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Exhibition - Photography
Top Art Exhibition - Photography
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Charlotte Carter, New
Plymouth Girls’ High School
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My plans for 2014:
During 2014 I will be working a parttime job as well as gaining photography
skills and experience from my dad, who
is a wedding and portrait photographer.
Alongside this I will be auditioning
and taking part in various acting/stage
opportunities.
Information about my work:
Ideas / Concepts / Themes
When I first began shooting photographs
for my portfolio, I worked my way through
Puke Ariki, our local museum in New
Plymouth. Something about the lighting
and compositions of a museum exhibit
intrigued me, and the silhouettes and
shadows that the light created captured
Puke Ariki perfectly. As a development
and contrast to the perfectly lit and
placed exhibits open to the public, I
asked for permission to take photos in the
storeroom of the museum. The endless
amount of clothing, furniture, artefacts,
stuffed animals and historic artworks
created busier and nosier photographs
that provided an interesting point of
difference from the first few films I took.
Techniques / Processes / Materials
Because the light in Puke Ariki is limited,
I often had to set my camera at long
shutter speeds to allow it to capture
enough light and fully expose the subject
matter in my photograph. To create a
sharp photograph with a long shutter
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speed, I used a tripod, ensuring the
camera didn’t move or vibrate and create
blur.
Highs and lows that arose during
the production of my work:
An issue that arose while I was taking
photos for my portfolio was that some
exhibitions and parts of Puke Ariki were
not allowed to be photographed because
they are sacred to Māori. This limited my
subject matter and forced me to think
outside of the box to create a worthy
photograph for my portfolio.
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Corey Harris, Kerikeri High
School
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Daisy Friis, Northcote
College
Scholarship
My plans for 2014:
I am moving to Wellington this year (from
Auckland) to go to Victoria University.
I am doing a conjoint Bachelor of Arts
and Bachelor of Science majoring in
film, theatre and psychology, and also
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studying philosophy, criminology and
statistics.
Information about my work:
‘Statera’
Ideas / Concepts / Themes
I came up with my concept pretty early
on. I knew I wanted to do my board on
ballet as I was doing it at the time and was
super passionate about it. I also loved
the film Black Swan, so I just meshed
those things together – combined with
the original story of Swan Lake – to
create my board. The themes came hand
in hand with the content, really – how
society expects you to be perfect, yet
they don’t want you to be a prude (the
white swan) or completely wild (the black
swan). They expect you to walk a fine
line in the middle, which can be a lot of
pressure. This is why I named the board
‘Stratera’, which means balance in Latin.
Techniques / Processes / Materials
I really liked the idea of reflection
– reflecting on oneself and not liking
so much what you see – so that
was used a lot throughout my board,
along with double exposure and multiple
images. I also used a lot of quite basic
symbolism, like the water and black
feathers symbolising the black swan..
Highs and lows that arose during
the production of my work:
High points for me were basically when
I had a new idea or found a new artist
I really liked, and when things began to
click and come together. My main low
point seemed to hit during the second
board, when I had had no idea where to
go from the point I was at. Thankfully I
overcame this.
Daniel Price, Lindisfarne
College
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My plans for 2014:
Gap year in Northern Ireland, then
thinking of doing valuation and property
management or P.E. teacher training.
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Information about my work:
''Looking at Golf"
Ideas / Concepts / Themes
I developed my ideas from the artist
models that I used and incorporated
aspects of their work into my own. I kept
the golf theme throughout my board, e.g.
the round shape of the ball with the round
mirror, the green grass.
Techniques / Processes / Materials
The main technique I used was black and
white. I also used bokeh on a few photos –
blur was one of my favourite techniques.
I used mirrors to create an illusion. One of
the artist models I based my work on had
objects hanging down with the person
looking up. I did this with the golf balls
and clubs hanging and my subject lying
down looking up at them.
Highs and lows that arose during
the production of my work:
The high point was seeing my work
completed and set on to the board. There
were no low points.
Estelle Dippie, St Hilda’s
Collegiate School
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Top Subject Scholarship
My plans for 2014:
Year 13 at St Hilda’s Collegiate (I was
a Year 12 student studying Level 3
Photography last year).
Information about my work:
Ideas / Concepts / Themes
My
initial
ideas
stemmed
from
artist models such as John Hilliard,
David Hilliard and Cindy Sherman.
