Tag Archives: photography

PROJECT BRIEF 2: MISCOMMUNICATION

The footage included in my self-portrait was shot in Ballarat, my hometown, and Melbourne (I still spend some time in Ballarat). When it came to capturing the footage, I had pre-meditated shots in mind, but it wasn’t until I started editing that I began to focus on themes. I have broken it up into two parts. The first half focuses on influence, education and growing up in Ballarat, and the second half focuses on confusion, creation, and reflection in Melbourne.

The first sequence of my father singing, hanging towels, and the photograph of 2 generations of brothers, symbolises his influence growing up, by spending time with family. The red, white and blue towels are a subtle hint at my being a Western Bulldogs supporter. Terrible decision… Dad always played music, which developed into a passion of mine, which becomes obvious in the second part (my music being the background track).

Flicking through school photos of myself is an explicit depiction of growing up, education and moving on to a life of independence. Dissolving into an unsolved Rubik’s Cube signifies how scrambled I felt after school. I then felt settled going to university completing a degree in Music Industry, hence the solved Cube followed by a piano being played. It wasn’t until after this course that I felt like Music was more of a hobby than a profession. The photograph of my computer with ableton loaded on the screen, and my RMIT certificate in the background represents this.

The lyrical content of my dad’s song playing in the background: “Don’t change me, I can’t be changing, chasing other people’s ways”, is about focusing on achieving what you want to do. The audio at the start links with the audio of the closing shot where I am listing my likes and aspirations as a 4 year old. Reflecting on this, travelling to outer space is a metaphor for dreaming big, and that is something I am happy to do.

‘Miscommunication’ is the name of the song in the background of the second half of the clip. I feel that it goes well with the footage because without this explanation, everyone would have a different interpretation.

– Gabriel

SELF PORTRAIT REFLECTION

In my LO-FI self-portrait I presented myself through character traits, lifestyle choices and personal opinions. I captured objects and situations around me that were relatable rather than constructing situations myself. Other people in my group opted to capture situations with a bit more thought. They were well constructed, succinct ideas relating to their personalities.

Operating under the different caps was an effective way to gain feedback where we might not have normally received it. Everyone gets nervous when being put on a pedestal. I am happy enough to present myself to the world though because I encourage criticism. It creates growth. My group mentioned that I could touch up my photography skills and create scenes better representing my attributes more so than my opinions. This is what I want to focus on.

If I were to do this task again, I would certainly put more thought into the photographs particularly. I need to learn to be more concise in my photography. I would like to be able to let the photographs do the talking rather than explaining what the photographs mean.

For the next project, I am going to take on board what my peers said and try and create something in more depth and with more flair.

PROJECT BRIEF 1 – LO-FI SELF PORTRAIT

“A noise annoys an oyster, but a noisy oyster annoys an oyster more”

This is a tongue twister that my dad’s mate Tony taught me when our families went to Wilson’s Promontory all those years back. Thinking of it now takes me straight back to memorable Summers.

This sound clip is of the daily routine of buying groceries to get by day to day.

The second sound recording is of myself playing piano and singing some lyrics I was messing around with at the time. I will never give up playing music.

This photo summarises my opinion of how restricted the Australian Music Industry is. With such a small population and large land mass, It’s hard to establish yourself as a professional musician – almost a sacred profession…

Which has led me to consuming music at parties. This photo is more though about the emptiness that I have felt recently since my housemate moved back to Singapore. This was his last gig. From now, his music will continue to play, but he will not be present.