October

Day 1

a spray of Dolce Vita

Day 2

jazz on a Sunday afternoon

Day 3

writing memoir

Day 4

let me take you on a trip around the world and back

Day 5

going home with Matt

Day 6

Megan is 18

Day 7

Away

Day 8

Sir Roger A Deakins CBE - signing my copy of Byways at BOP22

Day 9

Book bounty from BOP22

Day 10

Miserable start of the day and I am getting depressed at the coming winter cold, but the sun came out and I went for a walk

Critical Review of Practice

This document outlines the intent of my work alongside underlying concepts, influences, creative choices and dissemination aims.

Burmese Portraits (Lens Culture Submission)

I took these portraits during a trip to Myanmar in November 2019. This country with its oppressed past but, then, hopeful future made me connect instantly catapulting me into my own bittersweet memories of a childhood spent under a totalitarian regime. 

The connection I felt with this country’s people, most of it at a non-verbal level, was profound and I tried to capture their simple and beautiful ways despite their daily hardships.

The military coup of February 2021 brought a tragic turn into Myanmar's history and made me revisit these portraits. I am looking at ways to support the Burmese pleas for civil rights and freedom, perhaps through creating a book of my images and donating profits to a local civil rights movement organisation. In the meantime, this small series speak to my sentiment.

Unlike any of my studio portraiture, my travel street portraiture is 100% serendipitous and instinct-driven, with only seconds spent to ask for permission and sometimes pose my subjects, retaining, I believe, all the original emotion of that first non-verbal encounter which is stronger than words.

I have decided to submit this selection to the Lens Culture Portrait Awards 2021 and I have received a very helpful submission review which I have decided to include in full in this blog entry for future reference.

Lens Culture Reviewer Portfolio Feedback 

‘Hello Andreea. Thank you for submitting your work. I have very much enjoyed looking at your photographs.

It is a little tragic to look at these photographs considering what is happening in Myanmar at the moment, but this also gives them an added poignancy. 

I think your portraits are very good, and the poise and presence of the people you photograph comes across very strongly. There is a rich sense of empathy, interest and respect in your portraits and this is fantastic. You ask if these images are of a standard for recognition. I think the answer to this question lies in small technical refinements and a general consistency across the images so that their power and presence builds as the viewer looks through them, but on the whole I think they are very close. 

You photograph your subjects well, the area I think you could consider refining a little is the relationship between the person and the background. Consider the environment like a stage in a way, upon which you present the person, but you extract clues and elements to suggest narrative and build on the atmosphere. Let me go through your photographs to expand on these thoughts.

No. 1 - I think this is one of the strongest photographs. The person, the way they sit, and engage with us is just brilliant. The light and atmosphere are very rich. The use of the background is perfect here - there is a real feeling of place, but the space behind the figure is neutral, so there is nothing to clash with their presence and how we engage with them. The little patch of sunlight on his foot is great. Well done, a complete image. 

No. 2 - This is a good example, of the person being good, but the use of the environment/space, not quite as strong as it could be. I think you could either pull back further to show more of the scene, and to make it clear he is rowing his boat, or achieve this by shooting at a slight angle and not straight on, so we see the boat, and the oars. At the moment the position of the figure in the frame, and the gesture with the oars feel slightly awkward.

No. 3 - A great picture and what a remarkable presence, tender yet strong. I wonder if you could have used the environment slightly better and positioned the person in a little more space? They feel a little pushed up against the background? 

No. 4 - Another lovely portrait. The girls are great, the way they stand in their dresses and hold hands is just beautiful. I think the background is good, but I wonder if it could be just that little bit more interesting, and offer a slightly richer sense of context/environment. A small point, but otherwise a great image.

No. 5 - Another great picture. Very moving and symbolic. 

No. 6 - Good. Such a sensitive presence of the person, and we really feel as though we get to meet them.

