From start to end I think ive come along way and got through quite a few obstacles and overcame them reasonably well. I feel as though I have developed my photographic knowledge greatly and I have achieved more knowledge of  how to create a photobook and the processes involved .My original project was to photograph people living with invisible illnesses and how they cope. I was planning to get in contact with GL11 Invisible Illness Group and asking if any of them would be willing to let me photograph them, however I wasn’t able to do this due to contracting Covid-19. I was very poorly and as well as isolating I could no longer begin shooting. As this project was short, I didn’t have time to waste. So, I chose to photograph myself living with Covid-19 which shortly went onto my mum as well as she came down with it too. Within my photographs was a bath shoot I had shot of my mother, showing her have a bath to feel better. Once I had shown these images in class and Nik had a good look at them, he explained that these images were beautiful, and I had created an intimate body of work with my mother and thought that I should explore this as not many people have such a close relationship with their mother. So, I decided to give it ago. I needed to reshoot anyway as I had accidently shot on auto ISO and all my images were far to grainy. I think sharing the same invisible illness has a great part to play in why we are so close and that she is a single mother.

By creating and publishing my first book gives me a more professional element to add to my portfolio. Creating a book also shows my commitment and dedication, which shows my professionalism and skill. Now knowing how to create and publish a photo book, it gives me the opportunity to upskill during my FMP and create a book for my final piece. Having a book shown at the degree show or/and on my website adds another body of work for future employers to look through and show off my skills. It is an additional way of promoting myself and my commitment. When I bought my book, I also bought a PDF for £2.99. Having a PDF, means I can print out on A4 and attach to portfolios and CVs for jobs. I could contribute to this project by continuing it on after hand in, developing it or reproducing it slightly differently, maybe changing it into a slightly different project. I can also use my new booking creating skills to produce a book for FMP if I would like to, or a PDF. If I created a book for FMP, I could use it as self-advertisement at the degree show to promote myself. Also, I can upload a teaser to my website, and I could also put it for sale on my website. With advertising I could sell online to make money on my work. I decided to choose 10x 8 as it is a popular professional photobook size, it’s not too small and its not too big. You have the added benefit of being able to have it on a table, to travel with or to display. A smaller photobook also discloses to me that an image doesn’t have to be huge to matter, it can be smaller but still have a huge impact.

Throughout my shoots I encountered a few problems. I hadn’t shot much inside with my new camera and have been getting used to it over the last year. My camera sometimes resorts back to auto ISO, which at first I didn’t realise and then I found it’s something I keep forgetting to check. My first bathroom shoot I photographed with my mother I couldn’t work out why my images were coming out so grainy, it turned out that my camera had reverted back to auto ISO and I hadn’t realised. The majority of these images were really great however I decided that I shouldn’t use them because they were far too grainy and I had not yet decided whether or not I was going to shoot in black and white or not. If I decided to go with black and white the images could have been used however I knew it wasn’t my best work so I decided I was going to reshoot, making sure my ISO was around 100-400, depending on the light as there is only a tiny window in the very small bathroom. Furthermore, due to the accessible space and camera lens, there was not enough room for the images I would have liked to have experimented with. Next time I will take out a lens from the stores with a longer focal range, so the distance between me and my mother wouldn’t have been such an issue. Due to my mothers chronic pain conditions she could only stay in the bath for so long which meant because she also had to actually have a bath I didn’t have much time to shoot. I also couldn’t expect her to keep having numerous baths, just because I wanted an image. If I were to do this project again I would do it over a longer period of time to allow for more shots and shot types. Shooting in a small bathroom with only a little window and a hot bath meant, I had to deal with the humidity creating my lens to steam up, this meant that some of my closer shots would steam up because I only have a 28-77mm lens so I had no choice but to get that close. Whilst shooting this project we have had a leak coming from the bath through to the kitchen ceiling so the bath panel has been on and off. Initially when I first shot these images the bath panel was stood up at the top end of the bath and their was products around the bath itself. Once Nik had, had a look through he pointed it out that these images would be more powerful and beautiful if they were clean, e.g. no products, no bath panel etc. So with this when I re shot I took everything that I could out of the image. However I decided to play with the bath panel. I created some shots with it stood up as before, some with it missing completely and some with the panel back on the bath. I wanted to do this so that I could compare the images on my laptop afterwards to see what was actually working for the project. In the end I decided to keep a selection of the 3 shot types as this meant keeping the project real.

I have never found Adobe particularly user friendly and have always struggled using the software. However, I’ve found that especially for slight changes that Adobe Bridge’s Camera RAW works very well for me and its user friendly. For the images shot for this particular body of work only lighting changes an crops were needed. Due to my poorly timed weeks, between working, driving, sleep, family commitments, illness and lectures, I hadn’t left myself much time for actual shooting. Next time I will allocate myself more time for not just shooting but for research too! I found that photographing my mother nude posed some issues for myself. I didn’t wanted my body of work to be seen as creepy or as just nude imagery. I had to shoot this project in a way that was intimate but that was also censored. Which wasn’t as hard as I had initially thought, however it was a challenged for me with the space I had. 

Overall I have really enjoyed this module, however if I had the chance to do this project again, I would do it over a longer period of time, look at more photobooks more relevant to my specific body of work and not get COVID-19.