To be in the studio or to not be in the studio...

Am I allowed to take fashion photographs outside for this project? I am so jumbled and there is a 'mid-way' crit next week, everyone says that they're nowhere too, but it's very hard to believe that. I have work to be getting on to, but first to either return or exchange a dress I feel guilty about buying... and to buy The Observer.

What I want is photos like this:

Via, http://lookbook.nu/user/24976-Fox-G

Via, http://hedonismosustentavel.blogspot.com/

There is nowhere in Portsmouth that is nice enough...

Lighting sesh.

This is the first time I've ever been solo - well, nearly solo - in the studio. I did need a bit of help here and there but I think I have it down for what I hope to be a proper shoot next time.
Andy and Moon helped me out for these and I'd hope to use them again as they're quite good at being directed and once I get to what my idea is, I'm sure I'll be better at directing. What magazine uses both male and female fashion models in the same sequence without being too 'fashion for fashion' or arty? I guess I'll be going on a hunt, not only for the right magazine but also for props. GQ Style would be a good way to go, but it's too short and I don't think it has much writing in it, plus I'd like some girls. In any case, this was just to get me more used to using the equipment on my own, which is why the posing is a bit cheesier and fun than what I'd actually be going for.

© Ruth Johnston 2010

This is me helping Jason out with the lighting he wanted to do with our Sunday Supplements model, I'm pretty sure I look much fatter than usual in this, I'm blaming my clothes and lack of expression, I've lost like 5 lbs man.

© Jason Gooch 2010.

I missed my first lecture of the semester this morning, I'm not sure whether to feel bad, because once you start skipping, you keep doing it but then again, it was a pointless lecture anyway. I'll have to diagnose what I missed when I go in for my afternoon session later. Most of my work is on track anyway, I'm not sure whether I am meant to have started anything yet though, like my Dissertation proposal, I have a very thorough plan, just nothing else and the same goes for the unit I missed this morning - tutorials for each are not until at least next week.

Moon is going away this weekend, I will be able to get much more done this way.

John Lennon & Yoko Ono.

One of my friends is having a fancy-dress party, her theme is "Music Legends", while I realise Yoko Ono's status as a musician is subject to much debate, there isn't a John Lennon without Yoko Ono, and it was my idea and it's easy.
I thought of it on a 'brainstorming' session on the way back from the gym.
I've spent a lot of tonight brainstorming, there are some fascinating photographs, the internet is a wonderful place.




I'll put up photographs from a test shoot I did with Moon and Andy tomorrow, I think it is getting too late and I have to be in tomorrow. I'm full of beans though, which is probably not a great thing.
These are from the other shoot I did today of our Sunday Supplements actress, her name is Anneka Wass.

© Ruth Johnston 2010.

I didn't take that many because Abbie had the remote and it's not particularly necessary at this stage. I have so much book work to get through, why am I wasting my time on John and Yoko?

Inspiration. #1

© Anna Fox, 1999-present, from the series, "Back to the Village".

Still going with the costume thing for the editorial project, have a couple of people who have said they would model for me when I need them, I just wish I needed them now rather than later, I feel like I'm behind, despite the fact I know that there are a lot of people who haven't done anything yet.
There is a halfway crit/show on 10th March, nervous(!!!)

Bandwagon.

Just finished watching the very first episode of the first season of Mad Men, I should really pay more attention to hyped-up new shows, this one looks like it's going to be good, I now have to get through 3 seasons to catch up.

© AMC

I guess the style is quite good research for The Body unit, I had an article somewhere talking about the women of Mad Men, I just can't remember where it is, I can see why everyone's been yammering on about it now.
It's so fifties on top of everything, I love Joan already.

© AMC

Colour Drkrm, take two.

So it seems that my worry about getting back into the colour darkroom was unfounded due to the fact that I'm actually suddenly not too bad at it. Despite the fact that it takes around 2 and a half hours to produce three decent enough prints, I think it's actually pretty fun. It will be really scary to go in there when other people not in my year are in it though, or to be in there on my own, in that situation though, it's just like the normal b&w darkroom and now I know that I know how to do it I can just get on with it.
You soon get used to knocking on every door you encounter and saying 'going out' every 10 minutes.
It still looks like a pretty decent setting for a Saw film though.

I realise these are a bit scuffed but I didn't have any medium format negatives with me so I had to bring in old 35mm ones, which had been hiding at the bottom of a drawer since I got them developed.
I tried to pick images that focused on 'the body', but overall, these images have nothing to do with the kind of photographs I will take for the final brief, although I still have no clue where I am going with that. So the 'St Malo' one was printed in the chemist already, I just wanted to see if I could reproduce it, and it turns out I could, but the other two are from the old 'City Spaces' project from way back in my very first semester, back when darkrooms were daunting. I was a little nervous about going back in seeing as I hadn't used the colour darkroom since the introduction but I remembered everything.

