ReCreate - My trip to Flers.

For this project I want to go to Flers, France and photograph the textile industry as it stands today. I have never been to that part of France and I am not really sure what to expect. 

And so it begins with our first point of call Amie emailing Annabelle telling her what I am wanting to do in Flers. Amie the Interreg project coordinator and Annabelle works for Chargée de mission développement économique et marketing territorial, Direction de l'Attractivité du Territoire - Communaut é d'Agglom ération du Pays de Flers which translates to Policy Officer Economic Development and territorial marketing, Directorate of Territorial Attractiveness - Community of Agglomeration of Flers.

Hello Annabelle

I hope you’re well.

As you know, five students from UCA visited you in August to document the site at the Les Bains Douches.  As a continuation of the project, we have another four students interested in a photography project in Flers.  I have copied the students into the email.

Luke will be working on an individual project and he is interested at looking at the textile history of Flers as a focus of his project.  He will also be visiting Calais and in particular, the Lace Museum.  When Luke has planned his visit to Flers, he would need some time to meet with you (for an overview of the project), have a tour of the area and most importantly, the historical buildings in Flers which once housed the textile industry.

Adam, Harry and Andrew will work on a collaborative project.  They will not visit Flers, but instead they will send you a parcel of disposable cameras which they would like to have distributed to members of the community.  They would require your help coordinate community engagement with the work.

I hope it okay for students to be in contact with you directly.  Please do not hesitate to call me to discuss over the phone.

Kind regards
Amie

The idea is there! but I have a dissertation to be writing!

Dissertation.

Dissertation.

Dissertation.

Dissertation.

Dissertation.

Dissertation.

Dissertation.

Dissertation.

Dissertation.

Dissertation.

I've spent a lot of time on my Dissertation, I need to do some other work or I think I'll go insane.

EuroTunnel is booked, Hotels are booked and Annabelle is aware that I am coming to Flers.

This is the first time I have traveled alone and I am going on my motorbike in the first week of January, I hope the weather will be ok.

Had to get up at 4am to load up the bike and set off to arrive at Folkestone to get the train, I got there early enough that I got an earlier train. I have 2 videos on youtube which just show some of the time that I was in France and the stuff below is like a little diary of what I had learnt at the end of each day.

I must admit I put this project to one side while we had our dissertations to write as I couldn't really think about anything else, But about 3 weeks before the hand in for the dissertation I thought that it would be a great idea to actually book the hotels and the train and just get out there.

I travelled about 650miles in total, on my own, on my motorbike. It was very windy! but a great experience.

That pretty much sums up the trip. It was a very enjoyable experience and if I were to do something like this again I would have to spend much more time exploring and photographing. And I would maybe go with someone else rather than on my own as it is generally good to have someone else to discuss ideas with and have with you when you are walking round old abandoned buildings. I have certainly grown as a person due to meeting new people and trying to speak French while getting around, It also gave me more confidence in my photography and riding ability because I only had one fixed lens with me so I had to really think about composition, I couldn't just change the focal length and be stood in the same place. For the riding, I haven't had a bike very long, at the point of the trip I had been riding for about 4 months, so it was great to do this trip to prove to myself that I can think on my feet with the photography and also navigate to a place I had never been to with barely any satnav help and also battle the horrifically strong winds.
Definitely something I would like to do again.

Major Project. Initial ideas, Tests, Inspiration and Finals.

This has been a Major struggle for me, I have come up with and shot down many ideas so far.

I wanted to link my project with my dissertation, as I thought it would be a good idea to use the research for both rather than do something completely different.
I was looking into motorbiking as a culture and thought it would be great to meet other bikers and find out why they ride, whether it be for fun or just for commuting.

So firstly I focused on my friends and shot some stuff with them, ranging from portraits to candid shots. I did this so I would be able to build up a better understanding of what I would be looking for when I came to shoot strangers.

Ace Cafe trip... was a difficult ride in the cold, sat nav failed a lot and we pulled over on many occasions to try and figure out where to go.

At the same time as photographing my friends I thought I would look at myself and ask myself the same questions I was asking.
It is definitely fun for me, I do not see my motorbike as a form of commuting, more as a way of self improvement. I enjoy the speed, the thrill and the vulnerability that comes with riding a motorbike.

The shot above is very reflective and I am looking pensive, the overall shot has quite a sombre feel, I guess mainly because of the way I look. And the reason for this is that we had just found out that a friend of a friend had died the night before on his motorbike.

I didn't really feel like I was making progress with the above idea and felt like I needed to change. I went through some other ideas.....

Taking song titles or lyrics and creating a visual from them...I clearly didn't get into this idea very much and didn't even finish either of the images I had started. 

Dogs Blood - Alexisonfire

'Howls heard for miles around'

All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix

I worked in collaboration with a couple of 2nd year fashion promotion students to create a short fashion film. This is more the area I am comfortable with and fashion certainly holds an interest for me. But the reason I didn't continue with this is because it was mainly someone else's idea, the main input I had was  in the cinematography and editing. The concept, clothes, model, location all came from the FP students, which meant I didn't feel that this was really my project.

