Graduate Exhibition // 2018.

On friday, our graduate exhibition opened. Previous to this was a week that we were putting the work up. I was in at the beginning of the week when the space was empty, and I also came in a few days during the end of the week. From doing this, I found it interesting to see the change in the space from day to day as more work was being put up. With each piece of work that were being displayed, it seemed to really transform the space. Overall, the process of seeing the exhibition and displaying my own work, I found to be interesting.

That then lead us to the opening night which was also a great night. After spending the week in the space seeing the work being displayed, it was nice to be able to have it completed and celebrate the past year.


Exhibition display plan:

Entry for the BJP Portrait of Britain Award 2018.

I spotted on social media that it was coming up to the Deadline of the Portrait of Britain Award that the BJP holds every year. With University coming to an end, I want to keep looking and entering my work in as many competitions that are suitable as I can. Competitions are a great way to get your work out there, and even if you don't win, specific people within the industry are still seeing your work and name in these various competitions and opportunities can come at anytime.

I entered the Portrait of my Grandmother below that I took as part of my Final Major Project in Dec 2017 as it immediately came to mind when I saw the competition.

CV workshop and Careers Meeting // 2

Laura had come in to run a CV writing workshop. This had some really useful information as I hadn't really had to think much about a CV coming straight from Sixth form to University. She gave us some tips on what to put on our CV's and how to write them in a way that appeals to the employer. 

• Targeting is Key - When applying for a job, we need to adapt our CV to specific features to match the job. Having all the relevant information but tailoring it specifically to the organisation or the specific role requirements. 
• Listing your skills is a part of a CV. Laura stated that a lot of people write their skills yet dont demonstrate them. This is something that makes your CV stand out more and shows you can do specific things rather than just telling the employer a list.

She also went through other elements of the CV such as the personal profile which is a good way to set a first impression, and introduce yourself and your interests in 3 simple questions. 1.Who? 2.What do you do? and 3. What are you looking for? 

This workshop made me think about CV's differently and I know that I can book an appointment with the career advisors when I come to producing my own which is useful.

Today, was my follow up meeting with Laura. I had filled out my self awareness table which I had written the projects I had done and what Skills I had developed from these. This helped to see which Skills I have developed over the years of being at university and which skills need improving so that I can have a wide range.
I had also researched into the different areas that I could potentially enter after Graduation, yet I still don't really know what I would like to do.

With this, Laura tried to narrow it down and I spoke about the elements of projects over the years of University that I have enjoyed. Exhibitions and Galleries are places I like to visit, and my own practice is project based also. With this, Laura suggested an Arts Administrator type of job. And the next steps would be to look at volunteering in a gallery in order to place myself in the specific environment and see how it turns out.

Another element she suggested to look into was events planning and organisation. I can explore different events and fairs to volunteer at and maybe look into some specifically to do with photography. This allows me to test different working environments, which some may work for me and some may not. However, putting myself in the environment is the best next step and also allows me to network with like minded people and also a variety of people from different backgrounds. 

Creating a Website

The idea of creating a website has been with me for a while now, but I've never really known where to start and also wasn't fully happy with the work I was creating.

Finishing second year I had created a few series of work that I was really happy with and knew would sit nicely on a website. Going through third year has also created my Final Major Project which again would take up space on my own website.

I start using Instagram at the start of my third year, setting up a page specifically for my photography. After using this for a while, as good as it is, as my work is project based, it was becoming hard to upload photos together, often resulting in me not uploading anything. Also instagram isn't designed for photographs to be viewed as series and I found it to be limiting in the various ways I wanted to present my work but couldn't due to its grid format.

This is when I decided I needed a photography site to display my work and allow the audience to see my work more easily and how I want to present it and also it could be used as a portfolio in the future for jobs, reviews or even competitions.

I discovered I already had access to Adobe Portfolio as I had the photography package. After picking a template and spending a good few hours adjusting various elements so that it was how I wanted it, I got a final product I was happy with. Then I spent another few hours, planning and creating pages for each project I want to show. I started with 4 projects so far from my second and final year, but I have a few more to add in the future.