Final Evaluation

I found it difficult to choose a topic for this unit as I did not have any ideas coming into it. I eventually decided to pick the topic of evidence as I was quite a broad starting point and a few ideas came to me when creating a mind map for this. The first thing I thought about shooting which related to evidence were obvious examples of evidence for example litter on the ground or footprints in the mud, so my initial shoot consisted of pictures like this. Because of my lack of ideas, a lot of my images were similar and I ran out of ideas of what to photograph. Although the images I had taken showed evidence very clearly, I wasn't too keen on the composition of most of them. After this I decided I wanted to use props to show evidence, and create a scene. The studio lighting allowed me to show form and reflection in my images which improved the quality. Before this I was not used to photographing props but I enjoyed it and I think that through this shoot I improved my composition skills, as I was focussing so much on this when doing the shoot. Because I enjoyed this shoot so much I decided to do more photography using props, this time on location. I think that this shoot mainly helped me become more skilled in setting up scenes using props as I found myself moving the props around a lot in order to create the best composition, and a scene that looks natural. Because I had the freedom of shooting in different locations, I managed to create a realistic and slightly moving scene, and was very happy with the outcome of this shoot.

When creating an initial mind map at the beginning of this unit I realised that evidence would also be shown through vandalism or destruction photography, and I found this quite interesting. I liked the way there was a lot to look at in the image and the negative feel it created. I especially enjoyed photographs of graffiti as I found it very artistic and appealing to the eye. I wanted to create images like this so I decided to go to Brick Lane in London to take some photographs of a large variety of street art. This trip combined street photography, which I had been a fan of and enjoyed taking beforehand, with art and I managed to take some pictures which I am really happy with. I think that this trip helps me to think about sense of depth in my work as I had taken pictures of a lot of graffitied walls and wanted to find an angle that emphasised the depth. I also think I had improved my skills and knowledge in basic camera angles and composition, which I had taken with me into shoots after this one.  The shoot had made me realise just how much I enjoy taking street photography and I'm sure I will continue to take a lot of it in the future.

Something else Unit 2 has helped me to notice is my interest in taking portraits. After I had done multiple vandalism shoots I wanted to try something different, that I had only briefly touched on in the previous unit; portraiture. Rather than using a studio, I thought about how I could use various locations in order to help convey a certain feel or atmosphere with the photograph. The first portrait session I did I decided to shoot in a very urban location, so that backgrounds such as graffittied walls, alleyways, and bridges were available. I wanted to shoot in this sort of area because the model I had chosen had a very strong urban/grunge look, which is the reason I had picked her. As I wanted to make these images as interesting as I could without overcomplicating them, I decided to dress my model in a urban outfit, with grunge makeup including black lipstick, and fake piercings. This complimented the location very well and I was very happy with the outcome of these images. This was the first time I had picked and dressed a model to match a certain location and I feel that I had learnt so much about creating a scenario in this shoot, which I had taken and will continue to take in future shoots. It was this shoot that helped prepare me for my exam shoot, where again I had focussed on portraiture. This time, I focussed more on the faces rather than the surroundings, showing tone and emotion. Despite this, I remembered how effective my images from the previous shoot turned out due to choosing an appropriate location depending on the look of the model, and used this again in my exam. This helps to reinforce an urban feel and really made the images look like realistic scenarios, which I am very happy with.

Overall I have really enjoyed this project and I know It has helped me to significantly improve many of my existing skills. I have learnt to think more about the composition of the image when taking it, and have improved my skills in composing images, as well as photographing depth. I have also learnt some new skills for example creating my own scenario by choosing certain props and locations in order to create a realistic image. I believe I have improved in portraiture and street photography as I have focussed on these two aspects a lot during this unit, as it has helped me to realise that I enjoy these kinds of photography. As well as photography, I feel I have improved editing skills as I have explored with different aspects of Photoshop for example when creating my computer edits, and surprising myself by finding an effect that creates a really interesting and abstract image. Physical experiments have aswell improved my creative skills and I have thoroughly enjoyed burning, cutting, and destroying my work to create an abstract piece of art. When looking back at my work from the beginning of the unit, and then looking at my exam work and the shoots I had taken towards the end, I can see a significant improvement and I am very happy with the outcome of this unit of photography for this, as well as helping my find my areas of interest as a photographer.