A reply from Lifeworks

I received a reply from Sue with a link to a JPEG of the exhibition as I had requested in my last e-mail, however the image was unclear and next to useless which put me back to square one.

Sue also put in her e-mail that Lifeworks would be holding a conference at Moddershall Oaks on Wednesday the 5th of October from 9:00AM until 4:30PM and if I was available would I be interested in being the photographer in attendance.

When I next saw Louise a few days later I told her about Sue's offer and explained that I would be very happy to photograph the conference in the morning however the afternoon would be difficult as I had to be at university. Louise was very understanding and told me that she would be happy for me to stay for just the morning and then leave during the lunch break.

Future possible clients

I have been looking around the local area for possible clients, my dad suggested Alton Towers Resort  which is owned by Merlin Entertainments, the second largest location based entertainment company in the world. I have asked my dad if it would be possible to get any contact details for Rupert Hough; Group Games And Photography Manager, Katie Hicks; Internal Communications Executive and Ian Crabbe; Attraction Director at Alton Towers Resort so that I can contact them about any possible opportunities and events such as Scarefest.


JCB is another global company that have their World Headquarters locally that I will be contacting with the intention of meeting with the personnel in charge of their marketing department. I will also be contacting The Cheadle Post and Times in regards to freelance work however I have been unable to find a website and the only contact details I have found for them is a possible phone number.

Current clients

I was approached by Louise Zandian who is linked with my family on a professional basis and the founder of Lifeworks Staffordshire a charity for people on the Autistic spectrum.  Louise informed me that the charity was putting up an exhibition at Newcastle Museum, and asked if I would be interested in exhibiting some of my work, needless to say I jumped at the opportunity.

When I asked what sort of work they wanted for the display Louise was flexible, I could display anything as long it was something I was proud of. Since this didn't really give me anything specific to work with I spent a while going through every image I had on file, this took quite a while but after some 'ums and ahs' I managed to pick out my favorites. I then copied those images on to a USB flash drive and gave it to Louise the next time I saw her.

Not long after I gave the USB to Louise I received an e-mail from Sue (one of Louise's associates) saying that the images looked great but they would need some additional photographs for the display. I asked Sue to e-mail me a picture of the exhibition so that I could select more images that would compliment the ones already exhibited.

For the past few months I have been doing work experience at a local photographic studio at weekends. Chris Lees Photography specializes in sports event photography but also passport and studio sittings from his shop. Work I have undertaken so far includes, photo restorations, re-framing of images, passport photos and dealing with customers. I have also helped with a studio sitting and at an equestrian event.

Work I am proud of

Introduction

Having left school with a GCSE in Art I started at Leek College on a Level 2 BTEC First Diploma course in Art and Design with the intention of becoming a graphic artist. However as I progressed through the course I found my interests leaning more and more toward Photography, specifically landscapes.

After obtaining the BTEC qualification I went on to study the Art and Design National Diploma course. I was certain by this point that photography was the area I wanted to specialized in although I still held a strong interest in graphic art.

During my final year at Leek College I had moved onto the Foundation Diploma in Art and Design course where I discovered the work of Joe Cornish who quickly became one of my favourite landscape photographers to date. I also like the works of Annie Leibovitz and Christian Boltanski; Leibovitz  because of her use of imagery and vivid colour and Boltanski simply because his pieces seem so bizarre but have very deep thought behind them. It was also during this final year at Leek College that one of my tutors mentioned that she really liked my macro photography and should consider developing my skills in that area.

During the Foundation Degree in Digital Media course I am hoping to further develop my landscape photographs as well as exploring other styles and techniques.