Powder photography research

After I came up with the idea of colour powder photogrpahy I have done a little bit of research and looked at other artists' works before I started of taking my images.

Here is a little background info about Holi Powder:

Holi is a Hindu spring festival otherwise known as The Festival Of Colour. It's especially associated with the worship o fthe Hindu god, Krishna, and is considered an imitation of his play with wives and daughters of the cowherds. At the celebrations in some parts of India (and around the world) participants throw coloured powder on each other with reckless abandon.

Previously on my blog I uploaded images of colour powder photography however those images were taken in studio, however I won't be able to take my images in a studio therefore I looked for photographers who shot outdoor.

Here are the examples of an Australian photographer C J Willimas:

I think the photographer did an amazing job capturing the energy and love between the couple. As the two are throwing puffs of colourful powder at each other it really looks like they are having fun and the pictures show an explosion of colour and love. It definitely looks like a much easier process of making these images outdoor then in studio. It requires less equipment and will not create as much mess as it could in a closed place. There won't be as much health and safety issues as it would be in a studio because the participants won't have to be aware of hot flash lights and wires on the floor, moving around in dark relatively small place. 

Compared C J Williams shots to my idea, I think I'm looking for a very similar outcome for my community art project. And I'm even more determined about looking at his works, because these are really shows that using coloured powder is a good idea. Something that's going to engage everybody and offer them a great time for having fun while I will be capturing the amazing experience that they are going to live through during my project.

Examples of memory montage photography:

 Two way of showing the action: using more than one image and placing them next to each other (image above) which has a narrative effect or using just one image that freezes an action in a single moment.

It looks like these type of images can work anywhere whether it's shot on location or in a studio. You can choose any kind of background as we see on these examples it can be something closer to the subject like a building or just a nice landscape behind them. Everything is working, because the colours contrast with both dark and light background.   

Proposal

Newton-Le-Willows community centre

In this community art project I would like to run a photography workshop and provide training for the members of the N-L-W Community Centre. Enable people of all ages, interest and abilities to experiment with digital arts and participate in a creative activity.

How can I meet the aim of the Association with my project?

I believe that this project has the potential to meet community needs and the aims of the Association. The opportunity that I can provide for people can help to increase their creativity, confidence and self-esteem. Also, it can improve an environment in order to enhance the quality of life there. For example by exhibiting the artworks created by participants at the end of the project.

Identify a need

As I found out from my initial research, people are interested about the digital form of art, so I should successfully implement this project at the end and support the people who have least access to digital arts.

The plan 

My main part in the project will be to explain the basic functions and the proper use of a digital camera; to teach the technical sides of image making and to demonstrate a few interesting methods; like how to create light trails. After my talking they will get a chance to talk about their ideas in groups and my job will be continuing on to take and understand the groups’ ideas or maybe guide them through potential pitfalls. 

Also, I’ll ensure that they can apply the new skills in a health and safety environment. Hopefully with the new techniques that I’ll be teaching them, they will be able to create a high quality artwork, as I will let them have a go to experiment with the power of photography , to express their creativity and successfully develop practical skills.   

In addition, the act of sharing my knowledge and stimulating creativity amongst participants can bring the people together and improve community relations, as they will have to work together as a group too. While the new skill they will learn can be used after the project is over.
The exhibition at the end can be exciting for individuals to know that their finished work will be seen in public.

Budget and finance

 

The centre is self‐funded, therefore it won’t be  

necessary to get financial help from other  

partners as the project ’s budget isn’t high.  

Predicted budget: £35‐40 for materials  

Idea B

My plan B is about to share my knowledge of photography and teach different techniques to a range of people, then letting them have a go and create their own imagery. The way I imagine this is like, I create a power point about ‘Techniques of image making’ before the project starts and on the day with the help of the PP I will present it in front of the class. Then, I’m going to use my own camera and a tripod to demonstrate each technique practically. After everybody has a clear understand of everything they should sit together and come up with some idea then create a creative piece of work using my equipments.
If they need further explanation, I’ll be there to help till everyone is happy with outcome.

If the community chooses my plan B, then I have to make sure, that I’ll have the access to a computer room where I can display my power point. Probably one of the methods would be light trail so the room should have blinds to create darkness. Again, I have to make sure that no accident is going happen in the dark so I’ll have to do a speech about health and safety too. The price of the torch flashlight is around £10-15.

My chosen community centre: Newton-Le-Willows Community Centre
Primary aims of the Association are to:

- Improve the quality of life for the residents of N-L-W.
- Provide services and resources that will support the area and individuals.
- Develop a community spirit & responsibility by encouraging local people to participate in the management and day to day running of the centre.
- Indentify the needs of the area and devise ways in which the Association can respond to those needs. 

Idea A

How can I help the local community?

Ideas!?

* First as a group, we come up with some ideas, like working together with children and create children’s flipbook. Then we were thinking about making time lapse or stop motion images involving the members of community and showing them the particular technique of this type of image making.

After I’ve done my research, I come up with 2 barely different ideas for my community art project. My first idea would be to do a photo shoot. I think it would be a great activity after I read about the success of High Peak‘s fantasy landscape making project. My second idea would be to provide training about certain image making methods that could achieve meaningful improvements in the lives of participants.

