleagues as I could not get hold of any of my tutors that day, the majority preferred the colour. I had another look at them properly, however I was starting to grow more towards the black and white images. Ludwig did keep reassuring me that they looked better. The colours of the makeup did not matter as the form is still there. They are a lot punchier and having them printed so big will allow them to stand out anyway without having them in colour. I am glad I took his advice as he has helped me out over the past year and felt it would be stupid not to take it.
If there was one thing I could have improved on was my schedule. I should have arranged to do more shoots as this would have given me more experience and more images to add to my portfolio. As the last 2 shoots were coming on I could see that there was an improvement and if I had given myself more time I may have produced better images as the weeks went on. However I have made many other contacts, like makeup artists, models and my other mentor, Caroline Malloy. These are people I can get in touch with for help with shoots in the future, as they know about the project already and can see I can produce the work.
Overall I am content with how this project has come on, I can still continue with it and to do this I would focus on other types of dolls and create shoots with models and strong makeup. I may even improve on this one overtime to suit the other individual shoots.
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List of references
Akrans, C. (2011) Interview with Camilla Akrans. Interviewed by Swedish Institute [online], sweden, available from <http://www.si.se/English/Navigation/Current-projects/Swedish-Fashion-Goes-Berlin/Swedish-Fashion-Goes-Berlin/Interview-with-Camilla-Akrans/> [10 May]
Art and Commerce (n. d.) Ellen Von Unwerth [online] available from<http://www.artandcommerce.com/AAC/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=AACAC3_76_VForm&FRM=Frame:AACAC3_65&XXAPXX> [01 May 2012]
Emma Summerton (n. d.) Emma Summerton website [online] available from < http://emmasummerton.com/> [10 May 2012]
Frankel, S. (2008) ‘Frocks and fantasy: The photographs of Sarah Moon’. The Independent [online] 20 October. Available from <http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/frocks-and-fantasy-the-photographs-of-sarah-moon-966704.html> [10 May 2012]
Horwell, V. (2012) ‘Lillian Bassman Obituary’. The Guardian [online] 16 February. Available from <http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/feb/16/lillian-bassman> [18 February]
Hudson, M. (2012) ‘Alex Prager: Photography’s Heir to Hitchcock’. The Telegraph [online] 20 April. Available from <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-features/9217494/Alex-Prager-Photographys-heir-to-Hitchcock.html> [15 May 2012]
Hunger TV (2012) Doll Face [online] available from <http://www.hungertv.com/beauty/feature/doll-face/> [20 May 2012]
Lund Lund (n. d.) Camilla Akrans [online] available from <http://www.lundlund.com/photographers/camilla-akrans> [10 May 2012]
Maxim Fashion Agents (n. d.) Emma Summerton [online] available from <http://www.maximfma.com/> [10 May 2012]
Michael Hoppen Gallery (20 April 2012) Alex Prager [online] available from<http://www.michaelhoppengallery.com/exhibition,current,3,0,0,0,156,0,0,0,alex_prager_compulsion.html> [15 May 2012]
Michael Hoppen Gallery (n. d.) Ellen Von Unwerth [online] available from <http://www.michaelhoppengallery.com/artist,show,1,153,0,0,0,0,0,0,ellen_von_unwerth.html> [5 May 2012]
Michael Hoppen Gallery (n. d.) Sarah Moon [online] available from <http://www.michaelhoppengallery.com/artist,show,1,55,0,0,0,0,0,0,sarah_moon.html> [5 May 2012]
O’Hagen, S. (2012) ‘Stan Douglas: Midcentury Studio; Alex Prager: Complusion – Review.’ The Guardian [online] 22 April. Available from <http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/apr/22/stan-douglas-alex-prager-review> [15 May 2012]
Prager, A (2012) Alex prager website [online] available from <http://www.alexprager.com/>[15 May 2012]
Stately Wise Gallery (n. d.) Ellen Von Unwerth Revenge [online] available from <http://www.staleywise.com/collection/von_unwerth_revenge/von_unwerth_revenge.html> [01 May 2012]
Stately Wise Gallery (n. d.) The Collection Lillian Bassman [online] available from <http://www.staleywise.com/collection/bassman/bassman_exhibition.html> [5 May 2012]
Stately Wise Gallery (n. d.) The Collection Sarah Moon [online] available from <http://www.staleywise.com/collection/moon/moon.html> [5 May 2012]
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Deciding on layout of images
So now I have my final 6 it was time to decide which order to show them in. I had a play around and mixed them up numerous times. I didn’t want the two close ups to be in the same set of three so that was easy enough to divide them. It was then a case of just seeing what worked best. I also knew that the landscape image would have to go in the middle as it had the black strips and I felt the balance would not be right if it was at the top or the bottom.
After having sorted out where three of them were going it was a case of seeing where the other suited. Below is the final edit I have come up with and feel works best.
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Frame layout
As 5 of my final images were portrait I knew I was going to need portrait frames, however one of the images is landscape so I needed to think of a way to lay them out. My first idea was to have the landscape image in a landscape frame but it would have to be half the size (A2) so that it could be attached to the other frames in the current way.
This idea would work however I would like them all the same size and I also thought it might look a bit odd having one smaller image. So my other idea was to put the image on a portrait page and then add 2 black strips one on the top and one on the bottom, so that this would keep within the theme of the black and white theme and I could get the image printed the same size.The image still works and I can have it the same size as the others. I nearly took this image out of my final 6 because of the orientation but I was advice to think of a way of including it. I am glad I did this, it adds to the set and doesn’t make them too uniformed by having them all portrait and my frames can look how I wanted them to originally.
Layout of frames
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Postcards for final project
Since I had decided on my final 6 images I thought it would be a nice idea to get some postcard printed from moo.com so that I could have them on display at the degree show but to also send out to people that perhaps couldn’t attend the degree show that I wanted to show my work to. I kept them simple putting one image on each card and on the back just having the title of the project and my name. Along with this I have also made some business cards so these can go in with the postcard so people have a way of contacting me.
I have only ordered 60 cards for now for the opening night of the degree show and then if I need more to send out to people or they need adjusting then this can be done. I have only used the 6 final images and so then if people want to see more they can come to my blog or website.
Example of front
Example of back
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Tags: Moo, postcards
Titling my work is something which I tend to do once I have my images. It was suggested to create a title in my proposal and I did put my initial ideas down but these ideas have changed now I have my images and I am far happier with the title.
I wanted my original title to be related to beauty and erotica however I didn’t want to set this in stone as my ideas and concepts may have changed slightly, which they did. The images are not as erotic as I first thought I was going to do them. They are more subtle but have a dreamy essence to them, leading me to the title I have of “Circus Dream”. To help me with this decision my mentor ludwig Haskins and I came up with Circus Dream or Dream Diary, as the theme has been circus related all the way through I thought it only seemed right to have circus in the title.
Now I have a title I am going to get some postcards printed with the images on and title so that I can have them on display at the degree show for people to take away with them. I can also send these out to professionals with my card as a way of showing my degree show work in a smaller format.
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Final Edit
So now I have done my final shoot I was ready to edit my images to get my final 6. I wasn’t sure whether I was going to combine the two last shoots or just have 6 images from the final shoot. To help me with this decision my mentor Ludwig Haskins looked through the images I had selected initially as my first edit. We then chose 6 together and I then put in the cross process effect I had previously used. Below are the final 6 images…
Ludwig then suggested that I change the images to monochrome as he thought that the tones would suit it better. I took his advice and altered them to colour just to see what they would look like. At first I was a bit against this idea as I wanted my images to be colour from the start of my project. However I didn’t want to not take his advice and so I changed them to monochrome.
After changing my images I was still unsure about having them in black and white, it was the day before I had to get them printed and unfortunately none of my tutors were in university on this day. I asked for other peoples advice and they all preferred the colour. However when I spoke to Ludwig about the situation he explained to me that the colour processing looked very dull and the black and white ones were alive and much stronger. The more I looked at the monochrome ones the more I could understand what he meant. I was also worried about the colour of the makeup and it not showing through but he assured me that you don’t have to have the images in colour for the makeup to stand out. Black and white images are still used in magazines to show makeup and so I felt a lot more at ease with this idea. After coming to a decision I am going to have my finals printed in monochrome. I trust Ludwig’s advice and he has helped me over the past year with my work and so I didn’t want to let him down.
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Yesterday I came across this article on the Hunger TV website, the makeup by Caroline Saulnier is similar to the theme I have been doing for my project but the approach is very different. The images are very striking but I believe it is the makeup that really stands out and makes them complete. The way that the background is incorporated with the makeup colours gives a really pleasant feel to the image, even with the dolls head looking as though they have been ripped off. They are almost humorous yet they feel as though they have a dark side to them.
Since starting my project I have been thinking about how I can carry it on and thought that I could perhaps continue with creating and photographing different varieties of dolls but using models and makeup. The photographs I have come across here have given me some motivation to believe I can continue with my project but to think beyond photographing a model with the makeup. It may need a lot more post production to create something like this but the final images will be different and really stand out.
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Tags: Caroline Saulnier, Doll Face, Hunger Tv, makeup
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