No. 7 - Another extraordinary face, and a feeling of a person who has seen everything the world has to offer. The composition feels slightly awkward. Partly in relation to our distance to her, and how she sits within the frame. It feels almost like the lower half of her torso disappears in the material. I wonder if you could pull back a little bit more, just a fraction, so we see a bit more of her pose and presence. The other thought is the shelf and items behind her that cut through her head. At the moment they are quite distracting, I would either shift the composition slightly to try and make a gap between her and these items, but maybe given the circumstances a shallower depth of field would have pushed them further into the background, and made her stand out a little more.

I think these are very good, compassionate portraits Andreea. You have a powerful sense of humanity, and how you conduct yourself with this sensitivity and respect comes across really well in the photographs, and that is a tribute to you. I think they are very close to being great. In the future I would just think of the layers involved in constructing a portrait. Think of the body language and gestures of the individual and how to make the most of these. Think of the environment they are in, and how you can draw out traces of this in the angle you position yourself in relation to your subject, and the space you construct around them. Consider also consistency of how the individual sits on their stage, and how the clues to narratives and lives build across the images. Maybe consider one or two still lives and landscapes to set the tone and context for some of the portraits.

You are a very good, and a passionately committed photographer. These images are very close to reaching a sustained and consistently impressive level. I wish you all the very best.

August Sander is a great portrait photographer to revisit if you know him already. Look at how he masters composition, and his use of the environment to present the individuals. Other examples to look at are Joel Sternfeld 'Stranger Passing,' and Rineke Dijkstra.’

Work in Progress - Image Planning

A behind-the-scenes look into my concepts for the images I am creating in the studio for this round of work that is part of “I see you, therefore you are’ self-portraits. For me, this is super-organised as things normally just exist in my head. I can’t draw to save my life - but thankfully these are just for me to remember when creating the images for these concepts.

People pleaser / giver

Exploring this side of my personality and the fine line between being a generous giver and a people pleaser.

Composite resulting in multiple arms (Shiva-like) giving away artefacts that are symbols: book. shell, mug, flower etc

Boiler suit for outfit, servicing others, giver

Neutral black canvas backdrop

Introvert / Confident

Struggles of me as an introvert in an extroverted male world reminding of my old corporate days. Being out of your comfort zone all the time is not always a good thing.

Visually it is almost like an iceberg analogy (we never see what’s under the surface)

The top is me in a (forced?) position of confidence, in a public speaking instance, in the limelight, use suit that I used to wear at work

The bottom is introverted me, drained by the effort of operating in an extroverted world, nude outfit, vulnerable pose, blocking the environment, eyes, ears

Empty

Exploring the childless state, in a ‘maternity’-like pose and aesthetic, floaty fabric, beautiful soft light a contrasting message

Reflecting on the conscious or sub-conscious societal bias towards motherhood as ancestral purpose of women and the sociological / identity / moral dilemmas of childless women

Colour red for blood, expression not sad but reflective, solidarity with childless women, by choice, fate, loss

Too much information

Reflecting on the (not always that) subtle but ever-increasing negative influence of media-driven cocktail of bad news, advertisement. Thinking of Black Mirror… and my story of getting detached from mainstream media to reduce the permanent state of anxiety.

Floor is a sea of newspapers and background a collage of internet / TV screen bad news / adverts

Me on the floor purging the excess of information. The other ‘me’ rescuing, pulling the plug (Matrix?!)

Narcissus

How do we see ourselves and why do we put ourselves down, women especially? Narcissus is a story of self-love but often our reflection is a story of low confidence.

The real image is of ‘beautiful’ me and the reflection (using a mirror for water symbolism) an ‘ugly’ distortion.

Caged / rescued

A story of leaving the corporate world, golden cage, breaking the chain of expected career success, freedom to pursue artistic endeavours

Composite with my suited self inside the cage, rescued by my artistic self, fairy-like symbols in colour and outfit

Turning into mum

… as a gift, the younger angst of ageing is resolved by identifying with the good traits of my mother more and more as I grow older and her loss means that I cannot benefit from her earthly presence anymore.

Two portraits, mine and hers, composited into one, me at my current age and her on her last birthday, a clock dial overexposed… how to make it not look sinister and how to symbolise the gift rather than the angst??