Until, I decided that I would be able to do something similar to my ReCreate project, in which I went to Flers to photograph the abandoned Textile mills. By deciding to focus my major project on textiles means that I am able to collaborate with a 3rd year textile design student. Before we had decided to collaborate we did a studio shoot for her previous project and I am not sure why we didn't think of it then:

We went to a national trust location in Surrey and I was given a brief so as to make some images that encapsulated her concept. We shot the images below:

And from these images, the designs below were made:

One day, while on my way home, there was a lot of mist/fog in the woods that are near me and I couldn't pass up the chance to photograph it. The reason for photographing this was purely because I felt that this really grasped the whole idea of the concept, escapism, getting away from the hustle and bustle of the everyday. Some parts of the images within this set have also been used to create the designs.

Research/Inspiration

Caspar David Friedrich

The Wanderer 

Possibly escapism at its finest, being able to look upon the vast landscape and be in awe of its beauty. Forgetting any troubles that you have and just being able to be at peace in yourself. I think photographing in a forest is quite key for me as I spent most of my childhood running around a forest making camps and not having any worries. This is something that is lost as you get older as you realise there are many things to think about and make sure you stay on top of, such as bills, deadlines and just staying in contact with friends and family. I feel that this work will possibly end up being about myself and how I feel that I have come from a dark place in my life but have been able to hurdle some obstacles and am now in a place of reflection where I can look back and learn from what has happened and be in a position to move onto much better brighter space in life.

Kay Nielsen

Boy Wonder http://www.flickr.com/photos/joel_r/9532672880/lightbox/ 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/joel_r/8360209032/lightbox/

Daniel Gustav Cramer

It kind of feels like I have some sort of link to this work, but I think the only thing that is linking it is the space in which is has been shot. The woodland/forest area. I like the idea that the open ground in the middle with the light on it could suggest an air of reflection on ones self. A small gap in the busy complex world where there is a short time to take a breath and then carry on.

Possible visual styles for the rest of the narrative. To give the idea of the escape from normality and drawing inspiration from Kay Nielsen's illustrations I would like to create an air of magic in my images.

Tim Walker

Creating of an atmosphere, the way that it is lit and the location. The use of props within the image to give that fantasy feel to the image. It is interesting to see indoor items and essentially a room being brought to a woodland area. These images allow the imagination to run wild and think about such stories as Alice in wonderland.

As much as I enjoy these images and can take parts of them for inspiration, such as the composition and aspects of the lighting, I think that they are a bit to far from my idea of a journey. These still have an aspect of escapism but to me they seem to be more about a cluttered mind.

The Sublime

An ideal that for artists is something that is long pursued. It points to the heights of something that is truly remarkable. I am not sure I am pursuing the sublime in this work but because I seek escapism within the wilderness this work could possibly be seen as looking towards the sublime, it will most likely be much more metaphorical.

John Martin - The plains of Heaven 1851-3

Paul Hill

White Peak Dark Peak

I like the use of the light within this, playing with the shadows and creating layers within the image because of this and also because of the stone wall going up through the middle.

Detail shots of designs - shot using a 100mm macro lens.

I wanted to show the fabric and the colours that have been used within the designs as a kind of premise to the rest of the story which I still have yet to shoot. Using the macro lens for this part of my project means that the viewer will be solely focused on the parts of the fabric and colours that I have picked out. I want the colours and designs to be looked at closely so that they can be admired and looked at in more detail as the next part of the project will be more about the environment that they are placed into.

Looking through National Geographic online and I came across a tips page that had a little bit on shooting within a forest.

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-tips/landscape-photography-tips/ 

Forests

Photographing forests presents a different set of challenges. First, think about the character of the forest you want to shoot and the feeling you want to convey in your image. Should it feel dark and brooding, or light and airy? Are there any special features that will help express how you feel about it?

As with any photograph, find a point of interest. It might be one slightly different tree trunk, a path winding through, or a splash of color on a flowering vine. Whatever it is, compose in such a way to lead the viewer to it. Look for shafts of light penetrating the canopy or one spot on the forest floor directly lit by the sun.

Whether you are shooting toward a forest or shooting from inside it, look for patterns, lines, and other compositional elements you can use. Try both wide and telephoto lenses. A wide lens looking up at the trees will make them soar; a telephoto will compress a row of trunks. Lie down and look straight up through the branches; climb a tree to look down the path.

Career plan research

Because I want to go into video I thought that it would be a good idea not only to have some video work online but also have a show reel in a box with some imagery for potential employers to look at.
I found the boxes below as an idea, and feel that this is something that needs to be explored further than to what I have so far.
I need to spend extensive time looking at what would be best for me and this is something that I should have looked into sooner but I can also work towards making the best cd folio once I have worked through my plan for the next year and build up a much stronger portfolio.

Inspiration.

Kay Nielsen.

