Eileen Perrier - Grace

Whilst I have had a lull in visits I have been conducting some more research into artists that deal with subjects that are 'different'. I find the work of Eileen Perrier interesting, particularly the series 'Grace' which looks into people who have gaps between their front teeth.

Although this is more common than people with facial birthmarks, I still feel it is relevant to take influence from her work.

I have been unable to find more than this grid of images, as her work is quite hard to come by, but I like the uniformity of the images. The subjects are all looking in the same direction and smiling, which I like. I think that her work could influence me, as I have been taking head and shoulder shots of each subject and I feel that these are fairly strong. Perrier's work retains a element of character and depth, despite only showing part of the subject.

Mid Point Summary

I have hit around the middle of the term, and feel that I ought to post something relevant to the progress I have been making despite not taking any new pictures recently!

I have been in touch with the Birthmark Support Group a fair amount and I am finding it more and more difficult to find people that are willing, and able to appear in my project. I have had numerous people let me down, or simply not able to make the dates. I had a visit planned to Tunbridge Wells for example, but got stranded in the snow and had to call it off!

However, I feel it relevant to point out all of the things I have been learning about working as a photographer with a 3rd party organisation:

- This project has taught me to remain professional at all times; I am in constant email contact with the design agency, and the members of the Birthmark Support Group. It is my responsibility to ensure they feel they are getting the product they are paying for, and their valuable funding is going to the right place! I have to fill out and return expenses forms with full invoices and receipts and organise my travel. I feel that organisational skills, professionalism and self-promotion are absolutely invaluable when working as a photographer, and this element of the project is really teaching me a lot, fast!

- The organisation of each visit is a very time consuming and long process - I think I underestimated the sheer amount of emails, phone calls and text messages I would need to send to each subject! However, I feel that I organising the logistics of each visit, both of those I have already been on, and those I have planned, has taught me a huge amount. 

- Working with strangers is something that I have limited experience with, and I feel that this group of people could potentially be more vulnerable than your average member of the public. Having a birthmark, as I have found out from personal experience and from talking to other people, can be a stressful thing to deal with. I am pleased that my attitude when approaching my subjects has lead to successful visits that people have felt comfortable with - as this could have potentially been an issue!

I feel that not only is this module pushing me as an artist to create visually interesting and meaningful work, it is also making me a more rounded photographer and teaching me some invaluable skills which are necessary to survive in the world of professional photography.

I have a number of potential visits upcoming, so will be posting my progress shortly. 

Subject Visit Four - Alison

The next subject I visit is Alison, and have taken everything I have learnt from the previous shoots and applied it here. I found myself not needing to take as many photographs as before, as I was much more clear on what I needed to get.

I am now just aiming to get the two main photographs, which I have displayed here, as I feel that these two formats are working the best for me. Due to the nature of the location, I was forced to use flash quite heavily, but the images are still quite dark. I will attempt to rectify this in post production, but I think when on the next shoot it will be useful to take a set of studio lights with me.