Overall I am happy with my final chosen developments, they are all subjects on which I struggle with in photography and in day to day life. All are achievable with professionalism and dedication, however it is down to me to be able to carry them on throughout my career and life. This assignment has helped me a lot to discover what help I need to becoming a photographer, it has allowed for me to share my thoughts with fellow students and with the tutors. Most importantly it has give me time to think about what I am lacking and has given me the opportunity to now work on them, to become better at what I do.
One of my many weaknesses in photography and through life is motivation. I sometimes struggle to control myself when it comes to work and doing simple things in day to day life. It has recently dawned on me that photography may not be something I want to do after University, this isn't because of my lack of love for the art but because of materialistic things such as money. I understand that money isn't everything in life, but it is sadly a vital part of it. As I keep mentioning different photographers have talked to us about working as a photographer and its disadvantages, which has, to put into words, 'put me off' basing my career around photography. Photography has been and always will be an art that is close to me, as I have been photographing for many years now, Therefore I have decided to take the opportunity given from the assignment to use 'motivation' as one of my developments.
As you can probably tell by now, I aspire to become a documentary/war photographer. To get my mind back on track, I thought it suitable to discuss the photographers that made me want to become a photographer and the people that keep me motivated.
James Nachtwey. James Nachtwey is an American photojournalist and war photographer. Ever since I watched a film about Nachtwey (War Photographer) it has inspired me too want to travel the world and document the misfortunes of others who can not tell their own story. There is a quote that I hold close which says ""I have been a witness, and these pictures are my testimony. The events I have recorded should not be forgotten and must not be repeated." - James Nachtwey. Ever since reading this quote it has encouraged me to use my skills as a photographer to speak for those who can't. As you may be able to tell from my own work, I too photograph dark subject's to create disbelieve and shock to the viewer. This isn't to make the viewers uncomfortable but to show them what is infront of there faces everyday without recognition.
I never really planned on using 'motivation' as one of my final developments, but now I come to think of it, it seems to be a perfect example of a development which I truly need to work on. Maybe it is something I need to overcome on my own, to get in the right frame of mind of what I want to do in the future. One thing is for certain, If I do decided not to carry on my photography career, I will continue photographing for the rest of my life, as it is how I communicate with people, through my images.
At my current stage as a photographer, although money does sound nice too a person my age, I believe it too be more important as a growing photographer to get recognised. Therefore I have decided to start contacting different charities who are looking for a photographer. Considering my aim is to become a war photographer, Moira insisted that charities is a good place to start. As often enough it is charities who help people abroad in war and poverty stricken areas.
I started too look through the bigger charities that I know of, for example, Oxfam and Unicef. Whilst looking through the Unicef websites I thought it wise to look through the up and coming events that are taking place in the UK. This could be an opportunity to photography the event and get to know some of the workers of Unicef.
David Bull, the Executive Director of UNICEF UK, will be the host for the evening. It is taking place in London, on Monday 9 December 2013 6.30pm-7.45pm at St Paul’s Church. As you can see the event has already taken place and there are no events shown on the website for this year. However, considering we are coming up to the new year very shortly, I am sure there will be other opportunities for me to go to an event and talk to the employee's on Unicef. Unicef do have photo stories on their websites, I think it would be wise for me to contact the company and let them know my situation as a photographer and would be willing to help photograph an event.
I have found an email which may be useful for me too use for a place of contact. The short paragraphs explain that is any form of media need a story from Unicef then they can receive by using the various contact details. I need too start somewhere, so I think it is best to try and make contact with the company.
I chose my current three developmentsbecause I feel that it is something lacking from my overall performance as a photographer at this moment in time. I chose developments which are suitable for an on-going period of time, meaning I should never really stop, entering competitions/contacting companies for work. We have had a few guest speakers come in over the duration of this assignment and they have all had one thing too say in common, which is, photographers struggling too find work in the current climate. This was quite worrying for a student photographer too hear, therefore I dedicated two of my developments to never stop looking for work, even if that is competitions. This will give me a good frame of mind when leaving University and will hopefully encourage me to continue it upon departure. My third development (editing) was a skill I rarely use within my own photography as I think it is vital too let people see a photograph how it is taken to provide raw emotion. However, I understand that Photoshop is a massive part of photography now and various employers/companies may be looking for editing skills when offering jobs. Therefore I have tried to accommodate that within my developments, learning Photoshop will hopefully give me an advantage over other possible candidates. I do believe these are developments which are easily achieved through professionalism and dedication, I hope too maintain these throughout my career as a photography. I believe it too be vital to never stop learning, this is what sets you apart from the others.
