Poor Self Image...

Friday 23rd Novemeber 2012

Plans for the shoot...

The shot I am planning today is going to be the most "emotional" and hold a real message out of all the shoots I have done.

I think poor self image in young people, and some older people too, is a big problem in today's society.  I think it effects loads of people and loads of people struggle on their own.  So today I am going to reflect this in the shoot in my own 'gory' style.

I want the shoot to include the character I create to have a knife and look as if they have hurt themselves by 'carving' or 'engraving' words such as 'fat', 'ugly' and 'worthless' on to themselves.  I also want elements such as tape measures around the waist and half eaten apples etc etc.

I also plan on using the grey background as I like the way the colour can denote emotions such as apathy, upset, depression etc.

What I hope to achieve...

By the end of the shoot, I want to have a set of photos that hold alot of emotion and controversy.  I know this shot is something that will be horrible, but I hope it has a strong message about how society is shaping people and how alot of people actually feel.

What I actually achieved...

I think today I achieved what I wanted to - however, it certainly wasn't the most fun Ihave had in the studio.  Honestly, I found it depressing and it was so serious.  By the end of I just wanted to get out the studio.  I think, in the future if I were to do such a shoot, I would need a model so I can keep focused on the photos more.  I did have 'fun' doing the shoot, but I think working with someone else would have made this shoot much better.

Here are some photos from the shoot...

I this photo as it is much stonger than the rest of the phots that I took.  It sort says to the person looking at it "this is just how it is".  I like this as it makes the character I have created look as if she is fighting society and saying "this is what you have done".  Through-out the shoot I went with a very in with a state of mind of wanting to creating a shy, weak and timid character who is ashamed of what they are - I like how this photo has contradicted my first ideas yet I still think it works well.

I like the pose in this photo and the angle of the face, I also like how you can see all the 'writing' here too.  I am not as fond of the facial expression here though, I don't think it is strong enough to compliment that concept of the shoot.

However, one other little thing I like about the shot is the positionig of the props e.g. the knife is reflecting the light, the apple is seen clearly and the tape measures are separated out against my body - they kept falling down every 2 minutes!

This is my favourite photography from the shoot I did today.  This shot wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for a lucky mishap in the studio where one of my flash lights didn't go off - I went to look at the photo and loved the effect!  So I kept it off for the marjoity of the shoot after that!

I love the lighting and the way this has added to the emotional depth of the photo.  I also like the lost "given up" expression.  I am especially happy with this as I got the reflection of the light in the knife in the photo - this was something I was struggling to do and in some shots it made the knife look fake and plastic.  Here it looks real (as it is) and I think this adds to the danger and horror of what I am portraying about society.

This shot is a little different and I like it.

I love the lighting and the way you can only see parts of the 'writing' in the shot - it makes the person looking at the photo look around the photo more to really see it.  I also like the pose and the facial expression.

I like how the kife is also the closest thing to the light here and how it really relfects the light in this shot.  I think this has accentuated it this highlights what I am trying to say and the message I wanted this shoot to have.  I also like how on the other are you can just about see the 'writing' and the apple.  I love how half of my face here is in darkness too - I really love this type of lighting and want to do it other shoots I think.

I like the light in this photo and the pose.  I think it gives off emotions that portray what I am trying to say about how society makes some people feel.

I also like the way I cropped this one so you can only see the characters faces and the word 'worthless' - I think it gives a slightly different feel to the other photos.

This shot is very similar to the first shot that I have put on this blog post, only here I am looking down in the photo.  I like this as it holds emotion that I originally went in wanting to capture (giving up, sadness, weakness, feeling inadequate etc.) and this contrasts nicely with the first photo that is much stronger in the pose and the emotion it has.  This shows two sides to what I am shooting.  I also like how I have got the reflection of the light in the knife here again.

What I am going to do next...

This shoot has inspired me to want to photograph other issues in society that effect people in horrible ways etc.  I love the controversy this shoot had in the message and the way I chose to photograph it.  I think possible a shoot about drugs or drinking abuse, or even something like teen pregnacy or child abuse might be possible things I would like to explore.

Also, I have learned alot about light in this shoot and it's importance and they way it can change/ effect a photo.  I want to try out some more shots where I work with the light differently to help me get better shots.