A. Firth Photography

With this year being my final year, I have had to think a lot about what I have done and what it has done to me to shape me into the photographer I am today.

I believe from this years project I set my goals too high; planning on working with Hull city of culture was a big ask and was clear it wouldn’t happen as the people that are involved now were taking part years ago before I thought of it. I’m annoyed I wasted my time and energy getting excited by the promise of helping or being involved when it was inevitable I wasn’t going to sucesseed. This has been not only a photographer lesson but a life lesson. I should not have depended on some many others around me, I believe if I hadn’t depeneded on other so much I would have found my own path quicker. However this has helped me grow and learn to work on my own and have some confidence in myself as a photographer.

My time management started out shakey with me waiting for members of the public and companies to get back to me. This effected my time management so much that I had to change my plan last minute but it worked out well as I was working on this project outside of university. This allowed me to catch up quickly and form a well balanced project and plan. If I could change anything about my time management it would be concentrating on my work rather than the feedback from others, I should have trusted my instincts and gone with the final plan months ago. Apart from that I believe I have managed my time well, well enough to still have free time to work with my clients and start my business which has allowed me to progress as a photographer. Overall it worked out well and I am happy with the outcome. As you can imagine.

I anticpated the outcome of my work to end up in a large space which would be worked into an exhbition, this is the secret project, where by I was to display work from my final project and my work within the secrect project. However this fell through some months ago, which is a real shame as I believe having my work displayed else where would have created a larger hype about the city of culture and would bring more attention to the negatives of the city of culture. This will be completed but sadly won’t be finished during this course.

The realistic outcome isn’t far from the antisipated outcome. The realistic outcome has been a success with the work showing the building of Hull crubbling which is backed up by a documentation of the streets of Hull as the city goes through the changes and transformation to the become the city of culture. Each image shows the derelict buildings, the buildings which made Hull what Hull is; buildings such as Lordline which have been left to rack and ruin. Since starting this project each building I have been working has been discussed in the media, discussing the changes that need to made to allow these amazing structures to survive another lifetime.

Many ask me what I would have done differently. And there is only one answer. Explored more. I would have explored into more buildings more historical structures. But you only have so much time and energy. If I had explored more I believe I would have a far vaster collection of work to produce for the exhbition. But I am not disappointed in myself, I am happy with the buildings I explored and the findings I reported. Also I hope to carry on this project for myself, for my own benifit of exploring into my city.

Many have commented on the composition of my work. The fixed third rule with the square format. This has had a great respons from viewers mainly because it reminds people of instagram. A popular app used to share photographs in a square format. Viewers seem to enjoy this way of consuming work as it is a easy format to view, having a fixed format has also allowed my work to have an iconic quality. The repeat question by viewers has been how did I choose the finals, the finals that are printed and bound? The answer is with great difficulty I wanted to show a great even selection of images from different locations to give an over view of Hull and its historical buildings.

I have had a great deal of ups and downs this year, personal and professional. But I believe these ups and downs, or challenges as I have learnt, helped me grow to become this confident photographer. My main challenge I faced was at the start waiting for people to get back to me, because as far as I was aware people were helping me and giving me oppourtunities to help out but after waiting too long I learnt that you can’t just depend on others and if you want something to happen then do it yourself, which is how my new plan formed. All from me.

Overall I am over the moon with my project. I never thought my work would expanded into urban street photography, I always believed my work would move towards commercial work but now I have learnt I am a fine art photographer. I look for the detail and concentrate on the beauty with in my images as aposed to clicking away. I have learnt to be selective and chose well with each click of the shutter. I can not wait to see this project unravel to become my proffesinal work. I already have several members of the public who will be purchasing my prints and possibly a book. This could never have happened if I hadn’t found my passion.

Below you will find my last and most treasured image. This image completed my work for this submission. I hope you will keep posted on my website for further work personal and professional. See you soon…

http://www.alivephotographer.com

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Owner must repair fire-hit Blundell Street School, Hull City Council says

The owners of a fire-ravaged former school off Beverley Road, Hull, have been told to make repairs to the building. Humberside Fire and Rescue Service has confirmed arson was the cause of the blaze that gutted Blundell Street School in Brunswick Avenue.
It is unclear at this stage whether the building can be saved, but Isle of Man-based owner Raj Kanadia has been instructed to make repairs as soon as possible.

Today I will be going in to find out what the fire has damaged and what has been saved, hopefully seeing some good news for this building. I hope that if the building is still in tack the owner will turn it into something as I feel this building is worth saving. But theres only one way to find out what its like on the inside. Torch and boots at the ready as this could be my most dangerous building because since the fire there may be no stucture left.