Evaluation

My final piece is inspired by Jason Travis and Rankin, and their separate projects - Travis' 'Persona' series and Rankin 'Destroy'.
Travis' ideas, which I used the most, was to ask people to empty their handbags and pockets to 'see what they deem important enough to carry with them everyday.' The way he had set out such a simple idea really showed me that anything can be beautiful is photographed properly. I also liked the way the portraits of the people above, show their own individuality, by having different backgrounds in each one, and each person is either smiling or stern.

I realised that I couldn't simply copy Travis' Persona Series, so I needed something that would make it different. I liked Rankin's work and wanted to incorporate it somehow. His 'Destroy' series features people, albeit celebrities, 'destroying' their image, but have it still be recognisable. I thought this was an interesting concept because it shows how that person views themselves.

For my final exam piece, I photographed my family and friends, (and dog), and asked them to empty their bags for my photo. I tried to feature different backgrounds and tried to set out their belongings similar to the way Travis did. I needed to create mock-ups to see if the photos look good together so I edited the photo images together on Photoshop to merge as one and I started to edit the colours. Something that I really noticed in his work is the bright colours, even the darker and less appealing colours shine.
I practised some Rankin-inspired techniques on the image of my mum, and found that paint and added images make the photo more interesting as it gives it an extra edge.

In the exam, I edited the images from scratch. I made them darker and with added kitsch-like colour schemes. I then printed them out and started to paint, add images, collage and cut out the photos. After changing 7 images, I mounted my images onto 2 pieces of large white card.

I am quite happy with my final piece, but if I could change anything, I would have printed the images out onto card rather than white paper, because it would have been less flimsy. I also would have added extra Rankin-inspired techniques other than just paint and collage, as some of them are not as inventive as I had hoped.

Final Pieces

These are images of some of the painted/3D parts on my final piece photographs in the style of Rankin. 

The impasto style paint I used on my mum's coat.

I again used thick paint on my dog's collar.

As Rankin did in his 'Destroy' project, I added extra things to some of the images so they were 3D, as he did not just use paint.

Some items I painted from my friend's handbag.

My mum's purse. I like the way the white makes it look like light is really shining from it.

I made my friend's shirt really impasto to draw your eyes to it. I also went over some of the posters in the background with a black marker.

Final Piece Ideas

For my Final Piece exam, I was thinking about taking an element of the project theme further. One aspect of 'Encounters, Meetings and Experiences' is 'Memories'. I think this is quite a good idea for my own photographs, as it is very personal, but people are still able to relate to the images.

For instance, I could photograph a sort of 'Timeline' of my life; things I remember doing as a child, places I used to like visiting and all the places I have lived.

Another idea is relating to 'Memories' is Jason Travis 'Persona' Series. He photographs a person and then in a separate photo beneath, he has all their favourite objects and things that represent them. His aim was to find out what people feel is essential enough to carry around with them everyday.  The photo's backgrounds are similar colours to make sure they relate well and each one is different, showing each person's individuality.