EVALUATION OF SHOOT:

In my shoot, I took photographs in my bedroom that captured me

having an argument with my parents. I believe I was successful in
communicating the meaning I wanted to (illustrate how somebody’s
mistakes can affect a family dynamic) as not only did I represent the
amount of power the parents had, but I also went beyond that and
explored the rebellious actions a child can take when they feel that
their views are not being respected by their parents. I used all the
equipment I planned to, and it helped me complete my shoot as I was
capturing self-portraiture photographs therefore, the tripod helped me
keep my photographs straight and I was able to enable a self-timer on
my digital camera. One successful photographic technique that I used
was viewpoint as in the majority of the photographs, I sustained a
high angle viewpoint because this not only reinforced my parent’s
perspective, but it also reinforced how much authority they have over
me. In the last photograph of the series, despite the absence of my
parents, the high angle still remains which highlights that I will
forever feel their presence in any decisions I make. Furthermore, the
high angle also acts as a way to represent me as vulnerable and weak
however, the audience may not view me as weak due to the fact – in
some photographs - I am being rebellious through my angry facial
expressions and body language. Another photographic technique that
was successful is the contrast of colours, particularly in the first image
as the black and white shown on my face emphasised how the colour
has physically gone out of my face and I am slowly starting to not
recognise myself anymore however, the fact the background is in
colour implies that there is hope for me to not only regain my
childhood innocence but also to possibly move on from this situation.
However, a photographic technique that was not as successful was
depth of field as I never explored with a shallow depth of field which
I feel would have helped highlight the meaning in some images. For
example, if the second image used a shallow depth of field, it would
have illustrated that my parents are solely focused on me and they are
not interested in anything else. Another photographic technique that
was not as successful was shutter speed due to the fact, in the last
image of the series, if a slower shutter speed was used it may have
provided the audience with a visual representation of my unstable
mindset as I struggle to think straight, which would have made them
feel more concerned for me. For this photoshoot, I was influenced by
Aaron Schuman who incorporated text into his photographs which
gave them more context. I also did this with my photographs, and I
positioned the text behind a paper textured image to make the
photographs seem more personal, as if they have come from my diary.
Despite the personal touch added to the photographs, they are still
accessible for a group experience as the text does not included any
first-person terms. I was also influenced by Duane Michals however, I
feel that his influence is not as evident in my photographs due to the
fact I didn’t create many blurry figures to depict movement however,
in the second photograph, I moved my hands while the image was
being captured to create some blurriness which depicted that I was
mid-talking to my parents. I think most of my drawings match up to
the images as I included each aspect that I planned however, the last
drawing does not match up to the images as I planned to do a side
view of my face to add a sense of enigma to the photograph however,
I ended up shooting a mid-shot of myself looking away from the
camera with my hands on top of my head, connoting stress which I
believe was more successful than what I planned as I was able to not
only create some enigma, but also depict the stress I am feeling.
Moreover, one of the
experiments I completed was putting my photographs in black and
white because not only did it emphasise a sombre tone to the
photographs, but it also emphasised how from a parent’s perspective,
they don’t seem to see any ‘bright future’ for their child as it has been
taken away from them at such a young age due to the fact they done
something inappropriate. Another editing technique I explored with
was the blur tool on Photoshop as I blurred my face in two
photographs which helped the audience understand my parent’s
inability to recognise me anymore as they have always known me as
their “innocent daughter”. I feel that this technique was very
successful in communicating the message I wanted to as it clearly
shows how upset my parents are with what I have done, therefore it
could fracture the family dynamic. Furthermore, I also combined all
photographs (with the text included) into a collage to not only
demonstrate the influence of Duane Michals but also it acts as a
simplistic way for all photographs to be put together, as if you are
reading a story from a book.

Overall, I believe that my use of photographic techniques such as

viewpoint and colour was very successful as they helped highlight the
amount of power my parents hold over me, even when they are not
around, and it signifies that they now view me in a negative way.
These techniques have also been successful in making the audience
question whether they share sympathy for me or not. To improve, I
feel I need to explore with compositional techniques more as my
photographs did not demonstrate much of them and they may have
helped communicate my meanings successfully. The next thing I am
going to do relating to this project, is complete another shoot based on
the theme of online predators however, I am going to focus the
images from my perspective (the aftermath of the situation and how it
has impacted me).