I would like to keep both options open because I’m not sure about that my first idea would work, so I thought I’d like to give the opportunity for my chosen community centre to choose between my plans. The results from the chosen project would be exhibited in the community centre to enhance the quality of life there.

My plan A is about to work with a particular group (marital arts: self-defence group) and do a photo shoot, involving everybody who’s in the group to be on an image and punch or kick a bag filled with coloured powder paint, while I’m capturing the moments of the explosion, using the technique of high speed image capturing. I’m looking forward to create an enjoyable environment that can positively affect people’s life.  Because probably most of the people in the class have had bad life experiences; for example: bullying. So I’d like to engage these people to come and experience something excited and joyful by taking part in the photo shoot. I want to boost their confidence and capture their moment of ‘freedom’ when they can just express themselves by punching or kicking that bag using their favourite style of marital arts techniques. The powder should look amazing on the photos and my aim is to create something similar then the example images.

A link for a tutorial;

http://photoextremist.com/high-speed-powder-photography

If the community chooses my plan A, then I’ll have to order the powder from Amazon and take into consideration the delivery time of the products. Also, the use of powder can be a very messy process and might not everyone going to enjoy the shooting, if their clothes will be getting dirty. Also, if there would be children in the class, probably I’ll have to ask for permission from the parents. It’s obvious, that I’ve to inform the member of the community centre about my project and Co-operate with the staff to advertise the future event. Verify the time, place and the financial support behind the project. One tub of powder will cost about £8. Also, I have to find the best place for the shooting, as I would have to use studio lights or flash lights on stands, which can be cause accidents, therefore I’ll have to stick out some health and safety notifications. But overall the shooting should be fun.  I also did an advanced research about colour meaning, because I’d like the people to choose a colour that will represents their actual feeling. For example if someone is angry, then he/she should be using the red powder. So, know I’ll be able to stick a note on each tub that shows the meaning of that particular colour. This would give more meaning to the image.

More research

- Photovoice (national/international): work in the UK and overseas with individuals, local communities and partner organisations to create participatory photography programmes that achieve meaningful improvements in the lives of participants.

Projects:

* Shutter Release – Overcoming Addiction (national, UK): A course of 10 photography workshops was run with women at various stages of rebuilding their lives following alcohol or drug addiction. The women were supported to create photo stories that explored their next steps and challenges helping them to voice and prepare for the milestones ahead.

* Photovoice & CAFOD – WASH project (National, Zimbabwe): As part of the project Photovoice has trained 30 adult and 40 young people in photography and visual literacy across more than 20 villages in Zimbabwe. So they can document issues, problems and improvements around the theme of WASH issues. Their photos will be important. Their photos will be important as the result will engage and inform the wider community. 

As I found out from my research, each project is funding by companies who are in partnership with Photovoice. Photovoice’s methodology is build on the power and potential of photography as a flexible and empowering tool, that is at once accessible, therapeutic, influential and communicative. They are seeing photography as a tool to enable positive social change. They help disadvantaged communities by sharing their knowledge and teaching digital storytelling methods to the individuals, so that they have the opportunity to present themselves. So basically, they provide training, materials and responsible resources. 

Individual research

- Arts Council England: develops and invest in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people’s lives. Support a range of activities across the arts, museums, libraries from theatre to digital art etc.

-       High Peak Community Arts (Derbyshire – regional): provides opportunities for people to participate in high quality creative arts project, enhancing their quality of life through self-expression. Focuses on those who have least access to arts and culture, providing opportunities for participants of all ages, interest and abilities to experiment with creative arts. Often working with freelance artists.

Past Projects:

* Travelling light (local): 360 degrees camera obscura travelled around High Peak engaging people with the wonders of science and the links between science and art. They hope to develop this unusual and engaging workshop.

* Making fantasy landscapes (regional): This was a project for families and young people. Everyone had to make their own 3D cosmic landscapes and after that they used the green screen to photography portraits and then Photoshop to place people in their landscapes, after all the portraits processed. The success of this activity led the staff to think up a new digital/design combo for next year.

As I found out from my research, to make this project happen the community were helping out financially by the sponsors and from charity taking. The staff is successfully identified the need of their community, as it looks like the digital form of art is very popular among young people and they’re going to create a new digital art group.  They were able to bring in the right team for the right project, as they worked with a freelance artist to teach new skills and the technical side of image making to the members. The works have been exhibited at the end of the activity and the skills that the people have learnt can be sustained beyond the life of the project. The staff had managed to create an enjoyable environment and widen the participation, which improved the community relations. Their activity helped the people to grow their confidence, self-esteem and build relationships through the art-making process.

Community art project

What is community?

The term community can refer to a usually small, social unit of any size that shares common values. A community can be seen in many ways, it can refer to different kind of groups. There are local, regional, national, international and also online communities.

What is community art?

Community Art is any art form, which focuses on involving community members, who contribute a variety of talents, to design and create a public art piece. These projects are done together with a professional artist who passes on skills to the participants through the art-making process. The content of the artwork usually reflects local issues that have been identified by people within the community. The importance of its ability is to build relationships and involve all members of a neighbourhood helping to establish collective identity. The artwork, once complete, is exhibited or performed for the community.