Self Evaluation

Self Evaluation

Professional Frameworks

Laura Jane Parkinson

This brief has been a journey of self-progression and the meeting of targets, which has been both successful and unsuccessful. My fashion work has developed significantly since the beginning of the academic year, but my video production work has taken a backseat through lack of interest and opportunities. I have heavily focussed my photographic work upon fashion and portraiture, whilst I took an interest in analogue film photography in the town of Blackpool. I have also focussed heavily upon my future teaching education and career at Edge Hill University, making sure I am up to date with syllabus changes and amendments, as well as obtaining necessary volunteer and shadowing work in the FE sector.

My most successful fashion and portraiture work began to develop at the end of the module, when I brought my developed lighting skills and creative ideas together. My confidence has developed significantly over the course of the academic year, allowing me to be more confident and professional when asking high end agencies for access to models to test with, and networking with local models, make up artists and stylists. I stuck to my target of one fashion or portraiture photo shoot a week towards to end of my module, but the Christmas period proved more difficult to maintain this target, because of growing pressures from my part time job, as well as looming deadlines. Although the module has drawn to a close, I still plan to continue this target of one photo shoot a week until the end of the summer months, to make sure I stay motivated and creative after I leave University.

I did have some unsuccessful shoots that proved to be learning curves in regards to lighting, and myself not being prepared. The shoot with the students from MMU was one of these, where the lighting setup was not compatible with my camera. I failed to check this prior to the shoot, so captured some terribly lit imagery that took a lot of post-production to look presentable. Since then, I have been in talks with the group to reshoot at the University studios, where I feel comfortable with my lighting and studio setup. In a commission environment, this could have damaged my reputation and name, so I need to be careful in the future to make sure I am prepared for every single shoot; paid or unpaid.

My passion for teaching has only developed over the academic year, as I was accepted onto a highly sought after PGCE programme at Edge Hill University in Ormskirk. I have attended workshops at the University to prepare me for the studies ahead, and have also obtained a volunteer placement teaching art and design to various ages in my local area, to help me gain the skills I need before venturing into the classroom. My last workshop concentrated on creating my teaching CV to send to placements, and also highlighted room for improvement that was noted in my interview. I know now that I have to develop my knowledge on the FE sector of teaching, as well as learn more about legislation and law around teaching.

I have been keeping on top of my work for other modules, and my time keeping has become a lot better since last academic year. There is still room for improvement, but I will have to continue with my first task on my PDP to make sure that my standard and quality of photographic work does not slip for my final major project. I need a classification of a 2:2 on my degree to continue ahead with my PGCE studies, but always remember that the hard work and dedication I am putting into each module will be worth it in the end.

My business card design has improved significantly since last year, where my cards had a logo on one side, and text on the other. They were not visually pleasing and interesting, and I received some comments asking if they could see my work, as it was not on the business card. I made me feel unprofessional, and I am very happy that this mistake has been rectified. My portfolio looks professional and neat, and I plan to print more images off in the future.

Overall, this module has been a success, and I have managed to create a strong portfolio of work that I can show to potential clients, and even the students at my placement next academic year, that looks professional and established. My PDP does not stop with this module, as it has proved to be a useful tool. I plan to renew it every six months, even outside of University, to make sure I am constantly improving and growing as both a photographer and a teacher.

WEBSITE

My website was originally with Format last year, but recently I have grown tired of their limitations when it comes to the customisation of your website and the number of pages and links you can have on there. I decided to transfer my domain of www.laurajaneparkinson.com to Wix, where I had a lot more control of the design of my website and could include all of my portfolio on their rather than a limited amount.

I decided to go for a grid layout, as it gave my website a clean and simple layout that was easily accessible on all devices; such as iPad, phones and laptops. When you clicked on each image, it transferred you to a page with more images and information about the series, if applicable. Some series, like my series, The Fall, needed explanation and rationale behind it. However, some of my fashion work stood alone in isolation best and looked more professional without hundreds of words of text surrounding it.

When you click on each individual image, you are able to see the image full screen, which is a good add on which allows my portfolio to be viewed in high quality. On the iPad and iPhone, it comes full screen, which is an excellent feature that will benefit my website really well.

