Object & Body Initial Ideas

Alright let's do this.

Unit 1: The Object & The Body. Split into two halves, each half is pretty much self explanatory. This could be an interesting one...

So for the first part of this unit I need to "develop a concept, plan, organise, construct and photograph a still life of my own using colour film and a large format camera."

Okay;
1. Film scares me.
2. Large Format scares me.
3. The very thought of Still Life scares me.

I suppose it could be worse. At least I get to choose the topic of subject matter and all that stuff, speaking of which, this should be something related to me, like a subject of some local discussion or something in my life.

Upon receiving this brief my mind initially wandered to over the the concept of travel. With my daily commute being quite a long one to university, and having quite a big impact on my life for the next three years I thought that it could be something I could "make a comment upon." Then I realised how bloody boring it is and that there is a distinct lack of actual objects that I could use to make a decent still life.

Idea scrapped, let's go back and look at my past. I, like a large number of other typical blonde, 18 year old, milk-loving photography students, have been through my fair share of emotional turmoil over the years. Love and loss, fear and loathing are some of the feelings I've felt quite a lot in the past few months and they haven't seemed to be stopping.

I've been heartbroken. And I'm not afraid to admit it, on many occasions too. (And mum if you're reading this, yes it's true, I couldn't  really tell you this stuff because I'm just a bloke really - soz bout that) This, and I'll put it bluntly, horrible feeling really does push you to edge of your sanity, it challenges your personality and actually changes you as a person. It eats away at your soul, forcing you each time to realise: "That's it, I've got to start all over again." It's really not the nicest thing. During the initial stages of heartbreak I've felt angry, lonely, isolated, insecure, paranoid and a multitude of other emotions, but none as strong as depression.

Depression is quite a big thing in modern day teenage society, with stress being one on the more common causes. In its mildest form, depression can mean just being in low spirits. It doesn’t stop you leading your normal life, but makes everything harder to do and seem less worthwhile. At its most severe, major depression can be life-threatening, because it can make people suicidal or simply give up the will to live.

I wanted to base my first area of work in this topic because it means something to me. I've been depressed on more than one occasion and often found it difficult to cope with or find help. Luckily now though I think I've found a point in my own life where I'm rather happy and able to talk about my past.

But for other teenagers this is not the case, many young people feel so lost and "stuck in a rut" that they feel the need to self harm or even commit suicide in order to end the seemingly hellish world they live in.

Summer Project: Still Life Self Portrait

You see that ^^

That's me. Or... well as close to me as you can get without actually having a picture of my ugly mug on screen. This is the place where I spend the large majority of my time. If I'm not here them i'm probably out shouting at traffic, or on the moon.

Right, well... What can I say about this picture? There's my iMac, iPad & iPhone in there, I'm a bit of an Apple fan boy to be honest. I love my music, so I've got a pair of decent speakers and you can't really see it, but underneath on the pull-out drawer I have my graphics tablet, because sometimes I like to do a little bit of photoshop drawing. :) There's the arty side of me right there...

On my desk I have a couple of little "mementos" including a little chuck of glass I was bought on a little romantic trip to Paris - yup, I like to travel. There's of course Lee which, if you read my last blog post, is explained. Also you can see card readers, a pen cup, some Blutac and an old laptop I'm hoping to Hackintosh some day...

I've got various prints of my work on the wall that I actually nicked from my portfolio - the print quality was so good that I thought leaving them in a folder would just be a plain waste. What good is a picture that you can't see?

Also stuck on the wall next to my light switch is my (Almost) complete collection of gig tickets. I do love me a good rock show and I say almost because at my first gig I accidentally threw the ticket away, not thinking that I could get a collection together :(

Stuck right next to these I have a couple of bit's of commercial work - I shot a wedding, and the disk is up there should I ever need another copy for something, and I also have a good copy of a brochure I took pictures for. It's a simple leaflet for the swimming pool I work for so nothing special, but my job is important to me so it's included.

What's up with the computer screen I hear you ask? Well look at it, it's transparent... I'm not going to tell you how I did it, because that would be cheating but here's a hint - I did use a bit of photoshop in this picture :)

So yeah, that's my desk, or should I say me - in object form. Thanks for reading, I hope I didn't bore you too much...

Summer Project: An Intro (With A Reference - Woo Go Me!)

Where to begin?

Yup, this is me, and these are my glasses :)

Let's start with the basics, if we do that then we might just make it through to the other side.

Hi, I'm Dan. I'm 18 and love taking pictures and mucking around on Photoshop. I'm a bit of a geek, nerd weirdo, dork and what-have-you, but that's okay because i'm proud of it. I also have a cat - make of that what you will.

Coming up with an idea for this "Summer Project" really was a tricky one for me because to me it seemed like an opportunity for me to introduce myself whilst trying not to make myself sound like a bit of an unpleasant antisocialite or nonconformist. I also didn't want to portray myself as an "arrogant tw*t" either because, and let's face it, it's really not me. I mean I do have moments where I'm a wee bit elitist... but I had better save these ramblings of a madman for another time.

I, being one of the "Computer generation" spend literally hours online, and I regularly spend time reading articles online, one such article caught my eye from Lifehacker:

http://lifehacker.com/396158/show-us-your-desktop-and-workspace-on-flickr

"Show Us Your Desktop and Workspace on Flickr"

Now I'm not normally one for sticking up photos of my entire personal life, but this time I thought "Why the heck not? I have a Mac and I'm proud of it, and I have a flickr" (Shameless advertising, here's my flickr page, enjoy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/metcalfedan/) and seeing the wide range of PCs and Macs around the world inspired me to get involved so I had a go of my own.

I really like the idea of using your desk space as a way of showing who you are because, for a large majority of people in some specific industries, (Photographic for me - If you hadn't guessed that by now then... see a nurse) Your desk space is the place where you spend the most time, excluding your bed or the local bar in some cases. 

For example, my desk shows a lot about me. Here's what it currently looks like at the time of writing, with a little help from my good 'ol iPhone:

1. I have an iMac, which shows I'm young, hip and cool by stereotypical understanding, 

2. My desk almost always features a camera or two, showing my enthusiasm for photography - which is also backed up by the various prints I have on the walls surrounding my work space, but you can't see from these phone pics. 

3. I also have on display an almost complete collection of tickets to past gigs that I have attended - I like rock music, best get that out of the way now...

4. The plates & food wrappers. Yeah, I eat at my desk. Why waste valuable internet time down in the kitchen or in the shower washing?

5. That little orange tube of hair stuff just behind my keyboard - yup, that's from a hair dye kit - I dye my hair, and i'm still perfectly straight. I'll let you work that one out.

6. You can't really see it but behind the Mac on the wall I have a disk with pictures from a wedding that I co-shot recently - you always remember your first time ;)

7. Lee (The Lego mascot) He's there as a reminder from my childhood really, i'm still just a big kid inside.

See, that's already 7 facts about me that you didn't know before looking at my desk. Which is why I think using my desk is a good way of portraying myself through still life. It shows who I am, without me actually being present in the picture.

Well that's me done for now, My next blog post will feature the finished picture of my desk space and who knows... It might even get tidied up a bit... Thanks for reading :)

Dan