It's Been A While ...

Well it's been a long time since my last blog post. I have spent the last few months since Christmas focusing on my University work & experimenting with new ideas of how I present my photography. It's really interesting trying out new ideas & I'm having so much fun playing about with different concepts.

So, just to keep you informed, one of my modules for this year is called 'Photography & The Book.' This module challenges us not only as photographers but as crafty folk & designers (or in my case, as a friend of designers willing to bribe my flat mates with free meals in order for them to help me!)

I have been given a brief to create my own photography book focusing on a new project & creating a narrative through our images. I was so stuck when we were first given this brief, I won't lie. But finally, after days of soul searching and trolling through numerous websites and books I decided upon creating a typology of girls demonstrating the diversity in the female gender today.

I don't know why I didn't think of it early. WE GIRLS, ARE AWESOME! I think it's important that I get a range of different looks & personal styles into this typology to demonstrate that not everyone is just the typical idea of a girly-girl princess. I have a few different ideas planned for this book so keep an eye out for a post in the next couple of months. You will definitely be the first to know how it's going!

M.

Experiments & Cigarettes

So, I've been wanting to share with you all what's been going on with my University work at the moment. I have been working on a few different projects here & there. Strangely enough the one I found myself most interested in doing was the one that I was feeling a 'crash & burn' scenario looming. It was so much fun and such a learning curve.

So anyone that knows me well knows that still life isn't exactly my strong suit, however it is a genre that I have wanted to develop on for a while now. I wanted to try something a little bit different with this project and experiment with new approaches to the idea of my 'studio.' I always think it's so much fun to try new things with my photography so here's what I did to achieve this image above:

I started off by making an executive decision to not use a professional photography studio, nor a still life table, (a decision which was very questionable but taught me a thing or two.)
I went to my local B&M Bargains (don't judge, there are some amazing finds there,) where I bought a very cheap roll of £2.99 wallpaper. I thought the Green colour was really odd but had some potential as far as an interesting backdrop was concerned, I loved the texture which looks pretty cool in my final prints; not to mention that there isn't anything I find more boring than a dull white backdrop in still life images.

(Stay with me, I'm nearly finished.)

I used some regular Blu-Tack to stick the wallpaper to the top of my bedroom wall and let it roll down to my chest of drawers below (which I decided to use as my still life table.) I also stuck the wallpaper to the surface of my drawers just so it didn't roll too much & rip.

For the lighting of this image I used regular table lamps (all in the name of experimental art, yeah?) something that my room seems to have in abundance! It was a real struggle at first simple because, as we all know, table lamps aren't all that adjustable but many chairs & suitcases & empty boxes, used as portable light stands later, I was actually really happy with how the images turned out.

Did I forget to mention that I didn't actually have subjects in mind so I went into my living room, picked up whatever was on the floor, & used it to photograph in my new make-shift studio! 

M.

Oh Paris ...

At the end of 2012, I was lucky enough to visit the oh so magnificently stunning city of Paris in order to visit the amazing Paris Photo 2012 exhibition, world renowned for it's amazing work from photographers such as Don McCullin & Bruce Davidson (swoon). 

As well as visiting the exhibition we had the chance to explore the city ourselves, giving us free reign on all of Paris. It was more beautiful and magical than I could have ever possibly imagined. There were countless things that I found visually captivating that I just needed to photograph; the whole time we were there I think I only ever put my camera down to sleep and eat (& of course charge the batteries).

It was one of the greatest experiences of my life and I would love to go back again. I feel so blessed.