Evaluation of final task.

At first when I was given the Unit Brief I was excited that I could use my own ideas for the final project. I started to look at Equality & Diversity and it opened a can of worms and went off in all directions. My thoughts on the project then began to go all over the place, so I decided that the best thing to do was to research Equality & Diversity in books and on the internet. 

By looking and doing the research I was able to then put ideas down in my blog and on a mind map. I was finding that ideas where coming to me more after I had been researching but when I was doing something else like food shopping or driving! I have learnt from that as this may be when I am more relaxed and ideas come to me. At home I'm always distracted with motherly duties and housework so my mind is not that clear. 

I feel that parts of the assignment did go to plan and some of my other ideas for example using water and reflection wasn't going to work. I would like to try that again in the future or look into it more by researching how it can be done rather than just trying it on my own.  The use of the colours and back drop I had chosen worked well in the image and had the outcome I wanted although I would of liked to have used an older model for the shoot. 

If I was to do the assignment again I would probably stick more to my initial ideas and only consider looking at research that related to either Equality or Diversity and not the two together as there was too much to look at. I would of also arranged my final shoot a week sooner,  I had a deadline and I could have worked with the image more if it didn't go the way I wanted it too. 

I've really enjoyed planning the assignment and the process of putting ideas on paper or my blog has worked better. This process gives me time to think about what I want to do and its not just floating around in my head. I will use this concept for all future projects when working on college work or personal work if I have time to plan beforehand.  

Final Images

FINAL IMAGES FOR UNIT 3 - NEW GENERATIONS BY JULIE MORRISON

Shoot plan changed last minute on the 26th June 2013.

Sadly my model was unable to do the shoot last minute so I had to ask my daughter to do the shoot for me. Luckily I have my own studio set up at home and I was able to do the shoot last minute.

My original Idea and concept was to have a white British woman in a Sari with the use of the peace sign and her reflection in water. As I have changed my plan to use a child I had my daughter who is white British model for me. I thought about her being playful and relaxed in the shoot feeling comfortable in her own skin by her wearing the Sari and Indian head wear she is not afraid to show diversity and adapt to other cultures and wear different attire that would relate to a different religion or culture other than her own.

Here is one of my images from the shoot and this is my favourite image from the selection I have chosen to display.

Image 1, By J. Morrison - shot in a studio with 2 x lights one umbrella to the left of my model low down and another light placed to the right hand side using a softbox. I have used a black cloth background and foreground to create a mood and to bring out the reds in the Sari worn by the model.

Canon 40D - ISO 100 - Aperture F8, Shutter speed 1/125th. No flash used just constant light from both sides.

The name I have chosen for the image and project is New Generations. I wanted to show that in modern society it is becoming more and more common that we are finding that the younger/ newer generations are adapting to modern culture and  religion. This could be down to education at home or in schools by introducing a balanced teaching method in all schools regardless of the schools beliefs. 

Image 2, By J, Morrison with same camera settings and set up

In this image I have asked Robyn to show me the peace sign in India and she new it was like the Ok sign we use. I would of liked to have got it more sharp on her eye maybe however I have blurred her face more in post editing to bring the focus to her hand and fingers. What Robyn is doing is saying its ok to be what you want to be, wear what you want and feel comfortable in your path in life. 

 Image 3, Same camera & lighting settings - A more relaxed pose with a smile on her face, Robyn was asked to look directly at the camera for me relaxed and happy. I wanted her eyes covered at the sides and more focus on her face and smile to show a happy youthful child.

Although I have changed my shoot plan at the end I still managed to get across diversity in my image and the look that I was originally going for. If the Youth today can adapt to all religions, beliefs and culture then there is hope that the New Generation's of today will change this world for the better. 

My original set up Set up of lights. This is similar to what I had at home just a smaller version. 

I have carried out some test shots last week on my reflection in the water using a black backdrop, 2 x studio lights one with a soft box and the other a snoot.

