GradAcad - Day 1! (25th June)

So if you've been following my blog over the past few months you would know that I will have left for London today to start the D&AD Graduate Academy. My day started at 5:45 am as I had a train to catch! After struggling around the underground with my Luggage I arrived at Campus London (run by Google.. photos of the building to follow), this is where I am going to be based over the next month. Campus is an amazing building, there are 7 floors filled with creativity and technology and it is just amazing being part of it. http://www.campuslondon.com/

Today we had sessions with the Spring Project, it was an intense day which made you really think about how you communicate and receive information. We had two tasks set by the Spring Project at Lunchtime; the first was to ask strangers in the street what they thought they were brilliant at; the second was to do something creatively to improve the world. We were sent out in groups of three and told to do all of these tasks in our lunch hour, it was a really interesting experience. As we approached people we knew they thought we were trying to sell them something, but when we asked them the question about what they thought they were brilliant at their whole persona changed and they seemed to become happy and bubbly as they thought about the answer. 

For our second task we wrote little notes and either handed them out as leaflets, or left them for others to pick up. Whilst handing them out I found that people initially thought that we were trying to advertise to them, but as they read the notes you could see that they became a little bit more happy, it was great!

http://www.springproject.co.uk/

So, today has been quite eventful! Most of us graduate academy attendees have agreed to do something over lunch to creatively improve the world each day for this week, I will keep you updated on my progress!

Also, the Awkward Noise Exhibition opens tomorrow with the Preview Evening at 7pm, it is @ UCP, Peterborough. https://www.facebook.com/events/335781213159820/

If you are in London this week my work will be exhibited at the D&AD New Blood show from Wednesday - Thursday at Old Spitalfields Market. http://www.dandad.org/talent/new-blood

#GradAcad

Path to Anywhere. 24th June.

Tomorrow I'm off to London where I will be taking part in the D&AD Graduate Academy for the next month alongside 25 other very talented young creatives. I am very excited about this as I know it will be full of so many opportunities and plenty of chances to learn. I decided that I would go for a walk today to have a bit of a breather before I start the Graduate Academy, which is going to be quite full on. The walk took us along a small path beside a river, it was getting quite overgrown and created quite a mystical scene. 

http://www.dandad.org/talent/graduate-academy

#gradacad

Movement of the Flag. 23rd June.

I was experimenting with my iPhone's camera and it's flash, so I just picked up a flag near to me and incorporated movement into the experiment to see what happened. 

Goodbye Education. 22nd June.

The institute where I have studied for the past three years.

After three years of photographic studies, I have now finished. I have been taught by the best lecturers and been surrounded by great photographers. Not going to lie, I will miss the place, it has been an experience of a lifetime. I started student life as a young person who only vaguely knew what they wanted to do, now I have become a photographer who has such a great love for the craft and will do whatever they can to succeed as documentary photographer. Valuable lessons have been learnt throughout the years, photography and non-photography related. I could never thank my lecturers enough for how dedicated they were to seeing me succeed as a photographer, so thank you Billie Kitchener, Crystal Brook, and Gabriel Van-Ingen.

Clutching the Mamiya. 21st June.

After many months of having to borrow a Mamiya RZ67 I have finally been able to acquire my very own one which I can keep forever and use constantly! I have been using a Mamiya for the past two years, but my love affair with this camera started when I decided to shoot a whole project on it, this project was "Our British Lives". From the beautiful colours that 120 film contains, to the high quality of medium format shooting and the 6x7 size of the negatives, I can not recommend this camera enough. I haven't put it down since I first got it, it is such a beautiful piece of equipment.

Our British Lives can be viewed on: http://www.ruthjones.org

In and Out the Train Station. 20th June.

Train Stations are interesting, I've spent my fair share of time sitting around in them waiting for trains and I'm about to spend a lot more time over the next month as I am in London with the D&AD graduate academy. The thing which I enjoy is watching the interactions between people... you have the typical lovers who enjoy making out for a good five minutes before they say goodbye, you have the business man briskly shaking hands of their "connections" as they get off their train, you have the commuters running so that they don't miss the train, you have parents saying bye to their kids telling them to "stay safe"... there are so many things happening in one small space. It's pretty amazing.

I also received a new batch of Business Cards today, I decided to order from MOO as I have heard nothing but good stories about them. I absolutely love them, you can have different backs for each card, the printing is high quality and they are finished off with a lovely matte sheen. If you're looking at getting new business cards I thoroughly recommend MOO cards. You can even get a 10% discount with this friend referral voucher link: http://www.moo.com/share/r8khn6

The Moth. 19th June.

The Moth

by Walter de la Mare

Isled in the midnight air,
Musked with the dark's faint bloom,
Out into glooming and secret haunts
The flame cries, 'Come!'

Lovely in dye and fan,
A-tremble in shimmering grace,
A moth from her winter swoon
Uplifts her face:

Stares from her glamorous eyes;
Wafts her on plumes like mist;
In ecstasy swirls and sways
To her strange tryst.

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-moth-10/