The Great Gatsby - The Film

Last Thursday I went to go and see The Great Gatsby the film. I was eager to go and see it and went in with an open mind, as I knew nothing could compare to the book.

I sat down and watched the people gather into the screen, one man walked in with a suit on and a fancy hat on his own, probably a crazy gatsby fan like me but I thought it rather cool and elegant that he came in dressed like that!

Anyway, the film I found absolutely beautiful. Like the book, the beginning is full of colour, vibrance and beauty and towards the end merges into greyness to portray heartbreak.

The film was shot beautifully and the parties were extravagant, Baz Luhrmann did brilliantly and was the perfect person to recreate this beautiful novel.

I found Leonardo DiCaprio was the perfect man to play Gatsby as his manors were exactly that of Gatsby's in the book, a mysterious man with a large element of coolness. Towards the end, I felt he did an excellent job of portraying a man completely in love and completely doomed.

Daisy, played by Carey Mulligan, also did well as she portrayed an effortlessly glamorous woman confused by love and secureness.

The film was beautiful and showed every single subject that Fitzgerald brang up within his novel. The story is probably one of the most heartbreaking I have ever seen. Daisy loved Gatsby but Gatsby was about to loose reputation and have his life of security destroyed and Daisy did not want to go down with him.

A magical story about love, loss, power and security as well as predicting the Wall Street Crash.

A must see, well done Baz Luhrmann!

Professional Practice

I went into University with quite a narrow view of what kind of Photography I wanted to go into, that was Architectural Photography. However, University has expanded my views on Photography. During my second year, I branched into fashion photography, recreating the 1920's vogue front covers. This gained me confidence in working with people and so I went on to photograph tribute bands for my third year project. I also photographed the event 'Mad Hatters Charity Tea Party' which raised money for those suffering with Cystic Fibrosis. These projects I have featured on my website as I feel they have been my strongest and I also want to show that I can work with a variety of different people and get the best photographs out of them. 

I have left out my current project as I feel it does not fit in as well with the other images. However, I have put a link to my blog on my 'About Me' page on which you can see the project and the story behind it. I do also still enjoy my architectural and landscape photography however, I want to combine this with fashion as I want to work with models and make up artists. Therefore, on my website I have put a section called 'Portraits' which show that I have worked with models, make up artists and fashion students. 

I have been doing projects outside of University during my third year, such as continuing my Tribute Band project by photographing The Bootleg Beatles. I found the experience enhanced my people skills even more and I want to keep photographing Tribute Bands. 

I have also photographed a group of Second Year fashion students work, which the photo shoot was held in Southampton in a cottage. This combined architecture with fashion which was perfect experience for me. 

Also, I was paid to photograph the band 'Vic Vincent and The Firebirds' in which I photographed them on stage and in the studio. This was interesting as I can see myself doing band photography along side me having a main photography job. My photographs taken in the studio of them were used on their album and were shown on their Facebook page which was good coverage for me. 

Also this year, I have found Twitter has been an excellent means of communicating my work. Through twitter, I have got my work featured on 'Business Boom', a website that show cases young talent within the artistic genre. My work can be seen via this link http://businessboomcollective.com/0123/photography-lauren-whatling/

I have also been featured on the Strong Island website, showing my recent project on my Grandparents garden. They described my work as 'atmospheric and thought provoking' which I intended my project to do. My work can be seen via this link - http://www.strong-island.co.uk/2013/05/10/self-processed-large-format-photography-by-lauren-whatling/

I have also been asked to photograph 'The Mad Hatters Charity Tea Party' again this year which I am very excited about as I loved photographing it last year. My photographs from last year can be seen on their website - http://www.themadhatterscharityteaparty.org.uk/gallery/TeaParty2012/

After University, I intend to gain work experience with some Fashion Photographers and also revisit my work experience from last year 'Vision Photography' to gain even more of an insight into how a photography business runs. I am also applying to be a Cruise Ship Photographer so I can travel and work at the same time. 

Overall, I feel the course has looked at many different areas of Photography which I have found helpful in finding which genre I want to be in. I have a lot more confidence in my Photography and always want to push myself to do more. 

Strong Island

I was contacted a few weeks ago about having my work on Strong Island and now it's on there! Paul Gonella wrote about my work being 'atmospheric and thought provoking' which I am happy about as thats what my work intended to do :).

Follow the link where you can see my work being featured... http://www.strong-island.co.uk/2013/05/10/self-processed-large-format-photography-by-lauren-whatling/

Also, the story behind my work is a few posts down so have a read!