My New Corner

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My moved installation for my Portsmouth exhibition.

Exhibition – Set Up

I set up my plinth for the exhibition today. We painted the area last week and the week before and in my opinion it looks great, unfortunately I was unable to take photographs of the set up process at the time as I had sent off my camera to be fixed but now I have it back and finished setting up my portion today I decided to take my camera along.

Welcome to my corner.

   

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Day 5

A simple photograph today of a hole in the plinth I am using for the exhibition

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Professional Practice Plan

This is the final blog post I will make for my Professional Practice although I hope I will continue using this blog for personal use. Much of this unit has been helpful including the lectures given by guest speakers who I always find to be very insightful. I have liked the guest speakers because they offer real world advice and insight to not only the world of photography but also the art world and the business aspects of both the art and the photography world.

The whole course including this unit has taught me a lot about myself and my interests and has helped me come to the conclusion that although photography will always be a part of my life I do not want to play a large role in the photography world straight out of university. The research aspects and the essay aspects of the course have been the parts I have most enjoyed and I hope to continue doing this as well as taking photographs. Although, when I finish university, earning enough money to survive will be my main priority I also hope to find the time to volunteer in art galleries and eventually get paid for doing that type of work as a full time job, I enjoy experiencing art and working with mature photographers and artists, hearing about their experiences and why they do they work they do.

I have had many useful lectures as part of this unit and part of the School of Professional Skills unit I did with Purple Door. I have learnt a lot about the business world and how it works that has informed my decisions and I have also learnt also a lot about the art world. One of the main lecturers that inspired my decision to try and get work in a gallery was Laura Noble, founder and sole director of the L A Noble Gallery in London. She spoke incredibly passionately about her job and the chances she has to work with other artists, this inspired me enough to consider gallery work as a career option. Another lecture I had this year which really inspired me was given my Alan Donegan from ‘Enjoy Presenting’. I was given this lecture as part of the School of Professional Skills unit I did with Purple Door, one of the things I always thought I could never do was talking in front of a crowd and he made it seem less intimidating. The whole School of Professional skills course gave me a lot of confidence and helped me come to realise that even if I didn’t want to be a photographer I could make something of myself in the business world.

As part of the Professional Practice unit I had to keep a blog. This is the second time I have kept a blog for university and both times I had the same issue of being unable to find things relevant to the unit to blog about apart from my lectures. Unfortunately I do not generally keep up with the blogs I follow unless I am trying to find something to distract myself from work, it usually inspires me to go out and take some photographs however the photographs I take are not usually relevant or helpful to the project I’m doing at the time. I am sure I will keep a far more productive blog when I have more freedom to take the photographs I want and do the research I want independently of each other and time limits. I have already started looking through my university notes and finding artists who have been talked about in lectures and I have found interesting but haven’t been able to research because they were irrelevant to the project I was doing at the time.

I also had to create a portfolio as part of this unit. I chose creative photographs that I find interesting and enjoy looking at and that I think others will also look at and find interesting. My hope for this portfolio is that it represents me as a fine art photographer because if I chose to do anything photography based in the future it will be fine art photography because that is the type of photography I enjoy.

Even though I do not want to work as a photographer I feel I have utilised my degree and time at university. I feel I have enjoyed and made the most of researching opportunities and the wonderful facilities the university has to offer. I have gained a great deal from being at university aside from the education; I have independence and have realised what I am truly looking for out of life is too be happy with my decisions and choices in life. I think I will be well equipped to find work after university because I feel this course and the School of Professional Skills course have prepared me for the working world.

Laura Noble

Laura Noble was one of the most honest and realistic lecturers I have ever listened to, she is an English gallerist, portfolio reviewist  artist and writer.

After the studying – Life Goes On

She has a painting degree and has photography in her background. She is a collector and showed us the first photograph she payed money for, it was  ‘John Kippin, Hidden 1991’ THis set the scene for the lecture as it was obviously not the typical mantelpiece picture.

She talked about documentary being all about 1 image and what you can say in that one image and that you have to go out and find the story, don’t wait around for it to fall in your lap because there are other people out there looking and they will find it before you do. Be Nosy – Read people and the situation.

When creating a piece of work ask yourself ‘Why should this image/ Project exist in the world?” Although this might be an obvious question to ask it really made something click in my head. It puts art work into perspective and made me more passionate about my current project. This is a question that doesn’t judge merely aesthetics or opinion but the work itself and its purpose.

She also talked about editions of work, this was one of the more useful things I have heard about since being at university and i am surprised it hasn’t been brought up before now. Exclusivity is what makes something valuable also limitation helps with pricing. Maximum editions = 15, smaller is better.