My about section consists of a photograph of myself, and a list of my selected commissions and exhibitions. I decided that having a photograph of the artist gave the viewer a connection straight away, because they could see who they would potentially be working with. I also toned down my selected commissions and exhibitions, as on my previous website, I had a list of everyone I has worked with, no matter how impressive or relevant they were to my career.

I have added a simplistic contact form, so that potential clients can speak to me without having to copy and email address and telephone number! I have had a few people use this form to contact me about commissions recently, more than I have had direct phone calls!

Access my website at: www.laurajaneparkinson.com

Business Cards

I got my business cards printed at MOO, as I have had a previous excellent experience with them. I previously had business cards printed without my own images on them, with just my logo so that people would recognise me on social media easily. This was a good idea, and did get my social media and online bases getting a lot of attention, but people were not seeing my imagery before they visited my website or Facebook page. I decided to pick 6 of my best images to use on my business cards, using my work from 2014/2015, especially some that was in my exhibition.

I used my business cards a lot at my exhibition at Islington Mill just before Christmas. I had 50 especially printed for the exhibition, and had a further 100 printed for personal use. I got a few paid jobs from exhibition, including a job for a clothing company, and a wedding. 

CV & Bio

I decided to keep my CV short and sweet, as speaking previously with teachers at Edge Hill University who specialise in Art and Design, they have said short but sweet CV's grab their attention over longer ones. I highlighted my best commissions and experiences that I have had to date, and then made a list of other successful and interesting commissions I have had also. They mostly all revolve around fashion or portraiture, with my placement at Sportsfive breaking this rule. I kept this as one of my indepth CV points, because of how well known the company is. It makes me look more professional and successful if I have a big company representing me as a worker. I also used a simplistic font, apart from my name which I have highlighted in a different font, which is bolder. I wanted to add a creative spin on it without it appearing too tacky or unprofessional. My qualifications are listed below at the bottom, so that I can show potential employers that I have both the experience and the grades to show for my hard work and dedication. Having strong A Levels and GCSEs, as well as a degree is really important, especially if I want to pursue the career path in teaching straight after my PGCE. I have include a short bio that I wrote during Moira's session, and expanded on later that week. I think it gives the reader an introduction into my work and practice, without meeting me face to face.

Laura Jane Parkinson

Fashion & Portraiture Photography

www.laurajaneparkinson.com

07508 191 662

Laura Jane Parkinson has worked for a number of magazines, as well as producing images for fashion brands and advertisements. Her studies at the University of Salford have fuelled her drive to produce imagery that explores colour, elegance and feminism. She is especially inspired by cinema and nature, and incorporates these themes into her photographic work

Previous/Current Job History

CURRENT – Freelance – Through Laura’s Lens

I currently work as a freelance photographer specialising in fashion and portraiture photography. I am fully training to use Photoshop CC, as well as Lightroom, Premier Pro, InDesign and Final Cut Pro. I network with models, make up artists, hair stylists and other creative talents to plan creative photo shoots in the studio and on location.

Cornerhouse Manchester – Digital Reporter

I took part in a 8 month internship for the alternative art gallery Cornerhouse, whereby I learnt how to record interviews using both audio and video, photographed events and people who attended art exhibitions, conducted interviews with artists and actors and learnt how to social network successfully for companies and my own social base.

Camp Modin – Photography Specialist

I worked on Jewish summer camp for 10 weeks, teaching children aged between 6 and 16 how to take photographs correctly, as well as use basic editing software such as Photoshop and Lightroom. I also was asked to photograph for the Camp’s promotional material and online presence.

SportsFive Advertisements – Photographer

I was commissioned to produce live action photographs of players from Premier League football with the digital advertisements that the company produced for their online portfolio. This was an incredibly demanding job, as I had to capture live action football, as well as make sure all the advertisements were accounted for in full.

Selected Commissions

Retrograde Clothing, Poshaak Bridal Wear, University of Exeter, ETO Jeans, Cornerhouse Manchester, Castlefield Gallery Manchester, Cheadle Hulme School, Sam Shaw Appeal, Audrey Clark and “It’s OK” campaign, 16 Braunton Jewellery, Me vs Hero, Darwen Live, Georgie Louise Fashion, MJY Designs, UCLan Fashion Design BA, MMU Fashion Styling and Promotion BA.

