Some More Experiments

I dug some old photographs out of a cupboard in Birmingham that I was told I'd taken as a kid. The one with the boats is of Sutton Park where I used to a lot as a kid. The one of the buildings is in Spain and it was a really bad image so I lightened it a lot and changed the colour. I wasn't specifically doing anything in particular to them, I just wanted to have a mess around to get more confident with different ways of editing and ended up making one two look super old and completely mashed up the other to make a trippy image.

Book - The Psychology of Interpersonal Behaviour by Michael Argyle

I started reading The Psychology of Interpersonal Behaviour by Michael Argyle to help my FMP along. I found this extremely interesting as the part of the book I focused on talked about how communities come to exist.
It explained that communities 'become cohesive' under certain conditions such as:

"Physical proximity, e.g. sharing an office;
similarity of background, values, interest;
rewarding experiences in the group, including success at tasks;
activities which require co-operation;
a skilled leader, who can preserve harmony;
the absence of hostile or disturbed personalities."

I had never really given much thought into how a community would be formed so this really opened my eyes as it was relevant to myself and friendship groups also.

Application to MMU

I found the personal statement for my masters quite hard to do as I am not very good at writing and I didn't really know what I wanted to say. I felt this with my UCAS applications and I think it can seem like you are too desperate to get on the course and that isn't what I wanted to convey through my personal statement. This is what I submitted:

"I am applying for a place on the Photography MA course because I have a very strong interest in the subject and have done for many years. I first became enthusiastic about photography as a child after being given a Fisher Price camera as a gift and my fascination and love for it never died. I would like to further my knowledge of photography as much as possible, as it is a subject that I am extremely passionate about. 

I am close to finishing my BA Hons degree in Photography at The University of Salford, where I am currently working on a project that is exploring the relationship between fashion and music and the presentation of self within society and communities. I have chosen to focus on the psychedelic community as it has quite an eclectic group of people within it.  I have attended events to capture portraits of the participants and I have been experimenting with my images by bleaching the prints and then combining them with psychedelic paintings I have done myself. Choosing this group to focus on has propelled me into creating a link between the subjects and the music through using an unusual technique. Due to working on this project, I now have a strong interest in interpersonal behaviour and self-presentation. Learning about this has benefited me greatly as I now understand some of the reasons people behave the way they do and how we are influenced by others, meaning I can analyse the subjects within my work more proficiently.

I am very experimental with my approach and I constantly strive to find new techniques to make my work unique. I particularly enjoy trying out new techniques in Photoshop with photographs I have taken and finding different ways to make them into repeating patterns.  I also take pleasure in making new attachments for my cameras and quite recently I made a large mirror prism that sits onto the end of lenses to create a kaleidoscope effect.  I used a mixture of both film and digital, but I prefer to work with film as I like that I can manipulate the photographs before I have prints by making concoctions of detergent to put the cannister in. I then dry the film out and load it into my camera as normal.  

I feel that a place on this course would benefit me greatly as I would be able to continue experimenting with my work in a learning environment with the added input of a lecturer and peers.

Following completion of the MA, I hope to undertake a PGCE as it would give me a chance to learn more about photography with the added advantage of teaching others too.

The address to my online portfolio is klairewalmsley.tumblr.com"

More Film

Over the past two months or so I had used up a few rolls of film so took them in to get developed, along with a rogue one that I'd no idea what was on it! It was nice to get some unexpected photographs back from the random canister I'd found. I'd been using a mixture of my Canon AV-1 and a Canon point and shoot I got brand new from a charity shop for a fiver.

I absolutely love using my SLR as I am always really happy with the photographs that I get back from it. Here are a few photos from both cameras.

Career Path

It recently dawned on me that I am completely unsure of what I will be doing with my life once I graduate from university, which is a really scary thought!
I researched into some masters courses and found two that I liked the sound of - one at Birmingham City Uni, and one at MMU.

The one at Birmingham sounds very well structured and interesting. There are modules on professional practice, creative lighting strategies, post processing and retouching skills and are even put on a placement. However, this would mean that I would have to go and live back home. As much as I like the sound of the course, I have built a life in Manchester for myself over the past 5 years I've lived here. I also have a partner, whom I live with, to consider in my decision as it would impact on him greatly.

http://www.bcu.ac.uk/courses/freelance-photography

The other course at MMU also seems very well structured. It actually says on MMU's site the project titles of what you will be working on for that unit. This course seems like it would be better for me to do as then I wouldn't have to leave Manchester as going back to Birmingham doesn't really appeal to me. Not to rule out moving back there - but certainly any time in the near future.

http://www.art.mmu.ac.uk/postgraduate/ma-mfa-photography/

Taking into consideration my contacts in both Manchester and Birmingham, my partner and where I want to live, amongst other things, I decided to opt for MMU as I think that it would be the best decision for me.

Experimental Images for FMP

For my FMP I wanted to go down a more experimental route by effectively getting rid of the background of my portraits and tying it in with the whole aspect of psychedelia so I decided to bleach out part of my prints. I can't believe how effective this was and I am really impressed with the results.
I think that the colours work well and I love the patterns the bleach has left behind on the prints.

Mirror Prism

I started thinking about what kinds of things I could make for my camera to give my photographs a psychedelic effect. I came up with an idea that involved me making a mirror prism to fit on the end of my camera. I ordered 3 cheap standing mirrors that were about A5 size from the internet and took them out of their frames. I then placed them into a triangle with the mirrors facing inwards and wrapped it all together in masking tape. I was really surprised at how effective it was!
I took a couple of photographs just using my phone and I think they look really cool. I can't wait to have a proper go with my other cameras! Probably needs a bit of a clean before I do though!