Art and Photography Exhibition 2021

Art & Photography Exhibition brighton college abu dhabi

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BCAD ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION YEAR 11 ART

YEAR 13 ART

Maddy Andrews Sophie Easton Yasmin El Maoued Rosa Engles Kiho Lee Oceane Magri-Caines Salma Mohamed Taiga Okpako Yara Sharaf Laasya Sharma Noelle Darts Ayesha Dawood Emily Dyer Reethika Jonnada Helen Khalid Cecilia Melara- Zaballa Talha Saif

Joshua Westwell Mia Robinson Mateo Bertolotti Hanna Boucheloukh YEAR 12 ART Rand Safi Loay Metwally

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YEAR 11 PHOTOGRAPHY Ali al Hajri Ahmed Ahmed Saud Shirazy Humaid Alsaeedi Mahra Alsaeedi Yara Sharaf Samer Idris Mira Abdelmajid Haki el Mur Jeffry Annabella Watkis Francisco Simiao Ayan Khan Rohan Susarla Xandra Eid Helen Khalid Jiyho Jean Oliver Crofts Simoni Shah Vaishnavi Rair Yasmin Yousef

A special thanks to our KS3 Cobis Art Competition winner Jyoti Sharma in Year 9 for coming first this year.

BCAD ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION

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Welcome to Brighton College Art and Photography Exhibition 2021. A special congratulations to all the pupils and Art team for helping with the organisation of this years online Exhibition. It has certainly been a challenging year, but we are so proud of how our pupils have conducted themselves this year and are amazed by their sheer determination and resilience in continuing to produce work to the highest standard.

I hope you enjoy viewing the work as much as we have enjoyed putting it together. On view is our current end of course A level Art, GCSE Art and Photography cohorts.

Wishing you and your family a wonderful summer break.

Mrs Mrs Mrs Mrs

B Gupta , Head of Art C Donaldson C Bourne T Milivojevic

YEAR 13 Art

mia robinson During my two years of A Level Art, I’ve had the opportunity to explore multiple facets of the subject both visually and practically. Through the experimentation of different media, in depth research of many artists and the support of my teachers, I have been able to fully develop and execute my ideas. I have learnt the importance of taking time to reflect and critic your own work through this project. Originally, I started with a different topic for my personal investigation, however, it was difficult to find inspiration to create high quality pieces. Hitting this wall allowed me to reflect and then change my topic to something I was more passionate and excited about.

In Year 12, we investigated the theme of Structure to develop our skills and find our preferred mediums. This then allowed us to choose the right materials for our Year 13 personal investigation. My investigation was based on how the representation of the Black community has changed and evolved

in and through art. To explore this, I used a range of materials and techniques such as oil painting, graphite drawings, etching, markers/felt tips, fabric, paper collage, inks, and bleach.

For my final outcome and response to my investigation question I then chose to use ink, paper collage and oil paints to conclude my findings.

YEAR 13 Art

Joshua Westwell The ideology behind this personal study is the careful consideration of a how city interacts with its history and its future will dictate’s its structural character. I believe one could view this as a spectrum. By personifying a city, we can state that the left of the spectrum can represent its history and the right represent its present or potential future. If a city is heavily on the right meaning that its architectural styles are majority contemporary and modernist structures it runs the risk of losing its historical narrative and will not preserve the cultural heritage and traditions passed down from generations, therefore neglecting its authentic identity removing its true story. On the other hand, a city can act on the contrary whereby it neglects its possible future architectural styles.

This can prevent a civilization from reinviting itself stopping any progression or beneficial innovation. Both of these ends of the spectrum will not provide an accurate representation of the city and will harm losings its important history or prevent the opportunity to al-

low growth. Therefore, the balance can be found in the centre of this spectrum were both are equally appreciated. My conclusion from studying the structural facades, vernacular architecture and urban landscapes of the UAE it is apparent that balancing old and new can be done through reinventing older regional architectural elements and drawing inspirations from the environmental surroundings like palm trees and sand dunes. In the centre of this spectrum is where I believe, the true identity of a city can be found between the contrast of traditionalism and modernity.

YEAR 13 Art

Hanna boucheloukh To conclude the answer to the question ‘how has the way women are portrayed in art changed over the years’, I can firmly state that women are portrayed more raw and freely as time progresses, as society progresses as well. This is as newer generations are typically more open-minded to change than the last, and when each generation shapes the societal ‘norms’, they are bound to progress eventually. Comparing the 1800’s to the 2000’s, women are still far from reaching equal rights with men, however, today’s society has shown a lot of progress and change by presenting more opportunities for women to reclaim their bodies, and to reclaim their bodily autonomy. Cassatt’s work is proof that women were more oppressed and had only a single choice in their life; to become a mother and a housewife. Her work is also evidence of the social changes in norms for how women dress; showing the ankles was considered provocative. Nowadays, as seen in Saville’s work, women even being in the nude is normalized whilst in the 1800’s

this may have been seen as blasphemous and would have resulted in public outrage. In the end, the way women are portrayed in art will continue to change, and it has definitely not reached its full potential, however, this will come from future generations implementing social changes, and it will all help pave the way to equal rights and normalize women just existing as they are, rather than having to constantly please the men around them by looking pretty.

