Lens Based Media Rotation 22/09/14 - 26/09/14

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The first task of LBM involved taking 20-30 photos of personal likes, dislikes, family and friends. I then had to understand the reason I had taken these and how they relate to me; I considered the colour, composition, lighting and other aspects when analysing each photo. I feel this made me see aspects I had previously not seen for example the ripples of water distort the reflection of the sunset which contributes to the movement within the image. I was particularly drawn to the unedited photograph of flowers, as I observed it from different angles I became confused as I did not understand where the top or the bottom was. However, I came to the conclusion no matter what way this photo was viewed from it was successful. I also feel the photo looks 2dimensional even though it is a 3d subject. The reason for this is the way at which it was captured- the angle involved directly looking down onto the plants, as it was midday the sun was directly above; meaning no shadows were created therefore contributing to the 'flat' appearance of my outcome. When first observing the photo my eyes were drawn to the large bright, vivid orange flowers positioned in the right bottom corner - I consider this composition to be unusual because the majority of photos i look at I am drawn to the centre of the image. On the other I consider this unique aspect to be successful because the orange plants becomes a pathway around the photo; one leads to another which captures the audience’s attention and subconsciously takes

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them through the image. I then went onto observationally drawing my photo; my intension involved exploring the colour and texture. To do this I used a range of mediums to capture a variety of colour; I feel this created a conflict between the petals forms, the texture created also conflicted with one another which contributed to the movement of the image. I feel my outcome was successful because I did complete my intention, but I would improve my outcome by completing the centre of the flowers. I also experimented with cropping the drawing to understand how less is more.

The next task involved transforming words into photographs; this included jump, fall, echo,

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sad, happy and crush. I tried to think outside the box and not choose the most obvious ideas. I feel I completed this task successfully because my images were interesting and conveyed the word; I feel this task helped me to create work quickly without overthinking my ideas. My favourite image is the one connoting the emotion sad because the lighting and composition work really well together; the character is positioned in the corner in darkness making them appear vulnerable and upset. 

The following day of lens based media involved the focus on narrative and characters. To begin this task I looked at personal objects such as old letters and coins to seek inspiration for character ideas. Then in groups we discussed our narratives and possibilities of creating them within 6images. The agreed narrative consisted of a tiny character that worked in a

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teapot making tea, until a kettle took over his job and the resolution being the kettle breaking and the tea worker getting his job back. I feel we had successful images within this task but could improve the overall outcome. To do this I would not rely on Photoshop to form my composition because the outcome was not visually appealing and could have been achieved without Photoshop. Although I feel the software was successful on the kettle images to convey the feelings of the character through the use of coloured lighting. I feel our narrative was interesting and unique which would have been successful with better images.

The final day involved bringing in a six image narrative produced at home like the group task. I found my outcome more successful because I was able to experiment with all my ideas without a time frame or others trying to express their ideas. My narrative was simple and quirky; my main character was a corn on the cob that gets placed onto a hot pan by a giant human and then the character explodes into popcorn. Although my narrative seems harmless and fun; the deeper meaning involves being trapped in a society where people do not consider others around them – this idea was inspired by my everyday life of travelling to

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University where I experience people on public transport whom only consider themselves and push into others or sit on a seat and place their bag on another. I used a small scale character (the corn) which conflicts with the large scale human; this increases the notion of not being able to do anything against other peoples actions. I feel my outcome was successful because I used dark surroundings in the six images to connote the feeling of being trapped and having no way out; the darkness also put focus onto the bright yellow character which was reinforced by the lighting. When receiving feedback from other students I understood the narrative was enjoyable but I could consider using a range of backgrounds to create a variation between visuals and to reinforce the feeling of being trapped in society. Continuing this task I then had to create one 2dimensional image which would convey the theme of my narrative. I chose to continue the theme ‘trapped’ and focused on the flames in one of my images which I scanned, cut and layered. I also captured an image of a silhouette – it represented someone with their arms in the air. When combining my experiments a 3dimensional pierce was formed; to decrease this to one single flat image I experimented with the shadows created from the cut out sections of my work. The results were interesting and displayed a form which related to a human surrounded by flames – I continued to edit my final image until it was cropped to a necessary visual and one which portrayed my theme. The feedback received from other students was positive as they found my outcome distressing, as if they were experiencing the feeling of being trapped and not being able to escape. Overall I found this task challenging but rewarding and feel satisfied with my outcome. To improve my work I would

improve the quality of my printed image by insuring the computer setting were correct because unfortunately the final pierce looked slightly out of focus. 

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