“HOMETOWN GLORY”
PHOTOSHOOT
A project set by my undergrad course at the University of the Arts London, in which we had to create a series of images for the film camera supplier, Parallax Photographic.
Each month, Parallax’s website features a 'film review' editorial which showcases the wide range of looks which can be achieved by shooting on different film formats, under different conditions. For their community of film enthusiasts, the reviews are a key way to keep up to date with new trends, innovations and possibilities in film photography.
This brief tasked us with seeking out and then collaborating with an up-and-coming musician to capture a series of images centred on what home means to them. The final images needed to be shot on film, or digitally and then edited to mimic 35mm, instant, or medium-format film stock.
THE DELIVERABLES
THE CASE STUDY
TUUDI is an up-and-coming alt-pop singer who aims to explore new ways to promote her upcoming songs effectively through social media. From TUUDI’s perspective, a photoshoot demonstrating her concept of “home” will help her fans feel that parasocial bond tighten. A parasocial relationship is one-sided between a performer and the audience members who watch. It’s one-sided because the performer doesn’t know any of their viewers, yet the relationship still feels authentic to the audience. From my perspective, film photography evokes a strong sense of nostalgia. TUUDI could relate to having all her childhood photos shot on film. The format feels like a series of memories, like being at home.
TUUDI grew up in Bedfordshire before moving to London to study at a university, where she made the city her home after graduation. The two of us could relate to each other, moving from small towns with little support as creatives to the largest hub for those who adore the arts. Her interests in fashion, movies, travelling and music allowed her to build up a found family in this city. They’re the things she finds solace in, making them her home, and that’s what we captured. Travelling across London, including thrift and record stores in Brick Lane and a cinema in Peckham, visualises how easy it is to become soaked in the city's culture. The locations are an externalisation of the internal feeling of home that TUUDI has presented to her audience. Her passions are her home, as is creating her music - hence the visual motif of her laptop and headphones throughout the different locations, given she makes her music electronically on her computer.
Film photography offers these imperfections that cannot be eliminated. Developing film adds a layer of tangibility to punctuate the intimacy of TUUDI sharing her life, culminating in a way that’d endear her more to the audience she wants to capture with her music. They can relate to her through the interests they share, delivered in a nostalgic, tactile manner that reminds them of home. Parasocial relationships are built on likability, driven by perceived similarities between the influencer and the audience member.
This photoshoot was done digitally but edited to give the illusion of film photography. The equipment used was my own, as my lens dates back to when film cameras were the norm. Hence, the lens creates this natural softness immediately, making the images look more like film photos before I even have a chance to edit them. The colour-reversal film Kodak Ektachrome 5294 inspired the editing process - specifically how it was utilised in season two of the HBO drama Euphoria (2019-present). Developing Ektachrome as a negative rather than a positive creates these visually attractive green tones you wouldn't typically get, so the colour mixer tool and colour grading wheels in Adobe Lightroom were used to achieve the green tint, mixed with yellows and oranges. Adjusting the noise in Photoshop also slightly washes out the images, and the “dust and scratches” introduce slight distortions. The aim was to achieve a dirty aesthetic, with a rough texture reminiscent of matte paper, by scanning it onto a computer.
The lived-in aesthetic of tactile dirtiness, which heightens emotional intimacy, demonstrates how film can elevate a concept.
TUUDI grew up in Bedfordshire before moving to London to study at a university, where she made the city her home after graduation. The two of us could relate to each other, moving from small towns with little support as creatives to the largest hub for those who adore the arts. Her interests in fashion, movies, travelling and music allowed her to build up a found family in this city. They’re the things she finds solace in, making them her home, and that’s what we captured. Travelling across London, including thrift and record stores in Brick Lane and a cinema in Peckham, visualises how easy it is to become soaked in the city's culture. The locations are an externalisation of the internal feeling of home that TUUDI has presented to her audience. Her passions are her home, as is creating her music - hence the visual motif of her laptop and headphones throughout the different locations, given she makes her music electronically on her computer.
Film photography offers these imperfections that cannot be eliminated. Developing film adds a layer of tangibility to punctuate the intimacy of TUUDI sharing her life, culminating in a way that’d endear her more to the audience she wants to capture with her music. They can relate to her through the interests they share, delivered in a nostalgic, tactile manner that reminds them of home. Parasocial relationships are built on likability, driven by perceived similarities between the influencer and the audience member.
This photoshoot was done digitally but edited to give the illusion of film photography. The equipment used was my own, as my lens dates back to when film cameras were the norm. Hence, the lens creates this natural softness immediately, making the images look more like film photos before I even have a chance to edit them. The colour-reversal film Kodak Ektachrome 5294 inspired the editing process - specifically how it was utilised in season two of the HBO drama Euphoria (2019-present). Developing Ektachrome as a negative rather than a positive creates these visually attractive green tones you wouldn't typically get, so the colour mixer tool and colour grading wheels in Adobe Lightroom were used to achieve the green tint, mixed with yellows and oranges. Adjusting the noise in Photoshop also slightly washes out the images, and the “dust and scratches” introduce slight distortions. The aim was to achieve a dirty aesthetic, with a rough texture reminiscent of matte paper, by scanning it onto a computer.
The lived-in aesthetic of tactile dirtiness, which heightens emotional intimacy, demonstrates how film can elevate a concept.