First Week of Uni

First Week of Uni

 

During my first week of study at Southampton Solent University I l learnt so much about my surroundings and new course mates. My favourite task was doing the black and white city challenge, for this we had to go out and explore the city and take pictures in black and white, the things we photographed could include what we found interesting, what we found scary and just to show everyone what we percieve as beautiful. The reason I enjoyed this was because I'm from Darlington, that is approximately 300 miles away from Southampton it gave me a chance to explore the city as I have only been here once before, I have never lived this close to the sea before so it was so surreal that I was just a 15 minute walk away from the docks. I focused on photographing things that were run down, I really urban architecture that is painted with graffiti, it gives off a run down vibe but Is also very interesting. I loved how putting the pictures into black and white was so versatile, it compliments every type of lighting and scenery perfectly and gives a moody eerie feel. I have included some of the pictures on here that I haven't included on the Facebook page, these are some of my favourites and I believe they highlight what I find amazing about Southampton. Even though I enjoyed doing this I found it challenging, photography is not my strong point and I really want to push myself to learn skills, this is absolutely necessary for my work as I need to focus on getting all elements of my designs right eg- lighting, costume, hair, make-up and photography.

 

 

 

The one thing that I really struggled with was the head in the bag challenge, I haven't done any form of drawing or creative stuff over the holidays so getting back into it was hard, it is also a very daunting feeling creating something in front of people you don't know, you look around and see people creating amazing things and it made me feel scared. Being in a room with creative people there is always a feeling of If you are good enough or not, or what if they are judging what I am creating. We also had to take pictures of ourselves with the bags on our heads, once in the classroom which I was fine with and once out in the city, this filled me with so much anxiety and really pushed me outside of my comfort zone, all though I am a confident person I have problems with doing stuff that might draw attention to me, so the thought of people seeing me with a bag over my head in public really scared me, however by doing it I felt fulfilled as I pushed myself to do something that totally embarrassed me. I believe this will help me in later life and when I am working, as I need to be able to speak out and I also need to put myself in situations that make me uncomfortable as the only way I will thrive is by being noticed and not by being a wallflower.

 

 

 Another thing that I really enjoyed was the Charles Fox workshop, it was great seeing make-up artists at work using products that they were knowledgeable and passionate about. I have done a make-up course for 2 years now and I am all ready familiar with some of the products eg - dermacolor and supracolor but I have used these products for theatre work, as I tend to use different products for HD and fashion work, I learnt a really good technique for the dermacolor concealer, she mentioned warming the product up on your hand before applying to the clients, I tried this straight away on myself and it made my skin absolutely flawless, I was so grateful for this tip as it made me realise that I was using a product completely wrong, and now it is up there as one of my favourite products. She also gave us really interesting tips on how to be around your client like not to use a heavy hand as this could make the client feel very uncomfortable.

 

Overall my first week at uni was a rollercoaster of emotions, it was hard hitting to be so far from home, but comforting at the same time that so many people are In the same situation as me. I have been totally inspired by all of my piers, tutors and by Illamasqua and Charles Fox and has given me the push to work hard over the next 3 years to get to where I want to be.