Discussion

I was very excited after the completion of Unit 3 and I highly anticipated the release of the Unit 4 exam paper. Furthermore, I wasn’t in the slightest disappointed with the choices given to us for this Unit, and in fact, I found it rather difficult to choose just the one. However, after much research into past and present photographers, I chose the ‘Fantasy’ topic as I felt it would be the one which would allow me to develop the most, creatively. There are many different routes I can go down with this topic and I am very excited to trial and test them all. ‘Fashion’ and ‘Close Up’ were two of the other topics that I was torn between, and as I liked certain elements of them both, I think I will also strive to combine some of these elements into my ‘Fantasy’ project. With ‘Fashion’, I felt that I was rather restricted and I knew it could potentially mean I would need to do a lot of shoots with models, which I have previously struggled with in Unit’s 1-3. I also felt that any particular shoots with Fashion that I wanted to do could possibly be altered to fit the Fantasy theme. On the other hand, I really liked the sound of the ‘Close Up’ topic after I had used the macro lens with the coloured roses in Unit 3 to create beautiful, abstract pieces, and I felt like I could potentially do more work in this area. However, again I felt that I would be restricted in terms of creativity, and I could nevertheless use the macro/close-up technique in my work on ‘Fantasy’. After Unit 3, I don’t think there is an awful lot I need to improve upon; I simply need to remember to stay organised and keep on top of my written work, whilst I just want to be able to experiment more, expand my creativity and have fun.

            I was really excited to see Annie Leibovitz’s name when I researched ‘Fantasy Photography’, she is one of my all-time favourite photographers because I absolutely adore her portfolio of work for Disney. I find her work enchanting and inspiring and I think that re-creating famous fictional characters through props and costume could be a really interesting approach to my chosen topic. Not only does this give me the option of looking at popular Disney characters, there is also the opportunity to look at traditional folklore fairytale and children’s rhyme characters such as Hansel and Gretel and Little Red Riding Hood. Following this path will ensure that I get to explore a lot more with costume and makeup, as well as creating vast intricate sets and surroundings to make the ‘Fantasy’ element more realistic in my work. Aside from Disney and fairytales, I will also take work from other eras; such as mythology, astrology, Gods, Goddesses and even some horror or sci-fi elements.

            With this Unit I also greatly want to maximise my Photoshop/editing abilities to create something

really eye-catching and different from anything else I have created over the past 2 years. With this, I think the idea of Surrealism Photography will be a really interesting way to explore the theme of Fantasy as a way of making the impossible possible. The ideas that I have include looking at Multiple Exposure/Overlay/Texturising to recreate figments of the imagination and optical illusions, as inspired by Jerry Uelsmann, such as creating imaginary worlds and buildings appear in the sky.