Guest Speaker - Peter Mitchell

Pete Mitchell is a Leeds based photographer, who, having lived in Leeds all his life has been able to produce a body of work documenting what the environment was like in the 70's. He produced a book showing the photographs called 'Memento Mori', which in Latin means 'You're all going to die'. A dark concept but one that holds truth nonetheless. After hearing Peter talk, I can understand he has a slight fascination with endings and changes, both in people and places. It is because of this that during the talk he focused on how highly he saw Leeds in the 1970's compared to how he views it as a city now. 

Here are some of his photographs from his incredible documentary series 'Strangely Familiar', all of which belong to Peter Mitchell:

Blog Conclusion

Having come to the end of the blog, I am given the opportunity to review the process of making it and give my thoughts as to whether or not I found it helpful and whether or not I enjoyed it.
I found the process of making the blog to be fairly easy, not having to do the work all in one go was brilliant, and I was able to add posts when I had free time on the weekend or after college etc. It is because of this that I think I have created so much work.
I do write a lot in my free time, and I have used blogging sites before, and I think that this could be one of the main reasons I enjoyed the process so much. Another reason being how easily accessible blogger is and how simple it is to use. It took me less than 10 minutes to set up an account and choose a blog theme, and from there on out it was easy sailing. It's also great because I can download the blogger application to my phone, meaning I could update my blog when not at home or in college, meaning that the content of my posts were written whilst the experience was fresh in my mind. 
The workload was nicely spread out throughout the course of the module, and it's because of this that I didn't find updating my blog to be stressful. In fact over the Christmas break, I found myself wanting to update my blog enjoying writing about the books I've read and the photographs I've taken. It's a great way to express your thoughts.
I think from this year I will carry on using blogging sites to write down and discuss future photographic projects.

Reviewing Myself with Interview Questions

We were recently given a set of interview styled questions in order to review our progress and development throughout the course of our first year, explaining where we have become stronger, where we need to work on and what we did and did not enjoy throughout the course.

In this, I went into detail about how I had developed my technical abilities greatly - using film for the first time etc. And also talked about how I feel like I still have areas to develop on slightly, but that I hope to accomplish these throughout the rest of my 2 years at university.

Here is a copy of the interview styled questions:

Printed Page - Making the Book

For the Printed Page module, we had to create and send off for a book based on our own personal interpretation of the brief 'Modern Day'. I decided that I wanted to focus on signs that instruct you to do things - a commonly overlooked aspect of city life. 

I really enjoyed making the book, developing my skills on the programme 'Indesign', and think that it was a great opportunity to really appreciate and analyse the layouts and details that go into the making of a photographic book. 

Here is a copy of the contents of my book, using issuu I was able to place the template on blogger as a book styled document:

Liverpool International Photography Festival

We recently took a day trip to Liverpool to look at some of the exhibitions being held for Liverpool's International Photography Festival (LOOK 13). Whilst there, we attended the Open Eye Gallery, the Walker Art Gallery and the Museum of Liverpool. Here, we saw photographic exhibitions from photographers including Martin Parr, Rankin, Tom Wood and many more. It was an incredible experience seeing the works in person, appreciating them not only for their photographic qualities but for their presentation and layout that was displayed in the galleries. 

We first went to the Walker Art Gallery to see Rankin's exhibition 'Alive: In The Face Of Death'. There was no photography allowed in the gallery, so unfortunately I could not capture the layout of the exibition to display on here. 
His exhibition featured people who have or are still suffering with life threatening illnesses. There were a variety of different personalities represented and people of all ages. Each photograph featured a small section of writing explaining a little about the subject and what they have suffered with. It then featured a quote from the person going into detail about the emotional responses they've had and the struggle with suffering they've gone through. I found the exhibition to be very moving and extremely emotional, and found myself reading all of the plaques, wanting to know more and more about each person. 

Whilst at the Walker, we also viewed some work by photographers Tom Wood and Martin Parr. The works were mainly black and white, and the Parr work was his earlier stuff rather than his contemporary work. 
I really enjoyed seeing the work by Parr especially, looking at how much his photographic style has changed over the years, and thinking that if he could go back and photograph the same things now, how differently he would do it. The photographs were mixed up, some of the Tom Wood shots being alongside the Parr's and vice versa.

We then moved onto the Open Eye Gallery, where there were photographs by Charles Freger and Eva Stenram. Freger was exhibiting a few different bodies of work, including his 'The Wildermann' series and 'Legionnaires'. I really enjoyed viewing these, and thought that each series was both visually and conceptually interesting. As the LOOK 13 leaflet says 'Over 70 images accompany the viewer along a journey that, mostly focusing on male identity, investigates rites of passage, initiation to adulthood, sense of belonging and affiliation.' Whilst there we also viewed images by Eva Stenram, which 'reflected on the way we define ourselves in relation to the other, highlighting friction that exists between the self and its representation.'

Here are some photographs of the layout of the exhibition at the Open Eye Gallery:

Then finally we went to the last location of the day, the Museum of Liverpool, where we saw a selection of photographs by The Caravan Gallery. We didn't stay there for very long at all, so I didn't get to properly look and appreciate the exhibition as much as some of the others from the day, however I did manage to get some photographs of the layout and style. Here are those:

In conclusion, I really enjoyed the trip to Liverpool, and think that it presented me with the oppertunity of not only gaining more experience and knowledge but also allowed me to really appreciate the standards of professional photography, and the expectations of professional exhibitions and work.

One Day Brief - Leeds People and Places

Yesterday we were given a one day brief from Adrian, with the specifications being 4 photographs that represent Leeds - it's People and it's Places.
I decided that I would go further out from the city and try to photograph some of the living environments on the border.
I really enjoyed the brief, and think that it has helped me to develop on my time management skills which can be used in the future when photographing for a deadline.

Here are the final results from the day:

Christina DeMiddel Guest Speaker

A while ago, we were presented with the oppertunity of hearing Christina DeMiddel talk about her photographic career. During this speech, she went into detail about a number of her photographic projects, mainly the award winning 'Afronauts' series.

 Here are a couple of the photographs from the series:

It was incredible to hear first hand her thought process and creative methods from this project, and even more so to me personally because I am such a massive fan of her work.

Whilst there, she went into detail about a few other projects, and even showed us her plan for her next project. It was such a pleasure to hear from Christina, especially at this particular stage in her career as it's clear she is going to succeed and go far from here on out.