You mug!

I'm really ill, which is a total bummer because I had planned on doing a few important things, ironically one of them being registering with the local GP, but I'm too sick to leave the house, so things are on hold. I only hope that I'm a bit less snotty and achey for my driving lesson tomorrow as my test is in less than a month, don't ask me why I booked it, I don't know either.

I'm placing full blame for this lurgy on my sister and Moon's brother, I can't blame one or the other as they seem to both have the same thing and have been ill for the same amount of time, and I've been near both of them, my immune system was doing so well until about 11pm last night, unacceptable.

In slightly more fun news, I finally got around to taking part in the 'Yours & Theirs' project this week and my image is up on both their Facebook and blog, so I'm pretty chuffed.
The theme was 'Your Favourite Mug', and this is the photo I entered.

This is neither my mug, or even a mug I use, it belongs to my Gran and it's the one I give to Moon whenever we're there for a cup of coffee. It's so funny and difficult to hold, as well as being ridiculously tacky, but it's definitely one of the best mugs I've seen.
I'd love to take part in similar projects as it was so easy, perhaps a downside being that 'Yours & Theirs' is Australian; it would be great to be part of something a bit more local, for no other reason other than to have another, more focussed outlet to share my work.

I'm going to give this week's theme a shot too, it's 'A Place You Like to Go', and if you're a long-time reader of this blog you'll know there are quite a few places that I like to go, a lot, so I'm sure I'll be able to get around to capturing something.
Here are a few of my favourites from the 'Your Favourite Mug' entries.

Lucy White


Candice Wilde


Alana Dimou
Why not give it a go yourself? It's so much fun to see people's different takes on such simple subject matter. If you know about any similar UK projects I'd also love to hear about them.

Happy 4th January!

And happy new year, etc.

I would apologise for my absence but I've been quite busy, and productive so I won't say anything, except hello!
I have a backlog of photos to share with you. Mainly from NYE, which was actually quite fun, until Moon and I ended up on his sofa at 3:30am watching Glastonbury highlights that we'd already seen. A bit of Ring of Fire always brings people together, but more on that in a future post.

Right now, I'm sat here typing to you because after literally months of promising (really you can check up if you want), I finally got round to uploading and posting my online portfolio. I'm actually quite pleased with it, so thank you Digital Photo Gallery, you are simplistic and just what I wanted.
The only thing I am having slight issues with is that my 'About' page looks odd, but it will do for the time-being as I think I'm overdone on the whole thing after spending the last two days on it.

The New Year was definitely a good excuse to get it over and done with because after having put it off basically since graduating, I'm fairly certain that I needed a reason for a little get up and go. I mean, I dabbled in making one from scratch and if I was honest with myself and really tried, I could probably have breezed through it, but sadly, I have a tendency to be quite lazy and would rather just refresh my social presences all day.

I external-linked to this blog because I've grown far too attached to it to create a new one for the soul purpose of having everything integrated. I also linked to my old Photography Tumblr for my University work for the sheer ease, but also due to the fact that had I not, I would have to list each project in the sidebar (unless someone can tell me otherwise), which would definitely look crap, and the Tumblr isn't too dissimilar to my portfolio anyway, plus no one will actually be leaving the site.

So I'm fairly pleased with it anyway, and feeling a lot more confident in my abilities as a photographer now that I've categorised and ordered everything and it's out there for real people to see. It would be nice to have some feedback on it.

Link: http://www.ruthjohnstonphotography.com

On the job front, there is nothing that exciting, although I'm sure there are people still bleary-eyed from their first day back. I'm going to give everything a bit more time as most of the emails I've sent out were over Christmas so I wasn't expecting an immediate response anyway.
I have got an interview tomorrow though, not sure if it's creative as the description was a bit vague and the title was kind of general, I'm still looking forward to it though, it sounds like it has potential to be interesting.
This is not very 'me' for my first blog of 2012, but I thought you should know that I have a portfolio now and that I've begun the year with an attempt to be less lazy and do the one thing I should have done the previous year.

