This body of has moved away from the original concept of the selfie and become more about the dance and immersing ones self in the photographs, the experience and the journey. 

This stemmed from the use of free lensing, Initially used to represent the distorted online persona people create. Free lensing lead me to look at how the camera was mirroring the dancer, it was as if the camera and photographer were also dancing as they moved in response to the dancer to create the best possible image. 

I feel these images say more about how a person is taken on a journey through images, how empathy is created between the photographer and dancer and therefore the viewer and their reaction and engagement with the work. 

This body of work is still an exploration of the selfie and how people present them selves on social media but that is no longer the key focus of my work. 

The use of the fee lensing is an example of how people distort who they are when creating an online presence and how they specifically focus on elements of their lives that they want to share.

The idea of the dance connotes how people get swept up using social media, they don't realise how much of them selves they have made publicly available on line and how they will be viewed. the speed and intensity of the tap dance reflects how quickly people get caught up in using social media and conform to what is normal with out stopping to question.

This body of work had become about the journey and engagement of the viewer, the work is intended to give not just a visual representation but rounded experience, one people can immerse them selves. the presentation of the work is intended to make people stop, I haven't designed it to be work you can glance at and move on. I have purposefully made it small and fast so people have to take the time to look and discover what they are viewing. 

Exploring Image Presentation

I have really enjoyed looking at the presentation of the work and how it effects the experience of viewer and their response. It has been an invaluable experience and I have learnt a lot from it. It has changed the way I look at taking the photographs them selves as I have explored the process of image making effect the way in which the images are presented and the effect it will have on the viewer. 

Flip Book

I have chosen to make a flip book in a hand made book as there is something very personal about reading a book, people have the control of how they view the image and have their own personal interaction when viewing. This will again create a very personal experience where they can immerse them selves in the journey and really explore the images. 

Stop motion/Magic Lantern

I have created this video as it give the body of work pace, it is always viewed at a certain speed. I have made it fast to encourage people to get swept up in the work and hopefully interact with it quickly. I have made it reasonably short to encourage people to watch it more than once. I intentional left the final image mid way through a dance step so the viewer would feel the need to continue watching. 

I have included the sound again to give the viewer a rounded experience when viewing the work.

I have applied some of the techniques I explored earlier on in the project, one of the key ones was the use of repetition, I have used the same sequence of image multiple times with in the video. This create a continuity to the video and makes the sequences stand out and more prominent with in the sequence. 

Instillation Art

This is an instillation hung from the ceiling, when viewing the work and moving through it and viewed at a distance it creates patterns and shapes. 

the pieces of wood are hung at varying highest and widths from each other. 

I would like to hang my images printed at a small size in a similar way to this, people would be able to sense what the dance as a whole would look like whilst viewing the still images individually. 

I would also like the sound of the dancer playing whilst people view the images the create the feeling of immersion in the art. I want it to be an all encompassing experience. 

By having the work hung it gives people the option to view it at their own speed, the sequencing of the images will be set, the viewer will have the control when viewing the images. 

Jo Longhurst An A-Z Of Gymnastics

Jo Longhurst has displayed her images in a way that is representative of the movements a gymnast would make. as you view the work the way in which they are displayed helps you to visualise how the still image would look when the gymnast was performing in real time. 

I would like to use a similar technique to this in my work to encourage the feeling of immersion in the image sand the journey. 

Displaying my work

They key point of my work is the journey so the key element of displaying it will be the sequencing and how people interact when viewing the work. 

display options:

*Flip Book 

*Creating and instillation to travel trough 

*Magic Lantern

When shooting I recorded the sound of the sound of the dancer tap dancing. I want to include this in the presentation of my work to enhance the experience of the viewing of the work and the feeling of being a part of the journey. 

Summary of where my work is at now

This body of has moved away from the concept and become more about the dance and immersing ones self in the photographs, the experience and the journey. 

This stemmed from the use of free lensing, I looked at how the camera was mirroring the dancer, it was as if the camera and photographer were also dancing as they moved in response to the dancer to create the best possible image. 

I feel these images say more about how a person is taken on a journey through images, how empathy is created and how people react to the images.


This body of work is still an exploration of the selfie and how people present them selves on social media but that is no longer the key focus of my work.

The use of the fee lensing is an example of how people distort who they are when creating an online presence and how they specifically focus on elements of their lives that they want to share.
The idea of the dance connotes how people get swept up using social media, they dont realise how much of them selves they have made available on line and how they will be viewed. the seep and intensity of the tap dance reflects how quickly people get caught up in using social media and conform to what is normal with out stopping to question.

Lighting Diagram

To light the dancers feet I had both the lights fairly low, the back light was the lowest and sued to create highlights down the side of the dancers legs to give clarity to the shape even when blown out of focus by the free lensing technique. 

I hage a medium sized soft box to the side and in front of the model this was used to bring ambient light to the image and create interesting and dynamic shadow by having it to the side. 

I shot the images from a low angle to ensure the dancers feet looked strong and dominant in the frame. 

