Evaluation

Evaluation – Matt Smith

Areas of Photographic Practice B

I thought this project was the most challenging yet. Photographically I enjoyed every second of it however finding an idea at the start was a real struggle. It was really hard to get out of the comfort zone of sending emails and actually pick up the phone and make the effort to go and meet people. It was hard to find an idea that was stimulating enough to base 6 weeks worth of time as well as being newsworthy as well as ‘Hidden’. I spent the first 2 weeks drawing a blank and then came across Salford Lads club, which was my saving grace. I contacted them and waiting another 2 weeks for a reply, which was a mistake on my part, I put all my eggs in one basket and it could have backfired. In hindsight I should have had at least 1 other idea lined up but luckily it all worked out in the end.

On the photographic side of things I’m happy with my images. They’ve turned out exactly how I had hoped and I feel like I’ve stuck the balance between simplicity and effectiveness. I had a clear set of aims when I first went the club, my first shoot was more about getting comfortable with the people at the club and I tried to ease into the photography and give them my time first. I spent 2 hours talking to one the guys there before I pulled my camera out and I think this helped the relationship I developed with the club. They then left me to my own devices, which was a privilege. My first shoot went well, I got a feel for the sort of shots I was after but I didn’t get everything I wanted so I asked to revisit the club the week after. This gave me time to speak to Les about my ideas and research the style of shots needed for a successful photojournalism piece.

My second shoot was much more focused than the first. I went in with a clear head and knew exactly what I wanted to achieve and I wasn’t leaving until I had those shots. I spent a few hours in the club exploring every inch and photographing everything from a few angles. I wanted to have as many shots as possible so I had the broadest choice for my final edit. I enjoyed doing these shoots because I could be meticulous, I had time to make sure the image was framed exactly how I wanted it. I had freedom to move around and experiment and this was a plus for me. I’m very happy with my 10 final images and the overall subject I chose. It was of genuine interest to me and it was nice to experiment with photojournalism and to work alongside real editors to tight deadlines.

I did struggle with research in this project. I looked at the work of Sean Smith at IWMN and this helped inform my style of shooting but it was hard to research ‘for ideas’. At the start of the project I took to the Internet to find out what was happening in Salford. Originally I drew a blank on this and decided to look through newspapers and try and find clubs or organisations doing positive things in Salford. This gave me little ideas and then I stumbled across the club by chance and originally saw potential in the volunteers working at the club. I decided to look at their website and this was when I saw the Smiths room. I was then sure this was the project I wanted to cover. Looking at photojournalists didn’t really help me, I found it more useful to look through publications, magazines and online news sites to look at the style of photography that they were using in their articles. It was from this I drew up my shot list and decided on the format of my images. I wanted to tell a story through my images rather than shoot images to show every detail I wanted each image to show just enough detail to lead onto the next. I decided to use establishing shots of the club to bring the interest into the Smiths room. At all times I was shooting I was thinking about what I would like to see if I was reading an article about SLC. It was from this I decided on my final shots, I wanted to see where the room was, who was involved, why it was created and generally what was inside.

I’ve really enjoyed this project, it was my most challenging yet and probably the one I think I’ve succeeded in the most. In a matter of days I went from no idea to a solid idea with 2 shoots organised. I’ve finished the project with a solid set of 10 photos that I think are well suited to a news story and a gallery display. I’ve had a great time shooting the Smiths room and trying my hand at a photojournalism piece.