Final Reflections Unit 1 & 2 December 19th & March 8th hand-ins

 Final reflections are the last opportinity to produce the content required to secure a pass.

Final reflections involve looking back at the recent work and identifying and clarifying that you've learned about specific components of your work. Most of the content here needs to be written up in the Analysis section.

Under the heading Analysis use these sub-headings and make sure you have commentary relating to each sub-heading...

*Copy these sub-headings into your work and add your commentary 

Unit 1: LO2/2.3 - What value is there in producing a proposal? 

Unit 1: LO3/3.1 - Explain the value or producing research at the start of the project - why is it necessary? 

Unit 1: LO3/3.4 - Discuss whether you feel producing research at the start of your self-directed projects is "Effective".

Unit 1: LO3/4.3 - Look at your final set of images and explain/analyse whether they are fit for purpose in terms of a potential operational context in your opinion do they look professional, what purpose could they be put to, who would the auidence for these image be and who might the client for such images be? 

Unit 1: LO5/5.1 - If you've not already done so - analyse and explain your use of Visual Language in one of your own final images. As a minimum discuss the Person + Background + symbol + involvement formula and 4 other visual language elements. 

Unit 1: LO5/5.3 - Explain whether you feel that there is any value in the knowledge of visual language, are you aware of how using visual language knowledge when taking images impacts on your image in terms of narrative and story telling. Explain at least 2 examples. 

Unit 1: LO6/6.2 - Looking at your work - point out an example of where you've reflected on an aspect of your work and then reacted in terms of developing, improving, experimenting or learning more.

Unit 1: LO6/6.3 - Do you see value in writing up the reflections or simply reflecting on your activies - explain the value of using reflective practice when producing a project. Why do we do it? 

Unit 1: LO7/7.4 - What methods do you use to generate ideas for your work, do you continue to research mid-project, what methods do you use? 

Unit 2: LO1/1.3 - Looking back at the materials used recently to produce your 2D work what are your reflections relating to the quality and suitability in terms of professionalism. *This can include Research materials as well the chemicals and papers used in the production of your analogue work. Do you feel they were fit for purpose? 

Unit 2: LO2/2.3 - Looking back at the materials used recently to produce your 3D work what are your reflections relating to the quality and suitability in terms of professionalism. *This can include Research materials as well the paper used in the production of the 3D models, and the paper used to create the white backgrounds. Do you feel they were fit for purpose? 

Unit 2: LO3/3.3 - Looking back at the materials used recently to produce your 4D work what are your reflections relating to the quality and suitability in terms of professionalism and fitness for purpose. *This can include Research materials. This relates to the use of the Pinhole cameras and the creation of the creepy/sinister images as well as the papers and chemicals. 

Unit 2: LO4/4.4 - Look back at your recent work and identify 2 problems you have encountered and discuss how you resolved your problem. Was your solution affective - was there any negative impact to the solution - explain the negative impact. *ISO is an easy one to explain or shutter - or the use of a Grey Card to make reasonable initial exposures. 

Unit 2: LO5/5.2 - Looking back at the darkroom work - explain why it was important to be aware of the H&S implications. 

Unit 2: LO6/6.3 - Reflect on your presentation knowledge - how much do you know about framing, mounting and the types of materials that photography is printed on when used in a professional context. Look at your work - does your work look consistent and tidy in terms of its presentation - do you use a consitent size and type of font. Do you you use headings to point towards important components of your work - is it clear where your reflections are and your plans. Does your work flow in terms of the creative process - is it the right order?

Bare minimum requirements "Sufficient"

The bare minimums you have to do by the deadlines. 

AO1

(A). The first thing you have to have in your work is your version of the details of the brief. Read through the brief and in your own words explain what it is you have to do. This should be on the first page. This is then followed by the proposal. Having examined the brief and done this, you might be able to make a start on the proposal... 

(B).  As discussed in class, to meet assessment objective No.1 your work has to have a proposal. On teams if you look in 'Files' you'll find a template that I've filled in with an example of the kind of thing you need to write. There's a series of headings. Use the headings in the proposal and meet the word count indicated.

Remember - you write the proposal over the duration of putting your project together. As you get more sense of what you're doing you update the proposal to read as though your wrote it at the start. Do not write it in the past tense.

Once it's written and presented at the deadline it should say I am going to do a,b,c and then when I look at the work I can see that you have done what you proposed. 

The more detailed the proposal with indications of using a good range of experimental approaches and MTP's, along with a broad approach to your research (Use of journals/books as well as the internet) with a good bibliography and a detailed week by week description of what you do, will potentially attain higher grades. 

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AO2

(A). Each photo-shoot (Your own self-directed shoots)  must have a detailed plan preceding the evidence of  the work (The Photos). 

(B). It should follow that the work that follows the plan is relevant. 

