This document summarizes the student's approach to their rough cut project on the subject of grief. They explored 5 different approaches - liquify, cracking, glitch, burning, and polygons - to represent the 5 stages of grief through digital photo manipulation in Photoshop. They found the liquify approach to be the most successful at conveying denial. Through trial and error, they improved their digital editing skills while learning the importance of a personal connection to their subject.

1. MY APPROACH TO
ROUGH CUT
Leah Allard

2. SUBJECT, GRIEF
➤ Choice of subject picked upon
previous, successful project,
Narrative
➤ Personal connection with
Grandmother, main idea
behind subject
➤ Motivating & Passionate:
personal connection
BA1b: Narrative Images

3. ➤ Grandmother has been
through a great deal of
grief
➤ Expressing 5 stages of
grief: denial, anger,
bargaining, depression &
acceptance

4. First Approach, Liquify
Second Approach, Cracking
Third Approach, Glitch
Fourth Approach, Burning
Fifth Approach, Polygons
OUTLINE OF THE 5
APPROACHES

5. RESEARCH: MEMORY,
BY SAM HARVEY
➤ Influenced by his
approach to the subject
➤ Concentrates on the slow
decay and deterioration of
memory
➤ Effective dissolving and
distortion communicating
subject clearly

6. APPROACH 1:
LIQUIFY
Why? Use of movement could
explain denial of remembering
a person
How? Digital manipulation in
Photoshop using liquify
Successful: Distortion of face
representing the plan of subject

7. INFLUENCE:
PORTRAIT IN A
BROKEN MIRROR ➤ Influenced a very different
approach to my work
➤ Mirror creating repetition and
distortion
➤ Could reflect actions such as
anger with my subject of
grief

8. APPROACH 2:
CRACKING Why? Idea discovered on
Pinterest
How? Cracked glass in front
of lens
Successful: Distortion works
effectively with subject,
connoting depression
Unsuccessful: Didn’t receive
expected results

9. APPROACH 3:
GLITCHWhy? Experiment I’ve wanted
to try
How? Digitally manipulated in
Photoshop tweaking layers
and colour range
Successful: Created an
effective glitch
Unsuccessful: Show of colour
is distracting

10. RESEARCH: FAILED MEMORIES,
BY DAVID SZAUDER
➤ Use of glitch displays
mental deterioration
➤ Influenced development of
second approach
➤ Interesting use of
historical, past time photos

11. DEVELOPMENT:
APPROACH 3: GLITCH
Why? Influenced by David’s
series & wanted to develop
glitch
How? Digitally manipulated in
Photoshop, using a template
and zig zag
Successful: Glitch without
colour less distracting & more
effective

12. NOSTALGIA, BY
LUCAS SIMÕES ➤ Colour strip
➤ ‘Erase a memory by
burning it, so with time,
the image that is burnt
will disappear from your
memory.’
➤ Interesting approach to
express nostalgia
http://lucassimoes.com.br/nostalgia

13. APPROACH 4:
BURNING
Why? Unpredictable
outcome becomes more
interesting
How? Physically destroyed
catching the image on fire
Successful: Effective results
created, connoting anger

14. RESEARCH: JULIE
COCKBURN
➤ Hand-alters found portraits
with embroidery, cut-outs or
collage
➤ Manipulates only the
human face
➤ Fascinating, delusional
pieces of art

15. APPROACH 5:
POLYGONS
Why? Influenced by Julie’s surreal
altered photographs
How? Digital manipulation in
Photoshop, cutting and replacing
Successful: Distorted effect,
portraying denial of memory
Unsuccessful: Process would have
worked better completed by hand

16. ➤ Most Engaging
Learning and teaching myself how to
complete digital processes in Photoshop
➤ Most Interesting
Burning creating unpredictable but
fascinating results
➤ Most Successful
First approach using liquify turned out
as expected and fit the subject
DISCUS
S THE
MOST
ENGAGI
NG/INTE
RESTIN
G/SUCC
ESSFUL
APPROA
CHES
TO THE
WORK

17. ➤ Challenges
Editing on Photoshop teaching myself
different techniques
Trial and error with the unpredictable
experiments
➤ Successes
Photoshop edits turning out better than
expected
Receiving successful pieces from
unpredictable experiments
WHAT WERE THE
CHALLENGES/ SUCCESSES?

18. ➤ Considering physical manipulation
for previous practice
➤ Also consider digital manipulation
➤ Go back and place a personal
connection, see improvement
HOW
HAS
THE
APPRO
ACH
YOU
CHOSE
EXTEND
ED OR
CHALLE
NGED
YOUR
PREVIO

19. WHICH APPROACH
DID YOU CHOOSE
AND WHY? HOW
DID IT WORK WITH
YOUR SUBJECT?
➤ Approach 1: Liquify
➤ Most successful photo
manipulation
➤ Applies to the subject of grief

20. HOW
HAS
THE
EXPERI
ENCE
IMPACT
ED
YOUR
CREATI
VE
➤ Manipulate imagery
physically as well as digitally
➤ Range of materials to
experiment with in future
projects
➤ Encouraged to explore and
experiment, don’t just stick
to the basics!
➤ Realising I’m most motivated
when working with a
personal connection with the
subject

21. ➤ Improvement: time
management
➤ Physical experimentations
brought enjoyment to the
project
➤ Digital experimentations
provided me with better
editing skills and knowledge
SUMMARY OF
EXPERIENCE