Week 1 - Reality

The first full week back. Year 2 FdD Photography & Digital Imaging.

Week ending Friday 1st Ocober 2010
Tuesday
Contextual Studies with Mike De Vere

Mike began this session explaining what we will be studying this year for Contextual Studies. The first unit is titled 'Diagnostic Writing' which is based on ourselves and our chosen career path. I feel this brief will help me narrow down which style or genre of photography I want to concentrate on this year and help me explore the possibilities of employment when I leave college.

Mike and I had a brief one to one session to discuss my attendance and grades from the first year. I'm happy to report my grades were 74% and 77% respectively, with 95% attendance overall. Mike was pleased with my marks and attendance but we both agreed there is always room for improvement. We also discussed which aspect of photography I was particularly interested in - I said photojournalism. I made this choice because I am very interested in current affairs and news and after completing the documentary photography unit last year I feel this is what I am drawn to most.

This new unit will involves researching the current industry, building a CV and understanding my own strengths and weaknesses as a photographer. I feel this unit will be beneficial in helping me focus on life after my degree.


Wednesday
Large format photography with Lee Garland

We had briefly worked with Lee in the first year with an introduction to studio lighting. I'm very much looking forward to working with Lee again this year as he's very approachable, knowledgeable and enthusiastic.

For my Wednesday morning sessions I will be studying large format photography. Large format is something I have never had the opportunity to work with before and it's always very exciting to learn something new.

Lee talked through how to set up the camera, use the various components and how to load film. The process itself takes a lot longer than simply pressing a button on a digital camera! I think this will definitely make me consider and really think about the images that I will be producing in large format.

Photographic Theory with Sian Gouldstone

Sian is new to the college and this was our first opportunity to meet her. She led the first session by introducing us to a brief history of photography. It's something I have touched upon before but it's always good to have a refresher on these things. We looked mostly at the work of Eadweard Muybridge and his studies on movement and watched a few clips from the BBC Genius of Photography series.

I enjoy Sian's relaxed appraoch to teaching. I feel this will help the class open up more when it comes to discussion and critique of photographs.

Sian also showed us some of her own work on her website. What I most enjoyed about her work was that she finds beauty in the things most people simply ignore.



Thursday
P&DI with Max Bamber

The session began with discussing 'ways of working' in class. Max was right to recap on setting some ground rules to help maintain a happy and productive environment at college. It's all very straight forward and common sense stuff but some people still require a gentle reminder haha.
We received our Unit 7 brief last week to read over and start to think about what is required. This week we all brought in a social issue to discuss with the class to help generated ideas for the brief. The theme of the project 'a call to action' is something I'm struggling to grasp and fully understand.

Using the social issues we had discussed, Max introduced us to a lateral thinking exercise and using PO's (Provocative Operation) to help us 'think outside the box'. In groups we discussed ideas generated using this technique to produce a photograph based on one of these ideas. Max also set us some work narrow down 3 subjects of interest and to produce a proposal on one of these subjects.


Friday
The technical gubbins with Dave Gee

Again, Dave Gee, is another new tutor we have for this year. Dan has told us he will be teaching us Lightroom, Aperture and other computer software packages to help us with certain aspects of post-production.

I feel these session will be beneifical to me because I have never been particularly good at the technical side of things. I'm hoping working with Dave will increase my confidence and improve my editing skills.