The more detailed and knowledgeable the planning, the greater the potential for higher grades. 

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AO3

(A). You have to have research on Photographers within your work and the research has to clearly have some connection with your own work at the initial stages. Shoot #1 typically would have some obvious connection with the research and this should either be a visible connection or a detailed explanation of the connection. Ideally it would be both. 

(B). Problems need to be identified within the work and seen to be resolved. *Make sure you use the word Problems and Solution In your work and possibly sign post the sections where you produce this work with these - Key words. 

(C). Ethical and environmental aspects of your work and the way it is conducted need to be identified and recorded. Is the way you work ethical? Is the way you work the best you can do in terms of its environmental impact? This needs to be explained. 

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AO4

(A). This means you record your use of equipment, materials, methods and processes. This appears in your S&K work potentially, but also must be a part of your planning, you need to show that you understand why the way you use your equipment and why you choose it for the job is appropriate. 

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AO5

(A). "Developed". This means you have to shoot and re-shoot your work over a series of shoots, improving the work in terms of quality, experimentation, techniques and use of equipment and lighting. Similarly the idea/concept also needs to be seen to develop and improve over each shoot in-line with the operational context and the requirements of the brief. 

(B).  "Meet the requirements of the brief" This means you have to provide evidence of having produced a project in-line with the theme indicated in the brief e.g. if it says you have to shoot 6 x portraits, then you have to produce portraits - images of people. Refer to the Requirements section in the brief. 

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AO6

This requires you shoot images and final images that communicate your concept and idea in-line with an operational context and an identified consumer audience. The images have to serve a purpose in a commercial sense. 

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AO7

The presentation of your work needs to be neat and in the correct order. It should be obvious how the work develops from a basic starting point, through a series of experiments into a final outcome. 

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AO8

(A). You have to use reflective practice in your work and it needs to be real.

(B). You need to be self-critical of your work, you need to look at your work in comparison with the work of professionals and ask questions of it - is it as good; Why does my work not look like theirs;  What am I doing wrong; How can I add my own twist to my images, so that it's not a pastiche; What else could I do; Is it fit for purpose; Is the purpose clear (Operational context); Does is it meet the needs of the identified audience and/or client; what more do I need to do; How can I improve it; Is there something I need to learn? 

Then follow this up with a different approach that then demonstrates refinement, development... improvement. Use the reflections as a means to force positive improvement. 

(C). Always head the reflection clearly with the title Reflection. Aways use the 3 initial prompts followed by the Analysis prompt/heading. 

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Research sources

 In Further (What you're doing now) and higher education you need to step-up your research and start to source higher quality research sources.

Probably the best research you can probably do is to actually work with or talk with the actual photographers themselves for extended periods of time. If you can assist a photographer, observe what the do and work with them as an assistant, that is valuable experience, where you'll learn an awful lot.

Another good research experience is to visit galleries and see the work first hand in exhibitons. This allows you to see the work; see how big it is, the quality of the photography, attention to detail, the texture and finish of the image, how it's mounted and presented. The galleries will also have up todate and useful information about the work alongside the work.

The best secondary research sources

The best secondary research sources are almost certainly hard copy sources such as books and journals. I would say the best by a long way are Journals such as... 

• The British Journal of Photography
• Hotshoe
• Aperture

The best thing about Journals is they introduce you to a range of different approaches and photographers in one publication. The process of flicking through pages back and forth means you tend to see a huge variety in quick time drawing you in, leading you to think "What's that about" or "Why on earth is that a thing"? Because of the vast variety journals tend to showcase. Furthermore, if you get your hands on up-todate copies it tends to be photography of the moment - brand new and what's happening now... "contemporary photography". *If you want to use this approach for your research ask Dave T and he'll let you have access to his private collection. 

 These journals are on-line, but they do not have the complete articles and all of the images seen in the actual journals. They're still definitely worth looking at. 

https://www.creativeboom.com/resources/12-magazines-and-blogs-that-every-photographer-should-check-out/

https://www.youtube.com/@showstudio

Unit 1 - LO7 Methods of generating ideas & social responsibility

 This relates to the assessment criteria which are essential and are required to pass...

Research 5 methods to generate ideas for photographic projects. Use the title/heading "Unit 1; 7.4  Generating Ideas" and write up your responses under the heading - use images if relevant. Do not copy any of the research - re-write in your own words and add your links as a mini bibliography.        

 Use the title/heading "Unit 1; 7.3 Social responsibility in Photography " and research and find examples of 5 examples of social responsibility relating to photography   write up your responses under the heading - use images if relevant. Do not copy any of the research - re-write in your own words and add your links as a mini bibliography.    

An example of a Photographer who produces work that can be seen as having a social responsibility is Ed Burtynsky and his on-going efforts to depict the injustices created in the pursuit of Oil and other minerals. 

