2nd to last tutorial - Martin Pover

I feel pretty positive after my tutorial today as I kind of knew that these images from my final shoot were what I wanted to get out of this project. But what was suggested really surprised me; the shots from my first shoot on this project were saying the same thing as my final shoot was. Plus they were strong images to start with. So I've taken the advice and have planned to incorperate and produce more of these images. Maybe in black and white or maybe in the same colour schemes I've been working with my final pictures.

These are six of the images from the first shoot that I want to include :

And I wish to do six more to make it up to twelve images all together expressing the way celebrities have to choose and decide what persona or identity they are to sell to the public.

And then this image will create that feeling of how celebrities sell their image to us for us to idolize and also represent ourselves as well.

I might actually have two big prints of the colour images and then the 12 images in a grid format or a narrative format by the two big prints.

I have a clear vision on how I want to present my work now as well as what I need to do to start printing. Unfortunately this blog to book has to be sent off soon so I can have it in time for my review. But I will follow my presentation research as well as any other quandaries about printing in my work book.

Final Shoot

I found this shoot a huge learning process with how to shoot with my flash gun and how to capture detail perfectly focused. I also learned to trust myself as I am fully capable with capturing what I have in my head - I just never think I'm good enough technically to push myself this far. But I am! So that's nice to know.

I started out using just spotlighting and then progressed to using flash in a dark room. All were shot on my canon 40d (manual setting!) with a slightly wider lens than standard. 

Here are my favourites from the shoot:

Barbara Kruger

Kruger works with mainly black & white images and then overlays them with black, white or red text mainly referring to political issues like capitalism, gender issues and so on. Her canvas for these  phrases are appropriated or altered images. 

As I know the message of Kruger's work is still incredibly relevant and important, the images she uses don't really speak to me as a person. I feel more of a connection with the words that she has over-layed onto the images than the images themselves. I think this must be because I feel like they're not the main message, the images are just a back drop to these phrases and statements.

None the less, I feel that her work is relevant to where my project is at the moment.

Experiments with Kruger-esk manipulation

To do list

I'm so glad that I attended my second mid-review as it made it clear that my project wasn't finely resolved as of yet and it also made me think of how I can make it into a polished piece.

So this is my TO DO list (roughly!)

1. experiment with the images I've already shot with inspiration from Barbara Krugar. 
2. Copy all of my relevant research into my work book to show a full and proper account of my research on this project
3. When my new ink cartridges turn up - print out all the images so far and collage them on my wall for the shoot - document
4. Shoot both with me in the frame and without.
5. Go to the tutorial booked on Tuesday to show progress and get feedback from my new spin on the project.

2nd Mid-Review

I had my second mid-review two days ago now and I feel like I've had enough time to think about the feedback I received and how to tackle the issues so they're fully resolved for my final hand in.
My feedback from my peer group was mainly all positive:

• Using glossy magazine paper would suit the project more than using plain paper.
• Maybe stick to just creating the covers instead of trying to make a whole magazine.
• Try covering a wall with images so it's as if it's a teenagers bedroom 
• Put the covers on the wall and then photograph them, Maybe put yourself infront of the images again. Being the teenager. 
• Magazine layout is good.  

I know how to tackle all of these issues in my head:

• Do a shoot with my bedroom walls plastered with the images I've already shot to create the teenagers bedroom feel.
• Experiment with me in front of the camera as well and then me not in front of the camera - see which works
• Forget about the idea of the magazine covers - Not working - not saying what I want it to say! 
• Therefore not using magazine paper but thinking about one huge print instead of many. 

Feedback from tutors: (the hardest bit was reading the writing on my sheet...)

• Design element of the magazine cover is too distracting from the actual images. 
• Experiment more with self-portraiture in relation to magazine imagery
• Suggested reading - Auto Focus - Susan Bright (Read for dissertation, notes in work book) The Beauty Myth and No Logo, Germaine Greer (Read for previous project, notes in work book).
• Suggested artist - Barbara Krugar - Take on one element from 'the layout' rather than a whole cover. 

Again, I know how to answer and resolve all the above issues:

• Experiment with the images I've shot with elements inspired by Barbara Krugar (text and image, outlining, boxing images etc) 
• Copy all relevant research I've all ready done and taken inspiration from for this project subconciously and display in my work book
•  Experiment with the images on my wall, and the ones I've already shot, shoot more etc.
• Scrap the magazine cover! 

Sharif Hamza - Azealia Banks for Dazed & Confused magazine

I was talking to someone about having this idea of a teenage bedroom as a shrine to idols as well as using this feel to critique celebrity culture and they pointed me in the direction of the September issue of Dazed & Confused magazine which featured Azealia Banks. But the props were all to create this feel of a teenagers bedroom. Magazine rip outs plastering the walls all featured her idols and inspirations as well as herself.

  I absolutely adore this shoot and I feel it says a lot about Banks as an individual as well as relating heavily to my project. I really feel inspired to plaster my own walls with the pictures I've shot for this project and then do a shoot with me in front of the images. And then maybe I can experiment with elements from the magazine layout etc.

I just love the simple layout of Dazed & Confused's website also! Might be inspiration for the way this blog/book is heading...

Experiments with printing

I was sat there after I'd finished the first front cover thinking about how it's lacking in something that I can't put my finger on. I was surrounded by magazine pages and covers and I was thinking about what kind of paper I could print these front covers on.

So I thought I'd ruin my brand new wireless printer by running thin magazine sheets through it! (The most logical move)
But I kind of like how they turned out -

I feel like these two prints are the most successful as the ink took to the empty spaces on the sheet as well as some of the adverts and stories. I also feel like these two prints really embody that scrap book feel of how teenagers react with these materials, like plastering their walls in magazine scraps or making scrapbooks or online mood boards etc. 

I feel like these two are the unsuccessful outcomes from this experiment. The ink from the magazine blocks out too much of my print over the top that you cannot decipher what exactly you are looking at and I think it's that balance that works really well with the top two prints. I think this feeling of mystery works to benefit my idea and I just need to figure out my final presentation of that idea and the concepts I've looked at that works for this critique.... Tricky.

Front Cover

I'm really quite proud of this front cover as I think it looks nearly the same as a cover of a magazine but with not too much distraction of too many images and words so the images that are on their can speak for themselves. I really like the subtitles I've given the fake news stories as well since they're just the right amount of outrageous and I'm pretty proud of the layout I made since I closely followed a recent layout from a similar magazine. 

On the critical side of things, I'm not sure if this piece actually says what I want it to say... It feels like it's lacking in something and I'm not sure what that is.... It's a very underwhelming feeling since I worked so hard on this piece. Maybe this isn't the way to go after all of that.

Photoshop...

I haven't properly used Photoshop in about three years (since I prefer to use adobe lightroom for my images as it's simple and quick and made for photographers and not graphic designers.) So using Photoshop for this project is quite daunting as well as exciting.

I thought I'd take my old A level teachers advice from years ago and follow some relevant tutorials on making magazine covers and Photoshopping people.

I followed this tutorial -

http://www.tutorialstraining.com/cstutorials/advertisingdesign/magazine/twistrcodedtutorial.htm

I found it very helpful as well as using relevant techniques to edit the look of smoother skin, shinier hair, bigger eyes etc. that are all used in magazines.

After three hours of perfecting this image as well as adding the red banners I gave up and went to bed. I found it frustrating not knowing what I was doing as well as not having a clear idea of what I wanted it to look like.
I vowed that I'd get up the next morning and finish the job, no matter how frustrating or how long it took me.

And this is the final outcome of that day. I'll blog about it on it's own in the next post.

Front Cover

I've been toying with the idea in my head of having a front cover of a celebrity magazine, but instead of different celebrities in different photographic situations (Shoot, paparazzi etc) It'll just be me in those situations.
I thought that this would critique the fact that anyone can be a celebrity these days as well as reiterate that these 'celebrities' are just normal people like myself and who are we to judge and maybe care about what they get up to?

I see these magazine covers as a sign of what people who read these publications actually want to read about and find them quite humorous as well as severely depressing (Since most of them are about celebrities and misfortune, infidelity, drug and alcohol abuse, depression etc)

I think I'll experiment with the images that I've already shot and see. I'm a little dubious on getting the layout completely correct and not distracting from the actual images themselves. After all people only notice bad design!

Something

I've failed to point out in this project is that I am simultaneously writing my dissertation on female self-portraiture, so naturally all my research for that has subconsciously fed into this project and vice verse. 

As my dissertation is a piece of writing and all my research is written (either in note format or long hand) I'll include copies of the relevant research in my physical work book and not in this research journal.

Because of this similarity of projects, I've had a tough time keeping them separate and not contaminating my practical project with political, psycho-analytical and social issues to confuse the finale outcome, but it is incredibly hard to let the relevant information come through that way. So I'll just spiel out everything then pin point what it actually is I was to define at the end of this project.... I guess?

Shoot 5 - Hotel Room (2)

I shot another few images whilst in the hotel room. I wanted a kind of 'hidden camera' but not paparazzi feel to the images. A little bit x-rated, infrared kind of image.

I shot a lot of these images and I think these two are probably the best ones from the bunch.
Again, I'm not sure how to display these yet but I'm please with the results.

Shoot 4 - Hotel Room (1)

I recently did a shoot situated in a very plain hotel room:

I wanted to get the feel of being spied on by the paparazzi so I hid the camera on the windowsill and let some of the curtain drift in front of the lens. I placed the camera on the windowsill as that's where the paparazzi would be shooting from if the hotel room was on the ground floor. I also wanted the curtain to interact with the lens as the paparazzi wouldn't be able to move it out of the way of the shot.

These three shots are what I would pick for the edit. Plus I think they go well together as a sequence. I imagine something like 'Superstar caught binge eating in hotel room with friends' Or something along those lines...

I'm pretty pleased with these shots!

Rut

I guess I've hit a kind of rut with this project. Dissertation work and my personal life have taken over for a while and I just have no motivation to actually shoot images anymore. I guess this is a common thing, you research your way out of a passion. Because all the magic and visual appeal is ruined once you know all the tricks and the depressive theories behind the images we see every day. I feel entirely disenchanted. It's ruined a hobby but in the process I've learned a lot.
Tomorrow I'm going to write for 3 hours on my dissertation then shoot for the rest of the day. It has to happen.