I like the idea of also posing some pictures, and when thinking of the cost of living, I also think of things that happen to people in life, and thought of accidents but am aware that this would not be something I could organise. I then had the idea of doing something related to domestic violence as one of my portraits. The first image is not as extreme as I was thinking, (taken by Marc Paeps), however it is the sort of thing I would want to do, with the make-up and plain background. The second image is more the sort of image I would like to take, and was the initial inspiration of the idea of domestic abuse as one of the portraits.

UPDATE: I've decided not to do this idea, as I think I would be making more work for myself, and the aim for the project is to get portraits of people we don't know, which I would not be able to do with this idea.

I like the composition of this photo, taken by Jeremy & Claire Weiss, and when taking portraits want to have them in the natural environment of the subject, with the subject not looking at the camera. I would like it to look like a snapshot into their lives as opposed to a posed image.

Field Trip to Stanmer Park

During our workshop this week we went to Stanmer Park to practice various techniques.

Our first exercise was to produce a series of photos of the church. I explored the effects of changing the view point and the focal length. It was a good way to experiment, although as you can see from what I think are the best photos I took, I seem to have preferred on type of shot over others. However, the exercise was good as it showed me what I needed to improve on.

After we took photos of the church, we then went on to take photos of things that spelt out our name. 

After this short exercise, we went on to use the techniques we learnt in the lesson to take a shots of the church and the surrounding area. My favourite shot is the last one of the three. I feel that it demonstrates the use of the rule of thirds as well as everything else we learnt one the day of the field trip.



First session with a camera....

I took out a camera in order to practice what we were taught in our first session. Here are some of the photos I took:

Leroy Skalstad: Homelessness

When I think of the cost of living one idea that comes into my mind is the idea of homelessness. There are many ways to focus on this idea, whether for journalistic or artistic purposes, or to use art to promote social change.  A particular photographer that caught my eye is Leroy Skalstad. The muted tones in the photos add a poignance to the images. The photos are taken from the viewpoint of an outsider looking in, the audience is intruding on their life. We particularly see this in 'Heaven is my Home', in which we are observing a homeless man sleeping next to his bible. The expressions on the faces of the subjects being photographed along with the colours of the photographs give negative connotations, and when I think of the 'cost of living', I think of it as a negative subject.

 

'Heaven is my Home' 

'Homeless Mike'

 'The Bus Shelter'

Welcome...

So...I've just started doing Photography as part of my Media Studies course at Sussex University, and this blog is going to track my progress. I'll post about photographers and photographs that inspire me, interest me and that relate to the course, as well as lots of other photography related stuff.

Even though I've never studied photography, I have had some interest in it before my degree. Here are some photos I have taken and edited on basic editing software. I am hoping that this course will improve my minimal photography and photo editing capabilities.

Hope you enjoy the blog....

- Mel -