Idea Proposal - 'Ah Shit'

Idea Proposal
'Ah Shit'

My series is going to be about the minor inconveniences in life. It will focus on small events that make you go 'ugghh' or roll your eyes, or even 'Ah shit' which will be the title of this project. Based upon a reply I received from my boyfriend when I messaged him about how I dropped my macaroni cheese on the floor, I aim for the series to be lighthearted but also relatable.


I'd like my work to be printed at this moment, however that isn't set in stone and may be changed if the images would suit a different form of presentation. I believe printing allows the images to have a very physical, real life feeling to them, which relates to the theme of the work because real, everyday scenarios.
At the current moment, I like the idea of framing each individual image, showing the fact that the images can exist in their own right, taken away from the narrative structure, however this will be decided closer to the time.

While my idea wasn’t stemmed from a particular artist, and it came to my mind without looking at other work, after the idea has formed I’ve looked at some work and found the work of Sandro Giordano. Sandro has a series called ‘In Extremis; Bodies with no regret’ and stated that the project is about “My photographs are “short stories” about a world that is falling-down. Each shot tells about worn-out characters who, in a sudden black-out of mind and body, crash with no attempt to save themselves. They are unable to, because of the fatigue of the everyday representation of living, oppressed by appearance instead of simply existing.”
While my message is certainly not as deep as that (although it’s open to evolve), the stylistic qualities of the images being messy yet visually pleasing is a style i’d like to explore with. They also have a huge theme of accidents and things we can’t control, which would relate to my work.


I'm simply trying to communicate the universal feeling that occurs when something doesn't go our way. That slight annoyance. Everybody can relate to that, and it's something we all have in common in a world that's very divided. I hope everybody who looks at the work regardless of age, gender, sexuality, race, class etc, will be able to relate to the images produced. I also think that because the scenarios aren't happening to the viewer at that one time that they look at the images holding these inconveniences, many viewers will find humour within the work.


I will be researching artists of all areas who shoot the everyday life, inconveniences, have lighthearted projects, projects many people can relate to, to help inform my work over the coming weeks. I also will be taking notes of minor inconveniences that happen to me as the weeks pass so I can recreate them.
I’d like to find out more about the work of Sandro Giordano and artists like him, which may help build a more deep meaning to the images.


At the moment my weekly budget sits at £90. I spend about £15 on food per week, and aim to put at least £35 in my savings per week. If I were to spend £10 a week on this project over the 11 weeks given, i'd have a budget of £110. I hope I don't have to spend that much, but I could if need be. That would leave me £30 a week extra for spending on myself or putting the remainder in my savings.

I plan on using instanced from my life that I have experienced, and so the location of the shoots will vary, but also shouldn’t be hard to find the right location. For example, and empty toilet roll holder would be easy to find. I do also plan on using public spaces, so I don't need permission to shoot there, however if I were to shoot in an arcade or such, which I am planning on, I may need to ask permission. I’m not sure on whether I’ll be shooting the images with people in them, perhaps maybe just parts of the person to insinuate a human presence without showing who, so the audience can connect themselves to the body. This means styling isn’t necessary.
As I am shooting the everyday, props won’t be hard to find. For example, a fallen spoon won’t be difficult to locate.
Some images will be taken as I see them, and others will be staged, such as me recreating the dropped food. In this case, the food will need to be bought but that shouldn’t be very expensive nor hard to come by.

I plan on using a Nikon D810. Using a digital camera allows me to take the images faster, be more stealthy with the camera, and most importantly to me, have less mistakes which means less money wasted than if I were to use film. Stylistically, I feel that medium format film would also work and I may try a shoot with that to see if I prefer that to the digital camera, and am open to changing my mind.
I might use studio lights, or I may use natural lighting. I want the images to be reasonably consistent in style to make the narrative feel more whole and as one, so I will need to experiment with this. It may be harder to use the lights in public places, but it can be done if need be. I have plug in studio lights in my own kit so I can experiment with those before deciding on what lighting I may need.

It’s hard to say at this point what i’ll be doing when, as things may arise to hinder my progress, however I have produced a timetable showing when I could possibly have time to work on this project, at this point in time.


Date
Am
Pm
Mon 8th October
Advanced Techniques
Research
Tues 9th October
Research
Proposal Review
Research
Weds 10th October

Reading for Crit
Thurs 11th October
Crit
Test Shoot?
Friday 12th October

Lecture
Saturday 13th October
Advanced Techniques Blog
Advanced Techniques Blog
Sunday 14th October
Work on project
Work on project


Monday 15th Oct
Advanced Techniques
Advanced Techniques Blog
Tuesday 16th

Tutorial
Work on project
Wednesday 17th

Reading for crit
Thursday 18th
Crit
Work on project
Friday 19th
Advanced Techniques Blog
Lecture
Saturday 20th
Work on Project
Work on project
Sunday 21st
Advanced techniques blog



Monday 22nd
Advanced Techniques
A T blog
Tuesday 23rd
Work on project
Work on project
Wednesday 24th

Reading for crit
Thursday 25th
Crit
Work on project
Friday 26th

Lecture
Saturday 27th
Advanced techniques blog
Advanced techniques blog
Sunday 28th




Monday 29th
Advanced Techniques
A T Blog
Tuesday 30th
Work on Project
Progress presentation
Wednesday 31st

Reading for crit
Thursday 1st
Crit

Friday 2nd
Work on Project
Lecture - progress presentation
Saturday 3rd
Work on Project
Work on project
Sunday 4th
Advanced Techniques Blog
Advanced Techniques Blog

Reading week - do advanced techniques blog and work on project whenever I can
Monday 5th


Tuesday  6th


Wednesday 7th


Thursday 8th


Friday 9th


Saturday 10th


Sunday 11th




Monday 12th
Advanced Techniques
AT blog
Tuesday 13th
Work on project
Interim Critique
Wednesday 14th

Reading for crit
Thursday 15th
Crit
Work on Project
Friday 16th

Lecture - Interim Critique
Saturday 17th
Work on Project
Work on Project
Sunday 18th
AT blog
AT blog


Monday 19th
Advanced Techniques
AT Blog
Tuesday 20th
Work on Project
Tutorial
Wednesday 21st

Reading for crit
Thursday 22nd
Crit
Work on Project
Friday 23rd
Work on Project
Lecture
Saturday 24th
AT Blog
AT Blog
Sunday 25th
AT Blog



Monday 26th
Advanced Techniques
AT Blog
Tuesday 27th
Work on Project
Sign up tutorials
Work on Project
Wednesday 28th

Reading for crit
Thursday 29th
Crit
Work on Project
Friday 30th
Work on Project
Sign up tutorials
Saturday 1st December
AT Blog
AT Blog
Sunday 2nd
AT Blog
Work on Project


Monday 3rd
Advanced Techniques
AT Blog
Tuesday 4th
Work on Project
Sign up tutorials
Wednesday 5th
Start Printing!!
Printing
Thursday 6th
Crit
Work on Project
Print
Friday 7th
Print
Sign up Tutorials
Print
Saturday 8th
AT Blog
AT Blog
Sunday 9th
AT Blog



Monday 10th
Advanced Techniques
AT Blog
Tuesday 11th
Print
Sign Up Tutorials
Print
Wednesday 12th
Work on project (blog)
Reading for crit
Thursday 13th
Crit
Work on Project (blog)
Friday 14th
Work on Project
Lecture
Saturday 15th
Go home
AT Blog
AT Blog
Sunday 16th
AT Blog



Monday 17th


Tuesday 18th
Work on Project
Work on project
Wednesday 19th
HAND IN
HAND IN


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