Final Word on FMP

Im coming to the end of FMP and I am incredibly proud of the work I have achieved. I was not sure that I would be able to keep myself on track with a project this long but I have successfully managed it. I feel you can tell by every shoot that the images I made were consciously created and I finally feel that things like composition and adjusting to available lighting now is like second nature, there are always artistic decisions to be made and I have tried to experiment with each one during my shoots. My peer critiques were always quiet positive however there were always suggestions of what else I could do to extend my ideas, however I could have kept track of this more successfully.  There are only few things I regret not doing in this project but I don’t feel there is anything that I would have done differently, although at times I probably could have been more organized and definitely more confident I am extremely happy with the end results. I feel that’s the only thing that I have not overcome during this project is my confidence; I am disappointed that I was not able to take more portraits and that is one thing I would like to have changed. It was suggested to me to experiment with some moving image however I did not have the time to do this at the end of the project and although it would have been interesting moving image isn’t something that really excites me, however I wouldn’t mind experimenting with it in future projects.
The aim of the project was to find beauty in the mundane and to compare old to new and I feel I have achieved this and I really feel a sense of pride in what I have created and I hope other people can
see it too weather this be in my work or the public exhibition, this project has also helped me explore the village in ways I did not think possible, but now I see it as a thing of beauty and not just the place in which I live. I have learnt many things from this project including how to respect a place that might at first seem frightening or ugly and how to search for beauty in the mundane and that it really can be found anywhere you search for it.

Final Images

I have decided to completely change my exhibition plan, i did origionally wanted to created a Erik Kessel style exhibition with many different sized and shaped frames however after some suggestion from my tutor i decided to use just two images when i was origionally going to use eight. I feel the new selection looks really sophisticated and I have already had the frames made for them.
I really like the contrast between the tree and the cleaver. Since these images were taken i have done some light post production on both of the images by increasing some of the colours and sharpening the images.
i feel theses images work far better together than my origional plan and i am very excited for the exhibition.

Public Exhibition

After seeing JR's TED speech i was really inspired to create my own public exhibition and thought the butchers would be a brilliant place to put. I Thoroughly enjoyed shooting there and i found a great piece of wall to paste the images to and by just using wall paper paste and four pieces of a3 paper to create one A1 image, i created four and these were my chosen images. Its been a week since i put the public exhibition up and already from the rain and creatures the prints have started to erode however it almost increases the quality of the image, and makes the process more interesting I plan to keep an eye on the exhibition to see what happens to the prints in the following weeks.
In the mean time if you havent seen JR's TED speech check it out.

"Art cant change the world, but it can change the way we see the world"

JR

Rough VS Rich

I had noticed this house on one of my bus journeys and decided to explore. When i saw the exterior of the house it looked abandoned as the garden was very over grown and the glass in some of the windows had been broken, however i didn't not want to trespass on property if there was someone living there, so i decided to knock on the neighbours door. The man that answered told me that no one had lived in the house in over 25 years and that the man that owned it lived in fillongely, apparently the gentleman's mother lived in this House and when she passed away he shut the door and never looked back. All of her earthly possessions still obied in this home, so i decided to explore the jungle that was the garden. It was so interesting discovering this home and the many things to photograph. One thing that stood out to me the most was the amount of balls i found in the back garden, over 15, and it seemed to me that children had lost these balls in the garden and were to afraid of the house to return to get them. I would have loved to explore the interior of this home however i doubt i would have been able to get the permission. On the same day this shoot was executed I discovered a home a mere 5 minutes down the road with over 7 bedrooms a swimming pool, tennis court and 70 acres of land, on sale for 1,750,00, i just found it so ironic that two completely different homes could be found in the same vicinity and felt that this was a good symbol of Arley there are both rough and rich parts of Arley but they exist and coincide in peace.

Age and Beauty

I recently managed to gain access to he two churches in both new and old aley and they really both stood up to their expectations; The church in NewArley was more modern compared to st Wilfreds (Old Arley) and was only 80 years old, there were no pues only individual chairs and the alter was very basic and bare. However Old Arley church was a grand design of beauty and has stood tall through two world wars and and across 750 years. What i love about the two images is how similarly they are composed. The crosses at the end of the alter are both situtated i the same place and the image is taken from the back of the church and looks down both sides of the seats. I have decded to place these two images together in the book i plan to create for my exhibition and am very proud of them and the way they have turned out. I also managed to capture a few portraits of the vicar undr a beautiful halo of light coming from one of the stain glass windows. I really selected a good day for this venture out as the weather was beautiful and the sun allowed for stunning images in the church and through he stain glass windows. 
I also managed to interview the vicar slightly, he had many good things to say about the village which was a good contrast to some of the more negative things, i had heard.



Finally managed to get into the darkroom to develop my three rolls of film, and i was pleasantly surprised that they all turned out un stratched and un fogged. i did have an issue with one roll of film whilst shooting but managed to wind it in enough so that there i could still retrieve it and double expose the film, and this image was one of my better results. I decided to double expose the images i had already taken with old portraits and letters i had, and although this one is a little flat i really like the concept of it and how she seems to be hiding behind the trees, or that she is a ghost appearing from them.
I plan to experiment with medium format at some point and i really want to shoot some colour film.
I'm still really terrified about taking peoples portraits i just need a little kick to get me going.

1998...

So i had a roll of out of date film from 1998 that i decided to experiment with, it could go either of two ways, be really contrasted and sussessful or be fogged, either way im not getting my hopes up too high, but you never know, im already on my third roll of film! my last one i decided to take out into the snow (snow in spring?! i know but i thought i may as well make the most of it) however because the film is black and white i am unsure how the images will turn out; if theyll be too under exposed. The cold actually bodged my camera, but i found some new batteries and warmed it up and it seemed to work however i had to wind the roll of film back in although i had only shot 18 frames but managed to leave enough of film to wind it back in so that i could double expose it, and I have decided to do this with old images of the village and villagers. Hopefully it will turn out quiet well, ill keep you posted :)

People and portraits

Ive just shot my first roll of black and white film for the project! :D woo hooooo, however i did promiss myself today that i would stop at least one person and ask for their portrait, did it? i did not, talk about a cowardly lion. I consider myself to be quiet outgoing but theres just something about stopping someone and asking them for a photo thats really scary, i know as soon as I do it once it will get easier, its just taking that first step... I think its time to to look to a great creative photographer for some inispiration, today that will be Stephen Gills 'Trolley Portraits'  which i absolutely adore, i have gained a a big respect for this photographer over the last 2 years, I just think hes such a creative thinker and hes always changing his ideas and experimenting with new things, his work is always different. I just find Trolley Portraits so comical and the composition of his work is so clever, im hoping maybe this will encourage me to to get out there and be courageous.

FMP (phump for some)

So im at the stage of my academic year were FMP just decides to creep up on me, so, i have decided to do my project on the village of Arley, this particular area used to be a mining community surrounded by Kersley, Baddersley and Daw Mill mines, but after the closure of the mines (and more recentley Daw Mill) the sense of community has began to deteriate, I aim to photograph this change (or the symbolism of this change) in this small village however I would also like to take some portrait images in black white film or with medium format to capture the 'last generation' to be part of the wider community,
im not entierly sure if my idea works at the moment, but its early days and im going to experiment as much as I can.
Wish me luck, heres an image from my first shoot :) cant wait to edit it, looks like it needs a good sharpen.