Okay - so I've made a big decision to change my concept for the 3rd Assignment and go with another idea I have been thinking about for some time now. Partly because the time frame to achieve the kind of pictures of Hannah I would like to is getting too small with her work commitments and my work/family commitments and limited time etc... and partly because I want to better achieve the principles of the assignment - which is composition, framing and angle of view. I think my other idea will achieve all these far better. And I couldn't reconcile the feeling I was getting each shoot I completed with Hannah that it was very presumptuous to try and capture the essence of her in only 6-8 weeks. I still think Hannah is a fantastic project - perhaps best suited to completing over a few years to do her justice.
So..... onto the next idea. And this is something I'm REALLY passionate about.
When I first decided to come to Art School I had just finished a year of Horticulture training with the Royal Tasmanian Botanic Gardens. I decided after this year that my love and interest in nature and botanics is more of an artistic appreciation rather than for a professional application.
I love pattern in nature and also being interested in design and all things creative I've decided to embark on this degree to attempt to combine these two interests and design wallpaper and fabric with a botanic influence. But with a twist.....
So my new idea for this assignment is to photograph a collection of weeds I have gathered over the last few weeks mainly from roadsides and paddocks around the south of the state. I want to focus on weeds rather than classically beautiful plants and flowers as I find them far more interesting and just as beautiful as their over photographed counterparts. They are also much lesser known and therefor more likely to be new and interesting material for the viewer to look at.
The other thing I find so interesting about weeds is the reasons they are so hated and despised by people. The very reason they are labelled a weed and not a garden desirable plant is that they demonstrate a strength to survive in adverse and difficult growing conditions as well as the ability to reproduce extremely well. Characteristics like these would be praised and admired if they were in humans. Instead many Australian gardeners are much more likely to devote all their attention to fussy, over-bred, imported plants that would promptly and happily die if we didn't water them for a week in summer and would much rather we brought them a plane ticket back to the UK than throw some more artificial fertiliser on them.
This time of the year is perfect for my concept too as I want to focus on spent plants that have already gone to seed and past their prime. Once the initial flowering period is over - you are left with the plant's shell, pattern and structure and these are the elements that interest me the most.
The other thing that excites me about this project is shooting in a studio situation. This is something I have never done before but I have heard a lot about and how it can be used to refine and grow your technical skills is respect to lighting and composition. Perfect for this assignment.
No comments:
Post a Comment