Evaluation...

Evaluation

Over the past 3 years I have been nomadic with my work. I started out trying to conform and impress other people with my pieces and volume of work, and then I began to understand that interdisciplinary means you can bend the rules. These are not rules established by other people; they’re a personal system. Each individual’s set of rules differs, and this is where the beauty lies with this course. I think myself as an individual, and my colleagues on this course, have all learnt to alter their way of working to coincide with their personal regulations, whilst being able to gain from everyone else’s systems.

This project has pushed me further and wider than I have ever been taken before. Firstly the length of time the final major project is given to complete, allows for a huge expanse of research and preparation plus the idea of the final piece being exhibited really forces you to produce something to the highest standard. It has allowed me to literally go out and capture the essence of my concept, and being able to enjoy the process also.

I believe I have changed my way of working particularly as I know it pays off to produce something, evaluate it and move on to improve it. I have spent the last 6 weeks of this project selecting and editing my work, printing it off, considering how to exhibit it and what methods and equipment to use. This method has enabled me to produce a final piece which I believe is of the highest standard I could produce. I am overjoyed that I have given myself this opportunity of editing as I think it has strengthened my project, tenfold.

I personally think the postcard stand is the item that wraps the whole project up. It is able to produce a conversation piece, whilst also providing mini conversations with what’s written on the postcards. The manner in which I contacted individuals to get them to write on my postcards and return them was really exciting. It was costly and time consuming to do, but even to get one postcard back out of 20 was a bonus. I believe that when you ask someone about themselves they are more likely to respond, plus us as an audience we enjoy reading the responses, as we are a little nosy! During the project I managed to record several conversations, as the original starting question was quite personal, yet controversial; which social class are you in?

I have gained a great deal by finding a starting combination of imagery to use as a final piece, and then developing to changing several times along the way to become what it is now. The tutorials and crits I have had have really forced me to consider my way of working, what message I want to put across, and how I want individuals to read my work without forcing a message upon them.

My original proposal for this project was to investigate the social class of Britain. I believe I have been able to examine a very traditional yet tiring pastime in our society, which has begun to crumble over the last couple of decades. The increase in available money has meant families are more able to pay to holiday abroad, leaving our local resorts to be empty. This has meant a lack of income for such resorts and subsequently they have begun to wilt and fall apart. I have tried to regain some of the spirit associated with British Seaside Holidays and bring back memories for those who have had the pleasure of going on one. My aim to bring back the smell of salty sea air, candy floss and fish and chips with the sound of waves crashing and the amusement arcades with seagulls flying over head symbolises the losing battle of British tourism and enhances the audiences understanding of our ever changing society, ‘It wasn’t like this in my day’.

FINISHED!!!

Today I have finished putting my work up!! I have spent a lot of time re-doing things, and adding final touches. I think the overall look is great, and I'm really pleased. The postcard stand is the thing which gets most attention, so hopefully people will actually contribute and write some of their memories down.

Final Images..... UP!!!

Printing in the dungeon....

3 images up in my space!

I used photoshop yesterday to work out, to scale, what size I should print the images. I decided that rather than having the 1 portrait image big, so it was the same size as the landscape images (150cms x 100cms) I thought it would look better if they were all on one size together, i.e. all on one line. I think this has worked really well, and with the addition of the postcard stand as well, I think it would look perfect.

Last Decision, Which Images?

I spoke to Dan and Cheryl yesterday about the images I intended to put up, and they disagreed.

They thought the two images were too 'samey' and that there could have been a better combination. They also implied a meaning whereas there were other images which would leave it open for individuals to produce their own conclusion.

I was concerned about the layout of my exhibition space as there is a large pole to the left side of the wall which breaks it up.

The final images were chosen:

Which Pins?!

Nail with a larger head, 30mm

White Upholstery pins

Small thin pins

Small headed pins, 30mm

We have now started putting our exhibition up and I must decide on how I am going to put my images up.

I already know I want to use nails/pins, but I need to know which ones. Therefore I have bought a variety and have tried them out...

I decided to use the smallest pins as they were discreet but also noticeable when you look to see how the image is put up. I really think they're going to look good!

Final Photos....

I have been through my images again, and tried to reflect on what was said in the Crit.

Generally, I think the general consensus was to consider how the imagery relates to the postcard stand. With the old images there was a minimal relationship as the photos didn't reflect a seaside place and could be anywhere in the country. Therefore I have tried to pick out images which reflect the seaside, whilst staying a bit loose so individuals can take away their own thoughts from seeing them.

I chose these two images because I think they enable people to think about their memories of their personal seaside holidays whilst matching as well, so they look good together.

Crit 18th May 2010

Today's crit has left me confused, but a little clearer on what I need to do.

I will have to make some important decisions in the next couple of days.

I have already been to book another time slot in the print dungeon!!

Postcard Stand

My Postcard Stand!!!!

I LOVE IT!!

So far I have put on my own postcards and the collection of ones I have sent and received, plus others which I have collected. I have just purchased 500 off eBay and will be able to put these on once I get them in the post.

Printing My Own Postcards

As I have now purchased my own postcard stand off eBay, I have begun to print my own imagery onto postcards.

I have so far printed 25 images, with 10 copies of each. As there is 30 slots on each side, I am aiming to have 30 images. I will see how long it takes, and how much it costs and see if it is appropriate to do 60 images, however I feel that having 60 will dilute the quality of the imagery.




These are purchased postcards which I have addressed and stamped to encourage people to write on during the exhibition. I really want the postcard stand to be a place for people to interact and begin leaving their own memories of seaside holidays.

