Motivation / Personal interest
My motivation for this project was my profound interest in photography. It has been a big hobby of mine since a few years now, I mostly enjoy doing landscape, portrait and still life photography. When I was introduced to the personal project, I instantly knew that I wanted to do something along the lines of photography because of my love for it. This doesn't have a connection with what I want to pursue in the future but I will definitely continue this hobby in my own time in the future.
Global context and inquiry questions
The global context I thought that best suited my project was personal and cultural expression because I was expressing small moments from my daily life that are easily forgotten by me. Some of these moments also revolve around my culture therefore this global context was best suited to my project.
I designed 3 inquiry questions that were reflective of my project and helped me explore the concept of photography and the essence of my project deeper.
Inquiry Questions
Factual: What is the impact of taking a photograph from a specific point of view?
Conceptual: How does a photograph capture a memory that helps recollect the past and not just a moment in time?
Debatable: Do photographs have the power to capture emotions or are they simply moments captured through a camera lens?
Planning
Process
I had initially planned to spend the month of July on the research phase and the month of September on creating the product however it took me longer than anticipated to finish making the product.
In the research phase I researched about the basics of photography and the most important photography elements which were aperture, ISO, lighting, composition, subject, etc. I also researched about photography tips and techniques. I used books, academic articles and blogs as sources. During the research phase I discovered the importance of clicking a few good photos versus clicking 100 ordinary photos.
Investigation
Process
The investigation process included looking into the fundamentals of photography and in depth research on the different components of a DSLR camera and their functions. I also learned how to utilise different DSLR camera settings. All the knowledge gained was also put into practise by practising different skills physically on the DSLR camera and by taking practice photos.
Action
Process
Whilst putting the research plan into action, I first applied the practical knowledge gained through the research into practise. The first part of the action phase was practising various camera techniques and experimenting with the camera settings. When I felt the practise was sufficient I moved onto the final product. A strategy I used to capture small moments from daily life that are forgotten was carrying my camera around everywhere I went so that I could legitimately click moments from daily life. An obstacle I faced during the way was finding the right things to click because I needed each photo to have an elevated and special feel. I tackled this obstacle by deciding to click photos of things that didn't stand out but rather blended in with my daily life to emphasise on the theme. Making the postcards was a fun aspect and I really focused on neatness during the process. Slight adjustments to the criteria were made during the action phase as some aspects of the criteria couldn't be met.
Photos of the product
Product
Criteria
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An album of 30 photos will be created along with 10 handmade postcards showcasing the 10 best photos. The theme of the album and postcards will be small moments forgotten in daily life. A Nikon DSLR camera will be used to click the photos, the photos will be presented in an album format.
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The final product will include:
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All photos in the album: 15.2cm x 10.2cm
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5 photos taken by changing ISO
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2 photos taken using a fiIter
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5 photos taken by changing aperture
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1 portrait photo
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3 photographs showing still life photography
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2 illusion based photographs
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1 photograph displaying smoke photography
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2 photographs displaying macro scale photography
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5 photographs taken from an unusual angle
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3 photographs which display different phases of the sun/daylight of which 2 photos darken elements surrounding the sky
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1 photo displaying food photography
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10 handmade postcards made of thick card paper, of which a minimum of 3 photos will have real stamps
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The postcards will be formatted just as traditional postcards are
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Each postcard will have a 0.75 cm width border made of washi tape
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Postcards will be 15.2cm x 10.2cm