PROS
This project was one of my most enjoyable, yet challenging since being at uni! Of course we were all met with the obstacle of a pandemic, but despite this I’m pleased with how the work turned out!
I felt a lot of the shoots were rushed and not by best work, but I came out of it with a lot of images that I feel work really well. I was very pleased with this considering the lack of inspiration and space I had available at times! I think I really developed a strong, individual style throughout my work, whilst still applying subtle techniques I had picked up from other photographers (like lighting and framing). I really wanted my own, unique style to be obvious by the end of this project. From the very beginning, I talked about one of my previous projects and the style in which I prefer to work. I think this is something that I achieved in this work, and will take with me in future endeavours. Lighting, muted colours and a fascination with the everyday are definitely things I would like to continue exploring.
I’m pleased with the research I carried out for this project, too. I often struggle with theoretical research, but with the guidance of my tutors and peers I feel I got the hang of this much better this time. I particularly enjoyed reading interviews with Nigel Shafran and Gaston Bachelard’s ‘The Poetics of Space’ – they both became huge inspirations in my project and helped me to establish and cement some really strong themes and ideas. The visual research I did also really inspired my work and I think it was all very relevant and useful. There’s actually so much more visual research I could have done on some of the other photographers I briefly looked at! But I feel I did a substantial amount for the work I produced! I made sure to apply everything I picked up on to my work at some point in the project and make good use of the research I was doing.
CONS
I think because this was my very last uni project, I put a lot of pressure on myself at times to create ‘the best’ work I could – which sometimes distracted me from just focusing on the work. I also began to feel very unmotivated and uninspired during a lot of our time in lockdown. Luckily my project was not too effected by the pandemic (being about interior, domestic spaces) but I had hoped to visit my home and my Grandparents home to take some photographs with more personal meaning to me. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to return home, and this lead me to feel quite trapped in my uni house – which doesn’t seem the best place to take lots of photos! From the start, I wanted to avoid just making the project into a typical documentation of a uni house and I was worried this would become the case. The impersonal, modern decor and difficult lighting in this house also made the work quite challenging as the weeks went on. However, I think that’s partly the beauty of my project. And in still managing to achieve some really appealing and atmospheric photographs, I think I further proved the point I wanted to make from the start – that all things (even the mundane, everyday, ordinary) can be beautiful if you look hard enough.
Another small challenge during this project was not being able to print images and experiment with materials to make a physical copy of my book. I had really been looking forward to doing this, as I had decided from the start of the project to challenge myself with something a bit different for my final submission. Even to print my photos to help with the ordering of the book, would have been helpful. However, I still enjoyed designing the book on InDesign.
THE FINAL SUBMISSION
Overall, I think my final submission works well in achieving what I set out to do. The photos capture the everyday, mundane aspects of life that we so often overlook, in a way that makes you consider them as something so much more. I’m glad I took out the text from the book, because it allows the photos to speak for themselves and for the audience to have their own interpretation of the work.
I look forward to being able to look back on this work in years to come, as an accumulation of ideas; a visual representation of what photography really means to me; a document of these crazy few months in lockdown; and the real beginnings of my own personal style.
hollywatsonphotography.photo.blog 