Project Ideas and Development
Final Shoot
Image Making, Project Ideas and Development, Project Ideas and Development
The final shoot went well as working with my family brought us closer together. However, there are a few factors I wish I could’ve change for my project.
It was challenging to get both my mum and sister together because at the time school was still on and I had to wait for my sister to come home at 3pm when I had loads of free time in my hand. My mum is a nurse and usually only has one day off or on the weekends when I usually work she’d have a day off. All-in-all I made the shoot worth while for my two models and thought it was fun.
Firstly I used my little sister for the shoot since she came home earlier than my mum.
With my little sister’s shoot I managed to create more ways to play with the primary colours I wanted to use to represent the Philippine flag this is because she is more comfortable and was keen to model.
On my Filipino tribe posts, I mentioned about basing their outfits on them and due to limited sources I did the best I could. Firstly I wrapped my mum’s yellow scarf over my little sister’s waist as a skirt and my headscarf as her tube top seen in the pictures.
Secondly I dressed her up as one of the “The Kataas-taasang, Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan”, also known as Katipunan or KKK; this was a Philippine revolutionary society founded by anti-Spanish colonialism Filipinos in Manila in 1892. To represent patriotism to the country. (No, this has nothing to do with the the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)
Also shown is the babayin script “tattooed” (I used henna) on her arm to further represent her Filipino blood, however, it did not appear well so there were not a lot of close-ups of this.
On the same day was my mum’s day off so I managed to capture a mother-daughter moment; my sister is actually half English half Filipino, therefore, capturing her and my mum together shows where she got her Filipino side from and how proud she is.
Moreover, due to the low light situation some of my shots were darker and blurrier than intended. Also I shot all of this at around 7-8:30pm because it was when everyone was free and it was just before my sister’s bedtime so I did not have enough time with my mum also due to the fact that she studies for her own university work. But I still manage to capture some shots with my mum nonetheless.
Although, I could have had another shoot there was not enough time due to having to send my photobook to print.
Moodboard
Image Making, Project Ideas and DevelopmentAfter researching numerous artist for style and approach I created a moodboard to visualise how and what I’d like my series to appear.
Below is a moodboard of my intended approach.
Further Inspiration (cont.)
Image Making, Project Ideas and DevelopmentNadia’s background with film definitely reflects in her work. The meticulous use of mise-en-scene to project each given theme of a series allows you to be part of the experience.
Amaury’s excellent use of one colour lighting setup in his works lines up with my intended use of the colours of the Philippine flag to create an emotion to the image.
Alex’s use of close-up portraiture throughout his work makes it feel like the person is actually communicating with the audience also through the subject’s fixated look at the camera.
Further Inspiration
Contextual and Visual References, Image Making, Project Ideas and DevelopmentAfter understanding and researching further about some Filipino photographers, I’ve delved deeper into other photographers I admire and whose work allows me to experiment and get out of my comfort zone.
Damian‘s dreamy and nostalgic style is what I intend to experiment with to represent the nostalgia and longing for my home country.
Charlotte’s out-of-this-world approach challenges me to incorporate all aspects of my idea and turn it into a surreal dream of what it’d be like if I were still living in the Philippines.
Campbell is a photographer I truly admire especially for his work “Engender” as well as his online journal “Niijournal” documenting the life of a Black person in today’s age which mirrors my idea’s approach.
Project Idea
Image Making, Project Ideas and Development, Project Ideas and DevelopmentFilipino Heritage
For this project, I chose to explore my Filipino heritage. I grew up in the Philippines up until 2013 when my older sister and I moved here in the UK to live with my mum, my little sister and (step) dad. I acknowledged that there has been numerous projects about our Filipino heritage such as last year’s graduate, Aynrand Ariel’s work, “Balikbayan”.
Therefore, for my project I wanted to explore and have a deeper understanding of the pre-colonial Philippines. This is through further expanding my knowledge on the national costume, baro’t saya or filipiniana, the pre-colonial writing system, Baybayin and incorporate the colours of the Philippine flag in my lighting setup.
BAYBAYIN
PHILIPPINE FLAG
Nina Webster Reflective Journal 