I drew influence from each of
these photographers and also from
other sources, including psychological
thrillers and dream interpretation, within
locations such as institutional space,
forests and the home. Key themes in my
work include isolation, dissociation and
reflection, allied with sombre and cold
moods. I used items such as mirrors,
water, doors, windows and corridors to
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create sub-themes and compositional
elements in my folio. These subthemes are physical and metaphorical
in the sense that they can be visually
photographed and also discussed as
symbols with deeper meanings that
relate back to the tableaux narrative
depicted on my board.
Techniques / Processes / Materials
The most technical aspect of my work
is the use of colour. I used cool blue
tones to portray emotions such as
sadness, melancholy and depression.
These tones also establish continuity
between my panels as I shot images in
three different spaces (institution, forest/
park and the home). I have also used cool
blues against warm flesh tones to show
emotional components and to contrast
positive and negative ideas.
Highs and lows that arose during
the production of my work:
A high point of producing such a folio was
being able to develop my original ideas
throughout the year and seeing these
ideas come together as a result of this
ongoing development. Another high point
was being a member of a cohesive and
supportive photography class, with whom
I was able to share ideas and experiment
with the different technical aspects.
Glen Powell-Stanford,
Wellington College
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My plans for 2014:
Victoria University School of Architecture
studying for Bachelor of Architectural
Studies..
Information about my work:
"Information Overload"
Ideas / Concepts / Themes
Initially I was interested in the concept of
the intervention of objects within a space,
however the execution proved overly
ambitious, requiring the transportation of
the contents of my living room around
town late at night. As a result I altered
my theme to focus on the destruction of
a living space. This change allowed me to
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have all my materials close at hand for
last minute adjustments and additions to
the staged scenes. As with all art, there
are multiple possible interpretations of
my portfolio. I personally like to think
of the excessive amount of scrunched
up newspaper as depicting the excessive
amount of jumbled up information within
our heads.
Techniques / Processes / Materials
Tools: tripod, Adobe Photoshop CS6 (for
post-processing), Sony DSC HX9V
Materials: leather chairs, 1960s bevelled
mirror, bookcase, brass lamp with cloth
shade ~ 8 weeks accumulation of
newspapers, cushions, books, doublesided tape.
During every photo-shoot I always kept
my desired layout of the photos on
the portfolio at the back of my mind. I
preferred the regular arrangement of
photos in rows and kept each panel as
symmetrical as possible.
Highs and lows that arose during
the production of my work:
The creation of this portfolio was probably
the most stressful thing I have ever
done in my life. I decided to start again
from scratch, with a simplified theme,
in response to my teacher’s critique of
the two panels I had just completed.
However, I managed to complete my
portfolio with a few late nights. One
example of a difficulty I had was the
night before the due date, as I was
arranging the newspaper outside the
window, the typical Wellington wind
made it incredibly difficult to balance the
newspaper without adhesive. I overcame
this problem by affixing the newspaper to
the windowsill with double-sided tape.
A tip for future photography students:
don’t worry if your portfolio is not up to
your original expectation; try to simplify
your scope of investigation and leave
things to your own intuition to sort out.
Use what you had done before as learning
material.
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Hamish R H Allan, Auckland
Grammar
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My plans for 2014:
I am studying a Bachelor of Design
at Massey University in Wellington,
majoring
in
visual
communication
design..
Information about my work:
"Suburban Decay"
Ideas / Concepts / Themes
I started off with general photographs
of the environment, focusing on the
deterioration of the building, both interior
and exterior. This idea developed into
highlighting the damage and decay of the
building as well as items left behind by
a variety of previous occupants. This has
been shown through the physical decay
of doorways, empty spaces and framing
of light.
Techniques / Processes / Materials
Low colour saturation is used to enhance
the atmosphere of the building. Another
key element is the use of light. Given
that the building is derelict, lighting is
limited, but I explored the way that
isolated areas of light coming from
the windows highlighted areas of the
interior. Techniques used: Photoshop and
transfers.
Highs and lows that arose during
the production of my work:
Gaining access to the derelict building
proved difficult, but it was interesting to
gain an insight as to the previous lives of
the building.
Jessica Bunnell, Queen
Margaret College
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Scholarship
My plans for 2014:
Studying spatial design and marketing at
Massey University in Wellington.