Qualifications

GCSEs – Darwen Aldridge Community Academy

3 A’s, 5 B’s, 2 C’s including Maths and English

A Levels – Saint Mary’s College, Blackburn

Photography A, Law B, Modern History C

Bachelors – University of Salford

BA (Hons) Photography

Hallucinate Magazine: Finished Product

The magazine was finished using InDesign, and we had a lot of amazing submissions for our chosen theme of Contrast. We managed to get our magazine up to 88 pages of creative work, spanning interviews from videographers, advertisements from creative clothing brands and artwork from local and international artists. We hope that in the next few years, we can gain funding to make our magazine a reality, and plan to go into Manchester based stores to see if they will sell a printed copy of the magazine on our behalf. We can them put together a presentation on our idea, and present it to the Art's Council to hopefully obtaining funding.

I featured my own work in the magazine, to give me an insight into how my work could look in a magazine setting. After receiving the work from other photographers, it has made me eager to shoot more and improve my skill and ideas in order to be as good as the photographers who's work we have showcased today.

RESEARCH: Edge Hill Preparation Day

Today, I attended a workshop at Edge Hill University, to explore what we would be undertaking as part of our studies and placement there, and answering questions we may have about our experience their. We also developed our CV's to send off to placements so they can interview us, and hopefully accept us!

The workshop was especially useful, especially when it came to writing our CV's. Unlike other CV's, it mainly focussed upon our qualifications and needs from our placements, so they can create a bespoke match for us. I am really excited to begin my studies in September!

Hallucinate Magazine: Promotion and Initial Thoughts/Planning

Me, Sarah and Kelly have decided to begin a long running venture to produce and create a fashion and beauty photography magazine for up and coming photographers from the United Kingdom and abroad. It's a massive idea and is going to take a lot of effort, dedication and support from one another, but I think when we eventually get round to collating and printing our magazine, it will be super beneficial to our CV's and will help us a lot with future career opportunities. We also wanted to help support upcoming photographers to get their work published, as we know how difficult this can be.

We began to decide how we would prefer to present our magazine and front cover, we decided upon a simple and elegant cover where it would just contain our magazine title, with the issue name or number, and the highlighted image from all the submissions. This is just a template and will be changed later on, nearer to the printing process. The image is of Kate Moss, for a magazine, and obviously will not be used in the actual magazine. It is for experimental purposes only.

We began to think about social media and how we will begin to attract a target audience of creative people, as well as people simply interested in photography and fashion. We began following creatives on Twitter and Instagram, and connecting with them to encourage them to send us their best work relating to the theme. We gained a lot of exposure, especially off Shooting Beauty in London, who are a popular photography workshop host. 

Our first meeting consisted of us looking through the recent submissions, deciding who was going to write what, as well as what articles and advertisements we were going to include. We began research by looking at some magazines that Sarah had brought over from London; SICKY, Bricks Magazine, Schlön and CK Fashion Book. All of these magazines are well known but not huge, with Bricks being in its second issue and North West based.

The theme for this issue is "Contrast",  so we looked through the submissions and decided which were of a good enough standard and related to the theme well enough to consider. We have also had a lot of interest with companies wishing to advertise with us for a small fee, which would go straight into funding for printing and distribution of the magazine. Some companies had an interest business idea, but unprofessional images to match, which would bring down the overall tone of the magazine. 

We began to work in InDesign to create a strong logo for our front cover. We also planned what image would be on the front cover of the magazine, as it is the first thing the viewer sees, and determines whether they purchase the magazine or not. Our logo is sleek and draws in the viewers attention quickly due to the use of upside down lettering. 

RESEARCH: Don McCullin, "Photographing Conflict"

Me and my fiancé purchased tickets for the "Photographic Conflict" talk that Don McCullin was leading, talking about his experiences and work that he had produced. He is such an inspirational speaker, and I came away knowing so much more about the perils and dangers of war photography, and how they damaged his personal life, and photographic work.

(apologies for the awful iPhone quality images!)

The most iconic image that I am aware of is of this man, captured in Vietnam, 1968. Upon McCullin talking about the image, it was made clear that this solider was shell shocked, and awaiting transportation away from the battle zone. McCullin captured many upsetting and eye-opening images of shell-shocked soldiers during many wars, but this is the most iconic.