YEAR 13 Art

Mateo Bertolotti After this extensive investigation, it can be concluded that there are several impacts that crowded cities have on humans and urban environments.

The most prominent being the lack of spatial conformity due to the increasing rates of urbanization, especially in the developing world. Benny Lam’s photographs in ‘Sub-divided Units’ are excellent examples of this dilemma, as he is able to critically and successfully disclose the real living conditions of Hong Kong citizens by capturing their lives in crammed flats. By recognising the potential spatial threats of overpopulation, the situation would only worsen, unless proper urban planning is imposed. Yona Friedman is one of the many architects who proposes such plans. Through his imaginative schema of mobile architecture, Friedman proposes a solution through the concept of the ‘Spatial City’ in order to reduce the risk of urban overpopulation and massive immigration. A collective and “spatial infrastructure” where a whole community can reside in. Despite this,

Friedman’s spatial city is theoretical after all. Perhaps the construction of such city could gradually become corrupted by humanity itself and eventually transform into a hub for illegal activities.

YEAR 12 Art

Rand Safi In my project I investigated female identity. The artists I chose all explore this from a feminist viewpoint and in different ways. Shirin Neshat focuses on the contrasts between Islam and the West, femininity and masculinity, public life and private life, antiquity and modernity. To bridge the spaces between these subjects and the photographs portray the cultural, religious and political circumstances that influence the identities of Muslim women worldwide. The hijab (veil) in Islam, is intended to protect a woman’s body from being a sexualized object of the male gaze. The “gaze” in this context becomes a signifier of sexuality, sin, shame, and power. Neshat is aware of feminist theories that explain how the “male gaze” is normalized and women’s bodies are commonly displayed as objects of desire in film and advertising, available to be looked at without consequence. Therefore, feminist artists have used the action of

“gazing back” as a means to free the female body from this objectification.

In Neshat’s work, women return the gaze, intending to break free from centuries of subservience to male desire.

The writing on the faces of her work were poems written by Iranian women.

Shadi Ghadirian also influenced the development of my ideas.She critically comments on the contradictions of traditions and modernity for women living in Iran. She also explores the topics of censorship, religion, modernity, and the status of women. She tends to use ordinary kitchen utensils like cups, irons, brooms, gloves and shredders as a readymade pun. This amplifies her thoughts on the roles women in the middle east and other places have been defined.

YEAR 12 Art

Loay Metwally My interest is in expressive portraiture.

I researched artists who use formal art elements such as colour, composition and technique to convey emotion and character. I wanted to examine a range of artistic approaches and the artists I studied included David Hockney, Jenny Saville and Daniel Martin.

I began with some small Oil portraits as experiments with layering, composition and colour. One of the techniques I explored was to make meaning through the process of paint application. Brush strokes can represent loss/ recovery of identity and also signify a heightened emotional state by their expressive looseness and vitality. For example, brush strokes that are close together could represent self awareness, recovery of ‘loss of identity’.

Brush strokes that are separated and agressive could portray loss of identity.

Specific group of colors can also com-

municate an internal emotion.

Composition is an important factor.

Many portraits focus on the eyes and I discovered that if you do this, then the rest of the portrait can be abstracted yet still convey an intense character.

YEAR 11 Art

Maddy Andrews Over my two years I have learnt many skills and developed my art techniques. Last year our project was Journeys and Pathways which allowed me to explore transport. I enjoyed this project as I could research different artists and develop new techniques.

This year our project were Fragments and Events. My fragments was based around fragments in society and so I was able to get a deeper understanding of problems that trouble people.

Events was a lighter topic as it was reflecting festivals and my final piece was candle packaging for Christmas.

In Fragments I enjoyed painting my final piece as it was simple yet effective. My final piece was based around anti-war as it captured the contrast between nuclear warfare and poppies. I enjoyed adding the texture to the poppies and I did this by using

a sponge to mimic the petals of the poppies. Events was the final project we did in year 11 and it was my most colourful one as festivals are full of life.

It explored different cultures traditions and how they chose to celebrate significant dates.

Artists which inspired my work were Picasso who is extremely well known round the world for his wide range of talents and Paul Cummins who created the poppy sculpture in the tower of London to remember the brave people who fought and died for their country.