I had to bring the lighting down low as I had water in a tray on the floor. After a couple of shoots I managed to get a reflection but I'm not sure if this will work on the day of my shoot. I may also have to change my image slightly to a child as my model has not contacted me over the weekend or got back to me about my shoot plan!

Images and ideas of what I am looking to achieve in my image.

Here is a girl praying at a ceremony in India. I love the bright colours that the girl is wearing and I want to bring out brightness in my image.

Here is my Sari that has been delivered today so that I can use it in my shoot.

This is my original shoot plan.

Photo shoot plan for my project 

The Idea that I have come up with for my shoot in the studio has come from my research  over the past two weeks. With extensive research on Equality & diversity I have chosen to go with a white woman dressed in an Indian Sari outfit. The lady will be sitting over and looking at her reflection in water with a drip of water dripping down onto the water to create a distort mirror image with ripples of water. 

My Idea cam from this brain storm I have done.

Here are some image I have found and that I have taken inspiration from for this task. 

Image 1, A woman in a Sari walking with her head covered looking down.

Image 2, an India woman covering her face.

 Image 3, A symbolic Hindu image

 Image 4, Image of a foot being dipped into water

Image 5, this image shows equality and peace with the hand gestures used by the lady.

I will be choosing to shoot my idea in a studio with a woman in a Sari it will be red and I will also have the model wear traditional Indian head wear. The model with be centre looking down sitting or standing with water below them.  I will use a white back drop and two soft boxes one with a flash. The lights will be on the left and the right of the model in front of her so that I can obtain a high key image.

ISO 100 - shutter 1/125th with an aperture of F8 or less if required - Camera Settings 

I have chosen a woman for purity in the image and a white woman for equality. I have also chosen to use water as water is peaceful and resembles peace. By the woman dripping in water and looking at her reflection she is at peace with herself and feels equal. 

The colours I would like to use will be red and gold for the lady. 

I will also be getting a red candle to burn to use as part of the body paint I will be using. 

Equality & Diversity 

By looking at books and websites there is no balance but there is Law. Do you disclose what you have to to be acceptable and not discriminated against? In the eye's of the Law you have a right to, but we are all being discriminated against by society. A fear of the unknown, how do we deal with something that is different from ourselves. Language, age, sexuality, race, disability this is where discrimination comes into play!

What is Equality & Diversity?

NHS WEBSITE

Equality is about ‘creating a fairer society, where everyone can participate and has the opportunity to fulfil their potential’

 equality, diversity and human rights as defining values of society - Promotes equal opportunities for everyone! Age, gender, disability, race.

Examples of discrimination where discussed within the group, we had all been victims of some for of discrimination and we also all discriminate in one way or another on a daily basis. The friends we choose the people we sit next too. 

Here are some of the images and websites that I have been looking at for my research into Equality & Diversity.

Nationality.  

http://www.fightdiscrimination.eu/content/winners-fight-discrimination-europe-photo-contest-announced

This site at Amnesty International. I found some images that have been produced that show examples of equality & Diversity across Europe. There was a competition whereby photographers could produce images to show social attitudes across Europe. 

Some of the images show families in poverty, destruction to buildings.

Race

Racism is a form of discrimination that stems from the belief that groups should be treated differently  according to phenotypic difference. It is widespread in the UK. 

Racism has many forms; direct attack is less common than perceived discrimination in interpersonal communication, or inequity in the receipt of services or justice. It is easier to measure discriminatory acts such as racist attacks, but some believe that everyday minor incidents or slights (micro-aggressions) and the perception that society is discriminatory may have a greater impact on the individual's health (Laveist, 1996). Measurement of perceived racism is complicated by its possible overlap with paranoid ideation and an external locus of control. However, ‘paranoia’ may represent a healthy coping strategy in a discriminatory environment (Sharpley et al, 2001

These above quotes are from The Royal College of Psychiatrists website. 

Age

Different forms of age discrimination. Shown in these two examples. Work related & discrimination of an older person who is being kept in a room away from society because of her age and disability. 