The dancer was positioned a reasonable distance from the back of the backdrop, this was to ensure it was in shadow as shooting on black can cause odd highlights where the light hits the paper and in the curve where it hits the ground. 

Shoot 8

In this shoot I tried to incorporate everything I had learned through the last shoots. In this shoot I went in having a very clear idea of what I wanted to achieve and how I could achieve it. 

I am really pleased with these images and I now need to work out how I will display them 

Shoot 7

I have experimented with shooting other parts of the dancer in isolation. I was hoping these would work well with the feet and create the idea of the dancer as a whole through a collection of isolated parts of the dancer. 

These images were not as effective as the images of the feet and i found that they changed the dynamics of the series, it no longer felt like a journey as you weren't following the feet through the dance. 

Chris Nash

I had considered moving away from just the dancers feet starting to look at shooting the dancer as a whole. 

These images by Chris Nash are similar to my images in the way they have been shoot with the areas of soft focus and distortion. In many of my images, the fact the subject is a dancers feet isn't glaringly obvious. People are therefor encouraged to spend more time looking at the images. 

I want my images to have an abstract almost formalist feel to them rather than being about the actual dancer. It takes away the reality and causes the viewer to think more subjectively and focus on the concept of the work. 

Book Making

I have made a book using the japanese book binding technique. 

I have chosen to make a book as it gives the series a definite sequence and take the viewer on a journey, it leased them through the images. 

Books feel very personal and create a sense of intimacy, people will find it easier to connect and empathies with the images. I want theses images to be personal for the viewing  to be an intimate processes similar to that of actually taking the images. 

Having a hand made book adds to the beauty and intimacy of the project, it reflects how the images have turned something that is fast moving and beautiful into still isolated moments. 

Shoot 6

This is the first studio shoot I have done for this body of work. I am really pleased with these images and how they have moved on from the previous shoot.

They have moved on from interesting images to much bette quality and higher standard images. 

I am really pleased with the result of there images as they have become much more interesting and dynamic images. 

I was unsure weather to shoot on black or white. these are are images shot on white 

I much preferred the stark contras of the black and white, it made the images a lot more punchy and dynamic. Although these are shot on a white background they have a much darker feel and there is a lot less contrast. 

I much prefere the purity of the black and white images as it contrasts well with the distortion of the image content. I feel it says more about the reality of a person and their natural beauty rather than presure they feel to be someone they are not and project a false "ideal" of them selves onto the world. 

Moving forward I want to re shoot the images at a much better standard. Although I shot these Images of a Nikon D200, I forgot to shoot in RAW and hadn't realised how difficult it is to shoot on black as it causes a lot of pixel banding. 

Edward Weston Nudes

The way in which these images have been photographed change the way the body is viewed. It becomes an object the, shape and form become key elements.

In thees images, the human body is changed and becomes something els through the way it is photographed, I want to achieve this in my images. 

Edward Weston - The Peper

The use of light in this image is really beautiful. I want to use similar techniques in my images, using the lighting, framing and camera techniques to turn the dancers feet into something really beautiful and interesting. Leading the audience to view something that could be considered normal to consider it in a new light and see in in a different way. 

Ori Gersht

These images by Ori Gersht were taken on a train journey to Auschwitz. These images create a sense of journey, confusion and loneliness. 

The way theses images have been shot to create the blurred, soft movement effect is similar to the distortion created in my. 

Hs shot these images on a moving train, the camera is  mirroring what is being photographed, adding another dynamic to the image. 

In my images, the camera is used as a sculpture, as the dancer moves and dances so does the camera and the photographer.

Shoot 5

When shooting the dancers feet it lead me to think about how the camera became a mirror of the dancer and dance. It was part of the dance and became part of the art, it was no longer a camera recording events it was almost a sculpture reflecting the dancer and becoming par of the Dance. 

I wanted to explore this idea further and explore how the camera could be used as a sculpture, I experimented using a large piece of magnifying glass, it looked like a huge contact lens. 

It created really interesting effects, it not only distorted the image i was shooting but enlarging areas of the image, bringing some into focus and distorting others. it also drew in lots of reflections from the different angles of the glass. 

I really enjoyed this experimentation but I feel it doesn't fit with the rest of my work, it has a very different feel and doesn't quite work as part of the body of work. 

I would like to continue this idea and look more into using the camera a a sculpture and creating an empathy between the camera and subject but I will explore that as part of a different body of work. 

Shoot 4

I have again used the technique of free lensing, this has enabled me to distort the image creating distortion and a contrast of acute focus and distorted images. This is to represent how people will present to the world and "ideal" of themselves, a distorted version of who they truly are. This in turn will cause people to view not only the person in a distorted way but also them selves as they will come to compare themselves. 

Using a tap dancer instead of a ballet dancer made a really difference to the images and the concept as it is so much more freeing and personal. 

I would like to develop these images further and start shooting in the studio. I will refine the images and  will enable me to really distort and isolate the feet turing them into objects to be viewed in a more beautiful and abstract light.