PROJECT 4: Self-Portrait/Photobooks

For this project, I went to the library on a few occasions to find example photobooks to use as inspiration for my own photobooks. These books included: 

• ·       Gregory Crewdson 1985-2005
• ·       It’s beautiful here, isn’t it… LUIGI
• ·       American Photography 35
• ·       American Photography 31
• ·       American Photography 28

Some of the different things I liked about the photos in each of these books include:

• ·       The layout
• ·       Form and image
• ·       Different ways of representing yourself through portraits
• ·       Thinking about why some of these photos were taken and the story behind each photo
• ·       How light and shadow work together and how they affect the photo

In the assignment outline that was posted on Moodle, one of the example works that influenced my own ideas and photobooks was

Imogen Cunningham, The Unmade Bed, 1957

https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/photographs/imogen-cunningham-1883-1976-16/146445

 

REFLECTION:

This work particularly interested me because I am not able to function in a messy space. The first thing that I have to do everyday is make my bed. Through the action of making my bed first thing in the morning, I find that I am able to accomplish more during the day, and that my overall mood is much better. I am a perfectionist through and through. I am working on letting myself know that not everything I do is going to be perfect, nor does it have to be. However, I think this piece by Imogen Cunningham reminded me how important making my bed is and how good it makes me feel. So, taking those thoughts and feelings into consideration, I decided to include a few different photographs of my own bed, however my bed is made in all of the photographs. I also included images of the details of my made bed. These are some of the small details of my room, and bed specifically, that help my mental state and help me feel like I am in control of the simple things in my life.

For the layout of my photobooks, I decided to have it semi-randomized. I thought this was a fitting layout form because of my perfectionism. I wanted to represent that not all things need to be done in a specific order when it comes to habits, hobbies, and other things. For my second photobook which is the photo ID book, I decided to do something similar regarding the layout. I feel that having some control over what the images were was enough for me. In doing so, I decided that having the images in a semi-randomized order would help represent the underlying condition of perfectionism and working to overcome that. 

Images of my photobooks :))