Personal Statement #4 (Final)

Personal Statement #3

Personal Statement #2

Personal Statement #1

University Courses

I have been researching into different university courses so that I am able to get a better idea of what sort of courses there are that involve Photography. The first one that I have researched is Photojournalism and Documentary Photography which is a course at Gloucestershire University. This course is a more specific Photography course which specifies in the area of documentary photography and photographing the world and the goings on around you. To me this sounds like an interesting course because you would be in a course that would benefit you by photographing documentaries, which could be interesting and factual.

Another course that I have looked into is Marine & Natural History Photography which is a course at Falmouth University. This course looked interesting to me because I have always liked animals, so photographing them would be something I could enjoy. This course could lead into jobs such as, a Wildlife Photographer an Underwater Photographer which could be something that I would be interested in looking into further.

Budgeting Portfolios

1) The main way that is most popular when presenting a portfolio would be in a black portfolio case which would contain large prints and sketchbooks. An A3 size would be best suited, as it’s big enough to carry small or larger pieces of work. I looked around at different websites but found at W H Smith there was a leather one for £21.99 which is a fairly priced portfolio. Inside the portfolio, you would also need high quality prints of your own work to present at the University interviews. The best size for the prints would be A3 so that you can get the best quality images to show at your interview. The price for A3 printing is £1.10 for each sheet. 25 images is a good amount to take along to an interview so that you have quite a varied range of images. Altogether this will amount to £27.50 for the printing of the images. Added onto the price of the portfolio, this budget is £49.49 (although the price could vary depending on what portfolio you choose to buy.)

Pros
-Easy to look through 
-Everything is there so it’s easy to keep together                                                                               

Cons
-Could be easily lost/damaged -It’s seen in person
-May not contain everything you want to take along
-Might be heavy to carry around and take to interviews

2) A digital portfolio is another way of presenting your work. For photography purposes this could be a better choice because the portfolio I would be presenting would be of digital images so the online version might be a better way to view them. The cost would be minimal for this. There is nothing that you would need in person for an online portfolio. The cost of a website (e.g. 500px, Wix or WordPress) is free, but if you want to upgrade to improve the look and get better settings from, you would need to pay. This is optional.

Pros
-Cheaper way to present                           
-Presentation is neater
-Less hassle taking to interviews

Cons
-Files could be easily lost                            
-It could look similar to other peoples portfolios 

3) A similar way of presenting to the portfolio would be presenting your images in a neat box. I looked around and found a fairly priced A3 box for £14.99. A3 is the best size because that is the size that I will be printing my portfolio images as it’s a good size to show the quality of the images and what you can do. Including the price of the 25 prints, this budget is £42.49. Compared to the price of the first portfolio, this is a little cheaper but still at a high price.

Pros
-The prints won’t get damaged
-The presentation is neat

Cons
-Images are on a bigger scale
-It is quite expensive to create

My most preferred choice would probably be the 3rd option because this way the images that you print off and all neat and presentable, which shows that you want your images to be presented well. Although the price is quite high for this option, I would still go for this way of presenting because the end product will be worth the price. It looks a lot better than a digital portfolio because it shows that you have gone to effort to present your work in the best possible way.

Summer Jobs

I haven’t had any photography jobs over the summer but I have had experience with taking photographs for people for free and for my purpose for building up a collection/range of images mainly for my portfolio.

My friends had their school prom this summer so I went to each of their houses and took picture of them getting ready and them with friends and family. Although it wasn’t a paid job, I still really enjoyed it and I am able to use them fro my own photography. They also kept the photographs so it makes me glad that they have a copy for memories.

I have a job in a coffee shop and at the moment my photographs are up in the window for sale. For this I went around the town of where I work and took photographs of the streets, people and building mainly for tourists who come to visit, as during the summer it can prove quite popular so I thought it would be a good place to show my pictures. I put my photographs in frames so they look presentable and put a small sticker in the corner with my name and website on there.

Goals and Aspirations

I want to have a future which includes photography, whether that is a job or a favourite hobby of mine. My next step from leaving college is going to University which I have been researching a lot recently. I have chosen to do Photography as a main subject at University. I was looking at other types of photography, but then I realised that I want to carry on Photography at University and not go into a specific type of photography. From University, I would use the Photography degree as a way of hopefully getting myself a full time job in photography. I’ve had a think about becoming a free lance photographer where I would go out myself and try to sell my images independently, this would be something I am interested in. I have realised that I have a favourite interest in Urban Exploration photography. In my own time, I go out to visit urban places where there may be derelict buildings or graffiti to take photographs. I think going to University will make my ideas for the future clearer to me as it will open me up to many other areas in that field of work.

Plymouth University

People from Plymouth University came to talk to us about what university is like and what courses and sources are available. The talk was helpful because I wasn’t sure whether I want to go to university or not, but the talk helped me by telling me what university is like and what this specific uni offers. I am still not sure if I want to go to uni so I have been looking at other options that I could choose for when I finish college. I have an idea already which would be to take a gap year straight after college so that I don’t jump into anything and I am able to travel around on my own to get experiences of a different life. I have thought about doing an apprenticeship in photography but there aren’t many in this subject so it might be hard to find one that I will particularly enjoy. The other option that I have thought about more and am more inclined to try is becoming a free lance photographer. I am already trying to set up my own website including my photographs on so people can view them, I am also trying to sell some of my photos in the cafe where I work so I can try and get my name and work known a bit better.

In the university talk they were talking about their own experiences when looking for uni’s and telling us the pros and cons of some of the other unis and plymouth uni. For one of them, he was telling us about how he found it hard to find a uni with a good course that was offering lots of hours, he found one that was offering 4 hours a week which he thought was a waste of money and he felt like he wanted more. He looked at Plymouth uni and they were offering a lot more hours which he was happy with, he also found that all the equipment was completely free to rent out anytime, whereas some other unis were going to make him pay which he said could’ve been hard trying to find the money all the time for bits of equipment.

At first the talk did make me become more interested in this specific university but then I thought more about it and my other options and I think uni won’t be for me. I think I will go to the open days to get a feel for the place and what it would be like but for the moment I’m considering more of my other options as I don’t think I will be going to uni.

University courses

After college I’m not completely sure of what I’ll do but I’m considering university as an option. I would be interested in doing a photography related course like media. I found a course at Plymouth University called Media Arts which would include photography and media.

 

I would be interested to look further into this course as I like both photography and media.