And it's Wednesday, how?

It's funny how a sudden burst of things to do can really get you motivated and make the week fly by - and that's including the two-hour nap I squeezed in yesterday afternoon. It helps today that the sun is out, I always find that if I have things to do, I'm much more likely to do them when it's warm and bright.

I've been full to the brim with idea of how to create more structure within my blog as well as perhaps trying to write both a bit better and about more specific things in one post, rather than ten different things all together.

Yesterday, I had the first face-to-face interview that I've had in ages, probably since the middle of August. I'd like to tell you that it went really well but I really can't ever tell. Interviews are a nightmare; you never know if the person interviewing you has a lot of experience in interviewing (because it is a skill) or even if the person interviewing knows what their looking for. And when they ask you to ask them questions, if you've read up on them and it's self-explanatory you won't need to know anything so you're caught because asking a question can show both lack of interest and lack of knowledge at the same time, even when neither is the case. It seems like a good position though and it's only for three months, plus it's paid, which has been incredibly hard to come by. I'd quite like it, mainly because it will give me something to do and I can tell people what I've been doing and they might actually be interested and not go off into a monologue about how tough the job market is.

This is what I wore to the interview, don't think it's my best, that blazer definitely looks much better with dresses, but that's just my opinion.

What I Wore, 27/09/2011.
Blazer: eBay
Shirt: Dorothy Perkins
Trousers: Primark
Shoes: Primark
If you remember that flyer that I posted last week, I actually got around to putting some up in New Malden today. Not sure how much will come from it, I only targeted the leisure centre and a community centre, but you never know. There's also one up in the window of Noodle Express.


I have a nightclub photography job in the works too - see how I've been keeping the ball rolling this week? - so I've got to get on buying some insurance once the confirmed event dates come through, it will mainly be covering University nights out so things could get sticky, literally.

While I'm here, here are some photos from my phone this week, mainly in and around train stations. Apparently a mysterious 'El Barto' has hit New Malden, who would have thought it?

My interview was in Southwark yesterday and I kind of love that area, particularly the station but some of the café's and shops are quite neat. The office was also in very close proximity to the Tate Modern, somewhere that the pretentious artist in me feels I should visit more often.

Beep.

Hello,

Just letting the two people that read this that I am still alive but I have no idea what to do with myself post-degree.
I'm getting myself in gear once I get home and putting my CVs places, I'll be in a huge rush because I'm off to Glastonbury on Tuesday, well I'm off to Cornwall on Tuesday and then heading to Glastonbury that night.

Crazy rush, I'm going to try and do a video diary, as well as hopefully take some nice photos, I'm slightly worried as I've now sold my G10 (I know I made such a fuss over it last year but I needed the money).

So I'm hoping that there will be slightly more activities going down on this blog as my summer is setting out to be pretty packed...
All I have left to do is complain about one of my final grades in my summative tutorial tomorrow and pack up 80% of what has been my life for the past year...

x

Text and Display.

So all I have left to do is to write about how my work is going to be displayed and the advice that I was given regarding text panels. I'm a bit gutted that I only got the final advice about text 5 days before the deadline so I can't get the 'proper' ones done in time, but I think I've printed and mounted these ones well enough that it won't matter. I wouldn't say that they're perfect for the exhibition, which is why I've sent them off to be printed and mounted at The Print Space, but they're adequate for the project hand-in.

Example display

I'm preparing my work for my Viva, which means re-printing my text panels for the Half-Chinese project and trimming them down. I don't think I'll bother re-mounting the images as I'm not showing the A3 versions anyway, which is apparently bad of me but I don't think it makes much difference and the images are of higher quality when they're smaller because I messed up the way I edited and processed them.

In other news, Topshop are allowing me to return a bag without a receipt because it broke for no reason after only a week of me owning it. They are doing this because I tweeted about how ripped off I felt, I'm quite amazed that they got back to me, something like that would never have happened five years ago, technology is great. I'm a bit sad because I liked the bag and it's out of stock online and was the last one in the shop because of this I either get my money back or an exchange for another bag up to the same price. Despite their high prices, it is nice to know that Topshop place their customer service and satisfaction in high regard.

ALSO, I am in the process of helping establish a Portsmouth Student Union Media NUJ Chapel (that's going to be a long acronym). I'm quite looking forward to getting involved, I have also managed to possibly do a fashion photoshoot for the University newspaper.

2nd Test.

So here are my images with some lighting. Excuse the backdrop. it will probably need to have the creases edited out. I hope they don't tell me to use the Uni studio because it's not like their backdrops are much better quality than my humble sheet anyway — why buys black bed sheets?

So hopefully this gives more of an idea of what I'm trying to do, these aren't all the items of clothing that I've got and I've since discovered that the wire that was given to me is too stretchy to maintain the weight of some of the clothes, so I'm going to have to work on that to get it tidier and more exact to what I really want. I quite like the classic lighting and I was pretty surprised due to the fact I ended up only using one light, but I wanted more of a contrast to the fabric than an even spread. I might take out a medium-format camera to see if I can get higher-quality results, but I think it's likely that once I've tidied that construction of my subjects that I will just stick with digital. I tried to break away from traditional backdrops but then, I guess there's a reason things are the way they are. I thought the brown looked weird.

© Ruth Johnston 2011.

Obviously these are unedited, but I'll probably get them up to scratch for the crit on Tuesday, I'm hoping to have my first crit of the semester where my work doesn't get practically torn up in front of me. At least the lighting is nice, that's one thing I think I have in my favour so far until I get some proper fishing wire. But I think the 'empty forms' theme is coming through slightly too...

Testing.

So a bit of what I'm doing now is about construction and as I'm not particularly good at that kind of thing, I thought it would be a good idea to test it out before I get down to it. It was easier than I thought it would be but I think I was just a bit daunted by it because sculpture has never ever been anything close to my strong point.

I'm going to be hanging clothing that has not been worn by it's owners in a long time or ever and turning them into more desirable objects. So as I mentioned, this still relates to consumerism and slightly to the identity of the wearer but it's much more simplified and conceptual. These are the items that Abbie gave me this morning, it was a mad rush to create something interesting last night.

© Ruth Johnston 2011.

Obviously there isn't anything particularly interesting about these images, but I will eventually be lighting everything properly and using a more interesting backdrop. I am thinking about perhaps steering away from black or white as it could turn more into product photography which isn't the idea, and bringing brighter colours into the images.
As the subjects I was going to use with my last idea are still at hand, I am thinking about just sticking with them (including myself) as despite being of a close age-range, we are all very different. I am asking for 3 never/seldom worn items from each subject.
I think if they are lit well, the images could turn into something quite weird to look at, I am usually aiming for that kind of effect so I'm quite pleased with that.

What I'm worried about is that the Interim Crit is on Tuesday and it's unlikely I'll have much more to show than this due to not really having the time over the weekend...

Abbie.

I have decided to simplify the text even more and accompany the images with one-word responses. Maybe this is becoming more about identity than consumerism, which is annoying because I seem to always end up within 'identity' confines.

"Surprised"
Abbie has even more clothes than I do but it didn't take that long so my time spent shooting won't be so bad, if I eventually end up with any strangers. People have taken the tear-offs but just not utilised them, annoying.

© Ruth Johnston 2011.

I quite like the close ups of the wardrobes and I've put the three next to each other in print form and it's looking quite promising. I just hope I'm not told to light the wardrobes from within with 'cool' lights again tomorrow. It's lame, I don't need to elaborate on it any more.

STRESS.

I don't even know if it's regular stress, the fact I'm actually doing something, if I'm exciting about Christmas or if there genuinely aren't enough hours in the day.
My diary for this week is very full, and I'm overwhelmed by the fact that it's past 11 o'clock already.

I had to pay £36 for my final prints today, I printed 18 images but only 11 were finals, the rest were mistakes, it's so mean that I can't get let off, especially when at least two of the prints were the wrong colour down to the printer not my bad Photoshopping. So, so unfair.

