Evaluating
This is my
overall evaluation for my project. I am going to look back at each stage of my
project and evaluate how well I have done and what I could maybe improve if
ever comes a next time.
Research
To start off
with, I was given a brief in which I had to
complete my own photos in the style of an photographer. The theme this
time around was documentary photography. Which is basically what the title
says, It is when you document things around you, and turn them into photos.
Sometimes they have meaning. Sometimes they mean memories. So I thought it
would be very interesting to see what I could come up with.
To start
with I had to chose a photographer. I instantly chose Nan Goldin when I found
her on a list of photographers on a Wikipedia page. I liked her style. I liked
the way the photos looked and I liked how cultural and how brave her photos
were. Some of her photos were quite raunchy and quite explicit. But there was
more to her that I saw. And the other
thing about her photos I liked were how young they were. And how I could do
something with her style, and still make my photos my own. The first step was
conducting research on her. That did not just mean reading her life story, but
also looking at her photos. The colours, the tones, the shots, and everything
like that.
Taking the
photos
My challenge
after conducting research was taking the photos. I had to take five photos in
the style of Nan and then take one re- enactment photo. I knew what re-enactment
photo I wanted to do. It was the first picture I had ever saw of her, and it
was the one that made me want to use her for my project.
When it came
to taking the pictures it was about getting the right time. Nan’s pictures are
a mixture of staged photos (where for example the people are smiling towards
the camera) and non-staged photos (for example when people are doing different
things and Nan just takes the picture of the doing it.) So I did a mixture of
both. I told the people I was going to take a picture of them because some
people may have not wanted their picture taken, but sometimes I would tell them
to carry on with what they were doing and sometimes I would tell them to pose
for the camera, or look into the camera. For example the two pictures I took of
my friend Louise, one I asked her to pose for the camera and the other I told
her to carry on doing her makeup.
When it came
to editing them I looked at the colours
Nan uses contrasting colours a lot as I saw. Sometimes her pictures had
a warm feeling to them. For example using oranges and yellows, and some of her
pictures gave off a colder feel for example she used blues and greens. I
thought when it came to taking my photos I wanted to establish those
differences.
What went
well and improvements.
So what went
well? I think I was really proud of my analysing. I have always been good at
analysing things, but when it came to looking at Nan’s photos I could see so
much. That’s the great thing about documentary photography, because these
pictures these photographers are taking mean something to them. And you can see
it in their work. It was liked a learned something about Nan and that was really
something I liked.
Improvement
wise, I think I could of improved my pictures. There is always room for
improvement. I could of been a bit more daring maybe. I could of asked people
to do more..But I think that is something to look at in the future.
Conclusion
I had a lot
of fun on this project. I learned a lot of things I did not know and I had fun
taking the photos. There are room for improvements and if I ever get to go back
to this in the future. I would defiantly try some new things.
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