Evaluation

This project has taught me many new skills I will definitely use in the future. In the beginning of the project the photography class collaborated with the new focus group at the impressions gallery. We had 6 weeks to create 3 photos to submit to them about heritage and to follow requirements for them to submit. It was difficult to meet the deadline but I enjoyed it because it was a challenge and I understand that it would help in the future to meet spontaneous demands that sometime may arise. The rest of the project was a lot more free and I could include different visual types of photos in to the project.

The coronovirus had forced me to make changes to my project such as not including my sister any more due to the lockdown so I included my self in her place to over come this. I was also not able to use any type of studio, at the beginning of the project I was using a photography studio and was planing to keep the consistency through out the project, I overcame this by photoshopping the background of the photos.

I enjoyed researching the project. I especially enjoyed finding journals that made me think a new way which I included into the project such as the spirituality journal the idea of looking at another person as an extension or another version of yourself. I also enjoyed looking in to Arpita Shah who was exhibited in the impressions gallery and has created many interesting projects. I enjoyed looking at photographers photos that I thought to be interesting I find it fascinating how unique and different photography can get based on different people.

The project was difficult for me, take photos of family members, memorabilia or tell a story. The project for simple but complicated at the same time, I wanted to create photos with depth and meaning behind them.

What I would do different if I did the project again is to balance my time more evenly across the project so I have spent sufficient time on each end of the project. I would also include more people in to the photo such as include a friend to the photo to show a connection to other people that you meet in life that isn’t blood related but you see them as family.

Overall, the project was very new and a challenge but it helped me grow and learn new skills. I enjoyed researching in to the project and creating photos based on what I learnt. I also liked how my final photos had turned out which are simple and have meaning behind the photos.

Final Photos

The photos main focus is on my mum who is a part of all the photos. The title of this project is heritage. Heritage means to pass on something and that something I decided to focus on life. I found the ankh symbol which is symbol for life, longevity and immortality. The first photo symbolises my mums past which showcases her parents and it reminds her of her childhood. The centre image includes me and my mum staring at each other with the ankh symbol in the centre. Showing the present where she is staring at her son as well as her self. Finally, the final photo is of a younger me which represents her future of raising me and living another life until he passes on life and so on.

Future

This is a picture of me when I was around 4 years old. The picture was taken on a trip in the Pakistan mountains, when we went their to see our extended family. The photo has only been in this frame and you can see by the distorted colour on left side of the frame: the glass and the photo are stuck together.

I feel this photo would fit in this project because previously the viewer had already seen me when my mum was staring at me and shows how she has passed on her life to me. Also with the photo of her parents it shows my mums past. This photo is a continuation of both showing her future in her hands, creating new memories and adding to the anch symbol message of continuing life and being immortal. Raising a child to have their own new experiences and not making the same mistake by sharing wisdom and lessons to be better.

I also created this photo above where my mum is holding the past and the future in one frame. This shows the duality coming together to merge and be one which is my mums whole life. I like the meaning behind the photo, however, I don’t think it would be the right decision to add this to the final project because it takes away from the message of passing on life by having, what feels like, a conclusion instead of leaving it open ended.

Family Photo

I want to include a photo where my mum is holding a photo of her Dad and her Mums purse. Both objects are of her parents and mean a lot to her. The photo of her Dad was originally a black and white photo but was later recoloured and the purse was used everyday by my Grandma.

The photo and purse is held close to her chest which shows a strong connection and love to the objects. The objects represent her parents and is the last physical object that is left behind by them. The objects reminds my mum of her past life when she was a child and how different her life use to be when her parents were around.

I think this photo would fit well in the final set of photos as the first photo because it shows her past with her parents and last photo would be of the present time or the future, showing a timeline of her life. I also showed this photo to the class and Jennifer from the impressions gallery and they all enjoyed the photo and agree that it fits well with the project.

