5 year plan

Well now that I've secured a job within the creative industry, I will be moving to Bristol in the next few months. I plan to work as hard as I can for them and build up more clients and help the business grow, in doing so gaining more experience and finance. I would like to think within five years I could be managing the sales team for Tobias Robin Photography. The reason I would rather work for a growing business than go freelance when finishing university is because of the endless opportunities and possibilities that come with expansion. Which brings me onto my next step for the 5 year plan…moving to London.

Moving to London is definitely a main part of my 5 year plan and something I would think is achievable, im a big city girl and I need to live in a bustling city for my ideas and inspiration to flow freely. I will obviously be continuing with personal photographic projects, and because it doesn't take long AT ALL for you to get to any location in Europe from London, I will be focusing on the travel documentary photography, killing two stones with one bird; my absolute NEED to see the world and my passion for capturing my memories whilst doing so. And after I have built up a portfolio which I feel defines me as a photographer I would like to set up my own company. I don't as of yet know what the main mission for this company will be but i feel that it is the next appropriate step, and I would do this alongside the job that I was working in already. 

So there it is; my 5 year plan. Looking at it all typed out it seems that I will be extremely busy for these next 5 years, God... then again I may or may not also marry prince charming, ride off into the sunset and have a billion children, who knows?

YAAAY I HAVE A JOB!

So I have been applying for roles within the creative industry for the past month now in preparation for when I leave university, I have been quite selective in the roles I have applied for, ensuring that they will all make use of my photographic knowledge and passions.

So the other day I went to an assessment day in Swindon with Meta-morphose recruitment and after an interview with them they put me forward as a potential candidate for a role as 'Sales Executive' for Tobias Robin photography.

I had an interview with them yesterday and voila! I have a job!

So i won't be behind the camera, but I will be the spearhead sales executive for this company, meaning in a years time I will be working with an uncapped salary (eeep!) and I will have two colleagues under my leadership. It means that I will be able to live comfortably but still pursue my photographic passions with ongoing personal projects.

Im so bleeping excited!

Roles for the Bath & London Degree Shows; The Collective 2014

So at the start of the year Saskia and a few others went to London to find a gallery for us to exhibit our work once we have graduated. She went to view a gallery in Hoxton and made the decision this was a great space for us. Luckily everyone agreed and we’re all extremely excited to be showcasing our work there in June. I’ve also been contributing to the extensive list of industry professionals to invite to the private view on the 27th. 

During the last 6 months I have been carrying out 'Headshots' in order to raise funds for the grad show, where we will roughly need about £5,000 from start to finish. It was an easy way of getting money and building my rapport with clients etc, whilst also making use of my studio knowledge. 

We have also all been sharing our 'kickstarter' page in order to raise more funds and i have been sharing the website for the exhibition to people to raise awareness for the whole week so we don't have one massively busy day on the private view and it to be dead for the rest. 

http://thecollective2014.com/?page_id=92

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1261449723/the-collective

As for the Bath show I have been measuring out the spaces with the help of Matt Dear and with the advice of Andrew and other tutors we have been deciding which room should hold which art. Also we are in charge of the logistics of the bar -(A VERY IMPRTANT MATTER!!!). I think this will be a great networking opportunity for everybody exhibiting and hopefully form some good contacts and working relationships.

Postcards & Business Cards

In preparation for the Bath show and London show I’ve had some postcards and business cards printed. I thought the postcards were a good way of promoting my photography in a less boring way than just the name on the card. Personally I would always go and pick something up first that had an image on it. Hopefully these cards continue the travel and fashion narrative theme and spark more interest for my photography (my contact details will be on the back)

Tom Jackson Revisits

Tom jackson (sigh at those blue eyes) came to visit again, he was running a lighting studio workshop and basically gave us these great tips of what to work with when you have nothing to work with! 

1. For the first set up it was a basic one light set up, I held a white piece of polystyrene as a reflector to fill in the shadows showing that you can utilize the environment around you. 
2. We then chose an image by Terry Richardson and tried to get the same lighting effect as he achieved. The set up creates a harsh light as we used a light has no hood on, if you want to make it more subtle you can drop the stop by one or two points. 
3. We then recreated a lighting style by David Simms which is a far softer light, experimenting with the getting the background black and grey as well made for some interesting shots. For this we bounced the light off the ceiling, we exposed for f11 but dropped it down to 8.5 to create a softer light. 
4. Next we were aiming to create an image with a black background so we brought Georgia, our model for this image, further away from the backdrop so the light would natural drop away not lighting up the background making it darker. Another way to get a darker background is to semi close the umbrella. 
5. Our last lighting style was experimenting with fill light, we used a silver umbrella to create a soft filling light to the darker side of the face. 

