In January, I was selected to be nominated for the Hahnemüle Photo London Student Competition.
Over the course of four weeks I had to cut down the whole conceptual project into 6 final images and an artist statement. Having to be so selective was a real challenge as trying to embody the multiple critically reflective narratives that are conceptually depicted within the work was an almost impossible task.
The final six pictures that I choose as selections displayed the various different aspects of the whole project and offered up a display of how visually chaotic the work is. This was important as it was giving the panel of judges an insight to what the whole work was about in a condensed format due to the restrictions of a concise edit.
When writing the statement to go along side the piece, having 200 words to summarise the narrative was also a bit of a challenge. I found it difficult to condense ideas that I have been working on for the past 12 months into one short passage but overall again I think it gives a concise insight to the work rather than explaining all of the critical thinking behind it. After all I wouldn't want to project my own opinions too loudly when the work is also completely subjective.
For the final part of the competition, we had to select which Hahnemlüe paper we would choose when exhibiting the work. I chose Hahnemüle Hemp as it had a soft matte texture. I didn't want my work to be obscured by glare if a viewer were to experience this project, in an ideal scenario a viewer could connect with each picture without distraction allowing them to have an undisturbed connection.
Overall the competition nomination process has been a great experience, it's made me think critically about selecting the strongest images that summarise the main ideas. Deciphering between the arbitrary and the necessary throughout the selection of each photograph has developed my understanding and I can take this forward when producing a sequence for my final piece.