This is a photo I took where I include my mums face, I like this photo because it shows evidence of who is holding the photo and looks a lot more personal to my mum. However, I like the photo above more because it focuses more on the objects and also has a much more sharing and open feeling. It also has a lot less empty space and everything in the photo is important, for this reason I intend to carry the photo above forward to the final set of images.

Combining the Photos

I like how the three photos turned out. I should brighten the symbol photo more because it looks too dark and also slightly lower the photo so the eyes connect with no interference in-between. Both are an easy fix.

I like how the photo shows me and my mum staring at each other and shows we are looking at familiar faces. We understand that we are looking at ourselves and are different versions of each other with different experiences. Also the ankh symbol in the middle strengthens the meaning as it represents life and longevity pushing the narrative of family, also strengthening the connection between me and my mum spiritually.

life symbol

I brought up being stuck with the class and Jennifer from the new focus group. They gave me an idea which I really like. The idea was to create three images that are one. Which is something Arpita Shah did in her heritage project for the impressions gallery, where she had a little story within the number of photos that could be seen as three images on their own.

I used the life symbol from my previous photo and turned the image black and white, I could place this photo in-between me and my mum to strengthen the meaning of the photos together.

The difference between this image and the one above is I added noise to the photo in Photoshop. I like the the different texture of the photo that it gives off because compared to the photo me and my mum where it more glossy and clear. It will show the difference between them and will show how the life (Anch) symbol is more of a mental and spiritual thing and not physical object. Showing both people looking through the life symbol in to each others eyes, understanding that they both have different life experiences and connecting with each other mentally.

This was a test I did to make the symbol stand out more, I dont like the look of the photo because it stands out too much. My intention for this photo is to use the photo to connect the other two photos of me and my mum and not get too distracted by this photo, I want them to acknowledge the symbol but to acknowledge all three photos as a whole more.

My next task is to combine all three photos of my mum, me and the life symbol.

I wanted the image to be reminiscent to the image above but to have a photography style to it. I wanted to take the simple and elegant look from this photo and transfer it to my project. I didn’t want anything complicated or anything that stands out too much. I feel I have done this well by making my photo black and white and the symbol clear in frame.

Arpita Shah

Arpita Shahs work is presented in the impressions gallery. Her work is titled, ‘Nalini’ which means lotus in Sanskrit. The lotus flower symbolises purity, enlightenment, self-regeneration and rebirth. The flower blossoms from mud. Which can be seen as a representation of life where an individual can be going through a tough time. Then from that tough time you become more aware and you have more knowledge and you use this new information to create something beautiful which you are happy about.

Arpita’s work focuses on her, her mum and her grandmother. It explores themes such as intimacy, female lineage, memories, history, experiences and distance.

This photo from Arpita that was displayed in the impressions gallery is of her grandmothers hair with lotus flowers tied together at the top. I like how all the elements together; the hair and the flower together is of the lotus flower where the hair are the roots of the flower and the top is where the flower has blossomed. I also look at this photo as a life line where it begins at the top where the flower is and her life begins as a blossomed flower. The hair is then a twisted, zig zag of experiances and what has happened inn her life where she has had to constantly travel and move homes. Towards the end it slowly becomes less tangled and more fine showing the simplicity in her life. It can also be seen the other way around where life starts of very simple with her childhood and become more complicated and in that complication her daughter is born. This is symbolised with the Lotus flower.

Arpita Shah: Nalini

http://www.arpitashah.com/Nalini

Process

These are the two photos I intend to carry forward because they look less serious. I wanted to include my mum on the other side of the photo because the images will have better flow as she is included in other photos and the photo won’t seem random or out of place. I asked her to remove her glasses because it will look much more personal between me and my mum where we looking directly in to each others eyes.

Here I combined the image so it includes just me and my mum however it looks very plain and bland. So I had an idea to include a coloured background, nothing to vibrant because I want to keep the focus on the people.

