As a member of the photography profession, how can people shooting become their own "hard wound"? People's emotions are always poorly grasped? After trying many methods, you still can't meet your expectations? These seemingly bald photography problems have become her application advantages in her art study career, and her works prove that "weakness" can also overturn against the wind! At the same time, she is good at exploring life. As a graduate student of British photography, she completed four portfolio projects with a "curiosity" and won three offers from LCC, Kingston and Goldsmiths!
Offer presentation
Ma has never been exposed to art photography before. At first, he just regarded it as a simple interest, and his learning process at school is more about media. She said that she has always been curious about many interesting but meaningless things, and curiosity has become a catalyst for her exploration of art.
Later, Ma came to study the natural light receiving system. She said that each class could give her a new understanding of photography, and she sighed that her perception of art was too shallow at that time. Fortunately, when I came to the natural light, with professional guidance, I slowly put aside some of my previous prejudices against photography. The process of researching works was also like a process of investigating myself. Later, I gradually realized that the process of learning photography was also a process of changing my own thinking. At first, I learned to take the initiative to understand some new things, and even use my own "weaknesses" As a Studying abroad in photography The theme of the portfolio project.
Next, let's take a look at how Ma, a British graduate student majoring in photography, connected various inspirations in life to explore different forms of photography, and how to use "short boards" to turn the tide against the wind!
Postgraduates majoring in photography in the UK have studied abroad and won the offer of famous universities:
How long has the portfolio course lasted?
The course lasted about one and a half years, starting from junior year, about ten basic courses, and four projects in the portfolio. Under the guidance of my teacher, I gradually deepened my cognitive understanding of photography, which I think is a change of thinking.
A collection of overseas works of British photography graduate students
Let's talk about these projects in detail?
The first item is delivery. "How does takeaway affect the life of Chinese people?" This is actually the original intention of this group of works that I wanted to shoot at the beginning, because China is a country that attaches great importance to the "food" culture, and in recent years, it is obvious that the "food" culture is affected by the "takeaway". But in the process of photographing young people ordering takeout, I felt something different from the "food culture shock": why do Chinese young people always like to eat takeout? Is this also true of young people before takeout became popular? What does takeaway bring with it? I feel that it is not the takeout that has led to some changes, but the changes of young people themselves that have led to some phenomena being magnified. I decided to try to film this trend, and started to film only the relationship between Chinese young people and takeout.
The second project is about the tent auction of takeaway. When shooting Project 2, I became more curious about "take away". I want to know what the ordinary "take away" in our life looks like? He is like a magnet firmly attracting Chinese young people. I have done some interviews. Some young people actually hate the culture of selling to foreigners, but they still order takeout every day. So I found many kinds of Chinese takeout, and amplified its characteristics through the line of tent shooting. I want everyone who sees the picture to be able to clearly realize that this is the takeout we eat. It really looks appetizing, but what else? I use the concept of "time oppression" to let the audience face the problem itself. It really looks appetizing, but what else? We hope to hear more different voices about this phenomenon through this project.
The third project is the dummy project. When shooting Project 2, I found a problem of my own: in the process of communicating with real people, I could not grasp the emotions of the characters, and I tried many methods to communicate with them, but the results were average. So I want to replace real people with dummies in this project IV, and directly eliminate the direct communication between people. What will I look like? So on the basis of the second one, I put on dummies and shot them directly to see what kind of emotional collision can be generated. When I was shooting, because the two incompatible elements of dummy and takeaway exist at the same time, I always wanted to find a sense of "absurdity" in this project, so I found more scenes of "people will not eat takeaway here", such as grass, rivers, which are the birthplace of primitive forms, and even some human construction sites. This sense of absurdity is like the feeling that takeout suddenly intrudes into our lives but no one is aware of it.
The fourth project is the black hole project. I followed a group of projects about Google Street View in Michael Wolf's previous projects. Because of curiosity, I opened Google Maps and searched China. More interesting things happened. I found that many Chinese sites in Google Street View had "black holes", and I couldn't help asking who was the "black hole"? I think maybe a black hole represents a person, and I just want to find him (her)? So I took some pictures with black holes in the way of screenshots, and wanted to know why it appeared on this map.
A collection of overseas works of British photography graduate students
Which project is your favorite?
My favorite is the third project, the dummy project. This project comes from one of my "short boards" in the delivery project. What would happen if I replaced a real person with a dummy. I like the sense of absurdity in this project best, which I have always wanted to find in my works. In addition, this project is also a reflection of my previous problems, which is a progressive process.
Which project is more difficult in progress?
