Leila Shugul’s

Photogtaphy Portfolio

Week 1 Self Portrait

Week 2 Ten Images

Week 3

Week 4

Looking back at all the images I took over the last couple of weeks, I have first of all noticed that my photography skills have and my creativity has improved. Several briefs challenged me to come up with clever ideas. For example, for the last brief we had to come up with an image which would enhance the idea of technology and human identity. However, because this brief did not have specific criteria’s I was free to interpret it the way I though technology and human identity could be seen. Being original was therefore one of the difficulties I was facing. The strengths of my final portfolio would be that it has good ideas and if you compare my first image with the rest you can see improvement. However, you could also see that my portfolio is not as good as it could be. This is therefore one of my weakness. This is something I became aware of over the last couple of weeks. The concept and ideas behind the images are good but the final work is always lacking something. Overall, I am pleased with the final outcome.

Before I start with a brief I first start with brainstorming for ideas. I then make a list with the three best ideas I could come up with and ask for a second opinion. This step I find very important because he or she can give me his or her opinion or feed-back and most of the time it is very constructive. Another method that works for me is looking at other students work from last year. Based on that I most of the time under-stand the brief and feel more inspired. However, I unfortunately always limit myself by depending more on the internet instead of going to the library and viewing the photog-raphers work in books or even going to galleries to view them. This is another point I want to work on because it is very important. This is because the photograph viewed online could be different than the original one. Eventually, this could also become a problem because you could be looking at a photograph which might be taken by another photographer.

For week three we had to make a replicate of one of the photographers. From the start I was inspired by the work of Shirin Nishat not because of her photographs but more of the way she was using calligraphy in her work. Her work stood out for me from the start. I eventually choose one of the ‘Women of Allah’ photographic series. This was one of the brief I enjoyed doing the most because of the calligraphy that was used in the photograph. This is in contrast to the brief from week five which I feel like I struggled with the most. I almost considered doing the same idea as Daniel Lee ‘mamimals’ because I was intrigued by his work. I almost felt discouraged because his work is so different that you just can not look away. I felt like I was not able to deliver such excellent work. What I have also noticed is that with the brief from week three we had to look at the work of photographers. I did not feel the need to look at other photographers as I knew I wanted to focus on Shirin Nishat. In the future, I should not merely focus on my first choice but also consider other options. As I have noticed there were other photographers that inspired me such as Cindy Sherman with her self portrait. I found this amazing because it was so simple but yet intriguing I had the same feeling as with the one Hayden took of himself as both of them where tell-ing a story. Other photographers I found inspirational were Daniel Lee, Man Ray and Sugimoto.

The reading and resources which where provided on blackboard really helped me out. This is because some of the briefs I found slightly confusing as I did not know

where to start. Also, I sometimes felt like I misunderstood the brief but because the information was provided on blackboard I felt less at lost. What I also found good about the resources on blackboard is that it saves times and I had more time to brainstorm about ideas instead of searching for information myself. For example, for week two we to take a fast shutter speed image as we discussed during class how to take a fast shutter speed image this did not became a problem. Also, the informa-tion was provided on blackboard so it was easy to look back up and reflect on the information during class. Another example was the brief from week one where we had to make a self portrait and we were not allowed to use Photoshop. We were all confused and did not understand the difference between a self portrait and a pic-ture you just take yourself. However, with the help of the article that was placed on blackboard I understood the brief. Moreover, I also found images of self portraits and this really helped me out. If it was not the reading that was provided on blackboard I would have completely misinterpreted the brief.

I first knew little about photography and did not saw this as a form of art. This is because I felt like everyone could take pictures. I was not aware at all that there was a technical side to photography. You need patience and be rather skillful with the camera to take a good image. However, to make an excellent image you have to be creative because the image is telling a story without using words and this can be rather difficult. As I have already stated I am pleased with my final work. By making mistakes I have learned where I went wrong. Of course I would like to re-shoot some images as I now know how to improve them. Now I at least got the feeling I under-stand photography more and how it can affect your views. Shirin Nishat is also my number one inspiration at the moment and I will continue to making replicates of her work in my spare time to perfect my skills.