The photo looks better and less boring to look at. I like this colour because it projects a happy mood to the viewer whilst also keeping the viewers attention on both individuals.

What I did here is bring the photo closer together so it is more personal and to remove the empty space. I also edited the colour of the photo tome both people have a similar colour tone so the photo is easier on the eye and doesn’t look odd to the viewer. However, I feel like something is missing and should include another element to the photo. Which is my next task and I will bring up the problem with my class.

Examples

This is how I want the picture to look visually. Where I am looking into the eyes of someone else but seeing a reflection of my life and seeing myself inside them. I like how the photo turned out it shows what I am portraying and trying to say clearly. However, what I want to change about the image is lighten the mood by not having a serious face have more welcoming expression. Also I want to play with the curves to increase a yellow tone for the photo to be relaxing and positive to look at.

I took other photos that I will be re shooting to fit what I want but I am going to show examples with me looking at different people to see which fits the best.

I feel the image would be stronger if I added another person instead of having me looking at myself. A good idea would be to have my brother because we both look similar to each other and it would still fit the message of the photo. However, I don’t want to include another element to the project, I’d prefer if I stuck to the people who I’ve already introduced because it will be more tidy and not overwhelming to the viewer, where they will be starting to get confused as to who is who.

I like the photo of my mum, she has already been seen previously and is such a big factor in my life I think it would make the photo stronger. It will provide a mix of masculine and feminine presence to the project and will also stick to the idea of looking at another version of your self which link to the Anch symbol.

Looking in to yourself

I enjoy looking at the following photos because of the clear visual of looking at yourself from another time. This first picture is from the photographer Tom Hussey and was from a project of his called ‘reflection’. The project has a series of similar photo like the photo below, showing a person looking at their younger self that use to think a different way and also probably had different beliefs, looking in to the eyes of each other showing happiness and growth between them.

This image below are from two separate photos from Stanley Kubrik but merged together to show an age difference. To someone unfamiliar it looks like a father and son picture. I like how it shows the slight camera movement where he is older so he can position his hands in a more natural way and can look directly in to the camera, it shows experience and knowledge gained over time.

I really like the visual for this picture because of the direct eye contact with yourself, it looks personal and as if they’re examining each other like they are intimidated by themselves. Forcing them to look at each other and face who they are.

With this information I want to create an image I am happy with to show a connection to my family similar to this format where I am looking at another version of myself.

https://www.tomhussey.com/PROJECTS/REFLECTIONS/1/thumbs

https://enthusiasm.org/post/58081633406

https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/10/9/20905020/gemini-man-review-will-smith

New Beginning

For this first photo I wanted to make the shape of the anch symbol with my body. My head as the circler sun and my arms and torso as the cross. The image doesn’t satisfy me visually, I find the underlining message of it interesting which is: my body is an expression and what I use as a vehicle to go through life. Then using the body to draw the symbol showing life with my body meaning it is apart of me and I understand it. I like the meaning but to evolve the image visually I could replace myself with another object. I could use the actual horizon line with the sun just above it.

What I like about this photo is about the current situation the world is being stuck inside and realising how much you took advantage of small things in life such as going outside with friends and family. Not being able to live you life the way you want and missing your routine but to evolve this photo i can show a more positive side to the photo by implementing what i am doing now what I didn’t before such as spend more time with family and spend more time on myself.

CoronaVirus

Due to the lockdown I have had to make changes to my project. Firstly, my sister and neice won’t bee apart of the photos anymore because they aren’t apart of my houeshold and also I won’t be able to use college equipment such as the photography studio and the Macs.

However to overcome this I have decided to include myself in to the project in-place of my sister. This would have both masculine and feminine element to the project and would strengthen the project. Also to over come the the photography studio I am going to edit the photos on photoshop and use curves to show clear photos. I have also bought a MacBook Pro that will be arriving in a couple days so I can be apart of the class meetings and complete my work on time.