F.M.P

BRIEF MINDMAP (RESEARCH)

IDENTITY: Andrea Chapman uses self-portraiture as an act of therapy to create emotions and self-discovery within this creative industry. https://www.andreachapman.com.au/why-shoot-self-portraits/ (24.02.2026). Chapman originally introduced her love for self-portraiture through artists like Van Gogh to photographers like Edward Steichen. https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/art-and-stories/stories/all-stories/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-van-goghs-self-portraits (24.02.2026). Chapton often uses self-portraits to deal with emotions and escape situations she's in for a while, before dealing head-on with the cause for the outburst in emotions.

In this photograph, Chapman uses a low shutter speed to show movement, which could suggest a struggle to escape/leave the situation. The framing of the photograph is natural, where Chapman props up the camera and just shoots. This shows the viewers that the subject is not in control, which could suggest an idea of abuse, without seeking outloud for all to hear. For the next array of photographs, Chapman uses a medium shot in symmetry to achieve the next phase of the emotions. When looking at these three photographs, I find that the subject's head is struggling compared to the first photograph, where the subject is using their full body. This could convey the meaning of her body slowly giving up and letting the emotion take over fully. I also found that from looking at the next three photographs, the subject could be struggling to open up about a difficult situation like depression, which could show her slowly giving up on herself, which is a common tell for depression within people. https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/depression-in-adults/overview/ (24.02.2026). If I were to use her concept in my final project, I would use the idea connecting a common issue within the industry, like the effects of depression, to the movements' physical movements of struggle. I would likely match my theme to social media overall to add a better sense of why the subject is feeling that way, rather than leaving it up to the viewer's imagination to fill the gaps.

IDENTITY: Heaven Seals is a modern-day photographer (from the USA) https://www.lemon8-app.com/@its.me.highx/7384123991277666821?region=us (24.02.2026). She has documented her photography on social media to show how she has evolved through photography from the start. I liked this idea of a format, as viewers can view the photographs in any order, rather than flipping a page. On Seal's profile (portfolio albums), Seal uses the idea of a self-portrait, which is similar to that of Andrea Chapman, where she uses self-portraiture to display emotions. However, Seals goes further, to where Seals uses the background as a way to show emotions, keeping the subject natural, which could convey the meaning of the subject masking her emotions, which is a common cause of social media posting among teens and young adults. Seal uses framing of an old door or window frame to frame around the subject, with an opening on both sides to leave by herself. This could showcase the idea of the subject feeling trapped, as social media has everyone to post their good sides to life, rather than their more personal life. The subject is wearing a clean, white smart dress with red boots, which could be contrasting the idea of her less real life online becoming more her, rather than switching to posting more about her and what she likes, instead of trend-hopping. This is shown through the white dress and the high-red boots, as white has connotations of purity and life, whereas red has connotations of evil, which could have connotations of fake. Mean girls stereotypically would wear red lipstick in films and books to show dominance. The idea of the boots being above the ankle could show the idea of leading lines of the red booth travelling up the subject's body, reducing the white dress to red. Which could convey the idea that the subject cares only about how people react to her social media posts. If I were to use an idea from her concept, I would use the idea of using the background as a contrast to the subject to reflect the emotions without using the model as the main subject.

CHANGE: James Balog https://earthvisioninstitute.org/about/ (24.02.2026). Balog photographs the fast-changing world in a photographic time capsule. Balog began in the early 1980s, where he broke new artistic and conceptual relationships between humanity and the environment. His portfolio consists of photographs taken from America, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Arctic and Antarctica, where Balog captures his life's work of documentary and symbolic photography. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIZTMVNBjc4&t=3s (24.02.2026). When researching and watching this clip of the film Balog created, I found that Balog set up the film like a modern-day documentary, which shows his understanding of climate change further and educates how badly climate change is affecting the ice and the animals living in this area. Following this film, Balog displays several photographs, where one of them uses framing of the ice mountain melting, creating an 'O' frame, which frames the sky. The photograph also uses and mixes the rule of thirds to create leading lines towards the hole. These compositions create the idea of the Earth's climate feeling trapped, by creating the other side of a black hole looking outwards to the sky. When you go through the black hole, slowly start to stretch, which aligns with the use of the leading lines, as it adds an illusion of the hole continuing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKIkTKqWMfg (24.02.2026).

