CURRENT MODULE
My idea aims to explore the darker side of fairytales,
and also how fairytales have been subject to consumerism and fiction cover-ups.
I plan to explore two concepts in my experimentation; consumerism within
children and how fairytales make money from children’s want and apparent need
for objects, as well as alternative self-portraits looking at the real meaning
of fairytales, which has been mainly inspired by the work of Kyle Thompson. I
aim to explore this topic using self-portraiture, product photography and
advertisement style editing using my developing camera skills as well as
developing Photoshop skills that have been tested and trained over the last few
modules.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My area of enquiry is that
of consumerism in people and how it is enlarged by fairytales and the “Disney
culture”. As well as this, I plan to also explore and experiment with
alternative portraits, which is my passion and future career choice after
teaching, to look into the darker side of fairytales, especially those produced
by the Grimm brothers. Exploring into food photography and the advertisements
culture is going to be something completely different for me, as I usually
incorporate portraits one way or another into my work and submit them for
assessment. My original experimentation looked into fashion photography and how
it can be represented by the theme of fairytales, but I want to produce
something to remember for my final major project, not something that echoes my
current work. I want to push myself further than I ever have before whilst
expanding my knowledge of practising photographers to benefit my knowledge when
I begin my teaching placement in September. I have been inspired by the work of
Ernie Button for my food photography, as well as the likes of Carl Warner and
Stephanie Salo. All these three photographers incorporate food into their work But my module will not feel complete without
the experimentation into portraiture and self-portraiture that will be
underpinned by fairytales and ideas within them, which have been mostly
inspired by the work of Kyle Thompson. My portraiture work will be best
presented in a magazine format, a magazine that explores into alternative
portraiture, and my food photography image will be best viewed as
advertisements in magazines or on billboards. I plan to take some photographs
of food that are included in fairytales and pair them with shop branding and
quotes from fairytales to sell the food, and show consumerism within people
when it comes to the Disney culture that surrounds us. For my project, I need
to develop my current knowledge of food photography and how to photograph it
under the hot lights. I plan to undertake training with an established food
photographer to see how I can develop my current skills for this module, as
well as read books and articles to educate myself. The equipment that will be
required will be a studio lighting set up including snoots, soft boxes and
honeycomb grids, as well as a professional product table and my DSLR camera
with macro lens. I have already arranged to borrow and set of lights and
attachments, as well as rent a studio product table off another fellow
photographer. I plan to set a budget of £100 to spend on food and accessories
to make my final experimentation images look professional and worthy of being
made into advertisements. I may need to buy many of the same items to give me the
opportunity to re photograph my food in different locations, as well as buying
ingredients to bake products myself. This will give me so much more control
over how my product looks and are seen in the advertisements.
FUTURE MODULE
For my final piece, I plan to
bring together everything that I have explored in my experimentation in a
collection of carefully planned images representing the themes and food that
are included within them, but creating a cinematic feel in all. The fairytales
used will be Snow White, Alice in Wonderland, Goldilocks, Hansel and Gretel and
Cinderella. I aim to explore this using inspiration from Gregory Crewdson and
Margarita Kareva, as well as paying attention to outfits, props and location.
Here, I plan to develop my ideas into editorial styled images, selling the food
but paying homage to fairytales and the darker side of them.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For my final piece, I plan to bring together everything I have done for
this module in the form of a staged piece, advertising the food but using
models and elaborate set ups to recreate the fairytales. The five fairytales
and children’s stories that I plan to represent are Snow White, Alice in
Wonderland, Goldilocks, Hansel and Gretel and Cinderella. All of these
fairytales have food that represent them, and are part of the storyline. For
example, the red apple will represent Snow White, as I have already
experimented with. A gingerbread house will represent Hansel and Gretel, a bowl
of porridge will represent Goldilocks, a pumpkin will represent Cinderella, and
finally the tea party hosted by the Mad Hatter will represent Alice in
Wonderland. My main inspiration for this work is Ernie Button, Kyle Thompson
and Margarita Kareva. All these photographers work have inspired me for a
number of reasons, all relating to their ability and creative drive to capture
beauty within people, nature, animals and food. I have also been inspired by
the work of Gregory Crewdson for his technique and lighting. My work will be
presented in a gallery format, printed on large glossy paper in a white or gold
gilt frame. I will also plan to submit my work to magazines such as Dark Beauty
magazine and other independent photography magazines that would showcase my
work. This will be my last chance for a year to produce photographic work
before I go and study a PGCE in Further Education, so would love to build my
published portfolio before this. I will have to pay special attention to
lighting, location and the models pose and clothing, to create the best
possible image and meaning. The equipment I will have to use is my DSLR camera,
alongside lighting equipment with a generator so I can use the equipment on
location, as well as speed lights to create depth and atmosphere to my images. For
travel and transport consideration, I have access to a car, as well as a few
friends and family members who own vans for transportation of bigger props, the
only problem being I will have to work around their times. I plan to set a
budget of £350 for this project, which should cover the props and outfits I
will need for my project, as well as location hire, prints, frames and props
needed for the layout of my final exhibition. I plan to rent outfits from high
street stores and local designers, with the fee being my services to save money
to make sure my budget is focused upon the printing and framing of my images. I
will have an extra £150 on the side incase I need to buy more expensive prints
or props to make my shoot and final images the best quality possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment