SIAN LAWRENCE

AUDIENCES &CONTEXTS

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YOU TALKING ’BOUT ME! ! ?

fig.1 ERWIN BLUMENFELD (left) Blumenfeld’s work using photography and print together, I believe these work well and are visual pleasing. Using the method of layering.

fig.3 FRANCOIS BRUNELLE (left & above)Brunelle has found people whom are strangers that look them same, tricking the viewer into thinking they twins, it’s interesting to see that there are people from different places that look so similar, maybe we all have a Doppelgänger

fig.2 DIANE ARBUS (above)IDENTICAL TWINS, ROSELLE, NJ, 1967

I was initially drawn to the ‘you TALKING ‘bout ME!!?’ brief, because I liked the idea of the different and the other, maybe that’s the darker side of me. Instantly I began to think about Diane Arbus’s work, I adore the creepy quality and how she focuses more on the abnormal and the different. There is something gripping about her work. I found myself wanting to do photography, when thinking of ideas, I came up with the idea of looking at twins. Being a twin myself, none identical, I know what it’s like to be stereotyped. Most people believe that because we look alike. We are the same person; people assume that if my sibling doesn’t like something than I wont like it either, which isn’t always the case. Many people refer to twins as ‘the twins’ whilst visiting a twins club, I spoke to one of the mothers who expressed that she wouldn’t want her twins to be known as ‘the twins’ as they are two different people and though still really young they already have different personalities.I started to look at what other people think and feel about twins and also how twins feel about being twins. I carried out a survey, as I wanted to see what people would say. I got quite a mixed response from the positive to some darn right stupid answers.

I started to do some symmetry photographs with mine and my sisters faces than I wanted to do some documentary photography of twins, I wanted to show the similarities and ignore the differences. i also noticed that many of the images i have looked at for research are black and white, i wondered whether this has different effect on the photograph than in colour. Firstly I found it hard to find twins, without sounding harsh, i didn’t want to use the twins in my class. I wanted to find people I wasn’t familiar with and people that I found more eccentric... But I think I was being too picky and it ended up with me looking for people that probably didn’t exists.

I than decided to take a different approach to looking at this brief, I started to look around at twins clubs, which lead me to visit one in Epsom, I wasn’t sure what to expect when going, though I’d been to one when I was younger. I also only took my film camera, and now looking at the results, it would have been better to take both. Many of the twins were too young to know how to cooperate, but I managed to get a few candid shots.

I went to the twins club, took photos and talked with the mums about what it was like having twins, but when they’d ask me what my project was, I found myself stumbling over my words because I wasn’t really sure what I was doing, than getting my photos back and looking at them, I wasn’t really happy with the outcome of the photos and I sat down with an idea block, I didn’t know what to do or how I could contextualise my work and with time running short i felt stressed and under pressure.

This year has been an on going battle with myself, full of negativity. I wondered whether or not I’m doing the right thing, though I am really enjoying what I do, I’ve found myself really getting Into the Process of photography and print making, screen printing, in particular.

EVERY PICTURE SPELLS A STORY&CARRY ON CAMPAIGNING

For the next brief I knew I wanted to use screen printing and with that in mind, I started to look at the fairy tale, The Frog Prince. I read the original ‘Brothers grim’ version. Where she doesn’t kiss the frog, she throws him against the wall to break the curse. I wanted to find a way to illustrate this but how myself struggling when it came to drawing, I found it hard to draw different facial expressions.

I than started to think about the saying ‘You Have to Kiss a Few Frogs Before You Find Your Prince.’ It made me think about how being a teenager and feeling under pressure to be in a relationship and things like that. I than started to think about doing some sort of campaign, for teenage whom feel under pressure in life, and have a support group. I made various social websites, none of which have really taken off yet, but with more time and campaigning I think they could be a big help to someone’s life. I started to draw up some poster ideas, and went into screen printing. I learnt quite lot when doing this process, doing two colour processes and various other things, i think the posters that i had done, don’t really have much to them, as in what it’s about, therefore it’s a bit of a mystery.

This semester I was able to do a book binding workshop, I decided that I wanted to use the frog image, using flock which has a velvety texture. i thought it would be a nice symbol and illustration for the book cover as it shows what the story is with a simple illustration.

There’s plenty of fish in the sea.

I will use this phrase to make myself feel less discusted with the amount of mingers i have kissed...

Be promiscuous until you find the one.

When it’s right you know, when it’s not you know.

Don’t judge.

I have to deal with a bunch of useless WANKERS before I realise everyone is a WANKER... You just have to find one you can put up with!

You have to sleep around a bit.

You will make a few mistakes before you find your way.

Don’t say yes to the first person that comes along.

Don’t give up, precieve and you’ll get your reward.

Explore different possibilities before you get to find your conclusion.

There are too many horrible guys vs. a few good ones, so there is more chance you have to go through bad ones before finding a good one.

Keep Looking!

But i don’t want to kiss frogs and I’m not looking for a prince.

People you know longer feel for, are often seen in a deceptively ugly light.

WhAt DOES thIS SAyINg MEAN OR CONNOtE tO yOU?

http://kissthefrogbeforetheprince.tumblr.com/

I made various social websites, Tumblr and Facebook as nowadays many young teenagers use these platforms to communitcate, so it’s one of the best ways that i can get the message across, none of which have really taken off yet, but with more time and campaigning I think they could be a big help to someones life. I wanted to keep the layout simple as it’s more about the content, but i feel there is still lots more work i could do to improve the website more. The idea for the blog/website was for people to share things and stories either about what they are going through or something to help others, like uplifting quotes or photos for example.

FALL ABILITY OR A PAIR AN SAYS CAN BE DECEPTIVE

I than went on to collaborate with Grace Walsh and Sophie Dolan, on the ‘fall ABILITY or A pair AN says CAN be DECEPTIVE’ originally we wanted to do something about deceiving the eyes using photographs, as i had done something similar for my independent practice.After discussion and brainstorming, and notices how each of us say words different, for example Mirror, i say mee-rror.We decided to see what if any words had different meanings in different places and with Sophie being from Barbados, here was the perfect opportunity.

We decided to film the results, which turned out quite comical. For this semester i don’t feel that i’ve performed to my best ability, i feel that i’ve faced and overcome a lot of person battles that have got in the way of my work, but haven’t completely prevented me. i feel that i am ending this semester on more positive note, looking forward to summer work experience and starting my third year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm48E7puh3g

BIBLIOGRAPHY Fig 1. Blumenfeld, Erwin. (1959). PHOTOGRAPH FOR DAYTON’S OVAL ROOM. New York. At: http://www.modernisminc.com/artists/Erwin_BLUMENFELD/?image=Photograph_for_Daytons_Oval_Room(Accessed on: 8.03.2013)

Fig 2. Arbus, Diane. (1967). Identical Twins. Roselle, NJ. At: http://www.cavetocanvas.com/post/13361703662/identical-twins-roselle-nj-diane-arbus-1967(Accessed on: 10.03.2013)

Fig 3. Brunelle, Francois. (s.d). I’m not a look-alike! At: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2268040/Francois-Brunelle-portraits-Photographer-sets-shoot-200-fascinating-portraits-strangers-look-like-TWINS.html#axzz2Jm3WzA3F(Accessed on: 12.03.2013)