Object: Statistical Research

As I had decided to base this unit on the age of young men and women going out to fight in the Afghanistan war, i first needed to compile some research in relation to the overall number of fatalities within the war in Afghanistan and also the amount of under 25s and then under 20s within those fatalities.

I used the following website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10629358, to find my basic facts.
Between the war's beginning on the 7th of October 2001 to the present day, 337 British soldiers have been killed in action whilst representing their country. 179 of those were under the age of 25, overall presenting a total of 53% of the 337 lost. 33% of the 179 under 25s were aged 20 years or younger (17% of the overall number of fatalities).

To some this may seem like a small percentage, but to those who have lost one of those 179 under 25s or one of the 60 under 20s this will seem like the biggest number in the world.

Object: Inspiration

My inspiration for this unit came in the form of a phone conversation I had with my best friend recently. He has just turned 18 and has just finished his military training and will be going to Afghanistan by next month. This is a lot earlier than we both expected, and, in a way, it shocked me as it hadn't really sunk in that he was going.
This is when I came to realise how young an age 18 really is to be going out to fight in a real war. This sparked my imagination and from there I decided that this was something that I felt strongly enough about to want to make my Object unit revolve around.

Object: The Brief and My Initial Thoughts

The brief for this unit of work called on me to create a photograph based 'upon a current social issue'. Looking for current debates or issues in the media was one option of a place to look for inspiration; others included issues that I myself felt strongly about or something that I wished to make a comment about.
I firstly decided to narrow down the options for fields in which to search for inspiration. After much deliberation I settled on thinking about issues that I felt strongly about as I felt this would allow me to dig deeper into subjects I had a strong opinion about and therefore allow me to perhaps create a more rounded piece overall.

UCA Summer Project

Still Life Self Portrait

Idea Development

The brief for my task instructed me to create a self portrait, although I myself could not appear in it. As a result of this I began thinking about all the things that make up me as a person. For my first, and eventually final, idea I decided to explore my wide range of interests as they are the main things that make up me as a person. I like to be individual, different from everyone else, and I felt that my interests were the best way to portray this personality trait. I also considered a few further ideas but, after evaluating each, I decided that I preferred the concept of focusing on my interests to portray me as a person.

Before taking the photograph, I contemplated which of my interests to include and which would have the best effect when it came to displaying me in a self portrait. I eventually decided on the following interests and hobbies:

o   Karate

o   Mountainboarding

o   Airsoft

o   Angry Birds

o   Photography

o   My love for Dogs

o   Painting

Taking the Photograph

When taking the initial photographs I enlisted the help of my mum, mainly to keep my dog, Finlay, sitting still. I also needed another pair of hands when it came to photographing the Angry Birds as I wanted to give at least one of the impression that it was flying, consequently I asked my mum to throw the Angry Bird in the while I used a fast shutter speed to capture the movement. My initial photograph only included my mountainboard and helmet, my boots, my photo album, my karate suit and belt and my dog mainly because I wanted to have a bit more creative control over the other elements but also because Finlay would have eaten the Angry Birds given half the chance (he likes a cuddly toy). I added in the Angry Birds, my Tesco name badge and the paint tubes afterwards using Photoshop.

Editing the Photograph

I used Photoshop CS5 to edit my final photograph. As I had taken multiple shots of each item I had to decide on the best ones to make up my final image. The first point I considered when deciding was the clarity and focus of each image and the amount of light present in each as I did not want the items to look too washed out. I also had to consider the angles in which I had positioned the items as I had experimented with various angles for each aspect of the photograph.

The advantage of having taken some of the aspects of the photograph separately was that it allowed me to have more creative control over the positioning of the items in the final piece. It took a few attempts until I was completely happy with the layout of the final image but after much deliberation I achieved an image that I matched as closely to my original idea as possible.

I also had a different background in mind, one that related more to my interests, as opposed to the plain wall of my living room. I used Photoshop to create a textured background that replicates a canvas.

My Self Portrait Broken Down:

o   The dog tags and military issue boots represent my interest in Airsoft. This is a military simulation game similar to paintball but it uses plastic ball bearings and replicas of real guns as appose to paint and air guns.

o   The mountainboard and helmet represent my love of being outdoors and trying something different. As a form of off road skateboarding, Mountainboarding is a very individual sport adn one that I enjoy hugely.

o   The karate suit and black belt represent my main hobby: martial arts. I have spent 10 years of my life practicing the martial arts and I have been a black belt and instructor since 2006. I have included karate items in this portrait as it is one of the main elements of me as a person.

o   My dog, Finlay, represents my lifelong love for dogs. Finlay is a significant part of me as he the first dog I have had since he was a puppy.

o   The photo album represents my love of photography and also the 2 main loves in my life: my family and my boyfriend (as pictured in the photographs within the book). My family are one of the main influences in my life and therefore are one of the main aspects of me, without them I wouldn’t be who I am today.

o   My Tesco name badge represents my place of work. It may not be the most glamorous job in the world but it helps me gain experience and I enjoy working for and earning what I have.

o   The various Angry Birds represent my favourite electronic game and one of my favourite pastimes.

o   The canvas layout of the image as a whole, and also the paints in the bottom of the image, represent another of my hobbies: painting. It also portrays one of the biggest parts of my personality: my creativity.

o   The simple layout and background of the piece represent me as a whole; I am an uncomplicated person, what you see is what you get.

o   My signature in the bottom right hand corner mimics the way I sign my paintings when I have finished as I like to give them a personal touch and, as this is a self portrait, I wanted to give this a personal touch also.

My Final Self Portrait