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Information about my work:
"Stitch in Time"
Ideas / Concepts / Themes
The idea I wanted to portray was the
model searching for their identity within
a family and community. This progressed
into experimenting with stitching and
wrapping with old photographs and the
contrast of modern techniques.
Techniques / Processes / Materials
I used a range of different materials on
my portfolio. One of the main materials
used was thread being stitched on to
my photographs. I also experimented
with printing photographs on to fabric to
extend my ideas. These processes did
take a long time, but were worth it in the
end. Artist models I looked at were Odette
England, with manipulation of photos,
and Greg Sands, playing with scale and
photomontage.
Highs and lows that arose during
the production of my work:
It was challenging using a model, as they
were unavailable a lot of the time, and
trying to fit their schedule in with mine
could be difficult. It was a great feeling
when seeing the finished portfolio.
Kate McDonald, St. Hilda’s
Collegiate
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Outstanding Scholarship
My plans for 2014:
Studying at Victoria University to
complete a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in
art history and philosophy.
Information about my work:
"The Dystopia and Utopia of
Food"
Ideas / Concepts / Themes
I am very passionate about food and
cooking and wanted to develop the ideas
from my Level 2 board further, which
also explored the mess that food creates.
Similar to Laura Letinsky, I was interested
in the aftermath of human consumption
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and the contrast with the meal before it
was touched. The colour range was also
important within my photographs and
was strongly influenced by the Russian
artistic movement of constructivism and
their use of red, white and black. I
developed these colours further with
the use of subject matter, stains and
shadows.
Techniques / Processes / Materials
All my photographs were shot in a
constructed studio-based environment to
emulate a restaurant style table setting. I
used studio lighting to control the colours
in my photographs, and to emphasise
shadows.
Highs and lows that arose during
the production of my work:
High points – setting up my shoots,
creating themes and finding different
artists to emulate and use as inspiration
to create my own work. Low points –
figuring out how I would end panel three
with a couple of photographs that would
incorporate all my previous ideas into a
new original composition/photograph.
Kezzia Flynn, Queen
Margaret College
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My plans for 2014:
I will be living in Australia, probably
doing a hairdressing apprenticeship,
while continuing art and photography as
a hobby.
Information about my work:
"Working with Flowers"
Ideas / Concepts / Themes
My teacher suggested I focus on flowers
because I could not think of a subject.
I knew that if I were to do flowers I
would want to make it different from
anything that would typically be done
when photographing flowers.
Techniques / Processes / Materials
I shot nearly all of my photos in the studio
and some in my bath at home. I used
fake flowers and real flowers. Photoshop
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was used a lot, especially with my more
interesting works. The process for me was
all about taking a traditional arrangement
of flowers and transforming that idea into
something different and special.
Highs and lows that arose during
the production of my work:
There were no issues, I flew through
this board and enjoyed every minute of
it. I never knew I would get so much
enjoyment out of using flowers for my
entire board. I was really surprised and
excited with what I created.
Kristin Li, Burnside High
School
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Scholarship
My plans for 2014:
Studying a Bachelor of Arts in film,
philosophy and art history at Victoria
University of Wellington.
Information about my work:
"The Homogenous, the Tangible,
the Integrated"
Ideas / Concepts / Themes
Through 2013, the idea I had in mind
for photography changed multiple times.
From the start, I knew I wanted to
incorporate photographs I had taken in
New York during the summer holiday. The
idea of crowds, the individual within the
crowd, and the individual out of a crowd
became my basic and general focus. The
ideas of identity loss in a group and free
will to express our own personalities were
also important throughout my portfolio.
These grew to look at typology between
my older sister and I – that is, at our
similarities and differences.
Techniques / Processes / Materials
In the first panel, the main focus was
on identity loss and the individual in
a crowd. To convey this, long shutter
speeds, low exposures and a Lensbaby
lens were primarily used. Further on, the
layout of images played a primary role
in the comparisons between my sister
and I. Different exposures, focal points,
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angles and lighting all showed the detail
of our lives and hobbies. At the end I used
transparency to overlay images.
