A long overdue update...

Well, crumbs!  Tomorrow is the beginning of week 7 of the semester here at SIU, which means I have been living in Carbondale for 9 weeks!

My time has been pretty hectic so far, as college keeps me busy 99% of the time - I take two history/ theory classes, and one studio practice class, whilst also working at the university for 20 hours a week.  I manage and oversee the digital print lab for half of the time, and assist the Professor in teaching an Introduction to Photojournalism for the other half of the time.  I mostly work one on one with students, helping them with technical issues they have with their cameras, and with helping them with Photoshop.

I have the entire day off from college on Fridays, which I use to go out filming/ photographing.  I was out on friday for 4 or 5 hours, so I have a huge lot of photographs, as well as some short video clips to  edit from then, but here are some photos from my previous trips:

To put it very simply: I am looking at America, and American culture from an outsiders perspective.  At the moment, I am not focussing on a particular aspect of the culture that fascinates me, but rather on the culture as a whole.  Through this I hope to develop a few strongly focussed projects (One subject I think I may focus on is religion), to produce through out my time here.

I also have some video footage, although I am not sure how much I like it at the moment.  Once I am shooting footage I am happier with, I will start to put it up here.

Over the week end, as part of my teaching, I am taking part in the Photojournalism departments annual Weekend Workshop, where a group of students, Professors, and invited photographers go and stay in a small town in Southern Illinois, whilst documenting various events and places within the town.  This year we will be going to Harrisburg, which is about an hours drive from Carbondale, and three of the invited photographers are Pulitzer prize winners.  At the end of the workshop, a book is created, from a selection of the images shot over the week end, and is presented to the town.  I am super excited about this!

Exciting news!

It's time for a long overdue update!

Degree show went well - it was nice to hear what people thought of the work, and get some time to stick my nose into a few good books!

During the degree show, I was invited to apply for a MFA in Media Arts at Southern Illinois University, in Carbondale, Illinois.  On Monday I found out that my application has been accepted!!  All going well, I'm hoping to move out there at the end of next month, to get myself settled in time for Orientation week, and classes starting in mid-August.  You can read more about the course here.  Whilst I'm there, I'm hoping to continue with my photography and also explore video.

I will also have a Teaching Assistantship, which I am super excited about!  I have always wanted to teach at a College or University.

The course is three years long, so for the next three years I will be living in the United States!  I have always wanted to move over there, for as long as I can remember, so I am very excited!  I probably wont have much chance to come back to Scotland during that time, but I'm hoping I can manage at least one or two big trips - I will really miss my family and friends over here, but am super excited about what adventures await me!

The next month or so will be very busy, but I will be sure to try and keep my blog updated.

DJCAD Degree Show 2013

Photographs of my final set up for degree show;

I have to confess, I'm feeling a bit lost now its all over!

DJCAD Degree Show 2013 - Website

The DJCAD Degree Show website can be viewed here.  If you search carefully you'll find my profile ;)

It has been a lovely week end - very, very surreal.  I have been wanting to come to Art College since I was in primary school, and have always looked forward to the degree show.

After all the effort, exhaustion, tears, highs and lows I am very, very pleased with how my show  turned out, and my result.  I've always felt that dundee has been a bit bitter sweet for me, but I would never change my time at DoJ for anything.

It's nice to finally sit down, have a wee chat, and read a good book.  I will post some of my personal favourites later on in the week.

Fourth Year, Easter Holiday

The past few weeks have been very quite for me.  The bonus of printing digitally is that they are handed over a good few weeks before any deadlines, to allow the company to print them!  They are all loaded into the back of the car, ready to head back up to Dundee tomorrow afternoon.  Everything is in place, and now its just a case of sorting out my space, and hanging my show.  A week on Monday were into our spaces!

I have spent the past few weeks reflecting on what has been an amazing academic year, and one I will be very, very sad to see the end of.  I am going to really miss having a studio with so many people, and going to Art College every day.  I have loved my time at DoJ, and I owe a lot of people a very big 'Thank You' for making it all possible.  If you had asked me what I was expecting from this year, I would never have imagined that it would be what I have produced!

I dont expect to be posting too much else on here until after the degree show, but in the mean time my website can be viewed here.