CHANGE: Zack Schnepf https://www.photocascadia.com/transitions/#:~:text=Gothic%20Peak,of%20elements%20in%20transition. (24.02.2026). When researching transitional photography, I have found that Zack Schnepf is a practitioner who photographs the transition in nature. This is illustrated by one of their famous photographs, which shows a snowy mountain on the right transitioning from autumn, depicted on the left. This photograph employs a left-to-right method as a natural composition, as autumn precedes winter and people typically read from left to right, rather than right to left. This photograph also uses the rule of thirds with leading lines to guide the eyelines up the mountain past the valley, which could be a technique to get the viewer to imagine the evaluation/meaning of the photograph on their own. When it comes to the colours used in the photographs, the leading lines start with the autumn colours at the start and bottom of the photograph, transitioning to snowy winter white at the top of the photographs, going along with the leading lines, which could help with the idea of the world moving round, while the subject (you) is still figuring the first level (stage of life). After analysing the colours, I found that Schnepf uses colours opposites to achieve the eyeline attraction. Which draws the viewer's eye-line to imagine their own interpretations of change. 

TIME: "Reality through art about how it feels to be addicted to phones and technology." - https://pin.it/2PA5FB0gV (25.02.2026). When researching technology photographers, I found a small photographer from Pinterest, who used the dopamine addiction that attacks our brain's energy. The practitioner uses a medium shot of a subject in off set point of the camera, where the subject has a phone strapped to their face using a bandage. This could show the need for constant paranoia for the affirmation of strangers online. The use of black and white with a green tint shows that the camera could be taken on an old film camera. However, this technique could be done using post-production in Lightroom, as green has connotations of feeling good, which is why everyone wants to scroll or post content for affirmation, for the extra kick of dopamine. If I were to evolve this concept of the photograph, I would use the colour connotations to help the narrative evolve. However, I would change the idea by creating a more varied array of photographs to show the evolution of social media addiction throughout the timeline. When looking through Pinterest, I also found another small photographer who uses the idea of filters to better the subject's appearance, compared to the first practitioner, who uses the idea of chemical addiction in the brain to create awareness. Whereas Sarah Joy created a photograph to align with the overuse of filters across the socials. In this photograph, Joy uses a phone with a picture of teeth on the screen to represent a teeth whitening filter, which conveys the narrative of the subject feeling insecure. Joy uses a black and white background for the subject and colour for the phone, which could help with the idea of the subject feeling insecure, as black and white imagery has connotations of being dull, boring or low self-esteem. Joy also uses symmetry in this photograph, which could also convey the narrative of the subject wanting everything perfect, as symmetry often is reflected in being straight, which has connotations of being perfect. If I were to use this idea for my project, I would slowly add more phones into the photograph to show more filters being added, like makeup, eyebrows or eyelashes.

(All Photographs for 'BRIEF MINDMAP' were researched from (24.02.2024 - 25.02.2026).

FIRST YEAR (REVIEW)

When it comes to reviewing my progress on this course, I feel I have developed my understanding of using more compositional techniques in photography, as it can help develop the narrative of the photograph. I found this useful. On the third project of 'Where I'm From', I had to curate a selective array of photographs. This has also allowed each stage of the narrative to stand out from each part of the narrative, drawing the viewers eyeline in. I also feel researching different practitioners throughout the year has helped my creativity for each project I was tasked to do, as I learn best from visual work, rather than theory. However, I feel my editing for photographs in Lightroom and Premiere Pro for Videos is good at a basic level. I tried improving my level by watching tutorials. However, this did not inspire my inner creativity, as I work best/learn when I believe in a project, like on project two with the client (Martin Sullivan). When working on the Sullivan project, I found that working with a client helped my creativity spark, as I had a reason to brainstorm ideas, as this project would be shown throughout the industry Sullivan works in/wants to create awareness in. When it comes to the end of the first year, I hope to continue my education into the second year of the course. This is because I want to continue to build my knowledge for editing photographs and videos, as this is my weakest area, whereas creating narratives is my strongest. I also want to continue this course, as I want to graduate with more qualifications to get into university to study technical theatre, which would hopefully see my creativity over qualifications. When reviewing this statement, I found that this will impact my final decision, as I want to learn more techniques in Lightroom, as I want to make sure each photograph is similar for the syle and tone but different in composition to keep to the theme. This would also impact my university application, as I can create a portfolio site to showcase my creativity, which would be my selling point. 

The Harris 'Museum' (PRIMARY RESEARCH)

https://theharris.org.uk/your-visit/virtual-tour/ (26.02.2026).

I was tasked to perform primary research at the Harris Museum. I didn't initially know what to expect with the museum, as I want to create an array of photographs to perform a narrative like Duane Michals. When it came to walking around the Museum, I started to see colour popping out from different coloured backgrounds, which are not usually performed together. This started a spark within, where I thought back to my initial idea of creating the evolution of my photography journey and more recently, Duane Michals' style, where I challenged myself to curate an array of photographs that tell a narrative of the evolution of social media, where I used bright red lips on a phone to mask over the black and white subject. When looking at the different paintings and art work in the Museum, I found lots blues being the background colour, while yellow would be the leading lines of the colour industry, as blue is known to have connotations of being sleepy, which is why blue fades into the background compared to yellow which is often known to be bright, bold and often referred to as the sun. This colour pattern is seen through painting and clothing, which shows it works on everything. I initially got thinking of adapting the phone in my inspired Duane Michals research by thinking of replacing the white background on the phone with yellow and the shades of the lips to blue, while keeping the subject in black and white. I thought that I could do the same for each part of the narrative, adding green and red together for the next phone in the next photograph, until the face of the subject is covered with phones, which represents image adjustments that happen on social media regularly.

