Final output ideas

While working on assignment 4, I tried to think about how I wanted to present the final project.

• shown on a phone somehow
• in book format - much like a desk diary
• moving picture with text spoken over photographs

I've tried out a sample book layout quickly in Photoshop, with some of the text and photographs I have taken so far since Assignment 3, to see how a simple layout would look. I have included an opening page of images, and then have sequenced the text and photographs in pairs below as they would look on a double page.

I do like this layout. I didn't want to have the text and photographs on the same side every time, it looks too uniform that way. So I have swapped them around to mix it up a bit. Especially here, where the text takes up two pages so I wanted it on the right on the first double page and then on the left side when you turn the page over. In this scenario, I wonder whether it might be better to have the text spread on the double page and then photographs with no text on the next? I'm not quite sure.

I want to keep the photographs small as well. They have been taken on a phone so I want them kept small in keeping with how I wanted them seen. I am not interested in putting in full page prints.

The text, I would like to keep as simple as possible. Originally, I liked the idea of having it written in the same column style that it is written in the app (long and narrow like the phone screen) however, this would make the text take up more pages and ideally I would like to keep the text a day to a page if possible. Much like a diary. But then if there are pages where the text is longer than a page, should I consider the text to be smaller to be able to fit it all onto one page? There's a lot to think about in regards to printing it out into a book format, but for the meantime, I think this is how I would like to present it.

While speaking with my tutor during our feedback Skype for Assignment 4, he suggested it may be goo to create and present the project as a blog. This would fit in with the project being able to be seen through a device, highlighting once again a connection with the project itself (being about device usage) and also connecting the viewer to the fact that the project was made entirely ON a smartphone. The images would be seen in a similar size and format to how they were taken.

Whilst my tutor and I have not dismissed the idea of a book, I'm really taken with this idea. I think a blog would be a great way to present this project. The irony just oozes out of it.

Assignment Four

Moving forward from Assignment Three, I have decided to continue shooting photographs of my family to progress into Assignment Four. With the feedback from my tutor firmly in my mind, I decided that there is enough material inside my own house to work with for this project and so I thought it best to progress my project into a representation of what our family life is like in terms of usage of modern technology and devices.

Progressing with the project.
Assignment Three saw me delve into the world of device usage and to see how common it is in today's society to be using devices continuously. I initially looked at others, and my own family, while I was going about my daily business, to see how much device usage we see at home and out and about, by both family and the general public.
My tutor and I discussed the last assignment and I discussed that my own family, especially my husband, spend a lot of time on our own devices. With my tutor commenting that my husband's character had the potential to carry a series on his own, I agreed with this and felt it was unnecessary to go out looking for device usage by people on the street when I have more than enough material in my own home. With regards to my husbands, my children's and even my own, usage; I felt it was important to attempt to convey time as an important factor. I was inspired by Suite Venitienne by Sophie Calle and was interested in the inclusion of text as a diary format. This is something that I felt would work in my own project and decided to embark on documenting not only photographs of my husband and family on devices, but also noting a diary form of text to accompany the images. By including dates and times to correspond with each images or set of images, the viewer can get a more thorough insight into just how much time is spent on devices within my home.
Another area I discussed with my tutor was whether it was important what my husband was actually doing or looking at while on his devices. And whether or not it was important. Personally, I think there is more of a mystery around the project, as viewers, if we don't know. It keeps us guessing. And also makes us think, while we look at the photos as a sequence, what exactly takes so long to be on a device so long. In my notes, I have made suggestions about what I think my husband is doing on his device at the time on occasions, but I don't feel it is necessary and I wonder whether it needs to be included or not.

Assignment Submission.
For the assignment submission, I have included both the text and the images. As opposed to including the entire log; I have included a two week time frame from November 2016 to keep the series in a particular set time. The series starts from the first of the month. The daily text is first and is followed by the image(s) that correspond to that day. Then the next day's text followed by it's corresponding images, etc. It is important for me to keep the text and images together for a particular day and to continue in date sequence to keep it as a diary format. Some days have just text, some days have just images but the majority of dates have both text and images to accompany them. Also, I have included emoji's in my text, which are a big factor in communicating through devices nowadays, but they do not show on the documents below (shown as a ?) but will be present for the final project.

Final thoughts.

Looking at the volume of photographs that I have for the two weeks submitted, I cant help but think there might be too many. I feel I should think about the volume of photographs submitted for each daily text. Also, I am wondering whether the photographs should be limited to solely of my husband or whether I continue to include my children and my close family and friends.

I have thought about how I would like to present the final project and am leaning more towards a book. The entire project has been captured on my mobile phone and so I would love if there were some way for me to present it in the same way. I'm not sure how I could do that. The book idea also draws inspiration from Sophie Calle but also because of the fact it is recorded as a diary, and diaries tend to be thought of as in book form. It is something I will have to discuss further with my tutor now that we are heading toward the final project. 

* I have decided to produce a sample photo book of this assignment to submit for assessment as it will give me an insight into how the final project could look in book format, but obviously would be much larger.