Two guest speakers came in recently do discuss there own career and give us a insight into what photography has to offer. Both women often work together on there photo shoots, being close friends for a while they bounce ideas off one another. They both had some really interesting advice to share.
Layla Sailor was born in Manchester, England in 1978, after completing a degree in photography at Manchester in 2005 she has continued to combine commercial fashion photography with fine art & filmmaking. Layla creates hyper-realistic, dreamlike works focusing on colour and styling, she is mainly inspired by russian traditional crafts, religious iconography and politics.
- http://www.laylasailor.com/272881/home
Anna White "Originally from Suffolk, I’m a freelance photographer and facilitator who studied photography and graduated with a Masters in 2010.
I have completed a Scholarship collaborating with Bolton Museum and University, working with the wider community, creating an archive of work, documenting peoples everyday lives. As well as doing a long term project with elderly LGBT people recording their often hidden lives, as they concealed their true identity when homosexually was illegal. I also carried out workshops with different community groups, including NEETS, young offenders and refugees. In 2006 completed a long term project with the elderly that has been widely exhibited including Tate Britain" - http://www.annawhite.net/about
- http://www.annawhite.net/
After both artists had explained there background and how they came about being a photographer they started to discuss together certain aspects of advice which would help us becoming a photographer. A part of the discussion that stood out for me was Layla explaining how photography work comes about and how often, she explained that sometime's she is left for months without constant work and it always turns out that the work appears all at once. This was rather off putting for a student in photography too hear, but I would rather be told the truth than fed lies.
They both agreed that we should try and branch out from photography, practicing in video might be the edge you need over other contestants of the job. It gives you a wider opportunity for work also.
Another piece of useful advice was too always be prepared too make mistakes whilst on a photo shoot, they explained that something will always go wrong but you have to control your subjects and don't be shy too ask them for a reshoot. This also counts for equipment, they explained that equipment may not always work the way to want it too, so be prepared to learn quickly and be innovative on the job.
I learnt a lot from the talk from both Layla and Anna, It is interesting too hear the truth about my chosen career choice from professionals. I would like to add that I admire both of their work, although both having a massive contrast I can understand fully the concept of there ideas through their images.
Another one of my personal developments is too understand and learn editing more than I already know. Therefore I started to experiment with different images I have stored on my computer that need editing but have always struggled with doing so. An image I have had for a while was this one:
I fell across this image whilst walking back too Oxford Road train station, there were foreign protesters, protesting against war and rape in Iraq. Although being pleased with this overall photo, I wanted to test myself and try too edit out the boy behind the flag. I am a strong believer of not editing photographs too much, the most I do is change the tones and lighting slightly. However, I thought it best too learn more about photoshop for future reference.
Sadly I didn't print screen my steps, therefore I will try and take you through it step by step, the best I can. The main tool I used is the clone tool, it allows you too select the object next too it and clone it exactly the same, which keep the colouring correct. When you select the tool, hold 'alt' and then select the target, (the brick next too it) and then paint it over the subject piece by piece until your happy that the colouring and brickwork look okay. Then, use the burn tool to add more depth to the colouring to make the lighter patches darker, so it stays nice and contrasted. In this case the brickwork just looks dusty, if it were a colour photo it wouldn't have been as easy. This took my a while to figure out and I used some advice off friends who know the programme better.
Here is the final edited image, granted it isn't the most spectacular editing skills, but it turned out better than expected considering I struggle with Photoshop:
I have been researching into various photoshop classes and tutorials you can pick up from the internet. From researching I came across a website called 'Photoshop Tutorials'. It has many different links too chose from depending on what kind of level of editing skills you are at the current time, they vary from "basics" too "photo manipulation". For an example, I chose the 'Photo Manipulation' which takes you through step by step on how to create a 'chilling abstract'.
As you can see from the image below, it explains well the direct steps too create such a photograph, its a very useful and appears too be free too use to the general public:
http://www.photoshoptutorials.ws/
There are also various different videos on youtube that show you how to use different effects properly and effectively.
I find this kind of method of learning a lot easier than a written step by step, it allows for you to pause and follow the video so you can edit whilst watching. Here is an example of one of the videos:
