PDP Development - Task 2 - Interviews

I applied for my PGCE courses the other week and received back two interviews pretty much straight away. I have one for Edge Hill University next Tuesday and one for City of Liverpool College, endorsed by the University of Huddersfield, the week after. I am really excited but also nervous at the same time. For the Edge Hill interview, I have to do a group interview, a presentation and a written exam. I have prepared my presentation based on how I would teach analogue film photography to A Level Photography students, as it is part of the AQA curriculum.

“Hi, my name is Laura and I’m here to talk about my outline of how I would personally teach the basics of analogue film photography to A-Level Photography students. The content of my presentation includes the overview of my planned lesson including activities, the research that I would teach including practicing photographers and relevant literature, the lesson layout and considerations for the use of numeracy.”

My planned lesson would run for a time of 55 minutes, with 5 minutes continuency time for students returning late from the group activity or questions at the end. This would include an introduction to analogue film photography, where I would show my personal collection of 35mm camera and talk about the history of them and how photographers have used them. I would then have a group task, preferably in groups of 4-5 students, where we would discuss how to load 35mm film, and the students would practice on a camera that they will then use later. Following from this, we would have a discussion and talk about a few of my favourite photographers who used film, such as Jane Bown and Cecil Beaton, the student would look at their work in groups and discuss their favourite images (or not so favourite images) and why. This would be followed by a second group task, where students would be given 15 minutes to take portraits of each other using natural available lighting. To close the session, we would have a reflection discussion, highlighting what students found interesting or difficult. Do they prefer digital or analogue photography? Why?

Introduction to analogue photography – presentation of cameras and history (10 minutes)

GROUP TASK: Initial introduction and demonstration of how to load 35mm film, groups then work together to load the film (help provided) (10 minutes)

Introduction into relevant photographers such as Jane Bown and Cecil Beaton, present literature for students to look through in their groups (10 minutes)

GROUP TASK: In groups of 4-5 students (determined from the initial group task), they are released with a roll of film and a camera between the group and are required to take portraits of each other using available natural lighting (15 minutes)

Reflection: What did the students find difficult? Do they prefer digital or analogue photography and why? (10 minutes)

(5 minutes remaining time from hour lesson available for students returning late from group task or being overrun by introductions)

Further lessons plans relating to this topic may include how to develop film (if darkroom is available), or experimentation session using materials such as paint and bleach on printed images.

I am a big fan of using books for research in photography, as the way we view photographs varies from looking at them on a computer screen and viewing them in print. During the lesson, I would speak about three landmark photographers who all used film to take amazing portraits; Cecil Beaton, Diane Arbus and Vivian Maier. Students would be encouraged in groups to look through the books and talk to each other and myself about why photographs inspired them and why. I have borrowed a few books from the library which include; Vivian Maier: A Photographer Found, Diane Arbus, and a book from my personal collection; Cecil Beaton: Portraits and Profiles.

I was also asked to consider the lesson layout and how I would incorporate numeracy into my lesson. I decided to layout my lesson so that all the students were sat round one big table, so discussion could happen without the need for segregation. I also did not want students sat at computers, as this lesson is about analogue film photography rather than digital.

I was also asked to consider the use of numeracy in my presentation, I decided to focus on the elements students would need to figure out, like how the ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture all work together to produce a well exposed image!

The interview went extremely well and two days later I was offered a conditional offer as long as I get a 2:2, so I accepted straight away!

TALK: My Folio

My Folio came in to talk about their portfolio services and what they can offer to us as students. I have been looking at getting a portfolio for a while now, and this lecture was the perfect opportunity to make up my mind about what I needed, or if I even needed one at all!

Although my manin ambition is to be a teacher in a college or secondary school, I have decided to produce a small portfolio to take around to interviews and meetings to show my work, regardless of them being for teaching or paid photography work. My Folio was a great company who specialised in amazing looking portfolios, with wooden or leather bound covers for reasonable prices. Although they are way out of my price range at the moment, they are something to consider when I enter full time employment.

PDP Development - Task 3 - Beth Duxbury

For development of my PDP task 3, I decided to organise an outdoor shoot with a friend, and a local make up artist. I have been making these paper dresses and accessories for a while now, and I really enjoy it. I think they make a really good concept for a high fashion shoot, as they are really unique and eye-catching.

