EGRD3013 Studio Practice 3A External Positioning

EGRD3014

Studio PractiseExternal Positioning

Cassie Bell-Misri0703755

BlogsI have started up two separate blogs for my photography. One is a tumblr blog which I use to share all of my work. The other is a blogspot page which I use solely for my fashion images. These blogs are a free and simple way of me getting my work seen. It also allows me to network with other photographers. Agencies, stylists, make-up artists and creatives.

http://cassbm.tumblr.com/http://cassiebellmisri.blogspot.com/

Competitions

I’m using competitions as another platform to get my work seen. I began looking into ‘Exposed’ run by WPO, which is for students only. The brief links to Tate Moderns’ ‘Exposed’ exhibition. The exhibition explored issues around exposure and voyeurism. I considered entering this competition after visiting the exhibition, it made me look at and evaluate the way in which I photograph people. But after looking at the brief in depth I decided against entering as I feel it wasn’t relevant to me and my style of photography. Although the Exposed competition wasn’t relevant for me to enter, I did find competitions that were. So far I have entered my winter fashion story images into the fashion category of Sony World Photography Awards, Shot Of The Week on the Fashion Photography Blog and for the WPO’s Facebook Monthly Photo competition (Januarys’’’ theme was ‘Seasons’).

Tate Modern Website - http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/exposure/default.shtm

WPO website - http://www.worldphoto.org/

FP Blog website - http://www.fashionphotographyblog.com/category/sotw/

Industry Insight

Last year I sent out a number of emails to photographers who I admire, and who inspire me. The idea behind this was to get an insight into the industry and also to make contact with, in the hope of establishing some work experience. Unfortunately my emails where ignored or I was passed in the direction of their website . In total I sent out over 100 emails with a depressing reply rate of less than 10%. I know part of this was due to my choice of contacts, and dreaming big. Each email was tailored personally for each of the photographers and agencies I contacted. Firstly to grab my contacts attention and show it wasn’t just a bulk email. But more importantly because each of my contacts were unique, they all approached their work differently and I wanted to gain an understanding into their practise. On the right I’ve print screened some examples of the emails that I have been sending out.

Interview

Through a lack of email responses, I decided to take a different approach. I contacted a photographer called Jay Mclaughlin. Jay was a friend of a friend who I’d met a couple of times before. I gave him a call and he was happy to answer all my questions. He went one step further and offered me full interview. On the left are screen shots of the interview I filmed and edited. You can find the full interview posted on my blog.

Work ExperienceFrom interviewing Jay I found myself being asked back to assist with shoots for his own portfolio. I found it to be a really interesting and helpful experience. I was involved with lighting, styling and even the editing of the images. He asked me to take some ‘behind the scenes’ images during the shoots which he wants to use on his website. It was interesting seeing Jay work alongside stylists and make-up artists which I usually take control of myself. This showed as I was very out spoken with my opinions on styling. Jay said that this was a good thing as I had a good eye and knew what worked for a shot. The experience overall I feel will benefit me for my FMP where I will be collaborating with an FPI student organising a fashion event. My role will be styling, imaging and promotion for the event.

‘No added sugar’ - Exhibition‘No added sugar’ was an exhibition that I organised with 25 of my fellow students to showcase some of our current work. My role in the exhibition was organisation and space management, including designing the space. I decided to submit a set of photos from my winter fashion story, these images were also submitted to the competition I entered.

Overall the exhibition was a success we gained a large interest from the general public and sold many pieces, which covered the set up costs of the exhibition. I feel that the exhibition has given me a huge amount of knowledge in organising such an event, which will be useful for my FMP fashion event as well as our end of year show.

Evaluation

External PositioningWhen I graduate I would like to work freelance placing my photos in galleries as well as having them published in magazines. I know this is not achievable straight away as my portfolio of work needs to be developed further. I plan to carry on with my blog and entering competitions to get my work out there and seen by as many people as possible. I have also decided to start looking for work experience with companies who have in-house photographers as I’ve found that most freelance photographers like to keep there contacts close to their chests. But one thing I have learnt from most photographers in industry that I have spoken to is getting your work seen by as many people as possible and blogs and galleries are the easiest ways to do this. So this year and when I graduate I plan to keep building my body of work and getting it out there for people to see.