Park shoot with the girls (No Man's Land Project)

This blog is actually to get some crit off my uni mates so I'm uploading a few of the same sort of images, which you wouldn't normally see.

I've decided to play on the different personalities and ages of the girls. For the younger one, Natalia, I'm focusing on her playfulness and with Kornelia, the older one, I'm going for a more serious feel.

My aesthetic is meant to bring out the whimsical, the ephemeral, a soft and hazy feel to show that teenage years are not real as such and full of uncertainty. They for trying things out, playing, moving from childhood to adulthood....that kind of thing.

Any crit very welcome.

Cheers.

Beach Shoot with Natalia and Kornelia

This is a shoot from a few weeks ago.

My flash wouldn't work, which I was gutted about as I think fill in flash is going to be the thing that makes these images look the way I want them to. Basically the only images I've been happy with so far is the shoot before this one with Natalia and her friends.

After a crit at uni, people liked the pared down background of the above shoot because it helped them focus on the subjects better.

With these images, I still really need to get more of a whimsical feel going......and there are a couple of shots that would get near if my sodding flash had worked (It would have gotten rid of the nasty shadows).

Any crit welcome. FYI reminder - the project looks at the teenage years as transient years where nothing is certain and things change quickly and often. I'm looking to get a whimsical feel, dreamy as such, and i've been trying to pick backgrounds that are also changeable like the sea (changes with the tide) and nature which changes with the seasons. Any suggestions of other appropriate settings would be appreciated. :)

     

  

.....nearer I get

This shoot is from the other day where I followed 3 teenagers along the coast trying to get some useful shots of them. I'd asked for the three of them to participate instead of just Natalia, but by the time the shoot came about I realised that photographs of the three of them weren't going to be useful to my project. I took quite a few pics of them non-the-less which they can keep, while stealing single shots of Natalia where I could. I actually think having her friend's along helped to relax her a bit so I'm not entirely unhappy with some of these shots. They are certainly more in keeping with how I want this project to progress. So, one memory card full and an injured knee and foot later here is an update on my project.

 

Natalia Shoot

Well I'm still largely off beam with the current lot of images I've shot. Finding it very hard to give my full concentration to this project with dissertation deadline looming. Unfortunately this project really does need my full attention. I guess this shoot could be considered a 'what not to do' with some, but few, images in line with how I want to proceed; the more whimsical images. A comprehensive style with which to tackle this project is still something I desperately need to work out. Here are some shots from the last shoot any how:

First Proper Shoot

What a day! A terrible start and not enough time to look at my log book of ideas to get my head in the right place but I did what i could. I met the girls in Stanley Park. Today was primarily a shoot to see how they react in front of the camera while trying out some poses that I've seen/found while doing my research. I didn't really get many shots I'm happy with but did get a better idea of how they react in front of the camera and the avenues I want to go down with regard to each sister. Here are a few shots from today.

Tempting fate is a silly thing to do......

Ok, I have finally found a pair of teenage sisters (Polish in origin) to take part in my project. I met with them last week and discussed my ideas, which they seemed interested in.

I've had terrible luck with this project and finding a subject so far, so I'm keeping everything crossed that nothing happens to put the girls off. With all this in mind I still find room to tempt fate by blogging about my fortuitous find (quite possibly very silly of me) but I want to get my brain completely back in project mode and blogging for me is a good way to do this.

The girls are fab. Kornelia is 15 and Natallia is 13, both are lovely looking with interesting faces.  I'm very much looking forward to getting some kick-ass portraits from my project, No Man's Land, which looks at the teenage years as transient years where nothing is tangible or certain (more to follow on the concept later).

Wish me luck.

Object to Subject: moving direction

Ok, as much as you, and I, loved the experimentation with Surrealism I'm going to have to put it on hold with this project and concentrate on the side of 'Object to Subject' which looks at human emotion.

I'd lost my way a bit by going down the path of visual techniques as a way of subverting a sexual reading of my nude. There was nothing wrong with this per-say but it was too far removed from my initial goal which was to get the viewer to stop engaging with my model as a sexual object and start engaging with her as a person.

Now i'm using emotion on its own to create this affect. I'm taking my model through a journey of emotions with the hope that people will empathise with her and what she is feeling rather than just looking at her as a nude and a sexual being.

Here are some images from yesterday's shoot that i won't be using but convey where I'm heading: