I can’t believe it has been over a year since I graduated from Ravensbourne! It doesn’t seem long ago that my parents dropped me, and a car’s worth of throw cushions off at halls and left me to my own devices.

I was recently asked to pop together a lecture for current third years at the university, explaining to them how I got from graduation, to the point that I am at now. This got me thinking about what an exciting time third year was, and how much I learnt from putting together my final major project. Here I have put together a blog post giving you an insight into the behind the scenes action of ‘The Little Circus’ the piece I put together for my grand finish at Ravensbourne. It gives you an idea into just how crazy the third year of university is, and how wonderful it is to be surrounded by creatives.

So, to start with I needed to come up with a concept. A few weeks were spent looking back at my favourite photographers, including Sally Mann, Sarah Moon, Ellen Rogers and Paulina Otylie Surys. All of these photographers had something in common - they shot film. This could be a challenge when I am on a ‘digital photography course’! I also looked back at old family polaroids of my mum in Devon. This was the point I first considered that I could direct this project towards kid’s fashion.

In these first weeks I experimented with lighting, played with test shoots, and even took a darkroom course in hand colouring your prints at Double Negative in Homerton. Here I had the opportunity to meet Paulina, one on the photographers explored in my sketch book, which is such a testament as to how incredible London is as a city.
The next step was coming up with a solid concept. Being a performing arts kid, I have always loved theatre, and the circus. I began considering how I could merge these passions into a photographic concept, along with the aged analogue photography style I was exploring. Then, late one evening in Ravensbourne’s library, I discovered a whole book on antique circus posters!

Voila! The ideas started to flow. I scanned countless pages from this book, scoured pinterest for vintage circus shots, looked at photographers who had explored performers such as Avedon and Roversi. I started to come up with a plan, and knew I wanted to create a number of characters for this project.
I knew I wanted a bearded girl. That I was absolutely sure of! I had never seen anything like that done before, and loved the idea of trying to feminise this beard, intertwining it with plaits and flowers. My next thought was a tattooed boy. Then I considered this might be tricky and slightly time consuming for my make up artist…next plan. The strong man, the grumpy clown, they all kept coming. I finally put together a list of all of the characters I wanted to portray and considered how I could represent them in the best way, through styling and hair and make up.

I began to get together a team. I found Emma Breden through Ballad of Magazine, and she suggested we contact the incredibly talented Zara Vernazza (the wig maker behind Les Miserables in the west end…theatre geek goes into over drive here!!). I also asked one of my regular hair and make up artists Adele Sanderson if she would like to be involved, and contacted Bonnie and Betty for models.
The team was together, the stylists were prepped, now I had to worry about the set.

Originally I loved the idea of hiring out a location. I tracked down this stunning burnt out attic and went over their for a reccee. Unfortunately the space was just too small for what I had planned, but it did provide me with some gorgeous textures, and great inspiration for creating my own set, and building it in studio.

On the second sketch book page about you can actually see my original set design - a burnt texture wall, with a charcoaled door and white wooden floor. I hired stage flats from a local set company, and got to work. The next week was spent experimenting with paint textures, building and painting props, and making endless batches of pink candyfloss from toy stuffing.

This was the point when the editor of La Petite Magazine took interest in the piece and offered us a pull letter. This meant that we had a good chance at publication, should the final images match the moodboard. Exciting stuff!

The set was ready. The models were booked. The team was prepped. And I had just about figured out how to use my tutors massive, scary, large format Polaroid camera. Next came the day of the shoot. Needless to say, I was bricking it.

In hindsight the two days we shot the project across went by in a blur. Everyone turned up, the models were fantastic, and the creative team was incredible. The kids froze as I kept whispering, “stay still, stay still, don’t move” whilst hidden under my focusing cloak, and the Polaroids were coming out beautifully. Before I knew it, we had shot the last frame, and, the shoot at least, for my final major project was wrapped.

I vividly remember packing everything away. My incredibly patient other half came to the studio, and helped me move each and every prop down three flights of stairs into a taxi waiting on the street. It was so surreal. Months worth of planning and construction was packed into a 6 seater, and we drove home. And then, as all good third years do, we went, exhausted, to the pub.

After this drink, I had ten days to finalise everything. I spent the next week cooped up in my bedroom, scanning, post processing and preparing for print, and the following few days at the printspace doing test strips, and printing the images on different paper to see which finish I liked the most.

I submitted the piece to Rachelle at La Petite Magazine and it was published in their Summer issue, and I handed the final selected mounted polaroids, and printed scanned giclee copies to my tutor.
Finished! From concept, right through to printing, this selection of sketch book pages gives you a pretty good insight into my brain during the second term of my third year at university. It was crazy. I learnt a lot, created a lot, hired a lorry to deliver stage flats to university, and left it all loving kids photography more than I could have imagined.

See the finished series.

HANNAH COATES / ART DIRECTOR

Zest of the Loganberry Photography

Posts tagged with sketch-book

Inside My Sketch Book - My Final Major Project