Duane Michals (NARRATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY)

Duane Michals is an American photographer, often known for his photography sequences in black and white, due to the period in which he started photography. When researching his sequence photography, I found this photograph of a woman and her reflection in the mirror. Michals uses symmetry with the mirror showing the face on the right, as the subject stands to the left. This could convey the idea of the subject being in deep thoughts or overthinking, as the subject is staring at herself, which has connotations of self-awareness, which is a common symptom of low self-esteem. When it comes to the colours used, the photograph was taken in 1998, which had the technology for colours. However, Michals could have used black and white to add to the self-awareness idea and low self-esteem idea, as black and white over colours has connotations of being alone, emptiness and isolation, which is another symptom of poor mental health. https://www.dcmooregallery.com/artists/duane-michals (26.02.2026).

Alexey Titarenko - 'City of Shadows' to 'College of Shadows'

After researching Alexey Titarenko, I decided to create my own version, but this time on a college campus to relate to myself and others more, rather than copying the 'City of Shadows'. When it comes to setting up my camera, I used a low shutter speed (1/0.5), which adds more light into the lens, which means I will have to increase my aperture (f/stop). I used f/22 for my aperture, as this helped the camera remove a lot of light from the lens. When it came to shooting, I used three different types of compositions, where the subject would walk from left to right, right to left and towards the camera. I wanted this outcome, as I wanted to host symmetry in my photography, as I mainly used the rule of thirds on my past project. This meant this created a risk, which helped improve my photography knowledge, where I try new techniques, especially since I never tried Titarenko's style. When it came to the post-production of this experiment, I found that desaturating works best, then black and white, as it loses lots of contrast in the photograph. When trying to fix this with brightness and contrast, the photograph loses its quality. When it comes to using this with my initial idea, I could use the idea of the low exposure to create a constant battle with social media, which could be done by desaturating the photograph to show the colour fading, while the phone stays in colour and the individual fades into the background.

'The Digital Self' - Alexia Van Wyk

https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/3518505953772678/ (12.03.2026).

Alexia Vanwyk is a product and portrait photographer who primarily focuses on product photography. When it comes to Van Wyk's compositions, I found that she uses symmetry for the subject in a neutral pose. This could be used as leading lines into the photograph, where the phones are the focus, as Vanwyk could want to tell the narrative of technology affecting how users portray their image in the world and are easily influenced. Another composition Vanwyk uses is the rule of thirds, where the devices are placed around the subject's face, rather than placing the phones in a line. This placement could help create the narrative where the subject is inspiring her looks on social media. I also thought Vanwyk could create the narrative of the subject always looking at social media in a natural tone. However, their comments could be exciting. Vanwyk inspires my project and how I want my outcome of the project to appear, as I want to use the idea of devices, enhancing the facial features and how the user uses filters to appear online to better their appearance, which could better their mental health in the short run, which would be my interpretation, if I were to reshoot her work.

Malena Aylén

https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/817473769853566061/ (12.03.2026).

Malena Aylén uses the idea of polaroids to show the difference between what has been set up and what is natural. This is similar to Alexia Vanwyk, who uses phones. However, the difference between the two practitioners is that Aylén uses Polaroids to enhance her appearance, creating a difference between what's planned and what's not. Van Wyk uses this technique but would use phones instead of Polaroids to create the narrative of the subject's digital self. Following this approach, Aylén uses black and white, similar to Duane Michals, who uses black and white in photographs to enhance the narrative with fewer distractions. Aylén looks to use a add on polarroid template, where they use a mask and add colour to that specific part of the photograph, whereas I want to use a real filter that people recognise to spark engagement from my chosen demographic. Following this, I like how Aylén places the Polaroids at angles, where Van Wyk places the phones in the vertical view, which could be to convey the narrative of users being addicted to short-form content, which is displayed in this format. 

Le Fils De L'Homme (Son of Man) - René Magritte

https://www.theartstory.org/movement/surrealism/ (13.03.2026).

https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/multiple-layers-when-printing.4853/#:~:text=Donald%20Miller&text=The%20two%20basic%20ways%20of,described%20in%20number%202%20above. (13.03.2026).

https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/craft/darkroom-photography/ (13.03.2026).

