Brief
Start by doing some reflection in your learning log. What kinds of subjects might be seen as un-photographable? How might you go about portraying them using photography? List a few examples of things you’re experiencing now or have recently been thinking about. This doesn’t have to be too in-depth or revealing, but it can be if you want. Equally, it might be something as apparently trivial as how you’re going to fit everything into your busy day. At first you may come up with literal examples, but the more you think about them the more those ideas will develop into specific and more original ones.
Implement your idea. Aim for a tightly edited and visually consistent series of 7-10 images.
Ideas
What is meant by the unseen? this question remained for some time while I came up with a few ideas. I added to my ideas (in my scrapbook) for a few days.
I went back and forth – Does it mean portray things that physically cannot be seen by the human eye, such as Mental Health? Or does it mean reinforcing a story or idea as a metaphor rather than a physical description? The meaning of the image is then read the viewer (which could be interpreted in a variety of ways dependant of the individual viewing the image) and not what the image physically describes.
As I was still trying to understand the brief, my first idea was to portray Mental Health. I suffer with Mental Health and have done for a long time. As I researched into similar photography ideas, there are a lot of similar images only relating to a certain type, for example, anxiety. I therefore had an idea to explore a variety of Mental Health issues.
I thought about portraying a variety of Mental Health issues with still life photography, such as fruit. However after talking with other students I found that others had interpreted the brief completely different to me.
I decided against this idea. I wanted to do something more personal to me. I decided to tell my bullying story in a metaphorical way by focusing on key points of the story and my feelings.
Planning
Firstly I wrote down many feelings and key events that happened during this time. This was hard as it started 20 years ago and I buried such feelings for a long time.
Because I tried my best to forget what had happened, I also decided to get an account of my Mums and Dads view of the event. This was difficult for them, I hadn’t realised how badly it had effected them.
Once I decided which key events/feelings I wanted to include in my story, I came up with photo ideas for each one. I also decided to write down some text ideas that I wanted alongside each image.
As my assignment begins to form, I notice that a lot of the feelings I felt back then, are still felt today in my adult life. I soon begin to realise, through my counselling sessions that my mental health struggles are linked to my childhood bullying. This was completely unseen to me!
This made me change the direction of my assignment slightly. I decided to focus on the feelings and affects that the bullying still has on me today.
Research
A lot of my research came down to looking at different metaphors for each feeling/key event. It was difficult not to shoot an image that physically describes what I wanted to portray. I did not want to make my images too obvious but at the same time I did not want a completely different interpretation. I really wanted to make sure I portrayed my feelings and how it affected my childhood.
I also researched into Fine Art which I have huge interest in.
A fine art photograph must go beyond the literal representation of a scene or subject. It must deeply express the feelings and vision of the photographer and clearly reveal that it was created by an artist and not by just the camera
https://photographylife.com/what-is-fine-art-photography [Accessed 16/06/2020]
Fine-art photography is photography created in line with the vision of the photographer as artist, using photography as a medium for creative expression. The goal of fine-art photography is to express an idea, a message, or an emotion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fine-art_photography [Accessed 16/06/2020]
Brooke Shaden
Shaden is a fine arts photographer who explores the darkness and light in people. She likes to photograph herself inspired by an intense childhood imagination and fear. I found myself relating to Shaden’s work as she also enjoys storytelling through her images. Her images are also personal to her, as are mine, personal to me. She also describes herself as intensely anxious. I found there to be a lot of similarities between us both.
I enjoyed looking at her work and found a lot of emotion in her images.
Control/Release
Click here for my evaluations against the criteria.
Bibliography
https://brookeshaden.com/gallery/?title=control_%2F_release [Accessed 15/06/20]
Amianne Riggott OCA Blog 