Studio Practice: OUGD405 - Brief 02

For this brief I had to Produce a body of work that investigates the term/concept/value/number '100',

I had to relate this brief to something that was based from a collection of 'something', The way to then relate my chosen collection to the number 100 would be by researching and collecting 20 facts, 20 opinions, 20 words, 20 photos and 20 statistics.

My collection was a photo album full of images of my recent ancestors stretching from my great, great, great grandmother to my mother. I chose this album because it was very personal to me, to be able to work on something that is strongly connected to my past, it definitely helped when it came to finding various information about it. It was also an enjoyable process too.

From looking at the photos i began to wonder, 'why do i never see photos like this anymore', which made me want to base my research on how the idea of photography has changed, from the early 1900's where it was seen as a special ability to capture a moment in life, where as now it is an ability that is both used an discard in ever day life. My research would be to get an idea of how photography has changed over the years based on the information and opinions i collected.

The 20 images were easy because they were already supplied by the photo album, so if were to show where i began my research the photos would be there ready to show,

For my facts i went online and found various information that linked the past to the present day based on photography. Some of the information was linked to psychological decisions, the types of cameras that were used back then compared to now, How social media has effected how we share memories through photographs and how technology has enhanced or maybe changed photography for good.

For my 20 opinions i asked a question that would link to everything i wanted to fin out to help me understand how photography has changed, my question was...

'From the early 1900's until now, also Keeping in mind new technology and the social media:
Over time how do you think sharing memories and experiences through the use of photographs has changed?
Would you say we take the ability of taking photographs for granted?
Also do you agree with how technology has changed the process of producing photographs and sharing them?'

I asked around over 20 different people so i had a good idea of what other people thought of what i was trying to find out, altogether i got a mixed positive and negative response about the loss of film photography and the over used age of digital photography. How most pictures in the past were very natural and organic, very raw in a way compared to now where we use filters and new technology like photoshop and editing software to get the desired effect in our pictures, which we do to fit in the social norm.

When i came to finding 20 words, i looked at my collection of photos and the information and opinions tat i already had and the reflected on what i was trying to find out. I collected a mix of words that linked to these three main points. a small sample of the words i used were (nostalgic, reliving, organic, connecting, digital, old, new, gain and loss). I thought these weds strongly connected to what i was trying to communicate.

When trying to find statistics linking to my work, it was a little hard trying to find this type of information that would link to what i was trying to find out. So i decided to use the information that i had collected from other people to make statistics which reflected on how other people felt about how photography has changed over the years and what they actually say about the differences.

I was then read to present my research in a two minute powerpoint presentation.

Below are the personal photos that inspired me to go ahead and research my chosen topic, these photos are the definition of the message i was trying to get across, How i feel like something important has been lost over time.