Preparing for Assignment Five

I had planned for sometime to do an exercise with Global Generation for assignment five.  GG is an organisation that uses alternative methods of teaching.  I have taken photos for this group several times over the past 18 months, many are on their website.
I contacted Jane with to see if there was a session coming up that I could photograph.  There was one group meeting that week, which she said I could photograph.  It wasn't hugely successful for a number of reasons.  First it was pouring with rain which was incredibly limiting as outdoor pictures make up a big part of the environment.  Secondly there was an official film being made so I had to take second place.

Jane and I discussed the problems and she suggested a new group meeting for the summer school might be a better option and I would be able to have more time and better access.

Following the recent workshops I had done on documentary and photofilm I had decided that I wanted to explore this genre for my final assignment.  The assignment requirements are open enough that I feel this media will be acceptable.

I spent a couple of  days photographing the kids and recording them reading their work.

I felt confident this work was going to work well.  Jane was also keen to use the work.

I discussed the outline of the project with my tutor when he rang me to discuss assignment four.

He told me I would be required to have release forms from each of the kids for him to accept this work.  I discussed this with Jane who told me this was wrong and also totally impossible.

At this stage of this course I'm not prepared to take on a battle so I decided to change the subject matter.

My main focus is the method.  What the content of this assignment is is not very important.  Having decided I want to do a photofilm I really want to focus on acquiring the skills and knowledge to do this.

During the Queen's Diamond Jubilee I went out to take photos with a specific outcome in mind.  I realised that the security surrounding the event was going to make it extremely difficult to get close enough for photographs that included any of the "official party".  I have on previous occasions photographed boating events on the Thames and know that the pictures you can take from the banks of the Thames are not going to be very interesting.  Add to that the huge crowds and the awful weather, I realised that a different approach was required.  I decided that I would try and capture the "emotion" of the day.  My focus would be the crowds.  My idea was to think of an on-line publication that would show the "British spirit during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee".