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Write a short paragraph on what identity means to you, thinking about what you have been exploring within your theory lectures also.

Defining and discovering identity can be a never-ending journey and while, to some, an identity may simply be their name alone, for many others identity becomes a complex understanding of one's self. I believe there is not just one identity someone can have and that we have to think of it as a multi-faceted aspect of ourselves. Personal identities are elements of ourselves that relate to our life experiences and individuality; for example, personality traits and interests exist under this umbrella term. The personal aspects of my own identity might be that I am a vegetarian or that I am a fan of pop-music. Social identities are components of ourselves that are formed by our involvement in social groups. This may include religious identity, professional identity or class identity. While I am not necessarily religious, my spirituality is a prominent part of my identity. Additionally, cultural identities are formed mostly since birth that may include ethnic/national identity, gender identity, sexuality or disability identity. The cultural aspect of my identity is that identify as a white woman who has suffered with mental illness. I believe that while cultural identities are formed at birth and cannot be changed, these are often the most oppressed elements of one's personality and that sometimes people can be born with privilege due to their cultural identity.

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BBC Article:

Were it not for the officer's old-fashioned uniform, you could be forgiven for thinking that the picture was taken at one of the protests that tore through the US after the death of George Floyd last summer. All it needs is a couple of face masks and we could be in the centre of New York or Minneapolis in the turbulent and agitated days of mid-2020.

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Arts and Culture Article:

This is probably Parks’ most recognizable image and depicts African-American woman Ella Watson, who was a cleaner at the Farm Security Administration (FSA). Parks was also working there having won a photography fellowship it ran as a way to "introduce America to Americans". Parks found himself documenting older generations of African-Americans to find out how they dealt with the daily torrent of racism that he himself was encountering having moved to segregated Washington.

The photograph is a direct parody of artist Grant Wood’s iconic 1930s painting of the same title. It was a challenge aimed at the treatment of African Americans by highlighting the inequality in the so-called “Land of the Free” and the image came to symbolize life in pre-civil-rights America.

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The Book of Dictators - Nicolò Dante

Making Memories - Lucas Blalock

The Drag Explosion - Linda Simpson

smoke-in - Koichi Inakoshi

Sharon Stone, La vie des animaux – vol.1 - Vincent Delbrouck

¥€$U$ (JESUS) - Pawel Jaszczuk

17 18 19 - Thomas Sauvin

The little screens - Lee Friedlander

Sunless Blue Cover - Tiane Doan na Champassak

Modern lovers - Bettina Rheims

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These aforementioned photobooks are all so diverse but each of them struck inspiration within me. Some use mixed media and a unique selling point (such as AR), and I felt like this made them stand above the rest.

Others, such as ¥€$U$, looked at a type of identity (in this case, religion) and its impact on society. I felt like this was a really interesting take on identity as it took a different approach to what may have been expected when talking about Christianity.

I also enjoyed the Modern Lovers photobook due to its diversity and destruction of what is expected in a heteronormative world. It captures multiple portraits, all which address aspects of gender and androgyny.

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Some initial ideas for my photobook and what techniques to possibly explore.

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Initially I decided I wanted to explore the idea of performativity with gender identity and, after drawing inspiration from Wes Anderson, I came up with the idea of doing a photoshoot set in the 1950; in this photoshoot I would have swapped the gender roles of woman and man, by making them wear gender-coded clothing different to their own, and I also aimed to have everything in pastel pinks and blues (reminiscent of Wes Anderson's own colour palette).

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I decided to play around with different photobook ideas, by using Pinterest pictures and using only one colour. As I had never used InDesign before, I felt like this was the perfect opportunity to practice. I could try different placement techniques for my photos, as well as including text and PNG images. (Unfortunately I didn't save this!)

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After receiving feedback from my tutor, I was told my idea wasn't spontaneous enough and felt a little too structured. With this feedback, I decided that I now wanted to change the identity I was focusing on and capture photos relating to the LGBT+ identity. I looked at the photobooks I had researched previously for inspiration and decided that I wanted to take inspiration from the ¥€$U$ photobook. I decided that I would visit various locations (such as London and Brighton) and see how the LGBT+ identity had impacted daily life.

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I decided that I really liked the way 35mm film looked so wanted to experiment with analogue as opposed to using just digital. As I had never used analogue before, I decided to duplicate any photos I took on my phone too. This turned out to be a wise decision as when I got my photos developed, I was informed that the 2 rolls of film I had taken pictures with were blank.

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After my photos didn't develop correctly, I decided I still wanted to try to achieve the 35mm film look but I would have to try to achieve this by editing my photos on Photoshop instead. I followed this tutorial, adapting it slightly for each picture, and added noise to my pictures. I also added light-leaks and textures to some other photos.

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Photoshop Tutorial: How to get that faded Film look & Instagram / VSCO cam filter effect

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Why did I add black and red to some pictures?

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Why did I add black and red to some pictures?

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Initially, I thought I would have all of my pictures be in colour, but some of the photos I took did not adapt well to the photoshop editing when I tried to give them a film look. Due to this, I decided to add some black/red light-leaks by using an image and overlaying this.

For example, this image did not adapt well to the settings I had developed to make it look like it was taken on 35mm.

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What paper would I print my photobook on?

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What paper would I print my photobook on?

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While I have yet to do some intensive research on what papers I would print my photobook on, I know that I would like the pages to be matte as opposed to glossy. I feel like by using matte, it may stop glare and the pages being damaged by fingerprints. However, matte may cause the photographs to appear even more grainy (which may look too intense and blurry with the noise I have added to the pictures), and it may make the pictures look worse in quality.

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I decided to go with a two page spread for all of my images as I felt like all of these images were very important and I wanted to showcase them across two pages so all small details could be visible. I felt like this was crucial as the LGBT+ community have fought for so long to be visible and I wanted to show how important this was.