Unit 3: Research Project

When beginning my project I was inspired by a particular individual

named Basim Kadhim he is a professional photographer and video
editor, as well as this a brand that has influenced me to focus on the
niche of street urban clothing is ZRK London. By looking through ZRK
one of the big factors, to begin with is the locations used to
photograph the clothing products, this stood out to me more than most
other brands. The locations used are very industrial, urban, and
architectural street photography which turns out to look very effective
in making the products stand out within the location that the garments
are in. The common locations that are seen to be used within the ZRK
clothing brand are areas such as empty car parks, alleyways, rooftops,
stairways and exterior of buildings, this concept makes the photography concept casual and the
audience can visualise wearing the clothes as all the locations are being photographed in
common public places. I am inspired by how public spaces that are used on a daily bases can be
transformed and be used in photography as art. The models that are seen to be the subjects
within the images that are representing the clothing brand have a style of using the location and
objects within the areas to be incorporated within the image. A mixture of colour is shown and the
images do not have just one colour to correlate the style which makes the images varied in the
different types of colours used within the images. The videos adverts for the clothing brand as
well match the street theme, the high beats per minute on all of the soundtracks create a heavy
ponderous effect. The work that is produced is mostly published on the ZRK Instagram page and
this is a good way of building an engagement as well as marketing the clothes to the online
masses. Due to this brand being popular within photographers,
videographers and creative individuals ZRK has sent out raw original files of
the videos that they used to create their previous adverts for individuals to
use and edit which is very helpful in building a community and improving the
skills of editing with raw unedited footage, this is the footage that I will be
using to improve my video editing skills within my experimental practical
work.ZRK’s studio photography that they used to sell there latest season of
clothing has interested me to have one of my practicals being a studio test
shoot where I tested out multiple different subjects which have helped my
directing ability. As well as this I would like to have an urban photography
test shoot and try to find similar industrial locations that ZRK have used I
feel that this would benefit my outside day photography as well as my
location scouting skills.

Basim Kadhim focuses on portraiture, street and product photography primarily that is shown
across his work. The equipment that he uses is a Canon EOS 5D to take his photos with a 50mm
lens, premiere pro for video edits, Lightroom classic and photoshop for his photography edits,
other than the camera and lens I have access to the same software from this I would like to
improve my software editing skills within premiere pro, photoshop and lightroom. Basim’s website
and Instagram are the main 2 ways of showing across his portfolio. I would like to learn how to
create a photography stop motion effect which is becoming more popular and used within
photography and video to create a 3d motion. Similar to the ZRK Basim uses architectural
structures within public areas to create photography and express this form of art which I would
like to experiment also within street clothing photography. I like the way that Basim makes his
photos and videos appear to be dramatic and powerful through the use of the surrounding
locations, emotion of the individual subject, lighting and colour and within his work and I feel that
this sets him apart from most others. I like his overall creative style and trying
to produce my own personal work I like to bring out his artistic approach
within my own work. From the brand and individual I have aimed to improve
my skills within studio setups, urban photography, photo and video editing
skills and making a stop motion 3D image are my 4 main skills. Mainly all of
the skills have been primarily inspired by either ZRK or Basim in one way.
This category within the videography and photography has been very
enjoyable to learn, practise and use within my own portfolio. Each
development of experimental practices will improve my promotional skills
within photography and videography which is my overall ambition.