21st june update.

This week i have started to edit my images on the computer, as i am very nearlly ready to start printing my images onto my tracing paper and then attaching them to the different objects i have chosen.

The objects i have chosen are blank c.d's and also bottles. I think this should give an interesting composition to look at for my end outcome and will also be very different to any of my previous outcomes.

This week i will finishing editing my images and then make my composition ready to start my exhibition plans when i come back at the start of the next academic year.

7th of June Update.

 This week yet again i am working on my sketch book again to evidence the process i am going through with this project. Below are a few images of the print outs that are about to go into my sketch book.

  There is also my notebook where i have written down what i needed to do and also crossed off the things that i have done. I believe with a project this length i needed to write down what had and hadn't been done so that i remember to do everything to get the correct grades,.

10th May update.

We are now 18 weeks into this project;

This week i have been continuing with my sketch book carrying on progressing with research and also talking about my first images. 

I have also booked the studio for my final shoot with my model, this will be done a week today. 

I will use the same model as i used in the previous images. I will take into consideration all this things i learnt from the last shoot for example how to avoid shadows on the background and also removing any jewelry from the models arms before taking the images and also remembering to take the correct necklace to give the right feel to the image. 

3rd of May update.

We are now 17 weeks into the project;

This week we had a talk from the charity called uganda humanist schools, which is a religious charity which aims to bring school to the needy children of east africa. This is the charity that we will be working with to raise money through out this project. He gave us lots of information about the people of Africa and their daily lives, but also gave us a lot of information on the amount of money that you need to raise for different aspects, for example to supply a child with textbooks of their core subjects for a year is £40.

We also had a powerpoint, that displayed our initial test shots of our ideas, this was also linked us so that we could hear the tracks of the music students and also walk around to look at the garments that the fashion students had started to make. This helped us to be inspired by different peoples work and also to make sure that we ourselves were up to date, 

This week in my sketch book, i have been carrying on with different kinds of research and also initial shots. 

I have also done one of my shoots and started to edit them on the computer, this will go in my sketch book as soon as i can.  The shoot was my images of the hands with the cross necklace draped over. I think that this shoot went very well and i am proud of the images created. I know will need to start messing around with manipulation of paints and also computer manipulation. 

26th April update.

We are now 16 weeks into the project;

This week i have started to do work in my sketch book, these images above are a few images of my sketch book, the images are of my introduction and also my page on Christianity. 

With in this session i plan on carrying on with work in my sketch book to progress, also this week i plan on taking more images ready to do a critique at the start of next month. 

5th April update

we are now 13 weeks into the project;

This week i have started to look into manipulating images physically with firstly looking at Jamie's dream school and how Rankin had the children editing their self portraits to show their creativity and personality though the image.  

Also this week i have started to do sketch book work .

29th March update.

we are now 12 weeks into the project;

This week i have continued to look at artists and inspiration for my images/creation, i have come across a few artists;

Sandhi Schimmel has mastered the art of transforming trash to treasure in her unique mosaics made of paper waste. Her purpose as an artist is to create unique, amazing portraits while helping the environment by re-using commonly wasted products.
Schimmel used tax forms and political junk mail to create this stunning masterpiece which is below. All of her work is very environmentally friendly and taking the waste out of the community and giving it back as someone beautiful.

After looking at all my artists i have been inspired to take black and white photography of religious imagery which i will then print off and paint over in the colours of the flags of the countries in east africa. I will then scan these images back into the computer and i will then print them onto recycled materials for example C.ds.  As i have had this idea i will look at a photographer that does a same process to this although with dirt, and that is stephen gill.

Stephen Gill started in photography at a young age. He later started to experiment with different materials and different processes. This creates a very unique style to his photography. 

Stephen Gill prints mud, and animals onto the top of his images to create a kind of 'foreground' to his image although you are still able to see the image through this layer.

This has inspired me to manipulate my images in a very unique way. 

Also this week i will also research the way Rankin (photographer) got the children on Jamie's dream school (Tv programe) to manipulate their images.

15th March post.

we are now 10 weeks into the project;

This week i have started to think about ideas again, i have come up with the idea to use recycle goods to put my images onto, this idea came about when researching about mosaics and artists that use recycled tiles/glass to create their sculptures. 

I have looked into the different ways to do this. 

One of my first ideas was to use liquid light or SE1 which is a liquid emulsion, this would then be put onto the items and used as if it was dark room paper, although when researching into this both of these products cost around £30 for 250ml.

The second idea was to use adhesive labels that you are able to print onto. These cost only around £10-15 alough i would have to buy extra to trail these as it would be hard getting the print onto the label in the correct position. 

I have also used fabric prints before where you use an iron to transfer the image onto a material, this will also go onto wood like substances. These cost around £5, although i am unsure whether this would give me the desired affect. 

I have also looked into artists which use recycled items to create their art, like Dr Evermors shown below. 

8th March update.

We are now 9 weeks into the project;

This week i have started to put my research to use, i have started to take test shots, i have uploaded them below these are unedited images and i plan on editing them into black and white and also messing with them with contrast and also levels.