YEAR 11 Art

Sophie Easton Throughout the last two years I have enjoyed experimenting with a range of media and exploring different artists work and their stories. After looking a wide range of artists in Year 10, I was able to look into more specific aspects of art in more detail in Year 11.

I based my Fragments project on the sub topic fragments of time. In this project I looked at creating political art with a strong meaning. I did this by using a wide range of media and focused on sketching alongside acrylic painting.

I looked at the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s in comparison to 2020, looking at differences and similarities of past and present protests. Researching artists like Peter Kennard inspired me to create pieces with a purpose thatwere impactful. Noma Bar introduced a more minimal approach, as I began to look at digital art. Moving onto Events which was a digital communication project, I decided to look at branding.

For my ‘Events’ project I based my

pieces on sporting events and I wanted to create bright captivating images, that were uplifting. In this project I explored logo design and photography.

I looked at the branding and design for the Mexico Olympics and the influence of Otl Aicher and Swiss design. For my Events project I took a more digital approach and looked at incorporating photography into my art. I also explored logo design for different brands and focused on creating memorable eyecatching logos. This project gave me the skills to create balanced compositions and I explored the different ways that brands could be presented to people.

Over the two years of the course I experimented using a range of media, developing my skills using acrylic, pencil as well as digital art. I have particularly enjoyed graphic design in the most recent ‘Events’ project and hope to develop these skills more in the coming years.

YEAR 11 Art

Yasmin El Maoued My first project focused on the topic of social expectations/perfection versus the reality of the world. I chose this topic because I wanted to focus on important issues such as mental health My second project, Events began with research into carnivals and developed into research about masks and make up as a form of expression. This tied in neatly with my initial project about self image.

For the Events project, I designed my own Yakush I-e pieces based on Kabuki theatre posters. My influences included Katsukawa Shunko 1 and Oto Masamitsu. I used my brother as a model and face painted him in the appropriate colours. Colours are symbolic in mask design.The dark colours represent anger and stubborness. The lighter colours represent peacefullness, passion and enthusiaism.

YEAR 11 Art

Rosa Engles For the last two years I’ve focused on exploring with animals, insects and plants. I used each of their unique designs to create paintings, drawings, posters and collages some focusing on the effects that humans have on the environment and how it impacts animals, and others showing their beauty through paintings and sketches.

The projects I worked on in Year 11 were “Fragments” and “Events” each focusing primarily on nature. I felt like focusing on nature as its all around us and I loved drawing in depth of the leaves, eyes of animals, the skin patterns of intriguing animals etc. I focused on animals like butterflies and bees. My main project was “Events” where I focused on the impact that human activity has on animals and their habitats. Personally, I liked this project the most because it made me realize how damaging even small things like

not reusing plastic water bottles can be for animals like turtles in the sea.

Some animals I focused on where turtles, orangutans and giraffes. I made posters which showcased the effects our actions have on these animals, using bright colors and bold writing to catch the audiences eyes. This project provided me with an opportunity to further develop my skills as I learnt how to use photoshop and procreate to insert the text onto the scanned images of my paintings/drawings.

I was influenced by artists like Hannah Rothstein who focuses her work on showing the younger generation what our future is going to look like if we don’t do something about climate change and global warming. Each poster has a different story which is what I replicated into my artist responses.

YEAR 11 Art

Kiho Lee During my two years studying Art and design I have been improving my drawing skills. Before, I preferred pencil drawing, but now I have discovered another drawing style that is a really good fit for me. This is ink-pen drawing. I have also strengthened my colour and painting skills and now I am confident. I was worried at first about drawing, but I can see that it is important to develop your own individual style, and I feel that I have achieved this.

My art course work’s main topics was ‘Arctic’ and ‘Pollution’. Initially I was interested in the Arctic, but during my research realised that this part of the world is under threat from pollution and global warming. Therefore, for my Events project, I made a poster about arctic pollution. I used several drawing techniques, such as pencil drawing, ink-pen drawing, photoshop, bleaching etc. I developed my drawing skills

mostly through this project.

As I was interested in flat landcape and line drawing, I studied several Japanese artists from the 19th Century.

I made studies on Ukiyo-e artists such as Hiroshige and Hokusai.

Their paintings were so impressive to me, and were influential in developing my own pen and ink technique. This is also the reason I began printmaking as Ukiyo-e artists were well known for their wood block prints.

YEAR 11 Art

Oceane Magri - Caines Over these past two years I have experimented with new skills and techniques such as oil painting and photo editing. I focused on portraits as they express enormous amounts of emotions which I emphasised with abstract and surrealist components in my artwork. For Events, I developed my skills and artworks to turn them into new pieces through photoshop to make posters and book covers. Book and movie covers create the first impression on potential viewers and communicate in just one image/ design, the core message of the narrative. Therefore I designed my book covers to make the reader ‘feel’ the manuscript rather than ‘tell’ about it. Rene Magritte and Salvador Dali have been my inspiration through these two years as I admire their style and their personal conceptual vison of art.

