Your Book- Formative Review + Feedback
To finish off the research stage I had to give a formative review on my project and how the research has impacted my idea.
Below are the slides from my presentation.
My idea was to get a diverse range of different people using their hands whilst they are working.
The idea I had to include the face and the hands was inspired by Rankin's 'Performance' series, this helped me come up with creative ways to make hands the subject of my pictures.
Whilst developing my idea I wasn't sure whether to shoot this idea in black and white or in colour. When I saw this black and white portrait of Amy Winehouse in the bath by Phil Griffin, I liked how effective it was at making her stand out. Since I want the same effect for my portraits this inspired me to shoot my project in black and white.
Once I had my project idea and the plan to shoot it in black and white, my next stage was to think creatively about the positioning of the hands in the shot. As I have a few variations of the types of shots I want to do, which include either the face and hands or just the hands on their own. Since this is called 'Working Hands' it is important that the portrait shows the job the model does, whilst making sure that this is interesting to the viewer when they see the picture. When researching I found a photo series called 'A Show Of Hands' by Tim Booth. He uses a dramatic lighting set up in each photo, this has helped to highlight the hands in each shot and make them more interesting. Since this is close to what I want to achieve, this will be my inspiration goal for my project.
To give myself and my tutors an idea on what the shots would like, I did a test shoot of a pair of hands. My feedback for this was that the lighting was quite dark and wasn't harsh enough which meant you can't see the details in the hands. After receiving this feedback I have bought some studio equipment to help resolve this.
Now that I have my idea, my next stage is to start thinking about the people whose hands I'm going to photograph, I have started a list which you can see above. My objective for this to get as many different people as possible whilst making it diverse as possible. My aim to try and get 15 models for this project, however this could change once I get peoples availability.
My next steps for my model list is to finalise my list of people and finish shot list, I also need to buy some studio equipment which will be easier and less hassle than renting it from uni. Once I have done this I will start organising dates with my models and start shooting.
Above shows my conclusion which reituates my project theme, the style I'm going to shoot it in and the overall project idea.
Feedback
This was the feedback I received:
-Shoot in colour then convert to black and white, this will help add the depth and details to the hands.
- To add more depth to the test shot pictures so that they look more 3D.
- To use studio lighting which would add harsher light to the hands and add more detail to the hands.
Otherwise they liked the idea and concept and were excited to see where this project would take me.
Overall I am happy with this feedback and will use it as I move forward with my project. Now that my Formative Assessment is done my next step is to start shooting.
