Current possible finals.

At the moment I have two items of clothing from each person, three in two cases. I'm hoping the crit will help narrow down which ones I should have as my final five. I'm going to print them out at around A2 size, which looked pretty decent on a basic print out I did of some of the previous images I have shot.

But overall I'm pretty chuffed with the quality, I just need to spend the rest of the weekend working on the text to go with them because I feel that it's pretty important to anchor the concept in that way.
I know the dyptychs are different widths apart but it's not for presentation, it's because I'll be printing them out A1/0 sheet at a time and it's easier to put them together. Obviously they won't stay like this because I need to pick certain ones.

© Ruth Johnston 2011.

Home stretch.

I love this point in a uni project. I'm going to like it even more after my final tutorial on Wednesday.
I've spent the morning trimming down my final images and re-printing images that weren't quite up to scratch the first time round - so another £12 down the drain. My RDB is very nearly finished and then it's just the Project Report to get done and that's everything. Then I can begin to focus on the dreaded dissertation. Boo!

I sent one of my images to be mounted professionally onto foamex but it didn't arrive in time for the final crit so I had to mount another on foamboard as well. I like the paper they've used and I'm aware that I've done quite a shoddy mounting job, but I don't see a great deal of difference other than in the weight. I might just stock up on thinner self-adhesive mount-board and do it the easier (slightly cheaper) way. They also got the sizing wrong, so I just have a print of Gareth forever now anyway.

I have another ASK meeting in a bit. It will hopefully sort me out enough for my dissertation to be fantastic. I don't really like being told that I use 'weird phrasing'. Although, if I get a 2:1, I'll still be happy with it.

'Nother Exhibition.

So, these are my final prints up on the walls of Eldon, and they will remain there for the next year, so anyone in Portsmouth is free to go look.

I'm quite proud of myself, and at least this is an indication that I passed, as I can think of one person whose work wasn't 'allowed' to be put up, it doesn't even look like they left her a space, so it isn't as though she just didn't turn up.

All spreads, 1st draft.

© Ruth Johnston 2010.

So these are my final draft spreads, with all the answers put in and without placeholder text, it feels good to have the basic elements finished but there are some finishing touches to be made before I'll feel confident enough to hand these in.
I may even change the advert yet, too and I'm not sure about the red, but going with the same colour throughout isn't something I've seen Company do in an article of this kind, yet.

In other news, the date of pitching to a band is looming, as in, it's tomorrow, I am seriously considering throwing it, it's making me so nervous. I don't really know what they want, I have no experience and the only reason I'm even going for it is so I can get some. My only ideas are already done, basic, band photography, although, maybe any band that doesn't really go in this direction, particularly as a new band starting out, I'm not sure how much of a chance they would have. ARGH, all that aside, it's driving me mad, whether I'm a competent photographer, or not.

My Lovely Life.

It's finished, it's done and I'm glad to see the back of it.
This is how it should be set up when presented, to juxtapose the usual framing, positioning and displaying of events within family photographs I've tried to display the mundanities and non-events. Alongside the book, which is to be picked up and read. I basically abandoned 'with' & 'without' after I made the book.

At the moment it doesn't look like I'll have to present it due to the University being closed for it's third day in a row tomorrow, with more snow on the way at the weekend and my deadline, which was on Tuesday now being stretched to Friday - meaning it joins Project Management (the exhibition), which is in it's proper place and my essay, which was moved from tomorrow to next week too. I don't know how this is all going to work.
All of this closure business and snow is cutting it a bit finely with the exhibition and at this rate none of my family will be coming down and I may not even go myself, I wonder if we'll think about rescheduling. We can't even have our final arrangements meeting tomorrow due to everything being closed. I'm not being funny but everyone should get their snowboots on and quit being so wussy.

Final Invitation Designs.

I've finished with them until I get all the sponsors and the extra speakers now tbh.
It's so annoying to wait on people all the time.
The back looks much better with all the 'edit here' red, so I just provisionally put the guest speaker in. I think there still could be some adjustment to the back, it's looking more and more stretched the more I look at it.

Still smilin'.

No one really liked the image I picked out for the exhibition, I'm using it anyway. I think it will look the best blown up, so why not?

Some people think they know it all.
I'm looking forward to eating pizza tonight.

I'm thinking about following Moon round for the second documentary practices brief, I reckon he'd be cool with it.
I'd kind of like to go into the bridal shop round the corner and ask if I can photograph the women trying on dresses but some people may not like that.

I'm kind of disappointed with how the group crit went because I thought my idea was pretty neat and my images weren't that bad. In fact I thought they were pretty good. But no one was that interested in anything really apart from a few anyway. So I guess I can't be too offended.

Not sure if I'm tired now or just bored, point is, I'm definitely not doing any work tonight. I have so many films to catch up on.

Cuddle. Relax. Sleep.

This series is called, 'Cuddle. Relax. Sleep', this relates to things we do in bed as well as the functions that this bed can no longer carry out.

I came across this bed while walking back to my house. I liked how it was just there and had been abandoned - I almost felt sorry for it.
This bed is no longer a bed, it's just a piece of rubbish. Beds are designed for intimacy and relaxation, the side of the road fulfills neither of these roles and neither does this bed.

There are seven images in this series to replicate a week. I have titled the images as spaced out in time to make the period seem longer over the images. The bed has been in the same place for 12 days so far.

Day 1, 5:00pm.

Day 3, 2:00pm.

Day 4, 12:00pm.

Day 6, 4:36pm.

Day 7, 6:00pm.

Day 7/8, 1:12am.

Day 9, 8:00am.

Main Influences:
Martin Parr: looking at the ordinary and it's significance over time.
Salva Lopez: the loneliness of empty spaces.
Richard Wentworth: the throwaway society and the burden of living in an over-crowded world of mass-produced objects. As well as our failure to look at the ordinary and see it as extraordinary.
Charlotte Cotton - The Photograph as Contemporary Art: Chapter 4 'Something and nothing': how photographing everyday items alters their concept and our perception and how still-life photography makes the audience question the subject of the image rather than the practitioner's technique.

I feel quite sickeningly 'modern art'.
Day 7/8 is going in my exhibition.
All images, Ruth Johnston 2009©