Critical Appraisal: The Commission (300 words)

My series is about the availability of the second hand market and the advantage of having it in our current economy as well as the anonymity behind is context. My series is based around perfectly good furniture and objects which have become waste to one person but are appreciated by others; one mans trash is another mans treasure. I feel my work would sit best in an exhibition.

My understanding of the issues of waste is that it is generally a negative thing but has many different definitions. Waste can be positive: recycling; compost; the second hand market. I wanted to demonstrate a positive outcome of the issue.

To begin with I wanted to photograph a constructed set after being inspired by Anne Hardy’s work (my research here) but abandoned this idea because I felt it lacked depth. Then I decided I wanted to make portraits with a more personal touch. I looked at Alec Soth’s work (my research here) and aspired to recreate the subtle tones, square aesthetic and precise framing in my own series. I also spent some time researching the second hand market’s advantages and popularity found here. 

I chose to utilise natural lighting giving a more personal feel to my images. I used ISO 160 film for clarity and used a shallow depth of field to focus on either the faces of my subjects or the significant object and to demonstrate the personal essence in my series.

I managed my studies by taking two photographs and printing these, then re-shooting the other I took at an earlier stage - having already discarded the print. This way I worked well with two images and then concentrated on matching my last to fit the series (contacts and prints here) Time management is the most challenging aspect and to overcome this I need to plan each movement for future projects.