ARTSFEST PHOTOGRAPHY YR1 GALLERY 2025
ISSEY ADDENBROOKE | LEXI ASTON | EBONY BELNAVIS | RUBY CARTWRIGHT | HENRY DREWERY | NATASHA EDWARDS | JESSICA FLETCHER | POPPY HANEY | LILY HIGGS | TRINITY-MAI POWELL | MOLLY ROSS | KAYSIE RUSSELL | WERONIKA SZYMALA | ATIF TASEEN | OLIVER THACKWRAY | LYDIA WHORTON-WILLIAMS | CHARLIE WILKINSON
Issey Addenbrooke
My personal project is about advertisement photography. I chose this as it’s different to the rest and I found that you can be very creative once the pictures have been taken, and then to use photoshop or other editing apps. I was inspired by Phil Brooks my tutor to choose this theme, because he helped give me ideas to choose the theme and go forward with it. Such as, taking photos of perfume bottles with the light equipment in the studio. Also, changing angles with the bottles to show different lightings such as diffused soft lighting from above, a light tent (soft lighting), black edge and white edge.
I then searched photographers that photograph advertisement products, and I really liked the way they edited their photos after to make the products look appealing and buyable. I created my work by bringing in items from home to photograph and then editing them after. I arranged the items I brought in, in different ways so all my best 6 photos were different. My work is unique because others chose to do outdoor themes such as continuing their landscape project as their personal project. However, I chose completely different and decided to use the studio for my project.
This was so I could use the studio lighting instead of the natural outdoor lighting. As no one else was using the studio I was able to have the space all to myself which let me have lots of time to try different ideas and see if they were successful or unsuccessful. I want viewers to think that I have been creative with my work and tried all sorts of different combinations to see if they worked or not even if they didn’t, they will still be included on my express page as experiments.
Photographs must evoke something more in our imagination than what we just ‘see’ in the photograph. It must take us beyond ‘what we see’ and trigger ‘what we feel.’ Such as interests, curiosity, thoughts, feelings, energy. I would want my viewers to feel this way about my work. My work fits within current trends right now because, advertisement is always on tv, and it will always be trendy as it’s everywhere you go. For example, billboards, lots of social media platforms and on television.
The obstacles I faced when taking my photos was just the placing of my items, I wanted to make sure that my items looked perfectly placed, so nothing looked odd. It took me a while, but I just made some adjustments. Also, I had struggles with taking a photo of a perfume bottle whilst being sprayed. I wanted to make sure it was held perfectly, and I had to capture it being sprayed into the photograph. After a lot of attempts it did finally come out as a successful photograph.
Lexi Aston
With my project, it is about advertising modified vehicles, including motorbikes and cars. I have chosen to do this topic because it is something I am interested in. I have recently started to do it as a main topic with my photographs.
I’ve always had a peak interest in motorbikes and supercars/modified cars. As soon as I stared going to car shows in my own time, I started photographing them for people and my own pleasure. And as I continued to do it more and from having feedback from the car owners and other car photographers, it made me more inspired and made me want to continue my journey of car photography.
I used lightroom to edit my images, blemishing any details that need to be neatened up or removed. I added different colour tints and shades to pop our certain parts on the car. I went around the car in different angles, taking multiple shots of each angle and area, and seeing which lighting and area fitted best with the theme. With each different vehicle, I did daytime and night-time, wet and dry to create a contrast between the two, showing different stories and sides to how people might view the vehicle itself, adding lighting moods to set the final finish.
I think this makes it unique because not many people do projects on vehicles. I want viewers to feel encouragement and excitement whilst looking at my photographs. This is because this is mainly aimed towards bike and car enjoyers, car/bike photographers or people who modify cars for themselves or as a job. I want them to feel proud of their vehicle, whether it is modified or not.
Ebony Belnavis
For my project I will be using the theme of child photography some of my photo shoots will be planned and others will be candid images of them playing outside, this way I get to capture nice throughout images and some of them just being kids. I try to capture them in the outdoors where they can run wild whilst also being their truest self.
For this project my nephews and some other child photographers inspired me to create this work as it’s something I would like to do in the future as a career or a side hobby. In my own work I think its unique as I capture both sides of childhood for example planned photoshoots and candid. During this project I struggled to take photos that I like and would proudly use to display.
Ruby Cartwright
My final project, titled Growth, focuses on the concept of growth in spring, which was inspired to me by the macro photographers Phaethon photography and Julie. I aimed to capture different representations of growth in as many different types of plants frequently using zoom lenses and bright/strong color palettes.
I hoped to convey the idea that everything is always changing to get to where they need to be. Despite bad weather days stopping me from going out to take photos, it resulted in the freshness of new plant life being grown for me to photograph.
Henry Drewery
My final project explores and shows off the life of a local hardcore band called “eviscerated”. I aimed to capture their best moments as a band together causing chaos in the crowd, getting everyone hyped and making sure everyone is getting violent since that is what hardcore is about. I had to overcome the challenge of taking photos in a crowd of people who were going crazy for them, but I managed to effectively get shots which didn’t seem like I had any trouble at all.
I think that my images really convey the energy that the band has as well as their passion for creating heavy music overall. Whether that be in a practice room or on stage in front of an audience. They are always in their element. This is the main purpose of my project, I want to show people that there is a lot of passion and effort that goes into heavy music.
Natasha Edwards
My personal project is nature and macro photography. Inspired by my love of nature and how the small details are often overlooked, I aimed to capture the smaller details within nature and some common wildlife that is found, using the macro setting and a stutter speed of 1/125 and my ISO at 200. My photographs give a sense of serenity and peace.
Throughout this project I hope to create a sense of peace while also showcasing the finer details of nature that are sometimes overlooked. I faced the challenges of finding time to go outside during my day-to-day busy life, yet I overcome this by waking up earlier and heading for a slow peaceful walk before work. Overall, I loved how my images turned out despite the chaos and challenges I faced.
Jessica Fletcher
My final project is based off the 80’s and the appearance of the aesthetics through fashion, way of life and music. My work is propelled by Richard Corman as his pictures bring out the topic of the 80’s through his utilize of polaroids and his consideration to detail by including popular embellishments inside his pictures to permit them to include more objects linking to this period, he moreover takes pictures of cars and settings which appear how life was displayed inside the 80’s.
I aimed to match my images to be in the same form of style he creates his images as they are raw and unedited and that portrays the reality of life within the 80’s as it was more pure and natural in contrasts to today’s life where images are more edited to suit a certain standard. Whilst having viewers on my work, I would like to create a huge sense of nostalgia due to its unique cultural elements and the way they are perceived by people across generations.
Music, fashion, movies, and television shows of the 80s continue to evoke strong feelings of longing and fondness, often associated with simpler times and carefree youth.
Poppy Haney
My theme of my project is about macro nature photography, to be able to show the different flowers created in nature. The inspiration of my work is from the photographer Jacky Parker as I really like her work. The techniques used for my photographs was a low aperture to be able to blur my background and I also did close up macro photography to be able to get the images I wanted. My photographs show a sense of stillness and a peaceful atmosphere. Despite the challenges that came with doing macro photography, overall, I think that I was able to capture the different flowers in nature and to be able to create pictures that link to Jacky Parker’s work.
Lily Higgs
Trinity-Mai Powell
My theme was to focus on capturing the natural bond between dogs and their environment, emphasizing their adventurous spirit and connection to nature. My inspiration for this work came from my love of animals and Tim Jones who is a pet photographer I met to add to my professional development for this project. I used the natural lighting to showcase the earthy tones of the woodland and the textures of the dogs’ fur.
I wanted my photographs to capture candid moments with the use of my telephoto lens which also allowed me to get genuine shots of their movements and expressions. I tried to make my photographs feel timeless and to showcase the dogs not only as pets but as adventurers and companions. Through my images I want viewers to feel a sense of freedom, joy, and connection to nature.
Pet photography is a growing genre within lifestyle and portraiture. I tried to get my work to correlate with current trends that celebrate animals in authentic, natural settings, moving away from studio setups to embrace environments that highlight individuality and personality. A challenge I encountered was getting the dogs to stay focused in a setting full of distractions, such as scents and other animals. To overcome this, I used treats and toys to guide their attention.
Molly Ross
My work is to represent and empower women and their rights. over many years women have had to protest and fight for basic human right’s and we won but the modern day seems to be taking away what we worked so hard for so I wanted to create something that showed women are still heard. I made signs and imitated a protest to present this and used modern day culture to show what women are both fighting for and going against. I used my phone camera to make it more normal as the people who protest don’t need fancy cameras just themselves and a sense of morality.
Kaysie Russell
My project is about different types of water and how it can change throughout time and in different places. The people that influence me that I have researched is Nigel Waters who took photos of different waterfalls and areas of water like the beach and still water with reflections that shows how water can be different depending on where you are.
I used a mixture of techniques using long exposure to blur the water moving and freeze the surrounding by using slow shutter speeds, a fast shutter speed to freeze the water movement to show how a photo can change the way that something looks and how unique each area of water is. I like this type of photography because I like how not one photo is going to look the exact same. I also like how it can show how something can go from being still and calming to look at and how other areas of water is fast moving and chaotic.
When taking my long exposure photos, I used a tripod so that there is only movement in the water and how the rock in the surrounding is still and vibrant and used a timer so that the camera doesn’t shake when I press the button. The significance of my project is to show how water is never the same and it can change all the time setting the mood of the places you’re visiting or the photo.
Weronika Szymala
My personal project is about Sports Photography. I chose this as my project because I’m interested in sports. I was inspired by Neil Leife as he has taken photos of different sports in portraiture but also in groups. He has used different angles to take them from, and he captured the movements of the players as well as the movements of the ball. I have interacted with a sports coach and asked if I could photograph their sports matches.
Once I took my images, I edited them and uploaded then. Once I done that, I have looked more onto to the different sports photographers to get more inspiration on how to take the images as best as possible. My work is unique as I captured in my image’s movements of the players in action from different angles. I have also taken them inside in the sports hall but also outside on the football pitch. I have taken my images of different types of sports which show my understanding of how to take photos in different angles, but also how to capture the people playing sports in different actions.
I want to inspire my younger generation to look at my work and see if that’s something they would want to do in the future career path. I want them to feel confident in what they are doing or want to do regarding photography, but also for them to see if they are interested particular on sports photography or even doing sports for their course as my images show that there are more than one sport that they could do even if it’s a hobby.
My work fits well within movements as sports photography is more of capturing action within the game. You can capture players while they are running, jumping etc. One challenge I faced was having people sitting in front of me as it was harder for me to capture what was going on in the game. I overcome that challenge by moving around in different places to find the best spot to take images but also tried different angles to get my images to be the best quality as possible.
Atif Taseen
I chose the theme “A Day in the Life” for my final photography project as I wanted to explore the beauty, rhythm, and authenticity of day-to-day moments. We live in a time when we often miss the details of our everyday lives. This theme gave me a chance to pause, watch, and appreciate the tiny stories taking place in plain sight.
Following one day, I documented moments throughout the day, capturing the relationship between the ordinary, the routine, and moments of spontaneity. Each photo depicts an openness to real emotions, quiet moments of pausing, and interaction in the context of a daily experience. I wanted to show that even when we feel like we are living through the most mundane aspects of life, through the lens, those moments are full of meaning, light, and emotions.
I selected this concept because I find it intriguing how taking a picture can elevate an insignificant moment. This project encouraged me to be present and to use my camera, in a protect way, to facilitate connection back into my life and the world surrounding it.
Oliver Thackwray
Lydia Whorton-Williams
“Most humans say they have a dog companion, but does that go for every dog?”
My work is about dogs, and the outcome of the dog’s feelings is in different environments. I did dog’s that have homes verses dog’s that are currently in the shelter. I first needed a contrast to the sadness to make sure they’re understood. So, I specifically used colour for the dogs with homes than in the dogs in the shelter. I used monochrome to show that clear difference and to etherise it. The first image I took; he was just so happy, and the sun light made it so nicely coloured which created this feeling of freedom.
For the other two I used specifically my dog when she was playing ball, so it shows those activities the dogs get to do. However, as in the dogs in the shelter they were all inside. They were sat down, and the last one was next to bars and an empty bowl which etherises the sadness that the puppy should be playing outside with a family but instead it was given up by someone and was ended up in the shelter. I wanted to make the viewers feel sorry and sympathise with the dogs.
I faced challenges with the dogs in kennels because I felt guilty for taking photos of them. In addition, I felt rushed because the worker I asked was unsure of me taking photos but still said yes. In the end, I’m very pleased with my final six and think it went all to plan.
Charlie Wilkinson
My work is trying to show off poverty in a passive way by showing off someone who is very well dressed and putting them in an environment that is very unappealing and maybe shows destruction, this can be very effective on the thoughts on people because the contrast between the foreground and background might make people feel differently.
I created this personal topic to try and combat poverty by making it more known and clearer through my images.
I was inspired to start this theme from the extensive amount of poverty, homelessness and damage that everyone lives around and hoping that the images can bring light to it and cause it to be more aware and helped.
