Summer project continued..

To begin with I wasn't really sure what the best way to portray myself would be in a photograph, I tried a couple of different ways, using different lighting and camera techniques. But didn't feel that these were right and may have been difficult to understand visually.

So I shot the image above that is quite simply showing items that I own of things I enjoy doing.

I love to watch films and have seen so many films that are good and bad that sometimes I can't even remember if I have seen it or not until its half way through. In my still life image I have put in some of my favourite films and a box set of a certain series of a yellow family. There are a few comedies which I will say the lines to before they have been said and most times get them a tiny bit wrong. 

My Medium format camera sits on top of these, I wanted this to show that photography was at the top in my life maybe a bit of a cliche for a photography student, but if I didn't enjoy it then it would be pretty pointless doing a degree in it. I also chose this camera to be more prominent as it is my favourite film camera to use (even though being ridiculously heavy).

I have also placed my 35mm film camera in the image as I like to shoot film and this camera is far easier to carry around than my Bronica. The 35mm is facing my headphones and Iphone/Ipod because I often shoot live bands and music has been a big part of my life (played a few different instruments since I was about five years old and have been in several different bands from about fourteen). 

That being said I have placed my bass in the background where it is not being shown very much, it also has a coat-hanger on it, this is because I have been thinking about leaving the band I am in to concentrate on my photography. I am still undecided which is why there is more of the bass showing than the hanger.

Two other hobbies that I have are playing the ps3, though that is more of an occasional hour or so a week (not like some gamers). And the other hobby is riding my bmx with friends in Penshurst or slightly more local dirt jumps, this hobby is portrayed by the riding gloves and crash helmet.

One of the main parts to this image would be the hats, I am not often outside without a beanie or cap on, I guess its like my safety blanket? I won't leave the flat unless I have my cap on or beanie in my back pocket at least. 

I have also placed a purple hoody in the shot as purple is my favourite colour. 

Summer project research

We have been given a summer project to complete before starting in September, Still Life - Portrait. We have to 'create a self portrait through a constructed still-life'.

To help me with this little project I have researched into a few different still life photographers.

Jeff Wall - The Destroyed Room

This picture shows a woman’s bedroom that has been vandalised; this was created in a studio as you can see if you look at the door on the left there are beams holding up the dry wall. All of the clothes that can be seen are of Wall’s wife, who left him for another man this same year, so it may be thought that this was why he created this piece. Wall borrowed his wife’s clothes as they were still on good terms and he says, “I don’t remember feeling particularly angry at that time”[1]. 

Certainly looking at this image it doesn’t look like he wasn’t angry at the time but there is a deeper meaning to this piece and that comes from a 19^th-century painting by Delacroix. This painting is called ‘The Death of Sardanapalus’ and it is of an Assyrian King who has had his armies defeated and refuses to go quietly and commands the destruction of his court and harem.

It is very interesting to see where a person gets their inspiration from, a lot of still life was created before cameras were invented and told quite intricate stories about the people at the time of painting. 

Vanitas a form of art that shows the 'vanities' of life. This art form has deep meanings and the themes were most common in medieval funerary art. These became very morbid and explicit, increasing the obsession with death and decay through the 15th century. A lot of the content within the painting symbolises the shortness of life, for instance the skull, reminds us of the certainty of death. The lamp, beer tankard and violin also are considered to symbolise shortness of life, to me they show some of the joys that life contains. The beer tankard, suggests a social person or an alcoholic and the violin can also be seen as a social item as many people go to listen to people play and it is also something that can be enjoyed individually.

I could be completely wrong about this image but that is my opinion about this painting, that is what art is about, having your own interpretation and opinion and I think photography is the same when viewing work.

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[1] Arthur Lubow, The Luminist, New York Times, online magazine.

I have come across some imagery from this site http://www.klarag.com/ that made a connection with me.
They are all very full with items of fashion (clothing, accessories, shoes), it isn't really the items that connected with me but more the way that the images have been set out. There is a controlled mess going on, that says to me a hectic busy lifestyle which is how I feel my life is at the moment.

More to come later.......

Inspiration

I am pretty much a commercial photographer but I really enjoy working with models and creating images that tell stories, sometimes this doesn't happen.

So when looking for inspiration I look here: http://www.larajade.co.uk/

And see things like this:

Set up for Uni, hopefully shouldn't take too long to get used to.