After researching Duane Michals, I found that he is often influenced by Surrealist painters, who use techniques such as hyperrealism and automatism to challenge conventional reality. When it comes to the person who pioneered this type of painting technique, I found that René Magritte painted a portrait of a man with an apple painted over his face. When comparing this to Michal's works, I find that Michal takes inspiration from the hyperrealism technique, where he photographs people over landscapes. When looking further into his work, I find that he uses double exposture photography to combine two or more photographs together into a single frame, which could create a dreamlike effect. Michals could of exacuted this effect by printing the photographs, using a couple of enlargers. Each could have its own negative, its own easal. Michals could have used a pin register easel, where the subsequent negatives are changed in the same enlarger. After this, Michals could have used shark masking, which allows individual segments of the paper to be printed without exposing other segments. This technique would have been executed in a darkroom, which is a light-sealed room used in traditional photography to process film and make prints without exposing light-sensitive materials to white light. Using this, I found that the idea of using double exposure for this project is similar to what I want to execute. I say this, as I will be using Photoshop, where I will merge two layers to create the idea of social media filters taking over online personas, where users use the platforms to create a more entertaining personality in their personal day-to-day life.

Duane Michals INSPIRED by René Magritte

https://www.dcmooregallery.com/artists/duane-michals/series/rene-magritte?view=slider#7 (13.03.2026).

Il Trovatore - Giorgio de Chirico

https://imma.ie/collection/il-trovatore/ (13.03.2026).

https://www.maggioregam.com/artists/47-giorgio-de-chirico/biography/ (13.03.2026).

Giorgio de Chirico is an Italian painter and the most famous artist of the twentieth century, who is also the founder of Metaphysical painting with Carlo Carrà. Looking at his painting, I can gather that René Magritte took inspiration from the bright, soft colours. However, Duane Michals uses black and white but heightens the contrast. When comparing this to Duane Michals' work and René Magritte, both use portraits of humans that use body parts to convey the subject's emotion. I propose using random objects/shapes to show the emotion of the subject and how social media affects the end user online. When looking at Michal's work, I also see the use of shadows, which Chirico uses heavily in his work. 

Alma Haser

https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/photography-alma-haser (17.03.2026).

https://annachurchart.com/blogs/news/2017112the-extremely-talented-alma-haser (17.03.2026).

Alma Haser was born into an artistic family from Germany, who is not based in the Southeast of England. Haser is known for her complex photography, where she uses physical objects to construct emotion and convey a narrative within her photography. Haser is known to use analogue techniques like paper-folding, which could demonstrate an emotion of frustration, as stereotypically, if an individual were mad/frustrated, they would scrunch up their face, which demonstrates the idea, when a piece of paper has been folded multiple times. I also researched a second photograph by her, which stood out, as the use of a plain background with accent colours, which could create the idea of the feeling 'shy'. This is because each crease in the piece of paper could represent a hiding spot, where the subject is trying to stay out of the light, using the crease's shadow as the best spot to hide. This is because creases in paper can lead to shadows, because of the depth of each of the creases. When it comes to my project, I could take the idea of using an analogue technique, rather than using Photoshop in post-production. I could style the photograph by using phones in production to create real shadows and physics. I could also use crumpled paper and place it behind the subject to create the emotion of users feeling shy when it comes to posting their true selves on social media. 

A Social Life | Award Winning Short Film | Social Media Depression (Kerith Lemon Pictures)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXdVPLj_pIk (17.03.2026).

When researching the effects social media can have on a user, I found a short film about depression, the main reason for poor mental health is social media. This short film follows the daily routine of a young woman who is constantly checking her phone. When it comes to the directors of photography (Oliver Bukowsky), each shot had good compositions, starting with the first scene, where the subject is lying in bed on the right-hand side of the screen with her phone on the bedside table on the left, as she reaches over to grab the phone. This creates the composition of the rule of three. As the subject is off-centred. Another scene that uses this composition is when the subject is lying on the sofa on her phone. In both of these scenes, the editor adds a social media UI to the screen, which adds a visual guide to what the subject is obsessed with. This is also used in one of the last scenes, where the subject takes a mirror selfie, well is about to take it before she drops her phone and then cuts to credits. When it comes to my project, I could use the idea of overlaying different posts over the subject's face, with the transparency set to high, to keep the subject's emotion clear and visible. However, it could become cluttered very easily, so my initial idea would have to be scrapped and changed to the transparent social media posts overlaying instead of the devices. Although I would change the idea of having the subject happy and youthful in the first photograph of the narrative, where the smile fades as the narrative unfolds, whereas Kerith Lemon, the writer and director of this short film, had the subject in one mood, which works for his film, as it focuses on depression and less on the evolution of social media.