I have chosen these images due to the way they make me think about being alone and able to reflect upon aspects of life. They have an air of escapism or wanting to hide from something. This is turning into something of importance in my project, wanting to escape but having to make decisions at the same time.

Shot some more for the collaboration

Unfortunately I do not think that these images work for my the narrative that I am trying to create with images. There is an idea of escapism and solitude but there isn't the journey through the trials and tribulations that I wish to show. But doing this collaboration gave me some more experience using the mobil lighting kit and Hasselblad and also allowed me to be creative for someone else which I am hoping will allow my mind to open up and think about what I need to do to create some images that portray what I am trying to say.

Various Google images for landscapes

Some points to think about.

Ok firstly, location is key. Without the right location my imagery will not give the right effect to the viewer.

 Do the images want to be overly romanticised? Maybe they start off in a harsh way and slowly move towards a romanticised feeling. This in itself should create a part of the narrative.

 Leading lines, how do these draw people through the image, these will create the idea of a journey through space and time, these could also make the viewer think about certain times in their own lives where they felt similar.

 Think also about colours, how these can make a person feel. Darkness emotes bad feelings generally and light should make for a happier space.

 The use of light, this is where the mobil lighting kit will make the difference, I will be able to create the mood much easier.

 Season is also key, spring and summer is a happier time and therefore the images will naturally feel/be brighter and more romanticised. I will need to finish shooting just before spring in order to get the darker tones of my emotions slowly leading up to a happier space and time.

Tim Simmons

I have chosen these images as inspiration because of the metaphorical meaning that a path in the woodland has, it is essentially how life flows, snaking through as decisions are made by you or for you. It is something that will always have a direction but will not always be going the way you think it will.

I am also looking at the technical aspects of these images, the lighting is very important and for me to create the images I want, I will have to use mobil flash kits and a camera with a leaf shutter, such as a hasselblad.

Location ideas. Shot using Canon 5D mark II + 35mm and 50mm Lenses.

 So now I need to return to this area with studio lighting and a Hasselblad to begin to create my narrative.

I had to comp together the images in photoshop to create the final pieces.

Concept:

Creating pathways from light within the wilderness as a metaphor to depict life’s trials and tribulations.

Life is not contrived but for this project I will be creating metaphorical pathways as a way to show certain points of a life’s journey. These images will show indecision, reflection, hardships and achievement.

When life seems to be at an impasse sometimes you need to escape, find solitude and reflect.

The two images above are ones that I am very happy with, the top image allows time to reflect upon the past and look into the future, the past is clear as it has already happened yet the light of the future draws you in. The second image is about indecision because of the two paths shown, being unsure of which to take, wanting to take the closest because it is within reach and doesn't require any effort to go down, whereas the second path has obstacles before it and could possibly have obstacles along its way.


The image below is meant to show a hardship, being stagnant. I like the idea of it but because it is in a different woodland it doesn't fit with the two above. This was also the only shot that I was able to get due to the lighting kit not working properly. But I did put this image next to the previous shots and really do not like it, this shot stands out in all the wrong ways. I still like the idea of what it represents but because it is in a different woodland it looks too different, theres too much greenery due to the different trees that are here in Kent. I have tried to apply the same techniques through composition and lighting, trying to frame the image with trees closer in the foreground like the previous shots.

Hoping to be able to get another lighting kit so I can continue to shoot this week as I am going back to the first forest area.




Summary so far...

I went through several ideas and shot quite a bit of different stuff. I shot a few things for a textile design student and she used some of the images to create designs from, then we decided to collaborate on this project and I started to shoot the things that she had designed (fabric designs, cushions and chair) in the studio and on location. The concept for her work is 'Escaping from the complexities and fast pace of modern living. Stripping life back to the peace and serenity experienced in childhood. Finding enchantment in life's simplicities.' 
It turns out that we have very similar concepts just different ways of showing it, it is all very metaphorical and is about decisions within life and sometimes wanting or needing to go back to something more simple.

I need to see if I can bring all the images together as they represent the same thing, but I am concerned that they are too different:
I just need one or two other images to finish it off, but here we have 'Reflection, Indecision, Escape' on the top and underneath 'Hardship and Achievement' below them will be 'Solitude'.

I realised that the close up fabric shots won't work with the landscape images, but they are in fact a part of the journey, this is due to the way that I shot them. If you go back and look at them you can see that they have their own pathways in them and the way the print runs through it shows the ups and downs of life. I decided that these are too fine art and would the meanings behind them would be easily lost.

I went back to the forest in Surrey and managed to get one last shot to bring the work together, I had them printed and I didn't brighten them enough so they came out very dark and it was difficult to see the details within the images. So they day after I went back and printed them brighter and I am much happier with them. Now I just have to try and find some better glass for the frames as the ones I bought came with perspex which is horrendously reflective and even after brightening the images it is quite hard to see them and it would be a massive shame to have done this work and not be able to see the images properly.


Here is my concept book and final images with the meanings behind them, how they made me feel when making them.