First session of Professional Practice

For our first lecture on Professional Practice, we were asked to bring along our current portfolio and also bring examples of our two favourite photographers. My portfolio was an online one so here is a link to my website...

http://laurenwhatling.wix.com/laurenwhatlingphotography

I will have to get used to showing my people portfolios as I was abit nervous showing a group of seven it! My portfolio consists of still life, architecture, landscape, portrait photography and fashion photography. As a photographer, I like to show that I can do a variety of photography and not just one genre. I had some good feedback from the group and my lecturer Judy Harrison saying it was a good start to showing my portfolio. However, some bits needed tweaking.

I also showed my two favourite photographs. My first one being Tim Walker. Tim Walker has been my favourite photographer since school. His work is not only photography but is art and is very creative and dreamy. Here is his website http://timwalkerphotography.com/ and here are a few of my favourite of his photographs...

My second favourite photographer is David Lachapelle. His work is so bold and artistic. He really tells a story within his images and even uses religious referencing. Here are a few of my favourite of his photographs...

In the best possible taste by Grayson Perry

 In the best possible taste by Grayson Perry

For 'homework' we were asked to watch a program called 'In the best possible taste by Grayson Perry' (I know, I love my degree!). This 'homework' really opened my eyes to more of Grayson Perry's artwork and really taught me a thing or two about how I can further and better my own work. Grayson Perry, a very brave man who walks proudly dressed as a woman, delves into the lives of the working class, middle class and upper class all in the name of art.

Grayson would follow around the different type of class for a while, recording with his little camera whilst also recording everything at the end of the day with drawings of what he had witnessed. My favourite program of the three was the working class one. This is because it was the most interesting and eye opening of all of them. I think it made people see that the working class are not as bad as they seem. They were more interesting and most relaxed out of all the classes. Although poorer in money, they were richer in happiness.

I found the middle class episode quite uncomfortable to watch. As it seemed that they were very careful with what they said and very stiff in the way they acted, like every action was planned. The middle class looked clueless and thought that buying certain things would put them into a more middle class 'accepted' category.

The upper class I found very intriguing as some of them felt that it was a burden upon them, that they should live up to what they're family had achieved for them. However, they felt that they didn't need to buy flashy cars and brand spanking new house items because they kept the rustic look and were comfortable in the way they were.

Overall, I found that all of the class programs were amazing to watch as we all know about lower, middle and upper class but society today refuses to talk about it. Grayson Perry really delved into each of the classes and discovered alot and certainly has caused alot of debate on how each of the classes are judged.