From the depths of my hard drive...

After recently searching through some old folders I thought I would post a couple of things I found, The first is a series of environmental portraits I shot on the London underground. I spent the best part of a day sat on the Northern line taking shots of the people who sat directly opposite me, obviously looking back at it now I can see so many ways I could have done it better but at the time I remember being pretty happy about my project.

 

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Environmental_portraits.pdf (7855 KB)

 

The second assignment I found was one where we had to create a CD package, I decided to make my final design a booklet and it was based on a non existent Streets album titled "Additional Pirate Material". I shot the inside of the booklet in Nottingham and used the images alongside some Streets lyrics, I then shot the reverse image on the london underground to create a fold out booklet. 

 

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CD_booklet.pdf (9902 KB)

http://ndpshowcase.vvhosting.co.uk/

As part of my final major project for my National Diploma Photography course I project managed and designed a website, Bletchley college had tried to create a website the year before but it never got off the ground. The purpose of the site was to create a space where the students final major projects and other portfolio work could be viewed, I worked alongside many of the College departments to create the site as the design had to meet many different demands in order to work alongside the college branding. I had many group discussions with my class to develop ideas and find out some of the features people wanted to see on the site, I then designed the logo which then became the title of the end of year exhibition.

 

 

The end of year exhibitions was displayed in the College atrium for around two weeks, I designed the templates for each student and worked with them to finalise their personal layouts. As part of the design each student had a portrait taken which I shot in the corridor outside the class room we studied in for the two years we were there, I also shot the empty chair and used the image for the poster. The series was shot on 120 film using a hasselblad and I was really pleased with the results and the series has become somewhat sentimental, I met alot of good friends at Bletchley College and learnt from some of the best tutors.

 

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Display_Elliot_1of2.pdf (2026 KB)

 

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Display_Tom_Lowther.pdf (14470 KB)

 

 

 

 

 

A Fashion Classic

These images are from a series of test shots I have taken for a classic fashion assignment, I'm not sure if its going to fit the brief but I'll soon find out in tomorrows tutorial. My idea is based on the fact that I personally have a thing for Adidas trainers and I have pairs that I've never worn, the thought behind the concept is that you never throw away a classic because its always going to be a classic and I wanted to show them laying around the house. The Sambas have been shot in the cupboard under the stairs, the Forrest Hills are in the old storage cupboard and then the shot with the heels was just a bit of fun really. I knew that never cleaning my boots would come in handy one day and when I saw the girls shoes by the door it was too perfect.

 

Panoramic shots

When I got the chance I managed to shoot some panoramic shots as well...

 

 

New York City

I recently went on a trip with my group from Uni, around 50 of us let loose in the middle of New York City. We had an amazing time and came back with stories that I will never get tired of telling. I don't know if it was just the jet lag but at first I wasn't that excited by New York, as we walked around on the first day I felt as though it was just another city and feeling almost like I was in London. As time went by the city grew and grew on me, I think it really kicked in on the second night when me and Declan got the Subway to Brooklyn to take some photos. The view of the city at night from across the river was incredible and it started to feel real, the following day a small group of us went on a mission and without really planning too much we had an epic day. It started with a walk to Central Park which was covered in snow and so much bigger than I expected, then we headed down 5th avenue and checked out some of the shops. Along the way we went to Rockefeller Center and took the elevator to the top, The view of the city from 70 stories was unbelievable in all directions, seeing the Empire State Building and the city rolling back behind it left me pretty speechless. It was surprisingly peaceful up there and we spent some time sat on top looking out and it made me think back to the disaster of 9-11 and how it must have been on that day, so we went from there to Grand Central Station to get the subway to Ground Zero. I'd heard stories from a couple of years ago that when you get there its strangely quiet but I didn't think that was the case when I got there, I know that this is a result of the new development taking place and its amazing how the city appears to have recovered and is moving forward. It was surreal to stand there now and believe what I know to have happened there, we went into a store there and looked at the plans for the new buildings and memorials planned and also listened to some emotional stories and tributes. After that we stopped into a bookshop on our way back to the hotel and also managed to find a bar with buy one get one free beers and a replay of Man UTD Vs Newcastle from 1996 on the telly, too perfect...

 

Mixed in with this were some really cool visits to places such as The Museum of Modern Art, The International Center of Photography, A talk with Win Initiative who are an Image Library based in Soho and also a Live project from Resource Magazine. The University really did pull out all the stops and organised a fantastic trip for us, these are some of the photos I took whilst I was there.

Midnight trip to the beach

Although there isn't much going on along the seafront at night in Bournemouth, I wanted to go down and do some long exposures and see what comes of it. There isn't really any significant lit up areas however the light always seems to be different down there, I got a couple of nice shots so I thought I'd post this one. I like it because of the way the street lights are picking up the details on the beach huts and the effects of the sky from the long exposure.