Dual nationality

My British self and my Latin self coexist in a composite image, how do we interact with each other? Is it acceptance, reluctance, amusement, judgement? The feeling is one of unavoidable coexistence but how do we relate to each other and does that correspond to what I think my adoptive country sees?

Use of clothing to provide almost stereotypical but not caricature symbols of the two cultures, tweed jacket and riding boots, hair tied back, elegant but understated vs Latin ‘loud’ not afraid to show her sexuality, symbolic of dance, carnival for exuberant vibe, heels, possibly reminiscent of younger self vs older and more reserved?

What's in a name

The concept explores the identity difficulty a woman goes through in changing her name as a result of marriage, and the expectation that divorce simply means the reversal to ‘maiden’ name. But I am not the same person as I was and aren’t surnames just indicating ‘belonging’, to a clan, a family, rather than personal identity?

Duality

Reflecting on the duality existing in the human being, a take on the Platonic opposites argument, one cannot exist without the other, good and bad, happy and depressed, sacred and profane, the zip (closed) indicates the indivisible nature of our duality

Vanitas

An acceptance that beauty is ephemeral (the skull) but at the same time a statement that nobody should tell us what to pursue in life and what not (the fashion pose, and skull is nicely carved to be made more beautiful)… It’s an act of recognition and defiance alike.

Celebrate

As I grow older I recognise that I am often my worst critic and I very rarely stop to acknowledge my achievements, instead I see the negative in the past and focus on what more I can do in the future… It speaks to a personality trait, my upbringing, the society push.

My two selves, the giver and the vulnerable, will meet in this image and celebrate, bringing the focus onto self-recognition and care.

Grief

A composite of 5 images of me symbolising the 5 stages of grief - shot with natural light and long exposure to allow motion blur and suggest the state of mind while grieving. The poses are almost like a dance and a continuum as dealing with grief is not a finite linear process. Outfit to wear the same as my ‘vulnerable’ self, nude dress.

Presentation of Practice

This is a presentation of my practice including influences, intent and work in progress.

Research Project Proposal

I see you, therefore you are

(working title)

My main aim is to explore the theme of personal identity by looking at philosophical approaches and theories and how some of these major ideas have been conveyed through the medium of art and photography, while creating my own interpretation through my own conceptual and visual language.

I see you, therefore you are. Research Project Proposal.

(Click on image for PDF)

Oral Presentation

My first assignment for Falmouth Photography MA was to conduct and record a reflective presentation on my current photographic practice. Here is my presentation examining my past influences, motivations and objectives behind my work to date and immediate future projects.  

Bibliography, Credits and References:

Susan Sontag – On Photography

Annie Leibovitz - Natalia Vodianova for the Pirelli Calendar

Helmut Newton – Rue Aubriot, Yves Saint Laurent – le smoking

Man Ray – Ingres’s Violin

Vivian Maier – Self Portrait

Artemisia Gentileschi – Self Portrait as the Allegory of Painting

Cindy Sherman – Madonna

Frida Kahlo – Self Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird

Early life: Family album photographs

Archive Video Footage from the Romanian Television (TVR)

‘Executia lui Ceuasescu’ on Dailymotion.com

Cotidianul.ro / Cristian Oprea – Revolutia romana, la televiziunile straine

Mariusmioc.wordpress.com

Documentar Recorder – 30 de ani de democratie

Andrei Birsan – My life as a child, teen and student in communist Romania

Digi24.ro – 30 de ani de la revolutia din 1989

The Independent – Shameful but Necessary: How the Romanian rulers who starved their people met their end

Collaboration

This week we were asked to collaborate with another fellow Master’s course participant and after finding that most people had already formed groups by the time we were able to post an idea out there, Matt and I decided to work on a project together. Although we are partners in life (8 years and counting) and in our photography business (4 years and counting), and now fellow students, we have very much formed our own practices over the past few years and we don’t actually collaborate with each other that often - so it was an interesting challenge.

