Evaluation

This project seemed very exiting to me and although I was now more used to working with clients each time it was different. I was happy to be working with a client who wanted black and white atmospheric pictures of Bath as I feel black and white photography is my strong point however my client pulled out so when I joined with a different partner who wanted both black and white and digital I had to challenge myself.

Using forms and paper work along the way was helpful to help me keep track of my progress and meant I also had paperwork to refer to, to make sure I didn't go off track. Meeting notes in particular were helpful so I didn't forget important topics which had been discussed in the meeting.

I was looking forward to the part of the project where we submitted a photograph for the Cork. I wanted to do something different which is why I decided to create a collage. My initial black and white photographs came out very well and I was quite lucky that there weren't any problems with my film and that they were all in focus and developed nicely. I think I was also quite lucky with the weather as we got a random sunny few days which helped the photo's turn out nice.

The subject matter was relevant to my client and I think I strayed a little at one point but then got back on track. some images I took for example the contact sheet of trees were very off target as the subject matter was not very interesting at all. I think meetings were very important as it meant I could keep Ed updated with what I was doing and the progress I was making. The venue I was working at (eat5*) was fairly small, however i saw this as a good thing because it may have been harder to fill a huge amount of wall space effectively.

I enjoyed working with a partner and I found it fairly easy, we kept up good communication throughout and made decisions between us in a professional manner. We took 5 pictures each into the shop and collaborated some of our images to be put up together.

A very important aspect through the whole project was the clients wishes. He made it very clear he wished for us to do a small collection of black and white images and make an aspect of the image green, the shade of the shops walls. This would mean using Photoshop to manipulate hem. It was my first time at using Photoshop for this kind of method but I found it quite easy and it worked really well. I think this was the most successful part of the project, the feedback from our client and customers also reflects this.

I decided to do photo montage as my digital pieces. I used images of Bath and stitched them together using Photoshop. I think this is a very interesting way of creating an image and it gives a unique perspective.

Throughout the project documentation was important. for example, I used a camera to document the wall space so I could refer back to it for colour and sizing's. Research was a very important stage in this project. I found looking at artists very helpful and influential on my work. I looked at David Hockney as his work was directly related to mine and artists such as Cole Thompson and will pearson whose photography was amazing and I wanted to try out myself. I found photographers whose work was relevant to what I had in mind because I had some kind of guideline to go by and to make comparisons with. One of my favourite photographers was John Lowing's and I am very grateful for him coming to see us. There were aspects of each photographers work I like and wanted to put into my work and I hope this shows.

Another important part of research was the research of shows and exhibitions. I think looking at the thought process behind shows was very important and helped me when putting up my show. They helped me to think through what I needed to do, plan things better and not miss out important elements. The exhibitions I visited such as the Peggy Guggenheim museum and the Banky exhibition in Bristol were influential as I could learn how artwork was displayed, this was relevant to me as I wanted the work I was displaying to stand out and serve its purpose effectively.

The museums I visited such as the Saatchi gallery and the Roman Baths helped me see how artefact's could be effectively displayed and information put across. I also enjoyed visiting the Roman Baths as they had lots of interactive services to make the trip more enjoyable and suit a range of different people. I particularly enjoyed the use of live models and projectors to convey information in a different way.

I am happy that along the way I made the correct decisions in terms of which photographs to use however I think I could have taken more images to have a wider choice to choose from, when I get an idea in my head it seems to stick there and I do not stray to far away from it possibly missing the opportunity to explore a wider variety of methods and techniques. In my next project I will set a plan of how many techniques and processes I will explore and make sure I stick to it. I think my use of digital photography cam out better than I expected although I was slightly nervous about not being able to rely solely on my black and white photography.

Looking at the target audience was quite helpful as it meant I had more guidelines to work between and was less likely to stray from the brief.
I kept the target audience in mind when taking photographs and hope this comes across in my images. The paperwork side of this project was important such as trying to figure out all of the health and safety measures and visualising any problems that may have occurred the health and safety sheet helped me a lot and I think this should be used.

In terms of advertising I am happy with the poster we created although I now think it should have some aspect of actual photography in it, the problem with this arose when we couldn't decide what photograph to put on it although looking back I think we could have got some outside help like feedback or simply pulled a name from a hat to help us decide. Following the way the end of year show was put up was also very helpful in that I got to monitor a room and see how the decisions and planning affected the final outcome of the show. I also attended the end of year show which was a success.

Another important aspect of the project was meeting the Roman Baths museum curator who explained a bit about putting up a show and making things easier for yourself. This showed me that you could get help with aspects such as funding or do most of the design and printing yourself to save on expenses. This came in handy when I needed to print the two longer images. I went to a shop in Bath who agreed to do both for £10 after I first said I was a student then offered to put their logo on our poster.

I am very happy with our final prints and think they all work well together and coincide with the shop nicely. I think If i were to do this again I would do them all in black and white as this want the most successful aspect of the show. I think I could have also looked into subject matter more closely instead of just settling on one theme we could have explored catering or coffee as a sub theme. Our pictures look good up on the walls and I think we grouped them together quite well. I think however if we had done less photographs we could have blown them up bigger and had a better quality of photographs. I am happy with the client and customer feedback and have taken on some of the comments. Overall I think the project went really well and the client was happy with the work we produced and working with us.

Client interview

I am very happy that Ed was pleased witht the way our show went. He said that it attracted tourists and customers which means it was a success and he felt we managed to capture what he wanted in the images and keep it in keeping with the shop. He gave us a 9/10 which is very good and I am pleased we worked with him.

Public interviews

today I went to my venue and interviewed a few customers to get their opinion of the exhibit. I then collected the questionnaires which I had previously left to get customer reviews of the exhibit.

Some of the comments we recieved:
The style of the images are very nice but I think the black and white theme could have been used for all of the images.
I particularly enjoyed the way the show was split into sections, the panoramic image were very interesting but had to much white space.
I like the content of the images.
I dislike the position of the photograph of the man playing guitar, it doesn't fit in or stand out at all.
I think the pictures fit in nicely with the shop.
The images could be bigger.
If there were less images they could be bigger and stand out more.
The content of the images are good in terms of location.
The photographs arent really in keeping with the cafe but are in keeping with style and colours. E.g. could have pictures of coffee or food.
I like the composition of the photographs.
They could be at the front of the shop as this is the room most used.




I am happy with the feedback I recieved I can see that the content of the images perhaps suited the clients needs but not the needs of the shop or target audience. I think with more research we could have got this right or perhanps varied the content of our images to contain food and drink as well as Bath. As for the comment about locating the images in the front room I think this is very relevant and a good idea as you do not notice the images unless you go into the back room, this is something I should have discussed with Ed beforehand. I am happy that the customers liked the colour scheme of the images as I had been quite pleased with this. I think if I did it again I would have done them all in this style. I am happywith the general feedback and I personal feel the images complimented the shop.

Prints in shop

Final Prints

Bansky Bristol museum 13th June 2009

I visited the Museum in Bristol where Banksy was holding his first show since 2000. I visited Banksy's exhibition at the Museum in Bristol as I had an interest in his work. The work was set out quite different to any other exhibition which I had been to and was very 3D and stood out. I also noticed he had hidden aspects of his work among other artists exhibitions and vandalised the museum signs with his name. Among the usual art Bansky had placed security cameras in areas which were relevant to the theme of his show and juxtaposed with the security cameras the museum already had up. The way he presented his show was quite simple you walked around and looked at his work at points along the way you may notice things he had hidden or you might notice art which was supposed to look like he had vandalised another artists work. Banksy used a lot of different lighting in his exhibition, for example one of the first rooms you walked into had a lot of camoflage netting and the light shining through this gave a very dramatic efect. My favourite part of the exhibition was the statues banksy had created I found them ver humorous.

Roman Baths Curator

To get a better idea of how the Roman Baths exhibitions were planned and put up we went back to speak to the curator of the museum, Lindsay Bradley. She had prepared a small presentation for us about the way exhibits are planned and carried out.

The first important stage of creating an exhibition is to decide on a theme. This will create an opportunity for every aspect of the show to link and it ties all of the artefact and information together. The theme should be relevent to what you are presenting or what your client wishes.

The next stage is research. Research is important so that you get all of your facts right. you want all of the information you provide to be correct or it could lead to embarrasment. When researching you should use primary sources such as field work which means going out and doing your own research as well as researching from secondary sources such as the web and books.

The third important thing to consider is the target audience. A lot of people visit the museum from tourists to children so you have to make sure you have covered as many target audiences as you can. The audience can include tourists, children and people with disabilities. To prepare for this you should make sure measures are in place such as, ramps for disabled or braille for the blind. There are also aspects such as writing difficulties as children or foreign people find it difficult to read capital letters. to accompany text there could also be images, speech or projections to help illustrate your information or hand out leaflets so the audience can process the information at their own pace, it is very important for the audience to feel relaxed. Interactive services are also very successful such as touch screen projectors or items the audience can touch or feel.

The next stage of creating your exhibition is planning, this can also be the most important stage. Things you need to consider are contents of the show, space available, text and time limits. In terms of funding there are often items which can be borrowed or re-used from a previous show. you can also apply for government funding and borrow from other establishments or swap items.

In terms of advertising there are ways of making things less expensive such as creating your own adverts and displays instead of asking a printer or another company to do it. you can also collect items which can be reused such as leaflets or posters.

A big issue which may affect a show is lighting. A lot of materials are light sensetive and the colour can fade which means keeping them on display can be an issue. The Roman Baths museum uses a lot of materials such as old relics, woods, organics and paper which if exposed to too much of the wrong kind of light can become discoloured and damaged. other elements that can cause damage are gas, pests, vandalism, moisture and temperature. As I am only displaying photographs for a short period of time I'm sure I wont have to worry about damage apart from possibly customers vandalising the work.

The next stage of producing a show is installation. The preparation is very important in the way you prepare your artefacts properly and allow enough time to do everything properly. You will need to make a list of everything you need as if you forget important things such as artefacts or tools this will slow the whole process down and you may not reach your deadline.

On average it should only take two to three weeks to put up and plan an exhibition depending on the scale of the exhibition. You should also get people to help you if you feel you cannot do it all alone. An important thing to do is gett feedback a each stage as this will tell you if you are doing anything right or wrong.

In todays society, social networking is a huge part of advertising so you could use aspects such as facebook or twitter to advertise your event.