After doing this shoot i have also decided that  i would like to have the background completely empty unlike the last image, also that i wouldn't like the bands on the models hand. 

I plan on having a flag also in the hands of the model along with the cross, this is how i will go forward.

1st March update.

We are now 8 weeks into the extended project;

I have started to look further into religious photography, and found a company called Sevenapples run by Justin Ullmer. He takes religious imagery, and truly believes in all the meanings behind it. 

I have chosen this image as i plan on using black and white images of hands showing the cross therefore showing religion and this is very closely related, as it has all the components just taken a little different. This image is a very strong image due to the use of lighting but also the composition, the hand is very well positioned due to the rule of thirds and the 'focal' point of the image the word you, is also very well placed, as it is placed directly in the middle of all the thirds grid lines. Due to how well the lighting has been thought out has created a strong composition of shading as the darkness of the shading towards the bottom of the image draws your eyes up to the main focal point of the image. 

I have also chosen this image from the same creator, as i think it shows the diversity of religious art, and how religious art can be creative and 'modern'. I have chosen this image in specific as it has taken all the colours that you may relate to Africa and created an item that could be special to many people christian or those of an African roots. I would like to incorporate these sorts of colours into my outcome.

 I then looked into the colours of the flags within east Africa.

                                                        

The images above are of the flags, and i want to look into the colors used. I have noticed that a lot of reds and blacks are used and also 'tribal' designs.

Some initial idea that i have had to manually manipulate my outcome/photos is to use a mosaic form and to maybe create a background, or border for my image so that you can still see the image clearly and what it is wanting to portray.

Or another idea that i have would be to mosaic or draw/paint onto the actual image to create a religious imagery but then to colour it in African colours. I could do this by printing onto trancing paper, which would then allow me to see the image faintly and then painting ect on top of this.
I also had an idea that i could print the images onto a material using either cotton or wood, and then editing the image once it is on there, i think this could create a very personal response to the brief and also create a personal creative item.

8th February update.

We are now five weeks into the extended project;

This week we carried on with our proposal forms, therefore stating our starting points/ideas for this project.

I started with the idea of taking the images and then editing them, but manually by painting and/or gluing things on top of the printed images.

I have started by looking into influences for this project; i have looked at a range of artists

Laurel True- She is a mosaic artist who has recently last year traveled out to Haiti to give the gift of art, using the rubble from the earth quake and also donated tiles. Her work is always very bright in the colours used, and also generally on a big scale of 200 ft +.

Isaiah Zagar- Isaiah is another
her mosaic artist, he was the mentor to Laurel True above. His work has had a lot of press recently, where his work has had to be 'brought' so that it could remain there other wise is work would have been
knocked down.

Natasha westcoat- Natasha is a contempary 

artist. She paints her images in small amount of detail but in in very vibrant bright colours.

“I’m inspired by the lighter side of life. Through trying times, I’ve found myself coping through art and through creating things that made me happier. Brighter subjects that brought me back to life. Now, through my work I hope to be able to do that for others. I want the viewer to feel the movement, energy, and life coming from the artwork. I want my art to force people to smile again. We all need a little sweetness. A pick-me-up when the world gets too heavy. We can’t be serious all the time. ”— Natasha Wescoat.

These artists have inspired me to take an image and then change/manually edit my image to create a very personal piece of work. I would use the colours i find with in east african art/fabrics and also the flags to 'make' my images. 

1st of February update.

We are now four weeks into the project;

This week we have started to create our first draft of our project proposals, we have started to look into how/what we will research. I have decided that i will research into African culture and also their christian religion. Although i will also look at different fabrics they use and also each countries flags to pick up ideas of the colours they use. I will then combine all three of these to inspire my images.

We also started to look at different time scales that we will have to achieve, for example we have decided how long we will have to research for, i have said that although you will be researching through out the project the first four weeks of the project will be the most important for research as you need to be inspired for your ideas. Therefore along with this i have also set myself milestones. The first milestone i plan to hit will be to have all my research done and into my sketchbook, although this will only be the research i do to inspire my ideas.  My second milestone is to have all my editing of my image to be done so that i am ready to start to mount/look how to present my work for the exhibition.

We have also learnt how to research into more detail for example, going and doing primary research for example going and speaking to people. Here i have decided that i want to go and talk to people that go/work in churches that have people of an african background.

25th January update.

3 weeks in;

Today is our third session of the project, we've spent the last few weeks researching looking at east african images and culture. I started originally looking into colours that are used in east african cultures for example in fabrics.  I then researched a little more into the culture of east africa, and this showed that most of east africa is of a christian religion, this then gave me an idea of maybe mixing the idea of the african colours with the idea of religion. One of the ideas was to create one of the african flags, or to use the colours that are shown within the flags.  I plan on looking more into the flags and the colours used.  I have also had an idea that i could use maybe a cross and also one of the flags in my image, this may be a replica of the flag or using the colours of the flag on a cross. I will need to try out or plan out my ideas to get a clear direction of where i want to go forward with this project.