OLIVIA PARCHMENT
FINE ARTIST
IN THE MOMENT
A collection of photographs combined with text that documents the lives of students living in Bath displayed in the form of a collage.
April/May 2016
I decided to take a variety of photographs from the 25th April to the 6th June that document the lives of several students living in Bath. Looking at their daily activities within university life and outside of the creative or academic courses. I want to look at how the lives of mostly art based students vary from person to person and how characteristics and personality can be seen within the photographs. The name of this project is 'In the moment'.
I have decided to use several disposable cameras in order to collect these photographs as it takes away the opportunity to edit, retake or delete photos that may have gone wrong or weren't taken at the right angle. My work will be based on trial and error as this is another way I can challenge myself within my practice. I will document this project on this blog showing the process of creating these photographs and publish the photographs on here once they have been taken
These photographs were taken to show the lives of students in the 21st Century, how things can seen good but may not be what they seem. As a form of documentation the photographs will be displayed on this blog. I decided to edit all of the photographs into black and white as this takes away the distraction of what could be going on in the photograph thats takes away the subject matter and what the main outcome of this project was about. It has been interesting to see what individuals are like in and outside of university and how we all interact with each other. How our emotions change depending on who we are withh and choose to hang around with. The majority of these photographs were taken off-guard but I made the people who i was photographing aware of what I was doing and asked for their consent as to whether they would like to take part in my external project or not. It was also important for me to have the opportunity to be apart of the project as well as my peers so that i was able to see what I was like within social environments and how I came across to the world. It is often that the artists life story isnt very important as the art is showed and is the main factor but using photography gives a visual outlook on what artists and others around them look like.
“The most colorful thing in the world is black and white, it contains all colors and at the same time excludes all.” ― Vikrmn, 10 Alone
“When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in Black and white, you photograph their souls!” ― Ted Grant
Photography is a different form of documentation that I am not that familiar with but have enjoyed exploring throughout this project
'What I like about black and white photographs is that it is more like reading the book than watching the movie ' - Unknown
Photography is an art of observation. It has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see things' - Elliott Erwitt
Are photographs the new paintings? The way in which art is changing each and everyday affects what people like and what people are interested in. Does this mean photographs are becoming the best way to show individuals characteristcs and who they are? Is portraiture best shown through photos?
The photographs all describe real people in their real lives. What students actually get up to within their time and what they are actually using their time with. Its not about getting that perfect photograph but understanding the meaning behind the photograph and how it represent something that the majority of people have experienced or may experience within their lives. It's something that is can cause stress but changed an individual and may show new characteristics, new problems anddifferent ways to deal with certain situations. It's all about the real not the fantasy, in the moment, no going back and creating that moment that is in the present but will be a part of history.
These photographs are of the following:
Minnie Young - Photography student
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Mollie Harvey - Photography student
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Sharon Esposito - Dance student
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Hannah Jones - Geography student
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Nicole Angelides - Photography student
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Sam Telling - Textiles student
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Olivia Parchment - Fine art student
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Alex Bond - Geography student
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Charlotte Makepeace - Geography
Sam Sutcliffe - Geography student
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Marco Briglia - Geography student
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Ariana Tan - Sports & publishing student
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Ella Hilyer - Business student
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Sarak Askew - Business student
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Ellie Haines - Business student
These photographs are not about what is good and what is bad or how to have a photograph take in the right angle. They are about showing what is real and what students actually do with their time to show others instead of this stereotypical idea of not doing work and using their time to do however they please. And I believe that these photographs show this.
By turning the photographs into black and white allows the viewer to see the emotion of the people within that photograph and I believe gives the photograph a deeper meaning. There us a lot of distraction and other things that could draw attention away for the viewer if the photograph is in colour this is why I decided to edit all of the photographs into monochrome.
Throughout this project I had the opportunity to photographs of people in all different environments. On nights out, days out, festivals, within my house and shadowing my peers during hours of the day where they do what they usually do throughout the day. I think within the photographs the viewer can see how people act with certain individuals and how those people can effect their moods and emotions.
Some of the individals within this project were more reluctant to take photographs than others. The seemed more comfortable when they were unaware that the photograph has been taken and these final outcomes seemed to be more successful than the posed photographs. This created more questions about how I should take the photographs within the time frame given.
Photographing other people lives gives you an insight to what they are doing, how they are feelin about everyday life, certain situations and people. It gives you a feel as to what type of person they are and how they react to another individual taking their photograph. I wanted to take a mixture of offguard photography and also asking the people involved to pose, this gave two sides to the story and allows the viewer to how people act knowing their are cameras around and not knowing.