Fourth Year, Semester 2, Week 11

This week I submitted my entry for the Magnum competition with IdeasTap.com, which can be viewed here.

I have been working on my book, and think it is more or less finalised, apart from the finer details, and some technical issues.  Once its done it can be purchased online and delivered, or via e-book ;)

I will have my sample strips from the printers back on Monday.  I might be going home next week after my tutorial to reshoot some images to stitch them together for one large print, but I'm still not sure about that...

"What changes when you are there before my eyes is that you become unpredictable.  What you are about to do is unknown to me.  I follow you.  You act.  And with what you do, I fall in love again."

Fourth Year, Semester 2, Week 9

This week I bought my domain name:

www.janeflynnphotography.com

I still have some final photographs to add, and need to upload a personal statement, then it will be more or less finished.

We found our degree show spaces out on Thursday afternoon - I am in the General Foundation studios, and I got the exact corner that I was hoping for, so I am very chuffed with that!

I sent some sample strips away to the printers in Edinburgh yesterday, and they should be with me in about 10 days.  All going well, I now only have to make the final tweaks to the images, and then send them to the printers!  I am thinking of reshooting one of my images so that I can enlarge it even bigger than I had originally planned, and have it as the main focal point of my final show, but I'm still not 100% sure about that.  I hope the samples I am getting done will help me make a final decision about this!.

I am entering the Jill Todd Photographic Award, and an award on Ideas Tap, so I have been busy working on my submissions over the past week or so.  Hopefully I will get them finalised and submitted this coming week.  By total coincidence, both the titles for these are 'Home', so I am feeling quite confident about what I am submitting!

My business cards arrived this morning, and everything is finally coming together... 6 weeks on Monday we get access to our degree show spaces!

Fourth Year, Semester 2, Week 8

This week has been a total write off, but I today I spent some time on my website;

http://janeflynnphotography.weebly.com/

I still have a lot more photos, and journals to scan and edit, but that wont be happening for a wee while yet.  Once I have all my work on there, I will purchase a domain name and order some business cards!

Gathering all my work together has been a mammoth task, and I still feel like I have so much more to do.  I had no idea up until now how much work I did on my Gran.  It has been a strange day today reading through one of my journals - I should make some more.

Fourth Year, Semester 2, Week 7

This week has been relatively productive.  On Tuesday I went down to Edinburgh for what will most likely be my last trip to take photographs.  I got all the pictures I wanted, except one, but I'm not sure if I want it in my final show.

Our studios were allocated yesterday, and I got the studio that I'd been after, so I'm very pleased.  Over the next few weeks there will be meetings to decide who gets which area in which studio, so I'll be able to make a start on really thinking about how my show will look.

I got one of my photographs printed to two by three feet, and it looks very nice.  At the moment I'm planning to have most of the photos that size, except one very large image, that is central to my show.

I have all my photographs edited, and on Monday I plan to print them all out and start working out an order for them, and which ones I do and don't to be included in my show.  Right now I have a lot of important decisions to make, rather than an actual large amount of work to do.  Over the next few weeks, my time will probably be spend else where in Dundee, thinking things over, rather than working in the studio.  I am trying to decide on wether I want a statement, a quote, and/ or titles to go with my work, but at the moment I think I'll be going with a quote (but that will probably change about 10 times from now until my show!)

9 weeks on Monday we get into our show spaces... Exciting stuff!

Fourth Year, Semester 2, Week 6

I was at home over the week end shooting with my new camera.  So far, I am absolutely blown away by its quality, and love working with it.  The images really do have a three dimensional feel to them, and I can't wait to get them printed!  I find out my degree show space next week on friday, so hopefully that will help me decide on the size of the prints, so I can get some final images printed.

I want to reshoot this image, as the squint lines are really irritating me!;

On my next trip home I'm going to try and focus more on spaces around the home, and how they are inhabited - right now I feel like all of my work is items sitting on surfaces (shelfs, etc.).  I have a few ideas rolled up my sleeve but wont reveal too much!

Its recorded tutorials next week, and I've been writing mine over the past day or so.  It's nice to see where I am in relation to degree show, and right now I'm feeling pretty confident with what I need to do and getting it done on time.

