Project Proposal

Project Proposal 

Assignment: Out in the World &  Title: Beauty of the High Vis Jacket, Beauty Of The Common Tool revisited

The concept behind the project is based on David Campany’s essay on “Out in the World: Still Life Photography between Art and Commerce.” 

I am planning on taking on the simple idea of turning the unfashionable high vis jacket and turning it into the object that has got flare and it is designed for it to stand out with the diffuser. The objects that are going to be around the side is going to be based around the idea that Walker Evans created in 1955. The idea will be to take the work of the ‘Beauties of the Common Tool’ by using pillars that I have got at home. I am planning on using them to be designed to be for a working-class advert to the middle class with elegance. Unlike how Walker Evans made his work I am planning to turn my work with colour and make the tools be silhouettes so it will stand out to the members of the public at home. 

Mentioned in the essay is how “This is less nostalgia than a sign of how hard it is to develop an artistic relation to the very new. ‘Design just a little dated will interest any artist. Design current is always terrible. Anyone who has tried to find a good contemporary lamp or clock will know what I mean.”. 

I am planning on trying to contradict the statement and take something that it is seen to be contemporary and turn it around to make the current image to look decent. I don’t want to make my work look like it is from the past as it will make the work look terrible and this means I want to try and make it something look different to the viewer. 

“All of which is Art with a capital ‘A’, all of it keen to distance itself from the still life as Commerce (capital ‘C’), even though commerce is often the subject matter.” I am planning on making the work come together and make art come together will the idea of commerce to make the viewer understand how we are simple, and it comes together. This allows me to understand how I can use the simple lighting set up and turn it into something that nobody has made the work that I am planning on producing.  I make my work be a social statement and advertisement to stand out and sell the idea of High vis jacket. Context, as any photographer will tell you, is key.   

I am wanting to highlight how we overlook the humble high vis jacket and make it all look plain and boring. I want to make a statement to say that a humble high vis jacket can look good in any way shape and form when you come to present it. I am also planning on photographing the tools against the diffuser to see what the impact it will have on my work with it done to be simulated to Walker Evans’s tools to highlight the change that we are seeing in life. 


 All of this Section has got direct quotes and paraphrased references from the Essay By David Company (CAMPANY, 2011)

Methodologies 

 I am planning on shooting this project in the Daphne Oram studio Do1.08 with it being done to look formal but have a loving texture and feeling to the jacket. In the frame is going to be a high vis jacket that I will place on a light stand with a coat hanger to make it look formal with a glare to the viewer at home. I will also be placing tools around the diffuser to make it look interesting and be inspired by Walker Evans.  The work will not have any ethical implications once completed due to the fact I am not making a political statement with the high vis jacket. The only ethical implication is that if I am stopped and search they will assume the worst when it comes to the use or the tools that I am photographing. The main specific research that I will need to undertake is the essay by David Campany about in the world. 

Intended Publication/ Audience 

The indented audience is to be done for a gallery or fashion magazine setting when it comes to the high vis jacket to highlight what my jacket has done and to make it stand out to the viewer.   I am also planning on producing two versions a 10x8 version, for example, to be used for a gallery set up and square format image for the images to stand out when uploading to Instagram. Some of the images that I am planning on using will be edited to expand them to square to allow them to stand out. The format will be achieved by expanding the canvas with the crop tool and with the use of the content-aware tool it allows me to keep the tool the same but allows me to show more information to the viewer on Instagram.

Equipment Used
The lighting equipment is going to be 3 Bowen Gemini lights, with two lights placed around the back to give the background the glow and light with an umbrella to place some light on the jacket just enough for it to stand out. I will also be using a light diffuser for my background as it will be able to make the work look contemporary and interesting. The camera I am planning on using is a cannon EOS 60D & 70D this be borrowed from the university. I will also be using a light trigger with a light meter to highlight what needed to be done. The digital equipment will be used with Adobe Lightroom, Bridge, Photoshop.

Writers 

The writers that I am going to be researching is David Campany with the work being based around his essay on Out in the world. This is going to be the main influence when it comes to scholars and writers.