Final evaluation

My project has been focused around a fairly unexplored area of photography: the physical representation of idioms and symbolism in photography.  I chose to focus largely on surrealist photographers to begin with as a result of the fact that the images that I wished to create in my project were generally gory visual effects inspired by my interest in effects makeup.  The photographers which I found most useful at this original level of research include Kyle Thompson and Irving Penn.  I found the way that these photographers implemented studio setups to their stylistic advantage particularly interesting as this is my preferred location for shooting.  I was also interested in Penn's editorial still life work for Vogue as this showed an ability for a photographer to cross between photographical genres.  Thompson's work features more of the striking visual effects that I wished to include such as body paint and props such as hooks.  Another notable photographer who provided a great deal of influence to me was Miss Lakune who shoots portrait pieces based around bold and surreal visual effects pieces.

Over the course of this project I have further honed my skills in the studio exploring more challenging lighting set ups such as the incorporation of gels and low-key lighting to give shoots symbolic colourisation as well as how to achieve high-key set ups for more cleaner and editorial style images both of these techniques have been improved upon since last year.  Throughout this project I have also branched into shoots outside of the studio as can be seen in the "Love" shoot challenging me to be more creative with my lighting methods other challenging shoots have been self portraiture shoots which had to be undertaken due to the visual effects used to create the final image (here I used a remote to trigger my camera).  Framing was the most challenging aspect of these images and the images were able to be shot by myself using a remote.  My Photoshop CC 2014 skills were forced to develop over the course of this project as I was required to learn how to use the "clone stamp tool" as well as the spot healing brush to blend the edges of some of the prosthetics used in order to improve the appearance of the final images.

I have developed my photography skills since the beginning of my course and this can largely be seen through the way that my work has shifted more from casual or amateur style photography to a blend between fine art and politically charged messages.  This sphere of fine art has given me plenty of room to explore numerous techniques such as multiple flash which I enjoyed immensely in the beginning of the year so decided to revisist for my final shoot "Two heads are better than one" this shoot was challenging as it required me to direct my subject in the correct way to move to compliment the existing flashes image whilst being unable to see how the movement translated to camera until the end and under strict time constraints.  Political undertones have taken a far more subversive route this year compared to my work last year which was heavily featured around Feminism however it can still be seen in the connotations of shoots such as "Lips sealed" which focuses around the way that victims of abuse and rape are often shamed into silence.

When looking back on my work it is evident that I tend to try to spend the majority of my time in the studio and this is the reason that I would like to branch into documentary photography as one of the mediums for my next project where possible.  I feel that I will still be able to translate political undertones into my work through this medium and it will give me a chance to branch into another element of photography other than the studio based work which I am currently centred around.  I would also be interested in experimenting with either standard or instant film in my next project as I feel that this will give what I produce a more raw feel.

The genre of photography which I am most successful in and most comfortable with is studio portraiture which I was able to fully explore with a range of different lighting and editing techniques over the course of my project.  I feel that I have significantly improved my competence in the studio over the past year as well as my understanding of what different genres of photography entail such as surreal photography and the way that photography is linked to everyday life through both the images themselves and their connotations.