My First Semester Uni Folio

[peewee]

So as many of you know I began studying Photography at University this year. I just completed the first semester and one of the subjects required I work towards producing a folio based on a theme of my choice.

The University is one of the top Art Colleges in the country and many of the staff are top photographers. I was lucky to have one of Australia's top documentary photographers as my tutor and right from the outset it was clear he wanted something meaningful and emotive, and no happy snaps or calendar images.

So I went for something close to me and something I felt strongly about. It started out as a way of reflecting on hard times passed, but certain events made many of the feelings, with which my chosen theme dealt, very current.

Even though they're quite personal and revealing, I'm learning to accept being very open. So I decided to share them with BITS since it's the only real online community I'm a part of.

It's the first time I've done this kind of thing before on a number of levels: a major folio, worked at one theme for a long duration, emotive self portraits, and all the other things you see from looking at them.

For submission all ten images were printed at A3 or slightly smaller and mounted on foamcore. The costs of printing and materials plus a case to submit them in set me back about AU$150, and that's just one assignment for one subject pfft, so the damn course ain't cheap lol.

All photos are taken by me (except for no.3 which I set up, but my friend Ellie took the shot) on my Canon 20D. They have all been post-processed in Adobe Photoshop using Curves and Channel Mixer for the B&W images, with no.4 and no.10 being further digitally manipulated to merge several images.

So here is the brief and the images I submitted:

Brief:

The series of ten images invites the viewer to peer through the window of a dark world of depression, anxiety, pain and loneliness. They attempt to visually portray the unseen demons of mental illness, which are not normally obvious to the human eye.

The photographer embarks on an exploration of his personal suffering and his concern for those who suffer in the same way. By photographing himself, he is able to reveal these feelings to the viewer from both sides of the camera. On the journey he revisits painful memories and experiences the anguish firsthand, while translating the emotions into a visual representation.

[kat_4eva2]

wow they are really good peewee!
they're kinda freaky, but that works well with the theme
i think it was a really good idea to explore things like paranoia and mental illnesses with your photography, most people just pretend that pain is only physical and they dismiss anxiety and lonliness as something that only 'weird' people experience. i hate people like that, why don't they just look around and see whats happening??? grrrr.makes me really mad!!!
but, those photos are wkd, they really do portray what its like to be depressed and feel lonely, most people have these feelings at some point during their life..i did last year and a bit of this year..and i hope to god i never have to go through that again. but those pictures really express how i felt and how other people feel in those times

[peewee]

Thanks a lot Katie.

Yeah I had a lot of different reasons for doing this and actually I started out explaining the concept as wanting to try to show the invisible pains through which people go as more physical. More people don't understand than those that do, that's for sure.

It's more about people who have to learn to deal with it forever and don't just get over it like a lot of people seem to think happens thanks to some films and stories.

It's also meant to be kind of in your face. So not just to say hey look some people go through a lot, now move along and look at some other photos, but to make people more familiar. And when I presented them, you see these images and then beside them there's the same guy smiling and joking, so it helps people to realise I don't want to be treated like a leper lol.

[Jan Willem]

Yes I think these photos very good show what you described in the brief. I can't judge them any further than that though..I really know nothing about the art of photography.
Fortunately I have never been depressed..when something bad happens to me, I try to cover it with a blanket of optimism that I know is fake but still feels good. somehow.

btw what does 'brief' mean as a noun? I've never seen it in that way..yes in 'briefing' perhaps..It's Dutch and German to "letter" (not the letter like ABC, but the paper)

[peewee]

Thanks Jan Willem.

A brief is just that: something that is brief. You should have just refused when someone tried to teach you English, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Technically it would be correct to say, "make sure your brief is brief." A "briefing" is also a noun. By definition I guess it's a short, concise statement or a compressed version of a larger document. The lecturer just said at the last minute to make sure you write a brief statement outlining what your theme is, etc. So when I wrote mine I decided to actually call mine a "brief".

[mojo (Mod)]

I'm impressed. Not that I didn't already know you take beautiful photos (I've seen your "..." profile, lol), but there's something here deep to a level that creates a not-so-slight sensation of discomfort. I guess that's due to how transparent and authentic the suffering seems to be.

Also the fact that you're showing us such intimate material can't go unnoticed. Thanks for that, your folio is truly beautiful and seems to be a lot more meaningful than just some "happy snaps or calendar images".

[Arabesque]

Theyre very freaky but I got to say the first one is by far the best. Its perfectly depicts me when I am angry.

[LaYSTaR]

Wow. Well done! You've produced the theme in your pics so well. Pic 4 is great.

Really well done xx

[Whatsername]

Petey I really like the 4th picture...its really clever how you did that. Well done!

[Ian]

Very Good pics Pete! I really like the 9th one. As said above you did capture the theme!

Congrats!