“Creatively introduce yourself using only 3 photographs…”
TASK 1:
Growing up alone with nobody guiding me how to behave or what a social norm should do, I am capricious in character. Of the list of descriptions I collected from my friend and family, I could not determine a clear direction of where I’m heading with project 1.
“Who I am like is shaped by the people I meet along the way”,
I said to myself as I glanced through task 1 for the 18th time and fell deep into a whirl of past memories.
Shaped, through words, through experience, and most importantly, through how I learn to respond. It’s all like a game of cards but everyone is the dealer of their own response. Hence photo 1 and 2 were taken with “cards” to respond with my emotions. Basically I printed out selfies with varying emotions and select the exaggerated ones. Photo 3 was based on my mentor’s suggestion of taking a witty close up of myself in the process of responding.
“We think with the objects we love; we love the objects we think with…”
TASK 2:
My coach once told me, “don’t keep punching and kicking, hit hard once with all you might to make sure your opponent never gets back up.”
Practising Muay Thai for on and off about 2 years really brought out the aggressive side of me that I never thought I would enjoy so much. Not only does it trains me physically, it also strengthens my emotional well-being by acting a channel to alleviate my stress during A-level period. It has helped me to improve much in terms of my own mind set, how I should persevere and never give up in face of adversity. It has encouraged me to try my best and love what I’m doing.
I could not think of any object that better represent my passion other than this boxing glove, hence I thought task 2 was pretty straight-forward. As such, I need to put some thoughts into how I can highlight the emotions and my affinity towards the object.
I like this shot because I had a difficult time showing momentum in a still second, but there are too much distractions in the background that could not be cropped as this photo was taken in the gym.
“A place that is significant to you or fascinates you…”
TASK 3:
Cliche yes, but my favourite place is honestly my bed. Sleeping in comfort is such a rejuvenating ritual that I look forward to everyday. It is no doubt of major significance in my life. For my bed I look into cleanliness, comfort and minimalistic design and that is exactly what the photos here depict. I hope to bring a sense of coziness to my audience, make them feel that this is a place for relaxation, meanwhile implying that this place is something personal. With a hint of belongingness, the make-up stains and strands of hair were left as it is. I took a series with ‘baby’s breath’ flowers and aromatic diffusers but perhaps they drew attention away from my bed and hence I left them out.
“The camera may record accurately but it is people who choose what and how it records… “
I’ve learnt so much through this project in terms of angle, positioning the camera, and most importantly cropping to show only the essential parts to convey ideas effectively.
Because we were limited to 3-5 photo slots per task, a lot of decision-making was involved and I had a hard time filtering my ideas and shots taken.
During the actual presentation I’ve decided to paste my photos in an organic form because of personal preference and didn’t give much thought to it, which I regret because I discover later, that this arrangement is messy, and denies space for contemplation. Perhaps another important lesson I learnt that day was to arrange my photos in a way that is most powerful in bringing out the interest of my final products.