Proposal

For my final major project I will work towards producing a series of images using a model to represent the emotion and feelings behind dance rather than photographing dance as a hobby or a business. The title of my project will be “Dance is the hidden language of the soul” which is a quote by Martha Graham. This project relates to coursework I have already done so far because it involves studio practice, which I have previously explored. The project will extend my knowledge, understanding and creative ability because I am delving deep into the mind of dancers and I want to capture images in a way that expresses feelings and emotion creatively rather than just capturing them as standard portraits.

My starting point is to look at all the different types of dance and narrow it down to a few that I want to look into further. I will then look for dancers of those particular dance types and also artists who have photographed them, such as Sheryl Nields who has photographed Dita Von Teese.

I am going to explore different techniques in several test shoots such as different lighting and colours and creative processes to find the right moods/feelings that I am trying to express. My images are all going to be shot digitally rather than on film. I am going to use two models and they are each going to demonstrate poses from my chosen area of dance. My final images will be presented as a grid of nine and I am going to have the title of my project “Dance is the hidden language of the soul” displayed as a quote underneath my images because it backs up the meaning behind them. In week 1 I will be completing my research into dance types and dancers and people who have photographed those dancers. In week 2 I am going to do my first test shoot and edit and evaluate my test images. I will then further plan and problem solve ready for my next test shoot. In week 3 I will finalise the type of dance I want to focus on and do some research into creative techniques I can try. In week 4 I will do another test shoot in which I try out the techniques I have researched and edit and evaluate my results and start to finalise how I want my final images to be.  In week 5 I will do my first final shoot with my first model and edit those images, making sure I have all the shots I need. In week 6 I will do my second final shoot with my second model. In week 7 I will give myself time to ensure I have all the images and work that I need ready for submission as this is the only time I will have for extra shoots if needed. I will then start to mount/frame my images ready for the exhibition.

To critically review and evaluate my work I will show people my images without the quote and see if they can see the message behind my images. I will then show them the quote and see if their thoughts change. If they understand the meaning when they read the quote, then I will regard my work as successful.