Exhibition - PREPARATION

Part of the module was to exhibit our work in a gallery as a group. Me, Kelly and Sarah clubbed together and rented an exhibition space at Islington Mill and planned to exhibit our work between the 15th of December and the 21st. This would be my second group exhibition, as well as my fifth exhibition in general, so I was super excited but also anxious as to what to expect.

We knew promotion was the key to getting our work out there, and we wanted our exhibition to have a fun and eye catching poster to draw people into reading the content. We commissioned a graphic designer to draw a cartoon portrait of all three of us alongside cameras to get our passion across. It was a great success as many people commented on how they had noticed it because of the edgy and different drawing included alongside the text! We printed around 40 A5 leaflets and a couple of A4 leaflets and spread the word around all the University campuses. We had a few taken down, especially in the photography department, which at first was disheartening as we thought the building was supposed to support the students in their extra curriculum activities, but we did not let it stop us.

Printing my own prints was something I had never had to do before, so I was quite anxious and nervous incase I did something wrong. Luckily, we all helped each other out on a mammoth 9 hour printing session (including two trips back to Bolton to retrieve hard drives, two cans of mango juice and a ink change). 

The prints turned out amazingly, and looked super professional. We then had to decide between printing and mounting on mount board, or printing and framing. Due to our combined low budget and venue rules, we decided it would be more beneficial and cost efficient to mount out images on mount board, and attach to the walls using tack and adhesive mounting strips.

Mounting was the scariest part of the process, again taking a mammoth but smaller 6 hours to mount and trim down, we headed down to the workshop to use the spray room so we could use the adhesive spray mount. We had to be super careful we did not get any glue or dust on the images because of the dirty work surfaces, but we managed just fine and did not damage any prints in the process. Overall, the preparation was time consuming and stressful, but it was amazing and rewarding seeing our photographic work in print and on walls. 

TALK: Red Eye

For todays talk, we had the pleasure of being spoken to by the founders of Red Eye, who are a not-for-profit organisation who support photographers from around the world. They mentioned how they supported photographers, helped people network with each other and organise shoots and outings together, and how they offer portfolio reviews, seminars and photography workshops for members. Although I don't have enough money to become a member, it was really interesting to see what options were available to us, and how people can help us achieve our dreams.

I explored their website, and found an event that I would be interested in attending, as well as how much membership was. With all that they were offering, I thought the price of membership would significantly higher than £30 for students. I will consider in the future whether this is something that I would benefit from in the near future!

Copyright Law and Image Rights

I was unable to make the session which looked into copyright and image law, but I decided to research into this myself, and use my previous studies of Law and my specialism in copyright to form a foundation.

Copyright is seen as a major problem in todays world, where people are mass producing other peoples images, without proper credits, over the internet and in books. However, some photographers do not know where they stand with copyright, and if an image is actually theirs. When I worked for Cornerhouse last year, they allowed me to obtain all copyright to my images taken for their website and articles, due to the fact that I was working as a volunteer. However, if this had of been different, and I would have been getting paid and a member of staff, then the company owns the copyright and can do whatever they desire with that image. However, this is closely associated, and sometimes confused with being a freelance photographer, as no matter how much they are getting paid, they still retain the copyright to their own images, unless they sign documentation that states otherwise.

I always use model release form in my work now, incase I want to use the work for publication or promotion. I know that I could end up in court if I was to use the images without the models consent. I have a fellow photographer friend who has come into difficulty with some images that he adores, and aesthetically pleasing, but the model thought that she looked too fat on them, so demanded he took them off the internet and never used them. Due to the fact he had not signed a model release form, there was nothing he could legally do, and had to resign to the fact that the images could not be released on the internet or in his portfolio.

I understand after researching that copyright is important, and I should always make sure that my work has obtained the correct model release, and making sure that the model is old enough to be my responsibility. If I want to pursue fashion photography as a career, this is something I need to consider.

PDP Development - Task 3 - Wedding

We were paid to do a wedding last week, for a client who found our portfolio online after a good recommendation. I love shooting weddings, it's an amazing chance to capture some special memories, whilst getting paid to do something I love! I had started a venture last year to capturing special memories at weddings with my friend Kelly, and so far we have photographed three weddings together. It gives me the chance to boost my portfolio with professional images, whilst creating a possible career path for the future!