Initial Experiments

After identifying that I would like to try some street photography for this project I decided to bring my camera with me on my travels and just try photographing people to see how comfortable I am and what I can produce where I live. Something that seems impossible to ignore in Cornwall are people's relationships with the beaches here, so I decided to try photographing families and surfers on some of the beaches I have been to in the past few weeks. I have learnt that you have to be very patient and it is very hard to be covert when photographing on a beach rather than a busy high street. I think there is a feeling of warmth to the families in these photographs and I think the anonymity works because it allows the viewing to put themselves in these relationships that we all experience. 

The affection shown is the final photograph of the mother and daughter above is my favourite and on this day I was using a longer lens so I could get closer to my subjects. I am not happy with these photographs if I am being honest though. They don't really comment on anything and it is obvious I have kept my distance which I guess is fair enough with this subject matter. I really appreciate the confidence that is needed for this kind of photography and it is something I would like to continue working on. However I know if I used this kind of approach to take my final photographs I would not be happy with the result. 

I am starting to think more about the Gary Winogrand photographs as events photography is something I have been doing a lot of recently and I think it is an interesting way to look at relationships. I just need to find my focus right now because I have a lot of ideas but nothing is grabbing me just yet.

Revisiting my Photograph from the Summer

For our final surprise brief of sorts we were tasked to revisit the photograph that we had to take before leaving for Falmouth. Which could be of a anything that I love most about living in Sheffield. I decided to take a candid shot of my best friend whilst we were sat on the grass at our local park. As one thing I knew I would miss most was spending time with her after work in the evenings. 

Looking back I definitely have developed a lot as a photographer although I still have a very long way to go. I had no idea about a lot of technical things, I wasn't shooting in RAW and I think my general eye and approach is much better now. 

I was hoping that my decision to specialise in press and editorial photography would make more sense to me once I started studying the course and in many ways it has. I am really interested in curation and writing about contemporary art which the course is allowing me to do, but I am still not sure what I want to do with my own photographic work and how much I want it to form and serve my professional identity. What I do know is that I am getting better at using my medium and I have already made money from it since starting this course which has lifted my spirits and given me a new sense of purpose. 

I am both anxious and excited to venture into the world of analogue photography but I look forward to the challenges the New Year brings.