Books: Pentimento — Edward Burtynsky

This work should appear in your "The Creative Process" PPT

 Social responsibility scenario

Imagine you're a model and you're only 18 years old and you've only done 1 shoot previously. You land a job with a photographer and you're going to be working on a beach modelling for most of the day in the hot sun with a male photographer and his usual 4 male assistants.

Put yourself in the models position, what sort of things would you hope the photographer would have in place to make your experience on the day pleasant, comfortable and non-threatening in anyway? A photographer in this situation has a social responsibility to the young female model. Explain what the photographer might do to enable this. 

Some clues can be found in Maslow's hierarchy of needs...

It might be useful to imagine this scenario played out on a Beach locally - Southend or Chalkwell. How would you feel about this shoot, what would you expect the photographer to have put in place to make your day on the set a good experience. 

Sustainability and Ethics

Sustainability

Use the content from the white-board introduction today on Sustainability - don't copy it just use it as the starting point for your own work. Use the links below to research this subject further and to produce a detailed body of work that makes it clear that you're aware of the impact of both digital and analogue (Traditional Photography).

Note: This is compulsory. This has to appear in your work - especially in conjunction with your self-directed projects such as the current DSLR project and later in the year with the self-directed studio project and the Unit 3 final major project for Year One and throughout year two. Because the content is going to used and re-used and ideally improved each time I would save it initially in your S&K power-point and then add it to your DSLR project. 

Film or Digital? Which Type of Photography is Better for the Planet? - American Chemical Society

Click on this image for a video on the issues relating to Sustainability and data storage. 

In terms of digital photography one of the key components relating to sustainability is the generation of Electricity - The key aspect to this is that traditionally electricity was generated by the use of coal, oil or gas all of which are associated with the production of greenhouse gases and pollution and global warming. 

Check this link here for images of other impacts of the Oil industry (Oil needed for electricity generation) Photographs: Oil — Edward Burtynsky

Another link where Burtynsky Photographs extraction of minerals to supply the electricity industry among others - Edward Burtynsky on climate, abstraction, and hanging photos like paintings - 1854 Photography

Other links 

This is another good video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-8TDOFqkQA

Capturing Moments, Consuming Energy: The Environmental Impact of Photos | World Cleanup Day Blogpost

What precious metals are in your camera and similar electronic devices - remember you more than likely use PC's to handle your files The Royal Mint | Recovering gold from electronic waste

The question is what can you do as an individual to reduce the use of materials to improve sustainability? 

Ethics 

1. What ethical issues are linked to theme/s, subject matter, or imagery in my work.  
2. Have I represented people, cultures, or communities in a respectful and responsible way? How do I know? 
3. Where did my materials come from and how sustainable are they? 
4. Did I reuse, recycle, or source eco-friendly materials? Give examples. 
5. How has my work impacted the environment (waste, chemicals, energy use)? 
6. What steps did I take to reduce my environmental impact during this project? 
7. Did I consider the social impact of my work on different audiences? 
8. Have I researched artists or practices that focus on ethics and sustainability? How did this influence me? 
9. What changes could I make to improve the ethical and sustainable quality of my future work? 
10. How does embedding ethics and sustainability strengthen my identity as an artist? Content to be added soon. 

Operational contexts (Types of Photography)

 In your work as you produce it, you need to show increasing awareness of the context e.g. you need to know what type of photography you're producing and where it fits within the world of work and employment and how you could make a living from it.

Have a look at this post here see the link and have a read through the main 'Operational contexts' most often seen in Photography.

Level 3 Photography resources: Types of Photographic Practice

Post Research Reflections - how to

 These follow the research and use the same structure as the practical reflections...

(1). What happened (Requires just a couple of sentences - keep it simple just say who you researched and what research methods you used). 

(2). How do you feel it went. (Again a very basic response, a couple of sentences saying how you felt about doing the research - whether you felt you learned a great deal, whether you were inspired, if it was hard to find the relevant information and you struggled. 

(3). What was good/bad (Another quick response a couple of key points about the research process that were good and one bad one. 

(4). Analysis.

This is the bigger section, this is where you write about the value and usefulness of the research, you might explain why it was useful in terms of kick-starting your project. What aspects of the research did you find inspiring, what will you 'Borrow' from the research and use in your own work; this might be things like...

• The basic premise and idea
• How it's done
• Their style
• Techniques 
• Lighting
• Poses
• The mood and feel 
• View-point and perspective 

Explain what you're going to borrow/use in your work in your first shoot

Also show that you understand the value of your research in the longer term - use the term "Progression goals". 

These are things such as...

• Passing the task
• Passing the Unit
• Passing the first year
• Passing the course
• Getting into University
• Getting a job in Photography

Once that's done you need to write a Plan