This target is just an updated and expanded version of my previous 'talking in front of larger groups of people about my own work'. I realised the problem wasn't originating from the actually talking in front of people, it was that my written work wasn't as strong therefore i lost confidence when reading it out to people.
I decided if i start with the skills in writing and evaluating, the speaking will come with it.
The university have put on several sessions aiding us in talking about and evaluating our own work, Elevator Pitch sessions, Artist Statements and Self Evaluation. These have all been very helpful to me as writing is not a strong point of mine. I also gained experience writing about my own work in my dissertation.
Elevator Pitch
This is the pitch i wrote towards the end of last year, it was relevant to the work i was doing at that time although i feel i should now update it to fit in with my final major project of work.
(I was imaginary pitching to the editor/director of British Journal of Photography)
Hello,
I am interested in why people take photographs?
This all sparked off from a quote by Nan Goldin when asked why she takes photographs, her response was that she takes photographs because she wants to capture memories and never loose anybody and this got me thinking as to why i take photographs.
In this digital age where the majority of people own a device which take photographs i want to stop people and ask them why? Why they feel the need to portray their point of view on the world through imagery.
I want to challenge the notion of whether we 'make' pictures or 'take' pictures
I feel my work would fit in very well with your journal and i want my work to be seen by photographers and they are who read your journal. I want to get them thinking and questioning themselves.
Thankyou
My updated version:
Hello,
I am interested in the way woman are perceived in the media and how they are affected by the stereotypes and expectation,
I have been interested in the transitions in a woman's life from girl all the way to mother but currently i am working with the 'teen' aspect. This was sparked off after seeing the work of Petra Collins 'the teenage gaze' and i want to explore how these vulnerable girls feel about the expectations of society and the media.
I feel my work would fit in very well with your journal and i want it to be seen by a wide range of people so that these girls voices are heard and people acknowledge how damaging these stereotypes can be.
Thank you
Artist statement:
To go alongside my work at the graduate exhibition we have been asked to write a short artist statement explaining our work, I went through many stages in this process starting with one sentence and continuing adding information until i was happy with the content.
The first very short draft:
'Amelia Johnson is a british photographer exploring the stereotypes of women in society through a photographic medium.'
I then expanded on this adding reference to a current project:
'Amelia Johnson is a british based photographer focusing on the stereotypes of women in society. Amelia explores the transitions in a females life from child through to women and mothers. She has been inspired by Petra Collins' 'Teenage Gaze' and is currently documenting the changes women experience approaching motherhood.'
Another version i considered:
'Amelia Johnson is a british based photographer focusing on the stereotypes of women in society. She explores the transitions in a females life from girl to teen, teen to woman and woman to mother displaying their feelings, emotions and memories in a photographic form.'
The final revised artist statement:
'Amelia Johnson is a Manchester based photographer focusing on the stereotypes of women in the media and society. She explores the transitions in a females life from girl to teen, teen to woman and woman to mother. Inspired by Petra Collins' 'Teenage Gaze', her current project reflects on the 'Teen' aspect and how young girls are affected by today's harsh society. The portraits consist of 14-18 year old girls, they touch on their feelings and emotions around the pressures they are under to conform to societies ideologies every single day.'
Self Evaluation:
For our final major project we were also asked to write a self evaluation about our work, this is one of the things i have struggled with throughout my time at university but after writing them for every project for 3 years i think this final last one was my strongest yet.
Name: Amelia
Johnson
Project: Negotiated
Major Project
Series Title:
Teenagers VS Society
Subtitle: The
effects of the media on the youth of today
During the advanced research strategies
module I developed my proposal intended for my final negotiated major
project. There have been vast changes to my proposal and idea since
then but the underlying theme is still there. My initial idea was a
little adventurous and I realised soon after, that I needed something
more feasible and not so time consuming. My initial idea was to
survey 14-18 year old girls and ask them to give me one word they
feel described the way that the media makes them feel. I was looking
for responses such as 'drowned' and 'trapped'. I would then take
these individual words and make each one into an image, for example
the 'drowned' image would be underwater and the 'trapped' would be
behind bars etc. After much deliberation I realised this was not
feasible in the time frame we had and when recieveing feedback it was
commented on that these images would be too literal.
After rethinking the project I knew I
wanted to keep with the same theme as this is something I am
passionate about doing, I just needed to simplify it. I decided to
think of a place where I would get a feel for who these girls are and
their feelings and emotions towards society and the media. After
seeing the series 'Where children sleep' by James Mollinson, I was
inspired to use the bedroom as the focal point. A teenage girls
bedroom is a very private place but it is also a place where they
express themselves most, especially on the walls with posters etc. I
decided that I would do portraits of the teenage girls aged between
14 and 18 ,who had filled out the survey that I made, in their
bedrooms sitting on their bed. I wanted the images to be quite
natural and have a slight documentary style, I didn't want the images
to look too posed and I wanted the girls to react to the camera how
they felt natural. When photographing the girls I asked them not to
tidy their rooms and just to wear what they would feel comfortable
in, this way I could get a real sense of who they were as people.
I photographed fifteen girls in total
and planned to use ten of these images as my final series, it turns
out I have chosen eight final images as I felt these were the
strongest and they look like a set. After photographing all fifteen
subjects I kind of came to a standstill as to where to go next with
this. I knew that I wanted to incorporate the questions and answers
from the survey I carried out as this seemed such a vital part of
this project. I played around with different ideas of using the
answers as captions for the images and even adding the text onto the
image in a opaque overlay although after consideration I realised
that I didn't want the text to suggest too much about the image and I
wanted the viewer to make their own assumptions about the girl they
were looking at, playing on the surrounding she is in and the way she
acts in front of the camera. Instead I ended up making a book that
will go alongside the images at the exhibition. This will have all
ten questions from the survey and all answers the girls had given.
This way it is up to the viewer as to whether they read the book
first (find the meaning behind the images) and then view them baring
in mind what they have just read, or whether they view the images
alone and make their own assumptions and read the book afterwards to
enlighten them on what this project is about. As for the captions I
have kept it simple by using the full name and age of the girl in
each image.
I also debated as to whether to have
the images in black and white or colour, I initially preferred black
and white as I thought it showed more about the person rather than
being distracting with lots of different colours. After peer feedback
it was clear that they preferred the images in colour and after
reevaluating my decision I realised I preferred colour too.
When choosing my final images I decided
on eight images, it was mentioned in feedback about some of the
subjects making eye contact with the camera and some weren’t and as
to whether they should all be the same. I don't feel it is necessary
that the images are all using the same eye contact as I feel the
difference shows how the girls reacted to being in front of the
camera. It worked out quite well in the end as in my final eight
images, four were making eye contact with the camera and four were
not.
In my mock up exhibition plan I have
placed the images carefully to make sure that they alternate. The
layout I have chosen for the images is exhibiting on one wall and
having two rows of four images, spaced evenly to let the viewer
appreciate each image but also see them as a set of images. I have
also opted for square format images, I feel these look better and you
still get enough of a feel for the surrounding. They look neat and
symmetric on the wall and seem to fit together as a set more than
when they were landscape.
All of these sessions combined have aided me to practice my skills in writing and evaluating my own work. I feel i have a better understanding of how to do this and also what style of work i prefer.
