‘Colour’ explores the relationship between colour psychology and fashion photography. Each colour has its own characteristics associated with it that can alter viewers moods, thoughts and feelings upon viewing it. I have created a character associated with each colour portraying the feelings and emotions attached to it. The colour red is often associated with passion and sensuality but also can refer to danger. The colour blue has been known to lower both blood pressure and anxiety yet have little emotive connotations. Starting from left to right, the work attempts to alter viewers emotions. Red, the colour of emotion has physiological impacts that will raise the viewers’ heart rates. Orange, a colour known for its tension, discomfort and negative energy. Finally yellow, a representation of the sun, a colour of fun, warmth, happiness, and inspiration. The work intends to take the viewers on a journey of discomfort to comfort.
During my time at college, I have completed a number of projects ranging in different themes and technical skills. For my FMP project, I decided to photograph key locations and landmarks around the Black Country. It became clear that whilst I was photographing the key destinations that are popular with both tourists and locals, this project will be important for capturing the Black Country during a socially and financially difficult time. This year’s project reflects the domino effect of the pandemic on Dudley’s attractions. I think along with everyone else, I didn’t expect the pandemic to go on for this long, so I thought I’d make the most of documenting such an isolating and surreal time. Therefore, I have created a collection of monochrome photographs in the hope of proudly showcasing the heart of the Black Country, whilst also showing how the world we are so used to, has been paused and changed indefinitely.
I have always grown up near and around cars as many of my family members have modified their vehicles or worked in garages. So, I got to see how cars could be changed to suit the owner better. I think this has always intrigued me as it is a way of expressing yourself right from the start, when you choose the make/model and colour of your vehicle. I feel a car represents the owner and makes a statement. We are what we drive!
In the western philosophical tradition, the gendering of nature as female can be traced back to the writings of Aristotle. I have explored the romantic, feminine perspective prevalent in the 19th century Pre-Raphaelite movement and feel a need to re-imagine this tradition from a modern perspective, through the lens of a less gender binary society. In addition, technology advancements in our world have lessened the need for artists in some ways, and photography can sometimes be considered an ‘easier’ way to capture the details we wish of memories remembered for a long time. Therefore, I wanted to bring back to life the aesthetics and importance of the details that are hard to capture in paintings whilst also combining all that I have learnt about photography as they are both mediums which keep the creativeness in our lives apparent.
My project explores the zodiacs. Ever since a young age, I have been fascinated with astrology and the stars. I wanted to bring this interest forward and produce a project relating to it. Through mixed media, I have been able to represent the twelve astrological signs. I have chosen to display my monochrome portraits on canvas, to enable mixed media stitching, relating to each star sign. Each model falls under a different astrological sign therefore every part of the zodiac is displayed in my work.
Photography is the best medium for remembering, conveying meaning and bearing witness to people and places, family and friends, past and present. Today we are bombarded by digital images. Nearly two-hundred years since its inception and despite its recent convergence with the world of high tech, photography remains our most important memory making medium. The family album has effectively become the family hard-drive or social media account. I attempt to re imagine and reconsider family photographs in a personal and contemporary way. So for my project I wanted to so how much environments change why we have to preserve these memories and print them so the future generations can look into the past and bond over the images with their family’s like I have spend with mine creating happy memories that will never be forgotten. I believe that these memories are already fading away so I would like for other to see this exhibition and realise the importance of this beautiful part of personal history.
The name of my project is ‘The Seven Deadly Sins’ which I wanted to create with a slight twist by also including fairy tale characters. We grow up on hearing fairy tales about these perfect characters with great qualities, pureness and innocence, and the villains with qualities that are seen as bad or something we should be ashamed of, even though they are normal human behaviours that each of us at some point in our lives experience. I wanted to show that it is normal to have ‘bad’ habits or qualities and that nobody is perfect. Not even fairy tale characters.
Can you guess which character is which sin? (Wrath, Greed, Gluttony, Lust, Pride, Sloth, Envy)
My final project is about people’s most listened to and/or favourite song during lockdown. The multiple lockdowns over the past year ended up leaving everyone feeling isolated and anxious. My models gave me a song that they have either listened to a lot during the past year or songs that gave them comfort. I then created a series of images based on the lyrics in these songs including songs by artists such as Taylor Swift and Fall Out Boy. For everyone music was a way to escape the ‘real world’ and the stresses that came with the current events. In one survey it mentioned that 91% of participants said that music helped them feel a sense of escapism. Music is all around us, but we’ve never realised how important and useful it is to uplift us, as well as to distract us, until we were made to ‘stay safe’ and to ‘stay at home’.
I wanted to make my final project about something current and relevant, I think we can all agree that there is nothing bigger or more relevant right now than the Covid-19 lockdowns. So that is exactly what I have based my project upon. The title of my project is ‘What It Felt Like’ because that is exactly what it represents, what it felt like to live during lockdown. We have all had to adapt to a new way of life over the last year and now, finally, it looks like we may be moving past all of this. So with the UK lockdowns soon to end, I felt now was a great time to look back on the bizarre year we have all had to endure and to try and encapsulate some of the key moments from that time, that we can all relate to.
Ornstein (1975) describes the eye as the most important avenue of personal consciousness’ and it is estimated that 90% of the information we receive about the external world reaches us through the eyes.’
My project is about students. I feel through the coronavirus pandemic we have been ignored and pushed aside, left to deal with college/school on our own, forced to adapt quickly to online learning, which has been difficult for many people. For my project I have photographed a range of different students, showing how different and individual we all are. I find that eye photos are quite uncomfortable to look at, but they’re so interesting at the same time, you can’t look away from them. With this project I want to force you to look at students for once – don’t ignore us, we are all talented individuals, we should be treated as such. Don’t look away from us.
