Upon first reviewing this brief, I thought
it best to base it on my preferred style within photography and the style that
brought me in to photography to begin with, abstraction. I am drawn towards visually
exploring simple form and shape and observing its application to numerous
surroundings; to examine shape in genuine simplicity, to not over-analyse its
meaning or interpretation, yet also not for vain aesthetic. My own style follows
abstract and minimalist themes, however I wanted to bring in another theme to give
my style more application and although the overall result may fall under these
categories, the project will not purely be for the sake of them.
Upon studying multiple photography competitions
and the winners chosen from them, the emerging style is documentive. Still
beautiful images on their own, but following a particular person, town or theme
that allows us a window to this particular goings-on in the world. One example
being the 2013 winner of the Aperture Foundation Portfolio Prize, Bryan
Schutmaat; his project Grays the Mountain
Sends combines portraits, landscapes and still lifes of a small mountain
town and mining community. The photographs are beautiful as individuals and
complement each other as a collective.
So therefore I aim to combine my own preferred
photographic style yet following a somewhat documentive theme. However many of
these successful photographic collections are taken over a number of years and
a vast number of miles travelled. Having a much shorter time scale and much
smaller budget I have had to base my project on something closer and easier to
access. Consequently, I aim to follow my own story and having moved numerous
times in my childhood, this gives me plenty of opportunity and places to
photograph.
·
I hope to gain permission to
photograph inside previous homes I have lived in (five, not including current),
photographing the rooms I slept in, the gardens I played in etc.
·
The landscape where I lived.
·
Specific places and items where
memories took place.
Having a large scope of things to
photograph, from landscapes to rooms to specific objects, this gives me plenty
of scope to work around. With all this in mind however, I still am responding
to myself and what my “photographers eye” will see to an abstractive style –
keeping it all tied in to a certain style.
Based on the type of competition
(photographic) and the preferred style of my own work, I narrowed down the
choices of competitions that would best suit myself and my work to:
·
Aperture Foundation Portfolio
Prize
·
IdeasTap Photographic Award
·
Professional Photographer of
the Year
Aperture asked for:
-
15 images with title/caption
information
-
To follow a theme/topic,
carried throughout the images consistently
-
Strong composition, use of
colour/tone
-
Technical and presentational
choices made by the photographer, being appropriate for the work
-
The body of work taking and
innovative and unique approach to the subject matter.
IdeasTap asked for:
-
10 images submitted to one of
the following themes (Journey, Human Relationships, Climate, Memory, Conflict)
-
The images must demonstrate
your ability to tell a story.
PPOTY asked for:
-
The submission of one image to
a category, although submission to multiple categories is allowed. One category
(Portfolio of Three) allowed the submission for three images that worked
together.
Upon further reviewing and thought about my
chosen project, applying to the Aperture Foundation Portfolio Prize would
likely be best to follow – being able to submit a larger number of images
compliment the documentive style and their asking of images for strong
composition with good use of colour and tones will suit my abstractive style
nicely. Although taking into account presentation of this work outside the
competition, it would best suit a photobook, with the images complimenting each
other’s context together in one bound piece of work. My audience would best
suit other photography-enthusiasts and so in order to get my work seen by them
it would make sense to exhibit the collection in a gallery, with the photobook
being a natural addition to this.
My research shall entail both primary and
secondary sources, researching previous artists of both abstractive and
documentive style. I shall also continue researching past competition winners
in order to scope out what these competitions are looking for. Since my work
will follow a documentive style and will aim to be finished for potential
exhibit, I shall visit photographic galleries; since many current, emerging
photographers follow the theme of showing a specific topic or story in a
photo-essay style. Primary research will entail myself visiting my past
residences and the surrounding landscape, gaining permission to photograph in
the homes I previously lived in and experimenting with continual image taking.
Timescale
13th January – 19th
January
Research & contact previous homeowners
for permission to photograph
20th January – 26th
January
Research, visit gallery, aim to photograph
one landscape/homeland area
27th January – 2nd
February
Research, arrange to visit previous homes
(given permission)
3rd February – 9th
February
Research, reflect upon work so far.
10th February – 16th
February
Photograph landscape/home (given
permission)
17th February – 23rd
February
Photograph landscape/home (given
permission)
24th February – 2nd
March
Photograph landscape/home (given
permission)
3rd March – 9th March
Reflect upon work so far.
10th March – 16th
March
(Presentation assessment)
17th March – 23rd
March
(Presentation assessment)
24th March – 30th
March
Research. Photograph landscape/home (given
permission)
31st March – 6th
April
Photograph landscape/home (given
permission)
7th April – 13th
April
Photograph landscape/home (given
permission) / Plan photobook
14th April – 20th
April
Plan/edit photobook. Order.
21st April – 27th
April
Continue updating blog/research
28th April – 4th May
Prepare for hand-in / Review book
Monday Mayday 5th – Holiday
Tuesday 6th May – Hand In by 10:00am
No comments:
Post a Comment