photojournalism – Fiona Macphee

May 9, 2017May 15, 2017

From Paris to Perjeta

Update

I have made a book!! Its a follow on from my 24 hours project I did a couple of months ago. Its through Blurb and I made it for this semesters uni module. They give you the option to sell it, so I published it but I don’t imagine anyone will buy it but you never know. Its titled from Paris to Perjeta reason being that I had my biopsy the day before our student trip to Paris in November 2016; the outcome a week later was that of my breast cancer diagnosis; Perjeta is one of the drugs used during my chemotherapy treatment, which was completed on 5 April 2017. It makes sense to me.

March 29, 2016April 1, 2016

Write your own brief – Professional Development

Update 31 March 2016

So… that important feedback time happened; “Why don’t you play around with the font; size, colour etc for more impact”. So I did and have to agree that playing around and changing the font has worked pretty well. These are definitely an improvement on the originals, still adjusting some of the others but I am glad of the suggestion.

28 March 2016

For our Professional Development Module we have all been tasked to write our own briefs for a project. Having never viewed a client brief before the first stop was researching the internet for suitable templates in order to create my own version of a cohesive and professional set of objectives. Consideration must be given to context, appropriateness of content, potential legal and ethical issues, location, technical specifications, target audience, time, aesthetic and background.

A subject close to my heart is mental health. Having worked with and for a fantastically diverse range of human beings (and a couple of pat dogs) over the years I chose to base my project on the issues of stigma and the lack of knowledge/understanding towards individuals suffering from mental health problems. My images are leaning towards students and the stresses of University, exams, social inclusion.

The objectives of my brief from a particular mental health organisation are outlined below.

The theme of these photographs are to convey the feelings of those suffering from a mental illness, particularly anxiety, in order to raise awareness and understanding for the benefit of parents, carers, friends and work colleagues.
We want to tackle the stigma young adults feel are associated with mental illness, in a sensitive, thought provoking and meaningful series of photographs that can capture the attention of both those suffering and those who care for/about them.
Appropriate use of text to make a short bold statement that captures attention to accompany the images.
They images would be used on our website, in student magazines, noticeboards and other appropriate vehicles that we consider suitable for advertising. We are led by two other organisations, __________, _________ who may chose to work with the images.

By promoting these photos we would like to achieve:

We would like those viewing the photos to feel empathy, recognition and trigger thought and dialogue about the subject of mental health.
We would like to encourage visits to our website (http://www._______.org.uk) in order that they can seek further advice, address any concerns they may have and be made aware that there are good support networks out there to help.

I have used an organisation’s logo for my photographs for the purpose of reality but have purposefully blanked them out on here as I don’t want to be chased and beaten with the copyright stick, although I still maybe, as I have taken quotes from the internet as well as weaving in some words from memories, mine and others.

Below are some of the images that I have completed, some I am more pleased with than others.

I hope that I will not offend anyone with them and would like to think that I have completed my brief in a sensitive manner. If you view them and are in any way offended then please let me know. Please bear in mind that this is not a real brief and is done for the sole purpose of my University module.

March 20, 2016March 20, 2016

Tiny Streetwise Revisited – Mary Ellen Mark

I recently bought this book by Mary Ellen Mark and have just watched the film associated with the first project; Streetwise.

The project first started in 1983 when Mark was commissioned for an article in Life magazine which documented homeless and troubled youngsters working as pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers in Seattle. Tiny (Erin) aged 13 years was a sex worker with dreams of “a horse farm, diamonds, furs and children”.

Tiny then became the main subject of Streetwise (1984), a film directed by Mark’s husband Martin Bell. The film was nominated for an Academy Award in 1985. Mark released the accompanying photo book Streetwise. Mark frequently visited Seattle over the next 30 years continuing to photograph and interview her.

Tiny, Streetwise Revisited reveals these intimate portraits of Erin “Tiny” Blackwell and her 10 children along with conversations between Tiny, Mary Ellen Mark and Martin Bell. It is a raw and compelling account of her descent into drug and alcohol addiction, her troubled relationship with her mother, shattered dreams and the difficulty in breaking out of that circle of social circumstance.