I think I'm just tired and it will probably look better tomorrow, but I'm feeling so stressed out about the fact that there are only two and a bit weeks left of term, and this is despite the fact that I'm actually on the cusp of finishing. I just don't know about research and I'm over-worried about my dissertation. At least this stressed bout is bringing on some 'get up and go'. This doesn't even make any sense and I need to go to bed now anyway.

I've got to start thinking.

How exactly do I feel about being half-Chinese, I've asked so many people now and have had so many different answers to think about, I'm not sure where I should start. I feel completely different to how I did when I started the project.

© Ruth Johnston 2010

I guess you could say I'm happy to be half-Chinese and to have something different about me, but I remember being very unhappy about it too. It can get annoying when people ask, "where are you from?", when I already know that what they really mean is, "where are your parents from?". When I say that my mum is Chinese, which is all they really want to know, I am then asked whether I can speak it, when I say, "No, but I can understand quite a lot", I'm met with a disappointed "oh", as though I'm the only person in the world who never learnt Chinese! I have been picked on, and even singled out by people in the street because of the way I look, but there's nothing I can do about it, and considering it's been this way since I can remember, all I can do is be used to it. I began this project as a way to find common ground and meet other half-Chinese people. I wanted to see if there were others who felt like me, although there have been some differing opinions, I think there is an amount of pride over our moderate exoticism.

I am happy to have never had a problem fitting in with my family like some of my other subjects, although I am closer to my Irish/English side, I think this is due to seeing them more often from a young age rather than exclusion from my Chinese side. It can get frustrating when attending Chinese family functions where my English-speaking cousins speak Chinese to each other and that aspect does feel like I'm being excluded, but maybe I should make more effort to talk to them generally anyway. Before moving away to University I always assumed my mum was strict with me due to her 'traditional values' but have since discovered that nearly all mothers are like her in the sense of nagging and worrying, and we're much closer now, even if the language barrier can get in the way of our relationship sometimes - we have had huge fights based on lack of understanding.

Due to the fact that this is how I am and how I will always be, it is quite clear that there are going to be mild irritations as there would be if I were a 'single-raced' or other 'mixed race' person. Although there are certain things that happen because I am half-Chinese, I now know to use them to learn rather than become resentful. I am definitely more comfortable with talking about it now than I was when I was younger and had less of an understanding.

Bonjour.

I feel like this 5 and a bit week lead-up is allowing me to settle in to being more Christmassy. Paris/Disneyland are going to make me feel even more so, I'm so excited now that I've found out that Disneyland Paris has a Tower of Terror. AHHH, so close, only one full day to go!
Here is a great photo of Moon.

I'm so pleased I have enough worth handing in as a draft for my dissertation, even if I don't write any more, which I probably will anyway. Guilt-free Paris, especially when realistically I can finish my other project super quick if I needed to (I just won't).

Tumblie.

This cheesecake has been making its way around Tumblr, but I some how came across the recipe, and that's what I spent the latter half of this afternoon making. I made my own version of the recipe, because the one I found was huge (with it being American, obviously).

© Ruth Johnston 2010.

My work and I aren't really getting on since Tumblr is so easy to spend hours on now and I think my brain is like "hey, you wrote over 1000 words the other day", that's stopping tomorrow. I'm back on it, I'm bored of Tumblr now anyway, eventually you just end up with skanks posting Photobooth pictures of them in their underwear - a contributing factor to why I don't have my own Tumblr - it's that and the constant recycling and overload of images.

I think I'm going to watch Misfits in bed and sort out my clean laundry, is there any point in doing any more of anything else?
I actually really liked Misfits, I just forgot to watch after the first episode, but now there's hype for the second season, so I have to prepare myself.
Robert Sheehan ♥ (I know, just like everyone, right?)

Oh yes, I rearranged my room because we've been having some terrible weather lately and the windows were getting all condensationy and I was paranoid it would make my pillow mouldy, which couldn't be good for me, so it had to change.
I think it's slightly cosier this way, plus I can really spy on people. :)

Winna!

So, I'm better at my course than I thought, apparently my idea is progressing very well and I just have to keep going in the direction I'm going. Very big 'phew' moment, as I thought I was majorly behind and completely stuck. This is why tutorials can be good, I feel like I have a bit more of a goal.
I need to start really thinking about what I want to say.
Overall I'm quite happy, I think I can get up to date with myself by the weekend, which is great. Plus there are people who haven't even got a solid idea yet so...

brb, gonna hibernate.

So far, this week has not been the best.
My lights broke at the weekend.
My shoot on Monday was rubbish.
It's costing more than I thought to print out the Gomes photos.
My replacement parts for my lights came a mere five minutes after I told one of my half-Chinese subjects to go home.
It took me nearly an hour to put in the new modelling bulb before I found out that part of the old one was still in there.
I was accidentally late for my tutorial this morning, thinking it was at 10:40 when it was actually at 10:20, my tutor was understandably pissed.
I had to send a grovelling email to the aforementioned tutor.

Swallow me up please. It's these little sod's law annoyances than make up an even bigger annoying picture.

On the plus side, I have a reshoot of Monday's shoot this afternoon (hopefully), and a shoot tomorrow and Friday, as well as one that I arranged ages ago on Sunday. I should have a decent amount of work piled up by next Monday and then maybe next week won't be so demotivating and terrible. URGH!

Super-reliable.

Today has been both hectic and lazy, I haven't really got round to doing any work, but I've been arranging a few more shoots.
One thing I can say is that half-Chinese people can be a bit useless at getting back to you when you're asking them to do something. Aside from the two people I know, everyone else who has said yes have taken until now to get back to me. I don't mind but it's a bit funny.

I cancelled a shoot today but the guy turned up anyway because he doesn't have a phone and didn't get the message through Facebook. I cancelled because of the 'lights situation' and five minutes after the guy stepped out the door to go home, the UPS van showed up with all my replacement parts. I've rearranged the shoot because I didn't want the photos to turn out like yesterdays - I did them with my flashgun and they're not cool.

Procrastination...

Although I have nothing to procrastinate from, I both enjoy and agree with this.

via Rachel Hulin

I'm off out tonight, I think it will do my lazy brain some good, worried about myself since I didn't get to sleep until 4:20 this morning...

Oops.

Haven't posted in a while, plan on updating soon, but haven't had many opportunities to take photos over the Easter holidays due to a horrible work load. It's the last term of my second year(!)
I have a photoshoot coming up next week for Andy, he'll be using my work in a brochure he's doing for his coursework, it's unpaid and a bit of extra work, but people will see it, even if they're not majorly important, it's a starting point.

I've not got anything of real worth to show you, this is a cake my cousin made for another cousin's baby naming party, she's into cakes now, alongside being a personal trainer, ex-restaurant manager and thinking about kids. I was kind of hoping it wouldn't be nice and was secretly annoyed when it was.

© Ruth Johnston 2010.

I didn't really take many photos at this event, my sister took a hold of my camera, I was too busy looking after Moon as it was the first time he was meeting the Chinese half of my family.

I promise my 'future self' that I'll do something interesting soon.
In the mean time my Project 365 has been chugging along nicely.

Men being men.

© Ruth Johnston 2010.

"I'll have to be honest and say I'm a bit of breast man!"
The shoot today went quite well, I have a feeling that my final images are within what I took today, I just need to tweak some of them. It was a lot easier than I expected, but boiling hot. I think I took enough time, I just hope that it wasn't too boring for my models really, they did a good job anyway.

My mind has been going 10 to the dozen today, I think it's thanks to a good breakfast.
My dissertation proposal is been looked upon in good favour and I've found lots of journals to help me out, I can't wait to start it properly, even if the thought of 10,000 words is unbelievably daunting. Everything to do with university work is whirling round in my head and it feels amazing to be so interested, even in other people's work, today was a great day.