Presenting the work

We were told to print our photos the day before so that we would be ready  to go the next day. I did. I had all three of my photos printed on shiny paper and looking good. I did not think they were particularly the best work I've ever done or could do. But I liked the thought behind them, the humor, the feeling of them. They resonated the way I feel and the style I was after. Had I however put just a little bit more effort in they would of probably been perfect.

I got home Wednesday night before the crit and realized that I had left my prints on the bus. I was upset but these things do happen. So I tried to get to school early enough to print them out on time. Everything that could go wrong went wrong. I almost cried. However I got there and they got looked at my work and I received pretty positive feedback. I was told that they were very current. So overall I am pleased with the final results.

Here are some of the photos front the shoot (Some are the edited versions and some are not)

Shot through a vase of water with a GoPro

I liked this one but it was supped to be a shoe story and this does not really sell the shoe at all (However it could sell glasses) 

Another experiment with the GoPro and water 

There is another version of this photo where they are smiling which I much prefer, it makes the photo way more fun and less serious. 

Again I love this photo but it does not sell shoes and needs some cropping

These last two photos crack me up, I love the sense of humor and sued them as a final piece. 

(All photos authors own) 

Before editing 

After editing 

                                               

Shooting the boys

Unwisely I began shooting the boys at 6PM.  The sun had already set and naturally half the lightbulbs in my house had burnt out. I probably should of just ran to the store and bought some new lightbulbs but feeling rushed and a little panicked I decided to make do.

The photo quality is not as good as I can do and I know it that is why I am honestly not that happy with my final outcomes. However they are a little humorous which is something I always want to try and achieve.

It was definitely an interesting experience shooting boys. We had a lot of fun and they kept me well entertained. However I am fairly sure I wore them out, by the end of it they looked shattered and bored. I am an obsessive photo taker so I pretty much can shoot for hours and never get tired. But sadly other people get tired, in other words I wanted to shoot them all night, even though the lighting was appalling.

Using the GoPro

Shooting with the GoPro through a vase of water was very experimental. It created nice distortions and water marks to some of the images. However it is a little difficult to use as there is no screen on it so you have to just make a guess at the photo you're taking or connect it to an iPhone and see the image on the phone screen. It was defiantly more challenging than using a normal camera but so interesting and exciting that I definitely want to do another shoot with it. I am thinking of potentially doing an entire shoot underwater!


Styling

The boys had both brought some tartan flannel Pajamas because they were gonna stay the night and we all love lounging in Pajamas. They also both had tartan flannel shirts that matched almost identically to the bottoms. I thought this was the best thing ever, it was so funny and so adorable. So instead of doing the first look I had originally thought of we went with this. I thought that it added a little more of the boys personality to the shoot as well.

One of my favorite things is businessmen on the tube in suits, wearing all grey or black and then seeing a little peek of purple or red around their ankles form their fun colorful socks. Inspired by these men I made sure my models were wearing orange, yellow, or green socks. 

One thing you cannot see in these photos is the details of the shirts. I hand embroidered the colors and the pockets with orange and green thread. I thought that this would give more character. 

 I wanted the boys to look sharp and smart. However I did make them look a little like dads. I don't think that is entirely a bad thing.

Planning

One thing that I really admired about Guy Bourdin was the way in which he planned his images. He spent time drawing out, thinking, and putting together every detail of his shots. This seems so logically yet I've never done it before. I always have general ideas of what I want the images to look like in my head but I've never drawn them down before hand. So for this project I decided to try and draw loads of little shot ideas.

Journal Extract - Shot Planning and Thoughts - Images Authors Own

Concept

I decide to look at the idea of the new man. The sort of man who cares about his appearance, cares about family, and is just this well rounded guy. The opposite of lad culture. Of course these new men still have all the qualities of the average guy; loving the pub, beer, sports, all that kind of thing. Since my inspiration was the Guy Bourdoin photographs that were shot through things I had the idea to try and use my GoPro and shoot through glass and liquid. I though since Guy's photos often have a sort of surreal essence without using photoshop this would be an interesting way for me to try and use him as inspiration.

My plan is to shoot two of my guy friends and give off the message of two 'bros' who've been hanging out and drinking all day. I want to try and shoot them being a little goofy but wearing good looking clothes.

I also chose to do a shoe story which meant I needed to go to the store and get some guys shoes. I probably should of just asked my friends to bring their own, this would of saved me some money. I wanted the shoes however to fit in with future trends that I researched on WGSN. One of which were shoes with subtle pops of colours. I originally and thought to sew actually coloured ribbons onto the shoes but this was really hard to do, also doing this would of actually ruined the shoes if  I had wanted to take the ribbons off. Instead of using the ribbons I got masking tape and coloured them in and taped them onto the shoes. This was a cheap and did not look at good but it was as good as I could get.

Two of the shoes I shot with the coloured tape on them. Images authors own. 

Journal Extract - Image Authors own 

New Project

I was not too sure how I felt about it this weeks new project going in on Monday. But once I sat down I got that good Ravensbourne feeling, which is when I come in to Uni and feel so ready and excited to work. Ian began explaining and briefing us on what we will be doing for the next two weeks and then later in the afternoon we went to Somerset House to look at the Guy Bourdin exhibition. Our goal is to use this exhibition as inspiration for our own shoot, Our shoot has to be themed and relating to a specific publication and season. Bourdin shoots woman but I really feel like exploring the world of menswear so I am thinking about looking at these new ideas of manliness and shooting menswear.

I really enjoyed the Guy Bourdin exhibition. It was incredibly inspiring, the way in which he works and sees things is fascinating. I love the thought processes, he really puts a lot of planning into each and every photograph and you can see that in the quality of each final image. My favourite room in the exhibition was one that had three large screens in a circle so that if you stood in the middle you would be surrounded by them. And on the screens clips from some of Bourdin's films were flicking through along to some mesmerizing music. I wanted to stay in there forever.

The images that inspired me the most were the ones that were looking through things. Such as a gold fish bowl or the car door windows.

Image by Guy Bourdin

 

Image by Guy Bourdin 

Journal Extract - Notes From The Project Brief - Image Authors Own