Self-Study

For my self-study project, I used mirror shards and different fabrics to portray the theme of texture.  In order to incorporate myself in the assignment, I used the mirror pieces as a reflection surface, so I could be physically seen in the photographs.  The most exciting part of this assignment was joining my love of textures with images of myself.  I also enjoyed playing with the lighting and compositions of the fabrics to create more dynamic and compelling photos.  For the presentation of my photographs, I plan to print them at four different sizes, with one considerably larger image at the top, and then have the smaller images follow below in a varied fashion.

Originally, I was going to break mirrors and take pictures of myself in the reflection of them, however many challenges arose from that plan.  The mirror shards were sharp and would not stay together, leaving mirror pieces everywhere that would clearly not work for my project.  From that first attempt, I took the mirror pieces out of the cracked mirror and ended up using those in my final project, rather that the whole mirror itself.  From that incident, I learned to persevere even when my project seemed like it would not work out and also to test my ideas and run though my entire plan before I began shooting.  Overall, a disastrous start to my project, but in the end, going through that experience paid off.

When I was in the planning stage of the assignment, I created a Self-Study Board on Pintrest and looked at multiple artists who incorporated textures and shadows into their photographs.  In some of the images I looked at, the artists took black and white photographs to emphasize the contrast in the shadows and I found that style appealing to use in my photographs.  During the critique, my peers gave me many valuable comments that I had never thought of before.  One of the points I want to highlight which someone brought up was the cohesiveness of my work and use of repetition through using the same materials, but in different compositions.  Another response that was constructive and beneficial for this and for future assignments was having my images at different scales provided a sort of trail when displayed on the wall.

The last photograph is the final installment of all my images.  I chose to present them in a clutter fashion, which emphasizes the size variation and spaces between my photos, overall making my series more compelling.