Semester C has begun, and so has the beginning of the Major Project. The Major Project will be ongoing for the next couple of months and the final hand in date is scheduled for the 3rd September 2014.
During this time we will be expected to research, document, experiment and post to our blog, as this will go towards our final grade. The MA Degree show will be held at the University of Hertfordshire sometime in October. There is certainly a lot of work to do and I expect to be very busy over the next couple of months, but hopefully it will all be worth it.
As part of our final Major Project we are expected to put together a Planning Folder, which will consist of:
- Project title and concept
- A Project Planning and Time Management Chart
- Project Documentation Proposal
- Statement of the project deliverables
- A Learning Outcomes Matrix showing where and how the deliverables will demonstrate the module learning outcomes
- A Personal Learning Outline
All of this is due in on Monday, so we have had a short space of time to complete this in.
Simple diagram showing the workflow for Semester C
Project Title & Concept
Personal Landscapes – A World of Our Own
For my Final Major Project I have decided to explore landscapes and places that are in someway of importance to myself. I will be looking at the areas in which I live, work and study in, and also the places that I enjoy visiting.
Instead of capturing the images as they are seen through the lens, I will be manipulating them in postproduction to create an entirely new and original image that will enable the viewer to observe the landscape in an entirely different and unique way. Each image will be a stereographic representation of the landscape.
Planning
Project Documentation Proposal
As part of the Final Major Project I will be documenting and recording my progress on my existing blog. This will enable me to document and chart my progress, as well as being able to look back, evaluate and reflect on what I have achieved and help me to move forward. I will be able to evaluate how well my project is working and whether my final piece will work well aesthetically.
The blog will aid me in my decision-making processes and my reflections upon my methodologies. From here I can evaluate my own learning processes and identify what I have learnt and gained. I will also be looking at how my own work relates to the forefront of my field and looking at other practitioners who are creating images within the same genre and analysing their work and the influences that their work has had on me as a photographer.
I aim to post to my blog regularly, at least 3-4 times a week. The length of my posts will vary according to the nature of what I am posting. A post that is critically examining another practitioner’s work may be longer in length than that of a post reporting on what I have achieved during a particular day. I will be providing relevant links on my blog and referencing them correctly.
A great deal of my research will be made from online photographic galleries, looking at other practitioner’s websites and from magazines that I subscribe to. I also aim to further my research from books and visiting relevant exhibitions.
A blog is a good way for me to document my work, as it enables me to look back and see my progress throughout the project and it is an effective way to reach a wider audience, who will be able to comment on my charted progress. This may give me some useful insight into what will work within my project and what does not. My blog is also linked to my website, Facebook page, Instagram and various other accounts that will enable me to reach a wider audience than I reached whilst doing my BA Photography degree and feedback may prove to be invaluable.
Project Deliverables
This project will see me handing in 6 new and unique images that capture landscapes and places that are important and relevant to me and that will give the audience an opportunity to view landscapes in a new and different format. The images will aim to engage the audience and make them re-evaluate the space and world that surrounds them. The images will be created by using 360º equirectangular panoramic images. The 6 images for the exhibition will be displayed as separate images which will complement one another and a catalogue will be provided giving an outline description of each image and what that particular landscape means to me.
I will be experimenting with the layout and if I decide that the images work better as a combined piece of work, then consolidation of the images into one final piece could be another option. This all depends on the images that I manage to capture and which idea will showcase my work to its full potential.
Supporting the images will be the blog that will have documented the progress and the transition of the images. As well as charting my progress and methodologies, the blog will also demonstrate the things that I have learnt during this project. It will show where the ideas have come from and how they have developed over time and will be backed up by research into other photographers at the forefront of their field. I will be looking at landscape photography as a whole and not just primarily at other artists that develop stereographic landscapes, as I believe it is important to keep on pushing myself as a practitioner and develop other ways and methods of producing landscape images.
The blog will be well structured and organised and will also be updated at regular intervals. I will be referring back to the Learning Outcomes Matrix to ensure that I am meeting the expected requirements. I will be taking a reflective stance within my blog, reviewing and analysing not only my own work but also the work of others.
Personal Learning Outline
This project will teach me to work efficiently, effectively and most importantly of all, to work within a given time frame. As an MA student, I am used to working to deadlines but this is an important project and will certainly test me. For this project I will be applying existing skills but I hope to further develop these. I am self-taught in the software that I use within photography. As part of the lead up to the Final Major Project, I have been experimenting with new software and I hope to broaden my knowledge with this software even further. Whilst I have produced stereographic images in the past, I have used different software to what I am using currently, as this new software allows me to work with larger files, resulting in better resolutions for my final pieces. I have had to adapt to this new software and at times I have become frustrated with it, but through perseverance and practice I have found that it is becoming easier each time I use it.
I have also had to learn (and still learning) how to take 360º equirectangular panoramic images. This has proved a little problematic at the beginning, as I do not have the correct equipment for this (Panoramic Head). I have researched and experimented myself and it is possible to obtain these images without one, it just makes the process a little more precarious. In the future I would like to invest in the correct equipment, especially if this is an area that I choose to go into professionally.
Overall I think that the most important skill that I will be learning is managing my time effectively and making sure that I meet the criteria of the project in the given amount of time. This means that planning is of the upmost importance. Learning to communicate my findings and my developments within this project are important and I hope that I am able to be clear and concise whilst uploading to my blog.
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Brochu-Williams PHOTOGRAPHY 