Over the course of this project, I have done many things differently compared to my previous project. My research was better because I was focused on researching multiple different topics and themes due to having multiple parts to the final outcome. The research was also done through multiple forms of media, with some examples being popular games, viral video and online culture. I also researched different photography techniques, such as pinhole photography and hockney joiners, the latter of which I created myself.
The research that I did formed my ideas well and presented me with multiple different ways to approach the topic of “Journey.” My idea to split this into 4 different areas of life was smart because it allowed me to form different ideas and use different techniques, editing styles, models and themes. It also showed me that some ideas are harder to explore than others and that sometimes you wont get the exact outcome that you want, but that you can still use the idea to create something good. This specific point was prevalent in the shoot for “Childhood.” I was unfortunately not able to do the stop motion idea I had wished to do, so I instead had to photograph my model and the physical assets separately and create a still image. However, I was still able to adapt this and create a good final outcome by using the physical assets in combination with the digital assets.
I also had some ethical issues that I had to overcome. Originally, the idea for my “Death” shoot involved using a wheelchair for the old man that was moving towards the light. I thought of this idea because my friend was joking about how another friend looked like he was being “pushed along in a wheelchair” because I was pushing his chair along. This made me think about instituting it into my shoot. However, this has some themes that I was not entirely comfortable with using because it would portray people who were in a wheelchair as all being close to death. Because of this, I used a cane for the final shot. This was because I needed something that still showed that the person was old without their face being shown. One of the most common side effects of aging is that you get slower and need more assistance with things, for example walking. This is why I used the cane as a walking aid to show this. It seemed like the perfect way to portray this message without being insensitive.
In the future, I believe that I can improve on this by exploring different ideas more in depth. I explored the idea of using stop motion, but I was unable to do so due to my limitations. I also explored the technique of hockney joiners, although this was only explored physically and not digitally. I would like to explore different techniques such as this in my next project. I would also like to look into different presentation styles. While I mainly play around with aspect ratios, I would like to see what I could do if I was to present my work digitally. This would allow me to present different formats of content such as GIF’s.
Overall, most of this project went to plan. I was able to convey the concept of “Journey” in 4 different and unique ways while also stringing together a full journey across all pictures. First starting with the journey through childhood, moving from the left of the screen to right showing the progress, then through adulthood, showing the transition from childhood as well as the interests, through the mid-life crisis, where a person may begin to doubt how much time is left and what they should do with the remaining time, and finally death, the departure of one life and the journey into the next. This movement has been shown through these ways as well as other themes, such as the slow degradation of colour throughout the pieces, starting on a vibrant and fully coloured image and ending on a completely black and white one.