© Ruth Johnston 2010

So, for research into the next shoot I am doing for one of The Body briefs (lol), I have been looking over the Sunday supplements that accompany Sunday newspapers - as we have to shoot an actress/actor/sportsperson - and I came across this:
I almost forgot he existed, I bet he's lived a truly amazing life, I must remember to reference him in my RDB.

© David Bailey, 2009 - The Observer Magazine 21st February 2010.

Interesting fact of the day, according to Facebook, based on use of positive and negative words, the saddest day in Facebook's existence was 22nd January 2008..

Cracking.

I'm actually enjoying watching 90210, it is so stupid, and why does a black guy have white parents?

I watched Paris, Je T'aime last night, it's lots of different love stories within the setting of Paris. It's really good and has lots of well-known actors in, from Steve Buscemi to Gerard Depardieu, I'm really surprised that it didn't have a wider theatrical release.
I thought that this story about mimes, could be translated into a studio shoot for my editorial piece, but I guess I can work that one out.

"Tour Eiffel", Paris Je T'aime. © Sylvain Chomet 2006.

I have come up with two possible practical proposals for next year, it's a toss up between being half-Chinese and looking at other people who are half-Chinese and how they feel about it, or a more fly-on-the-wall style documentary series about 'binge drinking culture'. I prefer the first idea but I can only really think of 5 half-Chinese people off the top of my head, including myself, so it's something I'd really need to seek out for. Apart from anything, my first idea is much less dangerous, I'm not sure how much I fancy braving Guildhall walk on my own.

This is a video I took of the guitarist/tambourinist of The Drums on the NME Radar Tour on Thursday, they were much better than I expected, so 'New York' and interesting to watch. The Big Pink were impressive and The Maccabees were great as usual. Bombay Bicycle Club were very disappointed and I don't see what the hype surrounding them is at all.

The Drums - My Best Friend.

Dammit.

There's an amazing job at Vice right now, but it's to start in a few weeks for the next three months and in London, it would be completely perfect if it were over the summer.
Developing film, sitting a front of house, being a guinea pig for blogs. I hope something comes up for the student crowd when it gets the end of the school year.

Another Lighting tutorial.

Although I think this one actually helped us out for when we start the real thing in a couple of weeks - we're shooting a mock editorial piece for a Sunday paper magazine - in lead up to our final brief and deciding what to do - featuring pretend sportsmen or actors/actresses that we've lit and styled ourselves.
I can't wait to start the RDB for this, but Lucy's down at the moment, I have a spare weekend so I'm hoping to easily spend that doing work.

These are some of the shots I took from looking at flash and constant lighting using people in my group as models. The above photo is of our new/guest (I'm a bit unsure) lecturer, Joe McGorty.

© Ruth Johnston 2010

These photos kind of make up for the stressful start but not so much for how tired I'm feeling now...

Valentines and Chinese New Year.

As I mentioned before, Chinese New Year is a holiday that is much more important to me than Valentines Day, which isn't even a holiday and the only reason people like it is because they get to put lovehearts everywhere. I had a nice day embracing the two together nonetheless.
I'd imagine this is due to the large Chinese population within Portsmouth but regardless, Gunwharf had their own Chinese New Year celebrations this year, featuring three Chinese lions. Chinese lions really scared me as a kid and I could definitely see why from seeing them yesterday, a creature that actually looked like that is unimaginable, yet there they were, it's all their terrifying blinking glory.






After seeing the display, for which we luckily had a good spot, we headed over to Giraffe for lunch, I'd never been to one but had heard good things. Being in Portsmouth, from experience of chains round here, I thought it would be a bit sub-par, but it was delicious and the service was good, I will definitely be going there again. I had nachos, ebi-katsu and ribs, nom nom nom.





We finished in time to see the tail-end of the second lion display, which went around the whole of Gunwharf with a trail of people behind it, unlike the first show, I feel kind of lucky.
My Valentines gift to Moon was half a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts that I got on the way home.

© Ruth Johnston 2010

Today has been a bit disappointing really, I could have had a long lie-in, but instead walked into University to get there for half 9 only to be told that the timetable was wrong and we were not to come back until 2. Not only is it really annoying generally due to the fact that I got up early anyway, but it's also annoying because my sister is coming down today and I was supposed to meet her and my Gran for lunch after the lesson, instead it is now just a quick visit and my Gran has to drive home again straight away so I can get to my lesson at 2. Any other week this would have been fine because it's a lie-in every other week, but I'd made plans. I mean I sorted the situation straight away, but the fact that the whole timetable stated we were to be in at the wrong time is kind of borderline unacceptable, especially when considering the fact that had we been in at half 9 anyway but turned up 10 minutes late, we would be shouted at like children. Huff.