Enlarging number 2

I think it's really important for me to experiment with as many ways of printing and displaying as possible before the crit on the 17th May. Today I printed off one of the images using Illustrator to make a tiled image, 6 a4 pages by 6 a4 pages. I wanted to look at scale and ways of putting it up on the wall.

PSL Gallery Leeds

I went to the PSL gallery in Leeds as I have been told it had a good variety of ways to exhibit photography. Above are some images in frames. I have used frames previously, and I feel that it is the most obvious way of finishing off the quality of an image, however I am not entirely convinced that it is the best way of displaying the images I will be exhibiting.

Below are some images which have been put up using pins.

This was a really large image which was in two panels.

Close up of the pins. They looked like drawing pins painted white.

Some more posters pinned up. I really like the simplicity and the way it doesn't interfere with the images. I think having a white border is really important so it's still framed, but not in a literal sense with wood and glass.

Also in the gallery was this space, above, which gave visitors the opportunity to write down their memories of the world wars. This made me think about the postcards I have been sending off. I enjoyed reading the responses on this wall, so I wonder what it would be like to give this opportunity to people at our exhibition. I was thinking of buying a postcard stand, just like the ones at the seaside at the front of shops, and putting all the postcards I have recieved in it, along with blank ones, and some I will make from my own photography collection. This then invites people to write about a British Seaside holiday memory. I think it would act as a good reaction and reply to the images on the wall, and would be nice for others to read about other peoples lives.

Foamboard

I managed to do a deal with the BA Photography tutor. Exchange a couple of tutorials for a sound recording of Martin Parr from the q&a session in January.

The other day I had my second tutorial with him. In this I showed him my final 3 images, discussed why I felt that these would work better than others, and he agreed.

We then talked about how I would display the images in the exhibition and 3 main ways were discussed, so now I am going to experiement with all 3. These are framing, putting on foamboard/foamex (something I will need to get done by an external printer), and simply pinning to the wall (I will need to consider which type of pins etc.)

Before the crit on the 17th May I am going to try as much as these as possible, bearing in mind that I am unable to officially print my work until the 18th May. I am also going to attend galleries to research their ways of presenting images. PSL is my first stop this afternoon.

Self Enlarging

Due to the fact that I can't get into the printing dungeon for two weeks time, and there is the final crit within that time, I tried to enlarge this image myself.

I asked in the libary if it was possible on the photocopiers, and the assistant said it wasn't, so I tried it on photoshop. This worked; to an extent. The images dont exactly match up, but the scale of it has worked, albeit it's a tad too small for the frame. I wish to have the image completely matched up to the frame so there's no white space at all.

Final 3 Images Photoshoped

I took my final 3 images and placed them into photoshop to ensure anything that didn't look right was changed. I have then printed these images out onto a4 to see if everything's ok. I can improve these further.

Selecting and Editing Process

After going through all my imagery, I picked around 10-15 images from each shoot. I then narrowed this down further by choosing 1 out of 2 images.

I then took these images into photoshop individually and worked on them.

Then I printed these out and put them up on a wall. I arranged them into groups which I thought would work. I moved these around, and often changed images into different groups.

I was originally aiming for 4 or 6 images, however I found that this was not possible. I found 3 images were working best together. They are all strong individually, yet look really good together and all involved some written text to imply a message, however can be read differently by different members of the audience:



For me there were two obvious routes: 1- the fairground vibe, 2- the old dingy imagery, and I decided that for this project, the dingy, dismal side would work better as it communicated my feelings better about British society, and allowed it to be up for more readings and scrutiny.

Catalogue portrait photo shoot

Framing

Following the crit I decided to consider framing within my work.

This is something which came up in several discussions throughout the day.

Here I have used the same images in different frames and looked to see if using a border would improve the image or not. I think no border makes this image looks better as it doesn't distract the viewer.

Crit 26th April 2010

My work didn't get discussed during the crit on Monday, however I set up some images in the studio to experiment with size, and wether a variety of sizes would work together for the exhibition.

Preparation for Crit: Monday 26th April 2010

In preparation for the crit on Monday the 26th April, I am trying to use the imagery I have collected over the past couple of months. I have decided to see what one of the images from Cleethorpes would look like if printed out at different sizes:

Being printed in the dungeon at size A1

On the wall in the studio.

I had this image printed out twice at A1 onto both matt and satin paper to see which one would look better. It seems that satin looks better as its cheesier, and more cliche.

I tried printing these images out at A4 and at 4x6 to see what they would look like. The 4x6 is the standard postcard size which I have used in the past.

As I am currently pre tutorial, I am trying to keep as many avenues open as possible, and one of those is to carry on producing postcards.

As a reaction to the last crit, I sent off postcards and recieved some replies. I was questioned as to why I had framed the last set of postcards the way I did. I have decided to alter the framing, by putting one postcard in a 'double sided' glass frame. This is only a mock up, produced by using two old frames and both pieces of glass in one of the frames. It is highly unstable, however if it proved successful then I could produce my own frames to hang from the ceiling securely.

The question was raised in the last crit as to why they needed framing at all, however at this stage I am unable to see how I can set them out in the exhibition without framing them.

2nd Postcard Mission

I sent off 35 postcards, and left another 20 in and around Leeds for people to discover and send back.

Of these, I recieved 8 back which I believe to be a fairly good return rate.



I purchased around 100 postcards from eBay and will use these as part of my next post out.

I want to ask people the same question, 'which social class do you think your in', and also on some of them to reminisce about a British seaside holiday they have had. I have posted out 50, and left another 50 in places accross Leeds, and Blackpool and Cleethorpes. We will have to wait and see how many I get back.

Posting the cards off

Placing them around college for people to take, fill in and send back.