When I first got given this brief I really struggled to think of an idea for a project because I still don’t know what type of photography I want to base my practice in, however early on in the project I had a brainwave about what realistically I’m going to do in the future. I thought about what personal projects I would want to do when I graduate. I have always had the dream to travel so toning it down on a cheaper level I decided to travel to places that hold significant memories to me.
I started off by researching into Dunkirk as it’s a place that’s only really remembered for one reason. Although it didn’t help me think of the imagery I wanted to create, it did give me an insight into how the people still hold the memories and made me think about how I hold memories of different places.
Sally Waterman was a big help in my research as it made me understand the reasoning as to why I did this project and to bring the reality and emotion behind the project subtly, her project ‘PastPresent’ especially.
Nick White was an inspiration in a different way. When he came in to talk to us earlier in the year he spoke about his life after his degree, this is what really influenced me to think about my project. Nick’s work did also inspire me as I wanted to shoot with digital and analogue cameras.
I wanted to start shooting as soon as I could in order for me to start getting into a rhythm of shooting weekly to make sure I visited as many places as possible. One of the places I wanted to shoot at was London. I wanted to shoot long exposure images to show how quickly time passes. I didn’t take as many images on the shoot as I would have liked but I was happy with most of the images I did take. I showed these images in a crit session but because I didn’t have any other images to compare this shoot to everyone’s opinions really mattered to me. I spoke through and expressed my opinion on my favourite images and some people agreed and others didn’t which I wanted to happen. The theme of my final images was spoken about and I realised these images didn’t fit in with my thoughts for my final images.
I wanted to do this shoot really well because my latest memories of the moors were quite emotional, because of this I knew exactly where I wanted to shoot. I was cautious that all my images would turn out to look like landscapes so when I was shooting I had an idea to make some images purposely blurry to show a faded memory. Once they were edited I again showed them in a crit session so that I could get more opinions on my new work compared to my shoot before, I was hoping for more positive feedback but also constructive as I had a few more shoots to do. The images that had been put out of focus everyone loved and said I should carry on with that style of photography but I didn’t want to commit to that style of photography for my whole project because I didn’t know whether it would work for each shoot. l also got given some ideas to help progress my project further:
Use old photos
Think about scale and size
Choose one holiday and photograph that place that holds deep memories
Use analogue and digital
Ask about what other lenses I could use
My next shoot was an interesting one because I had planned it a few days before but when it got to the actual day it was pouring with rain. I didn’t expect to get any images from the shoot so I had planned for another shoot at the location. I didn’t end up needing to go back and shoot at a later date because the images I got from the day worked really effectively which I was really happy about but I’m glad I factored the re-shoot into my time just in case I needed to go back. This shoot definitely taught me that I don’t need to go out on a really nice sunny day to get good pictures.
I had planned to go to my dad’s caravan to shoot but the plans had to be cancelled and postponed to another day so instead I went to shoot at a caravan park just up the road from where I live to get some test shoots in preparation for my actual shoot. I knew that these images wouldn’t be featuring in my final book because I don’t have enough memories of the place. I didn’t feel very confident to talk about these images because I didn’t feel confident about the work and I knew they weren’t going to be part of my project so I was quite reluctant to show them.
My final two shoots I was really excited about because I had been waiting to do these shoots since the start of the project. I visited the Grand Western Canal in Tiverton first because the caravan shoot was taking a little longer to organise. Like my Haytor shoot I was cautious that my images would all just look like landscapes but I knew that I wanted to shoot some pictures of the horse and barge to make them different. I got home and edited my pictures which is when I saw some images looked like screensaver images on a computer but some really reminded me of why I go there. I used a disposable camera on this shoot but I decided at the end of shooting the images on the camera I just wanted the images to be all digital as the other shoots had all been digital. This shoot made me realise I was on the right track to finishing my final imagery and I was really excited to start making my final piece.
My final shoot was the shoot that has taken the most planning. This shoot happened a lot later on in my project than I wanted to but I never gave up with wanting to do it because I have so many memories here. I wanted this shoot to have the most images in my book because of all the memories here. When I arrived at the campsite I didn’t really have a plan for what type of images I wanted to create. I sat down in the caravan to think for 5 minutes which is when the penny dropped. I was setting my camera up and thinking at the same time when I saw what my dad was doing out the window. This just reminded me of holiday. I decided to do long exposures of my dad doing what he does whilst at the caravan. I was glad my dad came with me on this shoot because without him I don’t think I would have got images that were as strong as these. I felt really positive after this shoot as it was my last shoot and everything had gone to plan.
The week of being in the warehouse really benefited me because I got to realise what I needed to improve ready for my final book.
I didn’t like the card that I used for the pages or the front and back cover last time so I opted for cartridge paper as it was a little thicker and had a better feel and colour to it, because it was a bit thicker I wasn’t sure whether the glue was going to hold the pages together. I went for more images in the chapters where I had more memories and less images where I have less memories or more faded memories.
Once I decided on my images I started to write down the memories that came to mind when I looked at each image. Some images left me feeling blank so they were the images I decided to leave without a memory. I started sticking the images down with some small foam pads as an alternative to PVA glue. This worked so much better and made the images look so much tidier on the page. Once every memory was written and stuck in the book it was time to make the book more personal which I did by adding stickers to the book. I am so happy with how this has turned out, it looks so much better than I had ever imagined.
The material I have used to create the cover for my book is an old duvet cover that I used to have on my bed. I wanted to make it out of material that I still owned to make it even more personal to the reader. The pages and the cover didn't stick as well as I would have liked but the book was one at the end of the project which I'm happy about and for my final attempt of making a book after not many attempts before I'm over the moon with it.
Overall I am very happy with how this project has turned out because I feel I have connected with this more than any other project and put a lot more personal effort into this work and I personally believe it’s paid off. It’s a lot more personal to me and has been more hands on than any other project I have done before. I will definitely be carrying this project on because I have always wanted to do a project like this. I never felt rushed throughout this project but I think for my next sequence to this project I would like to focus on film or a trip abroad.
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