McCullin also discussed his time spent in Biafra during 1969, whereby he captured many children who were being harassed, discriminated or even killed because of the colour of their skin. Some children were born albino, which meant their skin was a lot lighter than the other children. Some neighbourhood regarded this as a sign of the Devil, so killed the children as soon as they were born, without the consent of the family or mother.

War has it's dangers, and McCullin spoke about how he is lucky to be alive to this day, after several life endangering experiences. His cameras were damaged by bullets and bombs on a regular basis, and he received threats of violence or death off people whom did not want him talking photographs. One of his iconic photographs in the Lebanon, 1976, showed soldiers standing over the body of young girl, and McCullin captured this despite being told to leave the area and not take any photographs, or he would be shot and killed. 

Before attending this talk, I read a recent interview for a few years ago on FT.com, whereby he spoke about his photographic career and how he decided it was the end of war photography for him.

Roused by the idea of one last assignment, McCullin set off for Aleppo in Syria last December, nine years after he had announced his retirement from war reporting. “It was like I’d chosen a cloth to make a suit from,” he says. “You know the material you like and you feel it, just as I know every feeling about war, the characteristics of it, the sounds of it, the smell of it.” (FT.com, 2013)

However, in the talk at The Photography Show, McCullin spoke about his plan to potentially go to the war abroad again in a few weeks. He had been given the opportunity to travel to take photographs by a fellow photographer, and spoke about him not being sure whether to turn it down. He spoke about how war photography is always part of you, and although he has seen some unnerving things, it will be part of his blood and is addictive; he keeps going back for more.

McCullin is such an inspirational speaker, and an amazing man, and to see someone so successful and passionate as his age is astounding. It has made me delve further into his work, and understand more about his practice.

FT.com, 2013, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/8244a942-1648-11e3-a57d-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3VTzySR3X

RESEARCH: The Photography Show (Birmingham)

On Tuesday, me and my fiancé travelled to The Photography Show in Birmingham to see new camera releases, listen to photographers talks and go to the highly awaited Don McCullin talk we had both been looking forward too!

Upon arrival, we headed straight to the Canon and Leica stands to watch demonstrations on their new products. The C100 mark 2 and the C300 were being demonstrated at this time, which was excellent as I have recently been using the C100 for filming and experimentation already. Following this, we headed to the Nikon stand, were there was a fine art photographer named Kirsty Michell talking about her fashion and editorial photography series based on books and fairytale that went viral online. She spoke about budget, and how you can do anything if you put your mind to it. She showed us how she made all of her garments off things people gave her, such as hanging baskets and flowers, and created beautifully sculptured work. Upon returning home, I researched her work and fell in love with her recent photographic series Wonderland, and the meaning behind it.

Her work has made me think more in-depth about planning elaborate shoots on zero budget, as not I know it is possible. I have always hung back on designing high editorial styled shoots, through fear of being out of pocket for essential items such as food or bills. However, now I am going to look around for free items that have been discarded or being given away, for creative ways in which I can make photographs.

Following this inspirational talk, we decided to go and see portfolio books and wedding albums that were available, and see what prices they were being produced at. At the moment, I create my own wedding albums, by buying a high quality photograph album from Boots and inserting images in, rather than printing off a book myself. I charge £60 for this service and include CD's of images, as well as prints of the best images printed larger. On my next wedding, I plan to break even and produce a photo book as showcased by these printing companies. I feel it looks more professional and may get me more wedding work in the future.

Following this, we visited Fotospeed and Innovaart.com to look at their photographic paper that was available, and how cheap it would be to print at home. Recently, my fiancé invested in an industry standard printer from Canon, which is one of the ones DS Colour Lab uses for their A4 prints. I purchased a trail pack of paper to try different techniques, and decided if I wish my future portfolio to be printed on matte paper or gloss.

I then visited the charity PhotoVoice, who produce cameras for young children in deprived areas, and then produce photographic series off their work. I found the project really interesting and pledged £40 to their charity to fund their project. Even though I am a skint student, it is a really important cause to get younger people into photography, especially when they do not have access to it readily in their area. For this price, I also received a signed Martin Parr book, and their first book produced by children taking photographs called "New Londoners". I am going to contact this charity in the future, and see if there are any volunteering opportunities available.

I then visited the Don McCullin talk, which I will speak about in my next post...