From the beginning we knew we wanted our collaboration project to end up in a single image that we’d create together, rather than a set. We’d played around my suggestion of self portraits and decided we’d actually photograph each other in a mirrored way and we ended up with the idea of creating a playing card. It just happened that this week the Marlowe Theatre Costumes Hire shop local to us had a massive closing sale on, and we’d stocked up on some studio costumes and outfits - a couple of which came in handy when finishing our vintage look.

The actual shoot took less than 20 minutes, we used the same lighting set up and camera settings and photographer each other, trying a few different poses that would work well with a playing card mirrored image final edit in mind. We chose the salute which worked great considering traditional playing card ‘poses’ but also compositionally creating the pleasing S curves - the pose itself being a playful take on us honouring / being in the service of the art of photography.

To finish the project, we combined an actual scan of a playing card - which we already had in our photo stock - with a composite of the two images, masterfully done by Matt and colour-toned by me in a vintage painterly style that I like to use in my portraiture work.

We played the Matt-and-Andreea card

View from my Window

It’s week 1 of my Master’s course and we’re asked to reflect on the role of photography and the photographer and the global nature of photography, window to the world or mirror into the soul? Or maybe both, as the duality of my profession becomes obvious on reflection.

To begin our introspection and meet our colleagues, we are asked to share with the others a view from our windows. I choose to share the view from my lounge-turned-isolation room in this crazy year that is 2020. Right now, I should be in China with Matt sharing another adventure and insight into that wonderful culture with fellow photographers.

But I am stuck behind these windows in our desirable ‘Victorian cottage’ working class-chic terraced house. The claustrophobic atmosphere is a signature of this year, even more so as I’ve been accustomed to travel the majority of my time over the past few years. Still, the sitting still for a while and the opportunity for introspection are welcome.

When it comes to the window-mirror analogy to photography, it is interesting to note that privacy is a great factor when analysing this two-way relationship: we love to look out into the world, but at the same time we are weary of others looking in.

Aesthetically I am a lover of symmetry and this is apparent in a lot of my work. This capture is deliberate and it required a certain angle of shooting to reflect this beautiful symmetry. In this image I also love the repetition of the three windows from the houses opposite - same but different, striving to be individual in a deliberately uniform context. The mirroring views (how do my windows look from the ones opposite?) and the two way analogy is almost reminiscent of an infinity multi-mirror effect.

And the bins. Deliberately left in the view although slightly obscured by my frosted windows. Hideously ugly - but necessary utilitarian additions to the urban landscape, reigning over the beauty of period house facades.

Another beginning

I’ve always been a bit of a rebel when it comes to making life choices: from deciding to get a degree in philosophy when everyone else was studying to become a lawyer or an accountant, to moving countries and starting from scratch, and finally a few years ago giving up a financially rewarding career in management consultancy to follow my dream of running my own photography business! 

And now, in this strange year that is 2020, pursuing further education at the age of 45!

So, starting today, I am embarking on a Master’s Degree with Falmouth University. What lead me here? Firstly, although I’ve been a photographer nearly all my life, my photography knowledge has been mostly self-taught or based on focused workshops building my technical, stylistic or composition skills. I am now at a stage where I feel the need to dive deeper into the conceptual and philosophical aspects underpinning contemporary photography, to enhance my own skills and understanding and grow as a photographer – but also to help grow my businesses further, be it work in the studio or planning and running photography tours. 

Getting into the photography profession on a self-taught, self-employed basis has been fantastic for making me work super hard to achieve my goals and following a very intuitive growth pattern which helped me crystalize what I like and dislike, what I believe in and what makes me tick. But I did miss the opportunity of being amongst like-minded souls in a non-competitive environment and learning from others in an organised setting. 

I believe we never stop learning and discovering who we are, individually and professionally, and for me the last few years since doing photography full time have definitely helped me define where my passion lies. It is photographing people, particularly in genuine circumstances such as street portraiture or street photography but also in my studio. Although I am an introvert and embracing these genres keeps me out of my comfort zone, it is where I feel I thrive creatively and spiritually. So, here’s to the next 2 years. Let’s dive in!