The definition of a vintage photograph is a photograph that is printed within 5 years of it being taken. I found this definition particularly interesting as by definition it means that many of my pieces would be classed as vintage. A photo printed 5 years after it was taken is classed as ‘Modern’

Pricing as students – Any more than £500 = Dream on!

Signing work – Produce a label authentication certificate

Website – Light background, 1 font

Email – Be formal, show respect, always have a signature

Portfolio – 30 max, Portfolio Review – 20mins

To tweet or not to tweet? – YES!! Keep a dialogue going (I definitely need to learn to tweet, i’m struggling with blogging and i update my facbeook about once a month… Got me some practicing to do)

Always do competitions, grants, Prizes and Rewards – practice practice practice you can only get better

If you have to sit and explain a project you have already lost their attention (I always think a subtext is brilliant but you have to get the initial interest to make it worth it). Find something that is uniquely you.

Look at your work in a mirror.

If you have to contact people, Tuesday morning is the best time.

Oezdan Yorulmaz – Royal College of Art

Oezden Yorulmaz

2nd year MA student at Royal College of Art the only 2 year MA program in the country.

An image is a vessel of identity and how you represent that identity, The authentic self is a fictional construction – Christopher Doswold The Missing Link

Lower body is a theme.

Playing straight 2005 – Gay men and lesbian women as a couple.

Parallel lives 2007

Looks like teen spirit 2008 – inspired by Kurt Cobain

Recreated the London Marathon.

inspired by Yasumasa Morimura

Meeting someone within an image, image is not physically accessible only mentally.

Gillian Wearing – Recreating herself as her brother

Watch – Tarnation

Lisa Barnard

These are some notes I took in a lecture given by Lisa Barnard

Aesthetics are the most important thing including psychological aesthetics. One thing that is very interesting to her is the relationship between the viewer, the practitioner and the subject. Exhibited in institute of psychoanalysis. Residency at unicorn theater in London. Photographed children watching theater – 2 1/2 minute exposure. Create a stillness in the viewer.

Blue Star Mums. interesting in war (Anti – War) She went and met the Mums of soldiers.

Institute of creative technologies. PTSD – More soldiers die from suicide than on the front line. Virtual reality program for treating PTSD. ICT do all the virtual reality for the military PTSD – Exposure therapy.

Photographed unmanned drones in Pakistan – Archival. Also photographed landscapes for Bureau of Investigative Journalism in Pakistan and America.

I try and produce work I would be interested to see.

School of Professional Skills – Making the Most of the Phone

School of Professional Skills Lecture 5, Making the Most of the Phone

“The most dangerous thing about communication is the illusion that it has taken place”

Telephones + Sales

Email

1. Brevity
2. One way monologue
3. Emotionally neutral
4. Illusion of immediacy (Note the “Illusion”)
5. No vocal cues
6. Impersonal

Phone

1. Immediate Response
2. Honest
3. Clear
4. Allows subtelty
5. Builds relationships
6. Two sided discussion
7. Faster closure
8. More personal

Setting up a phone call – Outcomes/Objectives, Feel/Think/Do

What do you want them to do as a result of the phonecall? Put in an outcome.

Structure of a phone call –

Introduction – “Hello” “Good Morning”

Conformation – Are you speaking to the right person?

Timing – Is this a good time to talk?

Purpose – “I am calling because… ”

Conclusion – Summarise agreed upon actions, thank the other person and hang up last.

Building a rapport on the phone is very important for business but how do you know when people have rapport anyway?

1. Mirroring
2. How close they are
3. Smiling/ Laughing
4. Eye contact
5. How much they are paying attention
6. How long are the answers
7. Facing each other/ Body language

Rapport is mostly unconscious picture the typical iceberg photo that shows it 80% under water

1. Vocal (Tone/Volume/Emphasis/Length/Speed)
2. Visual (Irrelevant on the phone)
3. Verbal (Words)

Always speak slower when presenting or just want people to pay more attention to you, usually we speak at 180-190 words per minute whereas a good public speaker speaks at about 90-100 words per minute

Core Selling Skills

1. Arouse interest – Adverts/friends
2. Appreciate (Maybe Exaggerate) need
3. Gather Knowledge
4. Suitability
5. Value

Sales people – ask question to uncover the needs of the customer and give advice based on those needs and convince your customer that you can deal with those needs. Different types of questions get different results, do you want a lengthy answer then ask n open question if you want a yes/no answer then as a yes/no question. You need both type of questions. Also frame them positively or negatively – “What are you happy with?” “What are you not happy with?

