Model Releases.

This year I have been alternating between getting the models to sign the model releases with a graphics tablet and on paper. I have found the digital version much easier to keep track of and alot quicker to sort while on a shoot.

I will upload the digital signed releases here as evidence of a few of my model release forms.

Krunoslav Stifter - Redhead Girl With Freckles Retouch - Photoshop CS6 T...

While browsing youtube for an update on my retouching skills. I came across this video which is a very detailed walk through on how to retouch someone who has alot going on with their skin. This video in particular applied to a redhead with freckles but its also relevant so skin flaws, acne and discoloration.

I found this video so detailed and informative. The retoucher does use different skills to what I use when retouching so I feel as though I am now being opened up to new methods of retouching. While I have never photographed anyone with as many freckles as the model in these shots, there is a huge chance that I will in the future so I'm glad I now have this video to come back to to use as reference if I am struggling.

Reading about depression.

The British Journal of Psychiatry © 1996 The Royal College of Psychiatrists Volume 168 Supplement 30 June 1996 pp 101-108 The Relationship Between Pain and Depression

In 'The Relationship between Pain and Depression' Micheal Von Korff explains and theorises the relationship between different kinds of pain and depression.

I am most interested in the link between emotional pain and depression.
For example Sigmund Freud coined that depression was a similar feeling to mourning the death or the loss of a person or a subject in your life.

Von Korff says that 'At the neurobiological level, neurotransmitters (e.g. serotonin, norepinephrine) implicated in depressive illness have been found to play a critical role in pain modulation as well (Fields, 1987, 1991; Osterweis et al, 1987).  [17,18,28] This suggests that pain transmission may be altered by affective illness, while nociceptive input may also induce or exacerbate a dysphoric affective state. At the psychological level, it has been hypothesised that chronic pain is a particular form of somatisation in which negative emotions are expressed through bodily complaints, including pain.'

The last sentence explains the link between physical pain and depression as being expressed through complaining of the pain which in shot and simple terms, creates a negative environment for the person.

The sentences before this give a bit of an insight into emotional pain (depression) and explains that emotional pain transmission in the brain can be altered by an 'affective illness' (this could be the feeling of pain over the loss of something) which then may induce a negative affective state.. which would then be the depression.



I found it very helpful to read this and a few other texts and articles on different types of depression because they've started to help me understand how depression is formed and how different people react. I really think this will benefit my work because I have a much better understanding on how to portray elements of it now.

Competitions

BJP Breakthrough
AOP student awards
Calumet Student Photographer Award


I have recently had the opportunity to apply to all of the above competitions and some how I have managed to miss all of the deadlines. I'm really dissappointed in myself for doing this because competitions are such great opportunities to get national or even worldwide exposure at the expense of a £10 entry fee. Not to mention the prizes you can win.

To make up for the fact that I have missed these deadlines I will now be intently scouting for competitions to enter.

Graduate options.

When thinking about my life after university I have debated many paths.

Travelling for a gap year to take some time to focus on myself and then return to Norwich after.
Doing an MA in Photography at NUA.
Getting a job in photography and working full time.

All of these options are very appealing for different reasons.
I have always wanted to travel, I could build up my portfolio and assist photographers all over the world, or even just the uk and build up a solid network who will feed me opportunities.

An MA would be a great idea as I would be in education still and learning even more. Its an opportunity to keep shooting while not necessarily relying on it for income.

Getting a permanent job in photography would be a fantastic route as this would pay the bills and I would be putting my creative degree to good use.

Bearing in mind my financial status, travelling is not a realistic option for me. I have bills to pay, a longterm boyfriend and I would have needed to save for years in order to be able to get up and out of the country. There are many travel programmes and scholarships that could give me this opportunity but to me this doesn't seem realistic.

Being in education from the age of 3-21 has given me alot of time to ponder about getting out there and just living my life the way I want to. I think completing a BA is as far as I want to take my education at this stage. I may want to come back in several years and complete an MA at NUA which would be swayed by the fact I would get discount for being a previous student but right now I think I have been in education too long and I need a break from it.

I do have a job in photography and I will be going full time once I have graduated. It is so refreshing to know that I have managed to secure such a fantastic opportunity and this will help me to grow and learn people and sales skills which learning and refreshing my technical knowledge too.

Personal Statement

I started writing my personal statement by going through all of the questions on the Powerpoint on the VLE.
I answered the questions accordingly -

- I create my images because I love recreating forgotten trends and vintage themes

- Hidden depression is a common theme in my work, this is probably because of my own experiences and exposure to it.

- My work is different because it layers elements of contemporary and vintage fashions, beauty and commercialization over the top of depression disguising it as an everyday thing.

- My work raises questions as to why S.A.D is slightly over-looked when it comes to depression. It can be seen as a ‘less qualifying’ type of depression because it only strikes at certain times of the year and on certain days. Why is my depression not as legitimate as your depression and why are there ranks?

- My audience would be teenagers to young adults as this was the age where I was struggling with S.A.D myself and was confused as to what it was and why I was embarrassed to get help.

- My photographic technique disguises the depression in the images rather than communicates it. This is inspired by my own experiences of hiding my feelings at a young age because I felt as though my depression wasn’t truly depression and worth the time or money of getting help from a doctor.

When I looked back at my answers I realised I had information in there that I would have never of thought to even put in my artist statement. It was a great exercise to help me pin point what it is I like about photography and why I create my own images.

I chose to write in first person and not third as I feel it is more personal as I'm writing about myself.

My final statement -

Since the release of his book in 2012, I find myself permanently inspired by Richard Mosse’s Infra. The way he hides tragedy behind landscapes made fashionable through the use of unusual hues like magenta and cyan, is a huge inspiration in my own photography. By lacing elements of Alex Prager and Nadia Lee Cohen’s work into my own practice, it has become a mixture of cinematic fashion portraits infused with different aspects of realism; in particular, seasonal affective disorder. In an attempt to explore and understand my own feelings and experiences with Seasonal Affective Disorder, my current practice revolves around challenging the way seasonal depression is perceived by society. By juxtaposing elements of forgotten fashion trends and vintage themes against the emotive qualities of issues like S.A.D, I have disguised melancholy inside a flurry of colour and beauty, much like the everyday deception of depression. I try to challenge the way different depressions are stereotyped and ranked of validity in today’s society by hiding the obvious somber characteristics behind a mask of beauty and charisma.