Overall Project Evaluation

At the beginning of this project, i decided straight away to go with Evidence, despite not knowing how to shoot images for the subject, or where it would lead me. I thought it was the most interesting out of all the topics given, even though I had no idea how it would go. After planning the mind-map for Evidence, i realised that there were many different ways in order to approach the topic. As a class, we looked at the evidence of crime, food being eaten, illnesses, existence, human beings etc. I liked the ideas that came with this topic, but still wasn't sure where to start.

Therefore, I began with human presence. My first shoot was short, and the photos were focused on old mugs with tea stains, and crushed coffee cups on the floor. I already knew after this initial response shoot that i didn't want to continue with those sort of images, this is because the shoot was uninteresting and the photos looked messy - which was the whole purpose, but i didn't like the look of it. When it came to shooting my actual first shoot, i decided to shoot in location and find objects that displayed human presence, such as bicycles, signs addressing the public etc. This shoot was much better because i looked at human precedes from a different context and perspective, which made my photos far more interesting and more appealing to look at. It also made the shoot more enjoyable because i actually liked the idea of the shoot. My third shoot was very similar, but instead i shot at home and formed a more personal shoot of human presence, i took photos of sale signs and house doors and roads. During this shoot i went on a walk and shot as i went, so the photos have collected different points of my journey.

This lead to my next topic, which i decided after shoot three, of personal possessions. At first, i shot at home again in location, taking photos of my own personal objects such as photos, jewelry, books etc., and then afterward, decided to do a shoot in the studio. I took influence from images that i had seen on the internet, and shot portraits of people and then took photos of their possessions. However, my first attempt went incredibly wrong as it was very difficult to adjust the right lighting, and find a table big enough to hold all the possessions, but short enough so i could stand over the table. It was also difficult to keep my hair and shadow out of the image. Therefore, i only got one decent photo out of this first attempt shoot, as the flash wasn't working in the studio either. Even though this shoot failed, it helped me plan and structure my next attempt shoot better, and i was able to achieve better images and lots more of them. I used an A3 white sheet of card on the floor, so that it was easier to shoot, and i adjusted the lighting and flash before i even started shooting. After shooting the images, I then edited them together, to show the face to the possessions within one image. I enjoyed this shoot a lot because it was the beginning of my understanding of how versatile the topic of Evidence is, and my ideas were starting to lead somewhere. I continued with the topic of personal possessions, and created many multiple imagery's which portrayed it, such as my own self portraits - each photo using/holding a different possession of mine. I also used models and shot possessions such as makeup, jewelry, glasses and trainers.

I felt i had reached the end of this topic, and decided to move onto ageing. I shot photos of different hands showing the difference between skin tones of an elderly person and a young person. I also used Photoshop to edit baby photos with a recent photograph to show the physical changes from ageing. I liked this hoot because it was simple, and as i already had the idea in mind, it was easy to shoot, and i was able to quickly produce the images. I also shot a different perspective of ageing, and travelled to Leigh on Sea to take photos of the old boats that have been abandoned, as well as other rusted objects that i could find, this was inspired by one of the photographers i researched, and it added a completely different style of photographs to my work. I enjoyed this shoot because it was a day out by the sea, but also because i am proud of the photos i produced of the rust on walls and old boats, and metal chains and locks. I think the idea in my head, was constructed very well in my photographs from this shoot, and it went exactly how i wanted it too.

After this, i shot rain images to show the evidence of weather, such as rain drops on a window, condensation, wet surfaces etc. However, each photo was shot at different times of day, different days with different lighting etc. As it was a location shoot. Therefore, it is a group of images displaying the same concept, but it wasn't an entire shoot. This is because the idea of shooting weather, is very difficult as obviously, it is weather dependent, but from this idea, I found my next topic - distortion. In my last shoot of the project, i shot various images which displayed distortion such as reflections in water, reflections through sunglasses, reflections on cars and even used clingfilm to distort a person's face. This shoot was extremely enjoyable because it was a whole new concept and i was able to gather ideas for my exam shoot, and practice for it too. The shoot went very well, as did my exam shoot. Each shoot i planned and constructed in my head, came out as well as a expected it too in my head, which i am very pleased about, particularly as my exam was the same.

Overall, I have liked the journey of this project and have enjoyed seeing my work progress into different topics, as well as learn new skills a long the way, such as editing and photographing techniques. Which i have learned from practice myself, but also from the photographers i have researched in depth. This project has created many different sub-topics, which i have enjoyed shooting and editing with Photoshop, as each photo was different, and each topic (unless following the previous topic) was separate and created new ideas and original images. I am pleased with all the work i have produced in this project, particularly my exam photographs as i worked extremely hard on editing them, as well as shooting them. My exam photographs needed a lot of editing, but the shoots were just as time-consuming. I still enjoyed them nonetheless.