This shoot was taken on 35mm film last week and I was sent the image scans back via email. I continued with the same process as the previous shoots and focused on bringing my insecurities and things I wouldn’t necessarily photograph to light. I followed the same process, including some closer shots of skin textures and stretch marks, some including my face and some sharing my full length body. I would like to reiterate how uncomfortable the process was for me as it is not something I would choose to share on such a platform, having been so self-conscious for so many years. But this allowed me to challenge myself and reflect on the influence social media and the 21st century has had on the relationships we have with ourselves.
I was unfortunate that not all of my images made it in the roll of film, however I am still able to work with the ones I had gotten. In the shoot, I also incorporated a bunch of red roses, which symbolise femininity and possible vulnerability yet growth. I found these to not only be a good indication to the process I am currently involved in, but the colour scheme worked well too. I haven’t decided what to do with the rose images yet, however I have some ideas to use them as backgrounds alike the letters of insecurities I have previously used when editing.
I followed the same editing process as the third response and focused on enhancing the light, textures and shadows in the images. I did not enhance myself in anyway like what had been shown in the first two shoots. I wanted to represent myself in the most ‘natural’ way I could. It was important to me to not fall into the traps of what is ‘expected’ on social media, but to defy the current ideals and shed light on the real life person, scars and all.
I did include monochrome images alongside the colour imagery as I believe it enhances the images extremely well when connecting emotion and meaning behind the work. The images are slightly different to the previous shoot, as the timer wasn’t working properly on the camera, so it was all hand held shooting. However, I think there are still some nice images which worked well from the shoot.
My best images are the ones I believe caught me off guard. The ones that were sort of trialled and tested to see how they’d turn out. I liked the ones where I was touching the mirrors, connecting the ideas of self with the reflection I have hated so long, captured by the camera which I usually hide behind, yet I am both in front and behind the lens. I loved the way the detailing of skin textures and textures of the roses came out, it continues to inspire how I might take this idea forward of being ‘gentle’ with ourselves when I have been so harsh on myself in the past.
Next, I plan to develop these images further through an editing process, possibly similar to the previous shoot. After this, I would like to see where the idea takes me further with some more research. I would also like to consider myself, I think the best way to develop the project further is to continue using myself as the subject, but possibly bring in the messages from others into my work from my last research from my polls. I would have liked to work with other people, but maybe that isn’t going to be possible. There are other ways for example using FaceTime to do some photoshoots, however the quality of the images would be compromised. I am still considering routes to take this, but in need of some more inspiration to help guide me.
Emily Ryder 