Development of Creative Thought & Structure

Overcoming Mindsets

(Relaxing Your Habitual Thinking Patterns)

I find that when i get given a project brief i initially start by brainstorming ideas to then move on to photographing objects/places/people.

I usually tend to always start every project with similar ways of photographing things to get me started on the work as i find it difficult to get motivated otherwise, then progress on those ideas or completely change them in some cases as i work through the project, this is to try and make the work different from other projects. For example, when i was studying at college i focused all my photography on portraiture, we used a lot of image manipulation on the course however my work started to get a bit repetitive.

However, i carried on with portraiture but changed each project by using different materials such as putting tights over someone's head or them pressing their face against materials which weren't completely see through to distort their image.

I then moved onto photographing projections onto the back of someone, then progressed from that to photographing writing onto my back. This work i used for my Final Major which was then exhibited in the Artix Theatre in Bromsgrove.

It seemed to take me a while to come out of my comfort zone and start experimenting with strange but interesting materials, but once i'd produced such different work, which i was proud to say was mine i really enjoyed experimenting.

I think now i need to get back into that habit of trying out different methods of photographing with a variety of materials to carry on creating different types of photographs.

Restating Problems

I always find when i do any project that i come across some sort of problem with the work i'm creating. It is important that we have the confidence to imaginatively and creatively challenge these problems from different angles. Reviewing your approach gives yourself more options on how you could improve on the work and what you could do differently.

Throughout my previous sketchbooks i brainstormed ideas throughout the projects to help me improve on the work i was producing and this helped me a lot to see what i could do differently and why the ideas maybe weren't working.

I found that through most of my work i'd be thinking of the same or a similar idea all the time. To try and improve on my work and maybe create a new idea i would constantly be looking at artists, which would help me come up with different ways of approaching my work. I find that looking at artists work, whether they are contemporary artists or not, you can get great inspiration from some of them. I feel this sometimes helps me create stronger pieces of work.

I also find that visiting galleries helps influence my work, visiting these sort of spaces helps me to interact with what's out there and how it could maybe be shown as a similar approach in my work.

Some examples of photography work i created at college using materials.

(Film Camera)