Replicating to Developing

When experimenting with Friedlander's techniques, compositional skills and subject choice I found that this worked perfectly for my first semester at university as experimentation is key in seeing what works and what does not.

When I was creating this development back in October 2020 I constantly asked myself How could I develop my work? What is possible for me to do right now in the global pandemic? And how can I create a project that allows me to produce the best work?

Well firstly to answer my first question, in my opinion, you have to consider what main elements are in the photograph such as what is the subject matter and how is it presented.

For instance, when considering Friedlander in the project mannequin, he photographed the mannequins as he was walking on the sidewalks, using the window as the reflection. These were two major elements that I was able to develop from as was lucky to gain access to go inside and photograph mannequins in the changing rooms of Ann Summers, Huddersfield.

From this, I was able to develop in the way that I hoped to, from using changing room instead of storefront windows this broke down the barrier between me and the subject matter, giving me the freedom to position the mannequin in different ways. This was not the only development I was able to experiment with, I had the opportunity to play with mirror reflections, in which hugely benefitted me when photographing as the reflection was more dominant than before.

This fascinated me deeply as the narrative began to change course from what I was originally beginning with, to building on the concept of human characteristics. This allowed me to consider more elements in my photographs such as other possible locations could I experiment with, could I possibly recreate this atmosphere in the studio?

Only I could answer the questions I was asking myself, and to do so I must create to see the answer I have been looking for.

Harley Kelly.