I would like to start with the 2 questions I raised at the end of task 2.

  1. How can I notice things more naturally? By that I mean I would like to notice things without telling myself “Im gonna notice this” first, instead I want to automatically notice detailed things around me. Make it become like a habit.
  2. How can I improve my video shooting skills so I can show my audience what I’m trying to present in a clearer way.

1. The first experiment is based on the first question. I set an alarm each day to notify myself to notice something around me and record it. I was suppose to set an alarm at 3:50 pm each day. However I didn’t do that and what I did was setting an alarm each day at random times. There was one day I forgot to set an alarm so I didn’t take a photo that day. It actually became a reminder for myself, to keep me away from forgetting to take photo everyday. The experiment really helped me to notice things more naturally because at the second half of the experiment I found myself noticing things quite automatically. I didn’t need an alarm to tell myself to notice no more. It sort of became a habit to me. As you can see from the photos I mainly focused on the textures of things and that helped me develop the main direction for this task.

2. The second experiment is based on the second question. I made a video about noticing textures just like experiment 1. I also made a survey to get feedbacks from my friends and also to provide more information for my portfolio. The first question was asking them to write down the theme of this video. The answer I marked as correct must contain texture and daily life. Most of them managed to know one of these two points and only one person got both. I might have been too harsh but I thought these are the two most important elements of my concept, so I wanted my audience to know that. Hannah told me when I finished those two experiments pick one of them that I think is more interesting and useful to explore further in experiment 3 and I chose the first one Because after the first experiment I can notice more naturally then I used to, I want to try to notice things naturally without setting any alarms of notifications and see what kind of work I can produce out of that condition. And if I really want to I can actually combine video shooting into that exercise.

3. For the third experiment I just did the same thing as experiment 1 except I didn’t set any kind of alarms or notifications for myself and I still managed to notice quite a lot of things. I think the experiments really worked because I can notice things very naturally now. No help needed, I can find many details in things, and notice many things I normally ignores.

Those three experiments also gave me a rough idea of Task 4 project. I would like to keep exploring those ordinary things in people’s daily life, and I want to find the unique things about them. Keep turning normal things into an extraordinary photograph. I think I can take a series of photographs based on the theme of “Finding the beauty in your daily life”. Most people think daily life is boring, and the fun part only comes when the holiday comes. However there are still many beautiful things around you, whenever and wherever you are, if you slow down and take a good look at your surroundings you will probably find something that surprises you, and I want to discover those things.