The document discusses the student's research and planning process for their final major project on eating disorders. Some key points: - Researching existing photography projects on eating disorders helped the student understand possible visual styles and color schemes. - Additional research on lighting setups and their effects was useful for experimenting during the production stage. - Thorough planning including style sheets and prop lists helped the student stay organized during production. - Backup plans could have been stronger, as a change in location caused some delays. - The 12 image series aimed to educate viewers on eating disorders in a short time through meaningful compositions and use of different media.

1. evaluation
niamh iveson

2. production process evaluation

3. research
I believe that my research benefited my final project. I think the piece of
research that taught me the most was the research into existing projects.
This is because I hadn’t seen many photography series before and none
that were based around eating disorders. I researched only into two
projects about eating disorders as there hasn’t been many series
completed on the topic. Viewing these helped me grasp an idea as to
what my final project could look like as well as the colour schemes I could
use. The colour schemes that were used in the two projects were similar;
very bleak colours. At first, I wanted my project to have a similar colour
scheme but after looking at how specific colours effect a final image (e.g.,
the green and brown together in the ‘Skeleton in the Closet’ front cover I
felt made the image look very dirty which wasn’t what i wanted mine
images, personally, to look like,) it made me think about other possible
colour schemes. If I hadn’t done this research, this could’ve made me
loose time in the production stage due me being unhappy with the
outcome of my work.

4. research
Another piece of research that helped me was my research into lighting. I noticed while researching
into existing products, how the lighting could effect the overall image which caused me to think about
how I wanted to incorporate that into my own work. While thinking about how to use lighting, I realised
I didn’t know much about lighting setups, especially in a studio setting; this caused me to do further
research into studio lighting and how different setups can display certain results. An example of this
would be the ‘Butterfly Setup’ which involved placing a light directly behind the camera. While
experimenting i found this setup caused major shadows on the backdrop, which is not what i wanted.
I’m glad I researched into this beforehand because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have experimented with
different setups and found the one that suited my wants for the images.
I personally feel I should’ve done more research into my audience. This is because now looking back
on the research I did, i haven’t used any of that research in my final project. If I were to have done
more through research into the responses to the ‘What do you know about eating disorder?’ I would’ve
definitely used that information in my final piece. I would’ve used the responses on image nine instead
of ‘I don’t want to talk about the weather anymore.’

5. research
Another piece of research I found helpful for my final piece was the research on art therapy. The research I
did helped me understand more about how art can help one process their emotions and experiences. While
doing this research, I found I do this myself when I struggle with my emotions; I tend to write down how I
feel and make pieces of art with those specific words. This realisation helped me use my knowledge of how
I use art to cope to help me make a better final piece. As much as I wanted my FMP to be informative, I
also wanted it to help me and my recovery. Doing this project has helped me process some experiences
I've had during my journey. If I hadn’t have done the research on art therapy, I wouldn’t have had the train
of thought I mentioned previously and furthermore, not have created a piece that benefited me much. Even
though this wasn’t apart of the criteria of the project, I felt if it was almost necessary for me to understand
why I was doing this in the first place to help me create a better piece and almost better understanding of
myself. A specific piece of research I did into art therapy was a web article about why art therapy was so
effective. The article stated ‘Because art uses images it bypasses language. Consequently, using art in
therapy can cut to the heart of an issue more quickly than verbal psychotherapy.’ This quote stuck with me
throughout the production stage, I wanted to educate people about my experiences with an eating disorder
in a short space of time. In my experience, I found you don’t tend to look at an image for longer than a
minute or two, so I wanted to give as much information as I possibly could in that amount of time without
the use of words. I have give descriptions with each of my images to further educate the audience about
the topic.

6. planning
In terms of my planning and pre-production, I conclude that it was very beneficial to my final piece. A big
part of my planning was the style sheets. For each one of my images, I created a style sheet with
everything I would need as well as anything that inspired me to make that image. An example was image
nine. At this point, I was struggling with ideas on how to display my frustration with peoples lack of
knowledge on eating disorders. While I was at home, I stumbled across an image of someone using a
projector to display positive affirmations. I immediately saved this image and used it as inspiration for
image nine. I used this method for all of my style sheets which I found very effective; it helped me keep
track of my thoughts, feelings and ideas for the images. Throughout production, I referred back to the style
sheets very heavily.
Another part of my planning that was really helpful was the list of props I needed for what photo.
Something I struggle with due to my eating disorder is remembering tasks and important pieces of
information so I tend to write things down as soon as I get given a task to prevent this from happening
often. I felt this table was necessary to help me keep track of props I already had so I didn’t end accidently
buying multiple of the same item. As well, guided me, for example, with what props I needed to bring in if I
were doing a shoot in the college studio.

7. planning
A weakness in my planning was not thinking about backup plans as much as I possibly
could’ve. The reason why I think this is due to a situation that happened during production. My
original plan was to begin production over the Easter holidays in my bedroom to help me
maximize my editing time as well as give me time to reshoot if needed. I forgot that my sister
was home for Easter; this means that her luggage take up my room meaning it was not
possible for production to take place in my room. I hadn’t planned for this which caused me to
panic and furthermore, not even think about how to solve this issue. It was my mum who
suggested using our spare room to take images in. if she hadn’t suggested that, I would’ve just
taken all of my images in the studio, which would’ve effected the outcome of my images and
would make me dissatisfied with my work. The lighting in the spare room was exactly what I
wanted for my images. I am slightly annoyed at myself for not thinking about backup plans
when I had time to do so. If I were to do this again, I would definitely put more time into backup
plans.

