We went out into pittville park with a hasselblad and a light meter and started to practice taking images. On this occasion we didnt use flash, we just used the daylight. Since the light kept changing because of us shooting in different destinations and clouds blocking the sunlight we had to use a light meter.

Because i was doing this shoot in the studio i could plan what images i wanted to take because all i had to work with was a white background.

To get ready i printed out a couple images that i'd like to recreate. Some of them came from OUT100 but most of them were from TIME magazine since thats the one i'm focusing on. Two images really stood out for me in TIME magazine and those were the pictures of Kanye West and Laverne Cox. When i was shooting I was thinking about what would look good for a cover photo and then a photo that could lead into the story.

The light source i used most was a medium sized soft box. I did try use the snood light but found that the shadows it made were too intense.. especially on the background.

 

1st image - Front page shot - dramatic red against white will make you remember the image and wonder what the article is about.

2nd image - image of her in the red dress leading on from the front page to remind the readers the story is about her.

3rd image - could be used in a double page spread with the gutter going down the center.

4th image - could be used smaller to support the story.

This lighting diagram was for in the studio.

The soft box light was high and angled down. It was slightly to the left which has created some shadow down the left of her body and under her chin.

This is the lighting diagram for the shoot in the studio.

We used a soft box which was raised up and angled down slightly and It was to the left side of sammie. Shes standing away from the background to keep from light hitting the wall and making the lighting change on it.

I made her look to the left which has created nice shadows which arent too intense.

This is the lighting diagram for the shoot in the bedroom. Sammie had her back to the window so i had to expose for outside and her face. The umbrella and flash were to the left of her and was direct. This has created shadows on the right side of her face.

This is the lighting diagram from the bedroom shoot. To the right was a window - it wasnt of much use because there was minimal light coming from it. Sammies body was turned to me her head was turned looking towards the window. The flash which was shot through an umbrella was to the side near the window which has created some shadow on the left side of her face.

Growing up and being seen as different is difficult, especially if you're Transgender in a place where not everyone is open minded and accepting. According to a survey conducted by a mental health charity for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people called Pace,  a shocking 48% of trans people under the age of 26 have attempted suicide.

I’ve been photographing Sammie Cain, a second year creative writing student studying at the University of Gloucestershire and talking to her about her experiences growing up Transgender.

Although she’s had a supporting family and friends, she hasn't been able to go through life without conflict along the way, “I think you'd be lucky to be trans and not experience some negativity.”

Sammie’s experiences range from harmless comments “due to a lack of understanding” to borderline harassment. She describes situations of being tormented on the street, “People straight up shout stuff at me, this only ever seems to happen when I'm alone. I think that in itself says a lot about the kind of person who does that.”

She also talks about how people on the street have walked past and question her gender and describes it as a common occurrence, “ the most common stuff in my experience tends to be people talking amongst themselves when they know they're within earshot. Stuff like "is that a man or a woman?" Which of course is absurd anyway, because those aren't the only two genders.”

Luckily she’s been able to join a community of people who know what its like to experience negativity from unaccepting people who place a stigma around their lives. “The LBGT society is great, in fact I'm house sharing with someone I met through the society next year.” And with more and more celebrities including Laverne Cox and Ellen Page coming out as part of the LGBT community and using their status to educate and inform, 2015 might be the turning point for positive change.

 

 

The theme for my project was the LGBT community, specifically transgender teens/early adults and through my photos I wanted to changed people's ideas and opinions on the subject.
People often have a misconception and preconceived idea when they hear transgender/transexual so in a way I wanted to normalize it through my photos showing their everyday life and settings.

 

I had a lot of trouble with getting people to shoot so it was hard to arrange dates which ended up in me having to shoot really late into the project.
I didn't know the person I was shooting beforehand which made it slightly awkward the first time we did the shoot. Not knowing the person made it difficult to ask in depth personal questions as I didn’t want to ask the wrong one and end up offending her.

 

My ideas have developed a lot through this project. This is from researching artists and talking to contacts from the tvchix dating website. I had a lot of setbacks in this project so most of my ideas have had to change quickly but i feel like I've been able to take interesting photos although i was only able to do two shoots.

I think I've done a good amount of research on artists and their photo stories however I think i could have gone into more detail about the individual images that i found inspiring but its definitely helped me a lot with my project. It gave me lots of ideas and inspired me on my shoots. I would have liked to have done more shoots to really work on all the ideas i had but unfortunately didn't have enough time to do so.

I think Alec Soth’s work inspired me most on the shoot in the bedroom and for the studio shoot i was inspired by the images in TIME. I would have liked to go on and create some images like Alex Majoli’s but i wasn't able to because of issues with contacts.

 

Throughout this project i have developed my skills using flash. I’ve shot in different lighting such as inside a poorly lit room and inside a well lit and set up studio. Looking back at my photos i think i prefer my photos in the bedroom even though it was harder to work in with the poor light.

 

Having set tasks to complete helped me develop my skills using flash as i had to think about the set up of the lights and figure out how they created the picture. Producing a group shot also helped to see how to light up more than one person correctly.

 

If i was to do this project again i would use my time differently and get started straight away. Because i finalised my actual idea later in the project it was only then that i was able to go searching for contacts. From having a lot of difficulties on this project I’ve learnt to have lots of back up contacts and know that i cant rely on someone to keep their word on being able to be in the project. Although I like my images I think i would have liked to have got a mix of people and a variety of ages ranging from teenager to adult. I think this would have made for a more interesting set of photos.