Disability 

There are many forms of disability whether this is physical or mental. Not always could you see that someone may have a disability. I remember being in Spain with my kids about 6 years ago and there was a man hopping along on crutches and as children would they asked really loudly whys that man only got one leg! As an adult and aware of social society we react embarrassed and quickly look for answers to not also discriminate that person by assuming their situation! 

I have taken out a few books from the Library - 

* Employment Law Handbook

* The Equal Opportunities Handbook

* Discrimination Law

I have skimmed through all three books to read up on different type of discrimination and when/how & why it happens. It also gives you an insight into what can be done if you feel discriminated against. 

Page, 61 - Equal Opportunities Handbook - Offenders & Ex-Offenders 

The Rehabilitation of offenders Act 1975

The purpose of this law is to help people who have been convicted in civilian life or as part of a military service back into work. If their sentence was a maximum of no more than two and a half years or less they would be under this law whereby there conviction becomes 'spent' (You do not have to disclose information). With this act in place the person who had committed a previous crime would and does not have to disclose this information when applying for a job. The terms of this law depend on weather the convicted person has stayed on the right side of the law since they where convicted.

Here is a link I found for NACRO with more information - http://www.nacro.org.uk/data/files/nacro-2007031501-285.pdf

On the other hand I have looked at Mental Health & disclosure in the workplace. Here are some quotes from http://www.mind.org.uk/assets/0001/6314/Managing_and_supporting_MH_at_work.pdf

Mental health stigma in employment 

A survey by the anti-stigma campaign ‘Time to 

Change’, led by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, 

found 92% of the British public believes that 

admitting to having a mental health problem 

would damage someone’s career. The survey 

found that 56% of the 2,000 respondents would 

not employ someone experiencing depression, 

even if they were the best candidate for the job.27

Here are some images relating to equality & diversity that I have found and would like to take inspiration from as part of this unit. (Unit 3) 

Equality - This man or woman is sat on the street homeless and in very poor conditions. (Idea to move this into the studio would be to copy the pose of the person however show a juxtaposition with the equality of life around them outside of the blanket being something very different? Showing two sides to life from one extreme to the other in one image) 

Image 1, 

Image 2, DNA - are we all the same? (For a studio I would use a model of a man - woman or child with lighting effects and pieces of sponge or Lego type structured to make the DNA up) The image could be direct image of a body but split up in photo shop after with different skin tones? Just ideas at the moment.

I have also found this calendar with imagery of equality & diversity world wide.  A few images to look at and consider. http://www2.lse.ac.uk/intranet/staff/equalityAndDiversity/docs/Calendar-2013.pdf

    

Photo Shoot based on shoot plan-Mood board & Mind map

Shoot completed in my studio in St Helens with Siana my model!

Image taken with planed intentions of a white back drop - High key image.

Silver & grey body paint & spray used on the model prior to the shoot.  Canon 40D used ISO 100 Shutter speed 1/125th aperture F6 to F8 throughout the shoot.

2 x soft boxes on the left and right of the model with no natural light just flash from the right soft box and constant light from the left.  On Image 4 I have used a silver reflector from the left to bounce some light up onto the model.  

All of the images have been post edited in Photoshop CS6.

Image 1, By Julie Morrison - Edited with a blue filter and faded to have a fading effect!

Image 2, By Julie Morrison - Edited with added canvass size to the left. Focus on the hands in a pray like style with DOF on the model. I have sharpened her eye's even though they are out of focus & Upped the contrast.

 Image 3, By Julie Morrison - Post edited with more contrast and saturation reduced however the balance on the left off image is out and bounces light off the shoulder blades.

 Image 4,  By Julie Morrison, Post edited with a blue filter and contrast added.

I feel the shoot went well and I still have more images with pink in them on the same shoot to look at and edit to come up with my final images. 

I have all my ideas and shoot ready to go but no model! Its amazing when you offer a free photo shoot but no one wants to do it! If I haven't got anyone for the picture I will set it up myself and use my body in the image if all else fails!

:(