Here Is the PDF file to my final layout of book.
I choose to print on thick cartilage paper with a matt finish as I felt it gave a more artistic quality to my book in response to the sketches and block colours. The book has a thermal bind down the side, however I feel if given more of an option I would choose a different binding as it restricts the opening of the book.
The stimuli for the project was ‘story telling’ in response to this I wanted to document and portray the lives of youths and portray a ‘Youth Identity’ through this transitional process in their lives. Researching Photographers such as Nan Golding , Ryan McGlinley, Adrienne Salinger etc I decided to take these photos with snap shot style on 35mm point and shot camera. Being a student myself I was easily assesable to the participants I wanted to capture, especially living in student housing. Everyone I am surrounded by is going through this stage of transition, moving away from home the first time, juggling freedom and responsibilty. I decided to just take portraits mixed with various activities to see how the images portrayed this lifestyle. Unfortunately due to the time restrictions i feel my project could of gone better documented over a longer period of time. As everyone was going through the same deadlines coming up etc not much was happening around to help portray this ‘freedom’ side. In response to Salingers work looking at Teenagers bedrooms and the use of objects to portray a changing and malleable identity, I focused some imagery on peoples bedrooms and objects within and wardrobes ( looking at not only the clothes inside , which can help further this uniformity of youth culture , but the way they were presented)
I found some of the portraits almost show my subjects in a moment of ‘daydream’ and soft glances, there is something quite nice about this that shows them in an almost reflective state of time, taking time to just stop. With the assumption of Youths being busy and active these portraits almost show the ‘behind’ and true representation of when the fun is taken away.
After researching and mood boarding different ways to lay out my book I decided I wanted a quirky feel to it, as it was a book on youths I wanted that vibe to be given off through decorative techniques. I then started to test and explore ways of illustrating and drawing images that appeared in the photographs themselves. This here I felt worked really well and added a feel of youths through the decoration. I liked the illustrations and felt they worked even on their own as pages which broke up the book, and almost made it easier than seeing repetitive images one after another.
abigailedwards 