Fact Finding – Uncover their whole shopping list and wind it back. Summarise back and find out which is the most important (Get them to prioritise). Always link your solution to their needs ” Based on what you’ve said i recommend”

An experiment that the lecturer talked about suggested that it doesn’t matter what the reason is as long as you say you at least say you have a reason “Can i cut in the queue for the photocopier because i have some photocopying to do” was almost as effective as ” Because my boss has a flight to catch”

Conference Calls

Benefit – No travel

Tips –

1. Quiet Location
2. Focused Attention
3. Prepare Beforehand and Take Notes
4. Introduce Yourself
5. Be Expressive
6. Speak Clear and Slow
7. Record the Call
8. Etiquette – Don’t take over
9. Follow up by email

School of Professional Skills – Project Management

School of Professional Skills Lecture 4, Project Management

I did a project management unit as part of my photography degree last year and found it somewhat interesting, I expected the basics to be the same but this lecture to be more academic and workplace based and it was.

Project Management – The process of ensuring a goal is achieved

ProcessInitiate (what) -> Plan (how long and how much) <=> Execute (implement and adjust) -> Close (how did we do)

Most Problems are created in initiation stage and discovered in execute stage

Your customers are the people/organisation with an unmet need or problem. Know who your customers are because if you do not meet their need then your project will be judged a failure.

Understand the customers problem, a project is a unique task designed to attain a specific result limited in time and requiring specific resources

Deliverable

1. A tangible output of the project
2. Leads to the resolution of the customers problem
3. Measured on completion
4. In order to be measured the deliverable must be well designed

Benefit -A desired outcome of the project measured after completion of the project

Deliverables are not the same as benefits.

Project Charter – Essential tool, a short document created early on in the project that provides a high level of definition of the project.

1. Why the project is being undertaken the business case
2. What the deliverables are
3. The expected benefits
4. What the contributions are
5. Who the project sponsors

Project definition document

1. Business case
2. Overview of approach
3. Deliverables
4. Assumptions
5. Stakeholders

Factors of Success = Time/Cost/Scope – If one of these in inflexible then the others have to be flexible i.e. if there is a set in stone time limit then if a problem arises there may be a higher expense

For each task you must ask yourself, ‘What tasks will have to be completed before I can complete my task?’ Estimate time and sequence then create a plan called a Gantt Chart. A Gantt chart is the most common project plan form and was developed by Henry Gantt (Example not from lecture shown below)

Taken From: http://www.advsofteng.com/gallery_gantt.html (Accessed Sun 12th May 2013)

Another Graph important to project management however is the Critical Chain/Path graph (An example of which is shown below)

Taken From:http://www.pmknowledgecenter.com/node/108 (Accessed Sun 12th May 2013)

The ‘Critical Path’ is shown in red and is such because it is the path that contains the longest series of consecutive tasks in time.

The Critical Chain solution –

1. Take the safety out of individual task time estimates
2. Remove task due date from plans
3. Stop multi – tasking
4. Put in buffers at key points in the plan

Prioritise risk – What could go wrong and what is the probability of it going wrong and impact. Rank based on impact of probability and respond to reduce the risk.

‘Plans’ are useless, ‘planning’ is essential

Three things to track

1. Process – Tasks completed and tasks with problems
2. Action/Time -Activities too small to be on the main schedule
3. Issues – Identified problems that need resolving

When you finish – How well did you do? Tell people what you have/haven’t done

Summary –

• Know exactly what you are trying to do
• Make sure you have a sponsor
• Plan your project and make sure you don’t miss vital tasks or dependencies
• Know your Critical Path

Professional Practice – Photographer Notes – Daniel Alexander

Daniel Alexander is one of my lecturers and decided to give us a lecture on his own work as one of the ‘visiting speakers’. This is the second time he has given a lecture on his work so my notes were brief but here they are anyway, He is an interesting commercial photographer and very passionate about his own work.

He worked with Andrew Haslam on a project called Lettering and Process. He met Haslam when he was a technician and Haslam was a MA Graphic Design lecturer. He said that the project was made possible by digital photography and his tip is when commissioned make sure you get paid for the time you spend developing.

Making Marks is a project on tattoos, simple tattoos the photographs were black and white and developed from the ‘Lettering and Process’ project. It developed from an interest in lettering and looked at the bodies of his subjects as paper with the tattoo as a letter on the page of a book.

Designing the Commonwealth War Graves Mainly took place in France and Belgium. There are different reasons why people visit these cemeteries and graveyards. Some visit to see the graves of family members and some visit as a tourist attraction or historical landmark. This project looked at the commemoration of WWI and WWII casualties and the design process that goes into these graves. He showed us a time lapse he made (also found http://www.danielalexanderphotography.co.uk/portfolio/?page_id=113)  of the ‘Construction of the Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery’ It is very moving and shows a construction process that would not normally be seen.