8. time management
I identify I didn’t utilise my time as well I could’ve. In my planning PowerPoint, I made a week by
week schedule of what I was going to do. Due to me not planning as thoroughly as I could’ve, it
caused delays in my production stage. On my final two weeks, I had one image left to take- image
seven-, however I was exhausted due to my eating disorder which caused more delays. I knew
taking images surrounding my eating disorder while feeling as defeated as I did, would be
triggering for me so I decided against doing so. Even though I know I did the right thing, it was still
frustrating that I had to do that.
If I had been given more time, I definitely would’ve created more images; my original plan
was to make 20 images as 20 is a very significant number for me and my eating disorder,
however with the amount of time we had, I came to the conclusion that it was unrealistic to
do that amount of images to a quality I would be proud of.

9. time management
original plan
the plan that ended up happening
Pre-production + collecting props
Easter
Break
Begin production at home
Upload images taken over Easter
Continue production in studio
Production at home + college
Edit images

10. technical qualities
- Similar colour scheme
- Both use natural light. This
gives the images a comforting
feeling, which can contradict
the meaning behind both
images- though the context of
the pictures are very different.-
- Little facial expression
- My image uses a lighter
background compared to
‘Thank You for Playing
with Me.’ I feel this
makes the overall image
look brighter and cleaner.
- Subjects are in different
places. In my image, I
am more central whereas
in the image from
‘TYFPWM’, the model is
placed more to the right,
giving the image more
negative space.
Similarities Differences

11. technical qualities
‘Martin Parr’s postcards from Milwaukee’
Similarities
- Parr’s image is in
black and white which
I find causes you to
focus on the electric
blue writing above the
subjects head.
- My image has text on
my hand rather than
around it, as Parr’s
does. I think the way
I've done it causes
you to look directly
central to the image
compared to Martin
Parr’s; I found myself
being drawn to the
writing rather than the
subject.
- Both use text as the form of
physical manipulation. I've
always found using your own
handwriting on images gives
them a very personal and
almost intimate feeling to
them.

12. aesthetic qualities
I, personally really like the overall series I have produced. One thing I wanted to keep in mind when I
was creating this project was the question ‘if I were to see this in a art gallery, would I stop and look
at it?’ I strongly believe I would. I am proud of the fact I have used multiple compositions. I feel this
makes the series more interesting to view. Using different types of media has also helped me
experiment with different kinds of photography that I wouldn’t have thought to have used previously ;
I will use some of the genres of photos I have used in later projects. Another thing that I like about
my project is the fact I have put meaning into everything in the series. From the number of images to
the position of the subjects in the images. I wanted this to be a meaningful piece and not just
something I did because it was a course requirement. Even if no one else understands every piece
of meaning in the images, I know its there which is very comforting.
Although I am really happy with the outcome of this series, if I were to change anything, it would
definitely be the consistency of colours throughout the project. In my research I stated I that only
wanted a maximum of two colour schemes as I thought it would cause the images to not link into
each other as well I wanted them to. In ‘weight’ I have used three. I, however, don’t think the images
no longer link into each other just because the colour scheme isn’t identical. They all link into each
other one way or another. An example would be image two and image eight. They both talk about my
childhood and how certain experiences have shaped me as well as my anorexia. The images
themselves are very different but the meaning is very similar which I surprisingly really like.

13. aesthetic qualities
Something I haven’t spoken about much is the title. ‘weight’ has a triple meaning. One of
the meanings is the obvious one, which is my physical weight. It is very common with
people with eating disorders to become obsessed with their weight as well as numbers.
The word weight has six letters in which is the age I became conscious of food, dieting
and disordered eating (comfort eating.) ‘weight’ also refers to the feeling of having a
eating disorder. I am a very sensitive person and – an example is- when I’m upset and
can always feel it. Having an eating disorder makes me feel heavy and dirty. I know this
may sound confusing but this is the only way I can describe what an eating disorder
feels like to someone who has never had to experience one.

14. aesthetic qualities
No expression. On the
day the image was
based on, I felt
compelled to give
exaggerated
expressions to hide
how miserable I was. I
wanted this image to be
an accurate
representation on how I
actually felt.
Backdrop is purposely crinkled and
messy. I did this for two reasons.
one was because I felt it gave the
image a more humane feeling to it.
What I mean by that is that with
most images taken in a studio, I
tend to feel almost disconnected
from it as it not a normal setting for
me. A second reason is because I
felt it added to meaning behind the
image; how miserable I felt. It isn’t
the prettiest backdrop which
matches the theme of this project
especially with how my eating has
made me feel.

15. audience appeal
From the start, I never had a set audience that my project was directed at. I just wanted to educate and
enlighten as many people as I possibly could. That being said, I felt people who have or have had an eating
disorder would naturally be drawn to the project. I believe I have done that. I think the image that would
attract that specific group would be image four. It talks about how having an eating disorder strips away your
true self. I think this will appeal more to people who have recovered from an eating disorder rather than ones
who are still struggling just because while you are still in the depths of being ill, you don’t have a true
perspective on anything. I thought having an eating disorder didn’t effect me and my perspective that much
while I was at my worst but now looking back it definitely did.

16. audience appeal
Something that I tried to keep in the back of mind
during production was the responses I got from my
questionnaire I did during my research. I didn’t use any
other piece of research in my project. I think the reason
I wanted to keep the responses in the back of my mind
was purely because I wasn’t expecting the responses I
got. One in particular was ‘I do not know much and my
opinion is that it is similar to an addiction, it can hurt
you and sometimes those around you but most other
people don’t understand you and the struggle.’ I think
this is because the person liked having an eating
disorder to having an addiction which I found really
interesting. I had never thought of it in that way but it is
strangely accurate. I feel this response will definitely
stick with me even after this project has been
completed.