Books…

February 6, 2013Leave a comment

I have come to a point in my project where I would like to explore something that I am interested in on a more personal level. I made a mind map of all the things that I enjoy doing; one of my biggest loves is reading and finding new books to discuss and review. So with that in mind I went to all my previous subjects and asked them if they could pick out their favourite book. Along with the book I also wanted them to have their favourite quote.

My initial idea was to have the person simply reading their favourite book but I thought that was a little plain. So after some thought I came to the idea that I would like to hide the identity of the person (behind the book). This ties in with the saying ‘Don’t judge a book by it’s cover’ as by having the persons face hidden we as the viewer chose how we want to perceive that person.

As I have mentioned before the only criteria for this project is that by the end we must have a final piece in the form of a book. When taking the pictures I was imagining how they would look on the page and how I would go about hiding and then revealing the identity of the subject in the picture. I would have their chosen quote adjacent to the hidden identity image, so the viewer can make their own minds up as to who they think would chose the quote and read that type of book. But by the end of the book I want to reveal all of the subjects with their names and book choices. I feel this would force the viewer to consider the judgments they had previously made on the person whilst their identity was hidden.

We all judge before we get to know someone, even if it’s before we’ve heard what they sound like or even what we look like. I’m sure there are some people out there now reading this and making judgments about me and my life without knowing who I am or what I look like. It’s a shame the world has come to be this place of stereotypes and prejudgments but it’s just the way things are, whether you put yourself out there or not you will always be met with some sort of criticism and it’s up to you whether you carry on or let that criticism take over.

So on that cheery note, here is an example of one of my images with the subjects favourite quote;

“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn’t. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn’t be. And what it wouldn’t be, it would. You see?”

– Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass

I imagine the format to have to have the image on the right hand page and the quote on the left. I will then reveal the person with their face uncovered at the end of the book. Here are the rest of the images from those shoots:

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So up next is the book! Hopefully everything will go to plan! I will be using the self-publishing website ‘Blurb’.

Speak soon!

– Amy

Experimenting…

December 3, 2012December 3, 2012Leave a comment

So after looking at still life and how the composure and post-production can affect how an image is perceived I wanted to experiment with the content. Up until now I have left the fruit in its natural form, letting it rot in the first few shoots but ultimately leaving it unchanged. What could I do the fruit to change how the viewer sees it?

After considering different paths I chose to try dying the fruit – I planned to alter the viewers perception by having fruit in different colours to their usual ones.

Here is one from that shoot;

Alongside this I also planned to create ‘surgical’ scenes, in which the fruit seems to have been injured. I wanted these to look quite horrific and gory – as if taken from a horror movie. I researched different types of wound closures used after surgery and translated this over onto the fruit.

‘Surgical suture is a medical device used to hold body tissues together after an injury or surgery. Application generally involves of using a needle with an attached length of thread. A number of different shapes, sizes, and thread materials have been developed over its millennia of history.’

– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgical_suture

‘Surgical staples are specialized staples used in surgery in place of sutures to close skin wounds, connect or remove parts of the bowels or lungs‘

– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgical_staple

By using the red food colouring I hoped to create a blood-life effect on the fruit. I found this added to the ‘horror’ side of the image and when asking people what they thought they were often uncomfortable.

I wanted to allude to surgery and the graphic nature of these images has done that. By pairing the mundane fruit with the personal and often upsetting scenes of surgery I have bridged a gap that most people don’t usually consider. It is only when oneself, a relative or friend is in need of surgery that we take the time to consider the innate fear that is held within us – the thought of dying – and with this comes the uncomfortable truth that ultimately we will all die. This is what I aimed to address and with the help of the fruit I feel I have done that.

Whilst experimenting at home I came across some meat hooks and a pole. I took my fruit and hung each piece from a hook and suspended it from the pole above the chopping board. I did this in reminiscence of a butchers shop. I always remember walking past the local butchers shop and steering my gaze away so I didn’t catch a glimpse of the dead animals hanging in the window. I want my images to have that same effect so connecting the fruit with the thought of a butchers shop and dead animals was a interesting route to take. I thought these images would be good for a vegetarian campaign as it’s very much ‘You wouldn’t do this to fruit so why do it to living creatures?’

Here’s an image from that shoot;

I still wanted to take this further and adjust my images. Instead of shooting again at home I moved my setting into the studio to perfect the lighting and set-up of the images.

In my next post I shall be showing my final sets of images. Thanks for reading!

– A.T

Iona Grace Marie

October 8, 2012October 8, 2012Leave a comment

‘You are a special child, received with joy, christened with faith, and blessed with God’s love’

This weekend I was invited to the christening of my friends Ken and Clare’s newborn. Unfortunately I had to work so only managed to sneak in for the celebratory meal.

As soon as I arrived I was handed Iona to have a nice cuddle, we even danced to a bit of westlife! She looked lovely in her little christening dress – smiles and giggles all around!

Here are some of the images from that day, isn’t Iona beautiful?