The first takeaway project, which is the most time-consuming one, I have been updating the shooting. When shooting the first project, I found that I was always disturbed by some factors when shooting characters in the early stage, such as communication. Sometimes the characters failed to meet my expectations. Of course, I was trying to solve this problem, but it was really a weak point for me at that time. The teacher has been guiding my way of thinking to a critical way of thinking. He has found many research and other works, such as Nangoldin's works, and has been guiding me to try. I find that my perspective is gradually objective, and the aesthetic of pictures is also improving. As the "take away" project is drawing to a close, I will take another objective look at the project and my own shooting process. I can even take this "short board" as the theme of a new work under the guidance of teachers. Therefore, in my opinion, critical thinking and objective perspective are two indispensable abilities in contemporary photography.
Are there any interdisciplinary works in the project?
Not yet, but one of the black hole works was shot by Google screenshots, which is a little different from the traditional camera photography. For me, this project is also my reflection on contemporary photography. Photography no longer only exists in traditional photography. Contemporary photography has more forms and possibilities of photography.
How do you understand this major?
At first, I had a shallow understanding of photography, but in the process of learning the basic course of natural light, I realized that it was an important part of contemporary photography for me to find strangers in the familiar. This is also the point where the teacher led me to change my way of thinking at the beginning. I want to find a clue from the things I am most familiar with. Following this clue, my "take away" project gradually becomes clear. When I realized that my subjectivity would affect my shooting project, I saw the calm of Nan Golding in the life of the marginal characters in this group of projects in the course, and I decided to stay out of the project, shoot the project objectively, and find more answers from different angles. In my opinion, photography is to ask questions, and the focus is on exploring the process of questions rather than answers. In addition, I found that photography no longer only exists in traditional photography, and contemporary photography has more forms and possibilities about photography.
What's the difference between natural light and school classes?
I think it is very interesting to have classes in natural light. The teacher is not only broadening my understanding and cognition of photography, but also guiding me to think more about something not only about photography. But these are really helpful for understanding photography and creating works, not only in the shooting itself, but also in thinking and thinking. The school may pay more attention to the skills and practical knowledge of shooting.
A collection of overseas works of British photography graduate students
What is the teacher's greatest help to the collection of works?
I think it is a guide to my thinking transformation. The transformation of thinking mode is very helpful to my collection of works and my understanding of art. Just before class, the information received at school is more about the basis of the surface in photography, which may be just an empty shell. The natural light teacher will guide me to look at many photographic works together to increase my understanding of photography. At the same time, he will guide me to conduct research and let me explore new works. I think the process of research is very helpful and interesting before the formation of works.
Have you ever participated in activities of natural light?
Yes. I thought it was very interesting to participate in some workshops, whether to learn about photography or movies or other professional things. Because in the Workshop, you can understand the views and opinions of other people, or some fields that I have not paid attention to, but are very helpful for thinking about art.
What advice do you have for younger students applying for this major?
I think it is very important for you to think about it and the way of thinking in art learning. It is also very important to research and try when you are making a collection of works. I think there should be connections between several collections of works, which can be progressive or other relationships.
Can you share your interview experience?
Attended Kingston University and London University of the Arts Interview. Kingston's interview was held in December, and Lunyi's interview was held in February. Both interviews were a little nervous. Be well prepared before the interview, and be very clear about the logic of your English photography graduate student's overseas work collection. During the interview, it is necessary to actively express and communicate, answer logically and focus on the key points. The overall communication atmosphere of the interview is very relaxed. The interviewer sometimes makes jokes, and even if he doesn't understand it, he should have some reaction to him. Laugh more. Finally, he can ask the interviewer: if he is an audience rather than an interviewer, his opinion of your work, and the interviewer said that this question surprised him is a good question haha.
Have you finally decided which school to go to?
I haven't decided yet... The main consideration is the major and curriculum of the school, as well as the difference in the style of students' works. The teacher suggested that Goldsmith might be more suitable for me, and that his graduation work might be more suitable for me. At the same time, this course is relatively practical, and I am still considering it.
How do you feel about receiving an offer?
I was still nervous when I waited, and I guessed different possibilities. But when I really receive an offer, I will be very happy at the beginning, but I will feel lucky after that. I am very grateful for the decision I made at that time. I was very excited to share it with the teachers. I would like to thank Mr. Lin and Mr. Zhu, the application teacher. The application process was also very smooth. I kept reminding me of the time and steps. Every step was neat and smooth~
A collection of overseas works of British photography graduate students
From Xiaobai, who has almost no concept of photography and collection of works, to breaking through thinking restrictions and being able to explore more possibilities of photography with different elements, he finally won the offer of students from LCC, Kingston and Goldsmiths. Ma grew very quickly. Reviewing the course and creation process of her overseas portfolio of works for British photography graduates, she could not do without her own unique ideas and style of creation, but also related to the guidance of her tutor and the teaching direction of instant adjustment according to Ma students at any time.
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