Permanent exhibition at the Bath Spa train station waiting room

I have the opportunity to present my 1950s collection in a permanent exhibition at the Bath Spa waiting room! So i went to the waiting room to measure out all the walls, its so exciting!

7 x A1 prints with black wooden frames

4 x Landscape

3 x Portrait

I need to have permissions from the council because the Bath Station building is a protected heritage building we will need to have specialists in to put the images up on the walls

Have all the images printed, mounted, framed and ready for Tuesday 20th May.

'Pop Up' exhibition at the Bath Spa Train station

Currently exhibiting this collection at the Bath Spa Train station, a 'pop up' exhibition I have curated myself! On display until Tuesday 15th, other photographers showcased include Kathryn Younger, Thomas Katan, Jack Larbalestier and Donal Mcpartland.

I chose to use this as an opportunity to give a 'teaser' of what the exhibition in the waiting room is going to look like; so I decided to use a selection of only 3 images which would be the strongest showcase of my 1950s project. 

FoodCycle

Food Cycle mission statement: We’re all volunteers, and we all like to cook. We don’t like to see food wasted, and we know that supermarkets and shops have to throw away lots of edible food every day. We know there are people going hungry because they don’t have the money, time, or equipment to cook a proper meal for themselves.

So we thought – let’s get in the middle of that, take the edible food and cook for the community. Our costs are very low, our staff are all volunteers and we like seeing people enjoy our food.

Hello,

My name is Sarah Ashworth and I am a third year photography student at Bath Spa University.

I am writing to ask about the possibility of Pukka Bath publishing a small story on the charity 'FoodCycle'.

http://foodcycle.org.uk

FoodCycle is a nationally charity run organisation which meets in Bath every Wednesday at St Mary’s Catholic Church, Julian Road.

Their mission statement is that they don’t like to see food wasted, and they know that supermarkets and shops have to throw away lots of edible food every day. 

They know there are people going hungry because they don’t have the money, time, or equipment to cook a proper meal for themselves. 

So FoodCycle make a change, they take the edible food and cook for the community. 

Their costs are very low, all staff are volunteers and they like seeing people enjoy a wholesome three course meal. 

I didn't know that FoodCycle existed in Bath, even after studying here for three years, and yesterday I went for the first time to photograph how the charity works, including the cooking and serving of a three course meal to those in need. 

So I am writing to ask if it would be at all possible to use your magazine to get some much needed publicity for this very well organised and helpful charity, as it not only is a good cause but presents the City of Bath in a good light!

I have attached a selection of images that I think would be best suited to a magazine layout.

For any further details of how the charity works or any questions for me, please feel free to contact me via e-mail.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Kind Regards

The Weather Diaries

EVERYTHING IS RELATIVE. THE EXPERIENCE AND UNDERSTANDING OF EXISTENCE DEPENDS ON FROM WHAT PLACE AND ANGLE OR SIDE AN OBSERVATION IS MADE, ON WHEN THE OBSERVATION IS MADE AND WHO IS OBSERVING. Rúrí, Artist’s Statement; Relativity, 1992 Iceland.

The Nordic House, Reykjavik, Iceland, March 2014

Press release:

A poster exhibition of selected works by Cooper & Gorfer from the book The Weather Diaries. Published in connection to the upcoming Nordic Fashion Biennale, The Weather Diaries mix dark romanticism, photography and 18^th century painting to tell the story of Icelandic, Faroese and Greenlandic fashion.

I have put The Weather Diaries on my order list at Amazon- exciting times! 

Calvin Klein

Calvin Klein Talk - Design March, Reykjavik, Iceland, March 2014

During my time in Iceland, I went to a talk by Calvin Klein, which was part of Design March held at the Harpa in Reykjavik. 

Although I don’t plan on becoming a fashion designer, the talk was really interesting and Klein gave lots of good advice on working in the creative industry. Plus i was hoping that he would give out some freebies! haha

The following are a few notes that I took during the talk:

-Klein’s designs were inspired by the James Dean era and influenced by British design - he wanted to be the ‘tough guy’.

-He was always in control of his image and marketing. 

-He controlled and directed shoots and picked the team. 

-He worked with photographers such as Richard Avedon, Bruce Weber, Steven Meisel, Mario Sorrenti and Patrick Demarchelier. 

-He has worked at every level of the industry

In regards to imaging, Klein says it has to reflect what you create and you should always have a clear point of view.

"People don’t know where they want to go, you have to show them"

"You have to have the confidence in yourself that you want to do it, you can doubt yourself but never show it. Lead and make people buy into it. If you are not confident, act as if you are."

"Problem solving is life. If you don’t have to solve them anymore, you’re dead!"

"Push for what you believe in."