I'll probably stop posting a lot of work on here over the next few weeks.... So that my degree show is a fresh feast for the eyes ;)  I'm hoping to submit all my images for printing around two weeks before we get into our spaces, so in about eight weeks time.  In the mean time I will no doubt be getting a few more samples made.

Fourth Year, Semester 2, Week 5

This past week I've spent some time considering how I'd like my work to be presented for my degree show.  I'm definitely having prints, and the response to the framing/ mounting and them 'floating' from the wall was helpful at the group crit.  I think I'll be going with the latter option, as it was pointed out to me from 'fresh eyes' that the formal compositions of the images frame the subjects in their own right, and allow viewers to project themselves into the spaces.

Left; Inkjet print onto cotton rag paper, Right; c-type print:

Inkjet print onto cotton rag paper:

Inkjet print onto Fuji Satin paper, mounted onto PVC:

I received my new camera over the week end and have spent some time this week getting to grips with it.  I can't wait to shoot with it, and I will be home over the week end to work with it!  So far it is exceeding all of my expectations, so I hope it performs well when I am shooting at home.

Fourth Year, Semester 2, Week 4

The past four weeks have been crazy productive, but this past week I haven't got as much done.  Thursday and Friday I have a framing work shop, which I hope will help me decide on how I'd like my images to be displayed a little better!  There are so many different possibilities its hard to decide what I want until I am sure as to what I can create down in the work shop (which is probably pretty much everything!).  I ordered some sample images this morning on two different papers, which I hope will help me make a decision as to what suits my work!

.... I also placed an order for a Sigma DP2 Merrill last night, so I should have that awaiting for me the next time I'm at home.  I am absolutely itching to get my hands on it, and the thought of having to wait 10 days is killing me!  Our degree show proposal submission is this week, so I spent a lot of Monday talking about this with my tutor, and I can finally say I think I have an idea about how my degree show may look, although I wont reveal too much until I am allocated a space, and have spent more time  organising it ;)

Some scans from a film I received back over the week end.  I really like the image with the small flag, which was originally hung in my Grandmothers caravan.  I think I will reshoot the image of the ducks, more straight on, as right now I think there is too much going on in the image.

Fourth Year, Semester 2, Week 3

I spent most of last week at home shooting some more Fuji Reala films on the Fuji Rangefinder camera I have on loan from my tutor.  I was looking to create some more finalised compositions, in response to the images I took over the Christmas period, and some of the large format images I took in semester one.

These are some new images I was trying out.  I am still unsure as to wether or not I like them, but I have some more images planned in response to them, that I will take on my next trip home.

I have another film and prints coming up to Dundee this afternoon, so I'm looking forward to what goodies it might contain!  After I have scanned and edited some of them, I am planning to get some sample images printed, to see how they are working as photographs on paper, rather than images on a backlit screen.  I will be experimenting with different paper types, as well as different printing methods.  I have a framing workshop next week, so I hope this will help me decide how I would like my images presented, scales, etc for my degree show.

I'm also considering hiring a Sigma DP2 Merrill camera for one week end to see how I like working with it, but I am still quite undecided about the whole going digital thing.  After leaving college, I probably wont have much choice, as I wont have such flexible/ free access to a Flex tight scanner.  The Sigma DP2 Merrill is a very, very slow camera, and so how it works in terms of speed, as well as the sensor technology within it mimics film and using a film camera.  You can learn more about it here and here.

Fourth Year, Semester 2, Week 1

In response to feedback from Christmas Assessment, over the holiday I tried out a number of different cameras, one being the Fujifilm GW670III medium format 'range finder' camera.  It has a fixed lens, meaning it is incredibly sharp, and produces negatives that can be enlarged very big!  So far, I have been very impressed with the quality of the images, and plan to continue shooting with it.  I shot some black and white films, and some colour, but found the colour images were working best.  All images have been scanned using a Flextight drum scanner and edited minimally in photoshop (in no particular order).

This week I have been scanning, editing, cropping, etc, to ensure the viewer is not distracted from what I am wanting them to focus on.  I am now considering them as a series, and trying different sequences to find what works best.  My favourite is the final set of images;

Our degree show proposal is due in over the next few weeks, so over the next week or so I'll be putting some more thought to that!  Planning to go home sometime towards the middle or end of next week to shoot some more films.