Highs and lows that arose during
the production of my work:
Initially I wanted to work with three
people of different ages, but that proved
to be difficult as many people I knew were
busy. To overcome this, I decided to focus
on my sister and I, as it was easier to
coordinate our schedules. A high point
was doing research through the year for
inspiration, like watching films such as
Never Let Me Go and Fight Club. The
biggest challenge for me was to actually
decide on what was the most effective
way of conveying what I wanted to show.
Mitchell Slade, John Paul
College
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My plans for 2014:
Studying occupational therapy at Otago
Polytechnic.
Information about my work:
"The Hunting Dream"
Ideas / Concepts / Themes
I enjoy hunting deer in the central North
Island with my father and brother.
Techniques / Processes / Materials
Board
one
focused
on
hunting
preparation. I used a macro lens for
some photos to get close up shots of
the bullet reloading materials. Board two
concentrates on stalking the deer in the
bush. Close up shots and wide angle
shots were used to help develop the hunt
process, finishing with a close up of the
scope. Board three shows the kill. I used
Photoshop to depict the deer within the
scope. Photoshop was used for the final
photo to create a dream-like effect.
Highs and lows that arose during
the production of my work:
The high point was participating in
hunting. The low point was trying to get
board three to flow on from the previous
boards.
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Rosa Woods, Wakatipu
High School
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Scholarship
My plans for 2014:
University of Otago, studying a Bachelor
of Arts majoring in English.
Information about my work:
"Blending In"
Ideas / Concepts / Themes
At the beginning of last year, during the
time we needed to start brainstorming
themes for our panels, my friend and I
were on Tumblr searching for inspiration
(procrastinating). To convince ourselves
we were doing something productive,
we decided to each select a random
photograph from the dashboard and see
if we could make up a decent theme
from it. The photograph I found sparked
my entire idea. The picture was of a
girl sitting in a field, however the girl
was edited so that she was transparent
and "blending in” to the environment
around her. After heavily reading into the
image and coming up with something
that wasn’t half bad, I decided that I'd
found my concept for the year.
Techniques / Processes / Materials
My panel required only a little bit
of Photoshop magic, which was good
because photoshopping can be quite
time consuming. For the most part the
images were very straightforward. Dan
Mountford, Paul Butler, Pol Úbeda Hervàs
and Joeri Bosma were the main artist
models I sourced my inspiration from.
Double exposures and cut outs (print the
image, cut out person’s silhouette, then
rephotograph) are two examples of artist
model influence in my panel.
Highs and lows that arose during
the production of my work:
Solidifying the direction I wanted my
panel to go in was difficult because I
ended up having too many ideas and no
way to link them. Originally I planned to
do a panel of still life photography so I
wouldn’t have the hassle of coordinating
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a model to photograph, but the images
I came out with during my first few
trials weren’t what I expected. I was
confused by my concept and it showed
in the pictures, so I had to refine my
idea. I decided that a model of some
sort would be necessary to help the
ideas progress throughout the panel, and
using myself seemed like an obvious
solution. Doing an entire panel of selfportraits is great because you can just
go out and take photos; you don’t
need anything other than you and your
camera. However, it definitely has its
difficulties too, sometimes it would take
hundreds of shots before I’d get the one
I had in mind.
Trisha Hasin, Westlake
Girls’ High School
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Outstanding Scholarship My plans for 2014:
I will be doing the Bachelor of
Architectural Studies at the University of
Auckland.
Information about my work:
"Childhood Consumerism"
Ideas / Concepts / Themes
Right from the beginning of my work
I wanted to establish that my young
girl character has become very invested
in adult-type consumer goods. I initially
put her in places where children would
actually spend their time, and later
moved her to a more grown up area,
along with distorting her face. This was to
show how modern society has influenced
this young girl with the glitz and glamour
of today’s culture. In the end it is clear,
through the use of bright colour, that
the girl is now living a synthetic lifestyle.
This emphasises her transformation from
young and innocent to obnoxious and
superficial.
Techniques / Processes / Materials
Initially I used a documentary approach
to give the audience an insight into
the girl’s world as she interacts with a
variety of adult-type consumer goods,
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then I began to explore scale, specifically
focusing on enlarging her head. This led
me to start distorting the girl’s face,
allowing me to show how these consumer
goods have transformed her into a ‘mini
adult’. In the end the use of colour and
collaging is prominent in my work to show
how artificial this young girl’s life has
become.
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