Final
I have always had an interest in photography and as soon as we were given this assignment, I knew that I wanted to do film photography as I want to capture the raw elements through the photos. I do not have a lot of experience with film photography, therefore it was a new challenge.
I enjoyed every part of this project. Jonathan and I already knew each other before this project, therefore it did not feel as uncomfortable as it would if I were to work with a stranger. During the documentation, I understood a lot more about him through our interactions such as his hobbies, likes and dislikes, personality, etc. The most challenging part of the project was to present its final display. The film was not able to be developed on time thus I had to come up with another presentation. I wanted to keep my original presentation within my second presentation, therefore I imitated the format of a film and printed my photos according to the format.
At first, I thought that the time period which is given to complete this project was too short and I was worried that I would not complete it on time. However, this pace turned out to work for me as it really pushed my thinking. Personally, the collaboration between my subject and I was definitely essential as it helped me to understand him more and hence allowing me to create a better portrait overall.
I liked how the collection of photos turned out but of course, I was disappointed at the results of the film as it was not what I expected. I was not fully satisfied with the final presentation of my project as I think that it seemed incomplete. Anyhow, I would like explore more about different directions that photography can lead me to and experiment with more techniques.
: p h a s e o n e
I went to Jonathan’s place and took documentation of his environment. Since he lives in a student residential studio, the space was not as personal. Nonetheless, I tried to capture his ‘everyday life’. I edited the photos in black and white as I think the monotonality stimulates and enhances the viewer’s creativity on how to perceive the image. In my opinion, black and white photos also allows the viewer to think beyond the literal meaning of a photograph.
: phase two
I wanted to use the original film as my final presentation but since it could not be developed on time, I chose an alternative presentation. However, the developed film did not show very well so I would not have used it for my presentation anyway. Although the images were unclear, I liked how it turned out as the uncertainty in the photographs advocates a sense of mystery.