YEAR 11 Art

Salma Mohamed These past two years have been an enjoyable mix of stimulating experimentation and compelling critical work, allowing me to be pushed outside my comfort zone and be more daring with my colors and style. Looking at dozens of renowned artists’ innovative designs was inspiring and influenced me to share their eccentric creativity and portray it in every piece I create.

On my first project “Fragments” I decided to follow the natural beauty of the human body with a focus on anatomy. While looking at artists such as the renowned Leonardo Da Vinci and other more adventurous artists such as Denis Sarazhin. I used elements of their work as inspiration for my final piece, which was very successful in the end I aimed to experiment with different mediums to help with my visual expression, and to be more daring in my choices.

In Events, I was pushed far outside my comfort zone, as most my project was digital which I had never done before.

During the fashion photography section of my ‘Events’ project. I took inspiration from the fashion photographer Leslie Zhang. Who takes a minimalistic yet bold approach to designing her photographs. Usually sticking with one bold color as a main theme for her current photo. Which I thought was very innovative, and took that approach in my photoshoot as well

YEAR 11 Art

Taiga Okpako For my final project, I designed branding for a Skateboard company. I was influenced by existing companies such as Zero, Santa Cruz and Creature.

Their iconography is graphic, with bold colours, so I designed a logo with a similar aesthetic. I used my observational drawings of the skeleton, and a skating photoshoot as my primary research. I edited the photographs in Photoshop to produce the vivid colours for my poster.

YEAR 11 Art

Yara Sharaf Picking Art and Photography as my options for GCSE has taught me a vast amount of skills. I have learnt what my strengths and what my weaknesses are, which medium I most enjoy using and much more. Taking time out of my day to complete spontaneous and exciting tasks made my GCSE experience more enjoyable. For this past project I had the opportunity to develop all aspects of designing music graphics.

My work was greatly inspired by album cover artist Peter Blake.

Having the subject of photography as an option forced me to step out of my comfort zone and try a hobby and skill I’ve never considered taking. It sparked a new passion that I am going to take forward, even after doing GCSE photography. I was taught how to manually work a camera, by altering ISO, shutter speed, aperture and many more skills.

YEAR 11 Art

Laasya Sharma My first project was about spirituality, I looked at how colour affects mood and emotion and how artists depict the spiritual. Dreamlike imagery is described to be magical, and seems unreal. Many artists alike have a surreal imagination, and seek to explore the unconscious mind as a way of creating art, resulting in surreal imagery.

Imagination is a powerful therapeutic tool, when we use imagination in play we are developing psychological and emotional capacities that help us understand the world.

In my second project I focused on still life and food painting. The first artist I researched was Wayne Thiebaud.

When I first saw his work, I was captivated by the vibrancy and unique texture, tone and colours he uses. I felt like it was perfect for my theme picnic, and event which is food.

I was also inspired by Sara Sedwick’s vivid paintings and Willem Kalf and the Dutch Masters of the 17th Century.

YEAR 11 Art

Noelle Darts In year eleven, I worked on two themes. The first was Fragments and my specific research interest was in fragments of memory. I investigated the science behind memory, as well as dreams and nostalgia, and how objects can be repositaries of memory.

The artist Mike Kelly was one of my inspirations, with his Memory Ware series. Angus Fairhurst was another influence. My response to his work was to make a series of linocuts in which my identity slowly disappeared.

Over the two years, I have had the opportunity to work with a wide range of two and three dimensional media,.

I particularly enjoyed printmaking.

YEAR 11 Art

Ayesha Dawood I have greatly enjoyed taking art for the past two years as I have gained lots of new skills such as hand-eye coordination as well as techniques like cross-hatching and continuous line. After looking at the ‘Elements of Art’ and basic skills in Year 10, I was able to develop my artistry through three different projects. My first personal project delved into obsessions throughout different life stages and consisted of several pencil pieces. All three projects (Journeys & Pathways, Fragments, Events), have enabled me to work with a variety of mediums such as watercolor, acrylics, lino, etc.

Exploring new mediums such as oils was also a very beneficial experience and I thoroughly enjoyed creating oilbased paintings.

My Year 11 project titled ‘Fragments’ helped me pick up on other skills such as painting with watercolors and

acrylics. During this project, I studied the metaphorical connotations of fragmented pieces of art. Having the chance to express myself creatively in my work has been a very relieving process and I am glad to have experienced this. I explored new aspects in my last project, ‘Events’, in which I looked more into domestic scenes.

After having multiple photoshoots and studying famous work, I was able to produce pieces which explored the connection between family individuals. By looking at Vermeer, I gained a great understanding of using light to portray emotion and focused on this during my photoshoots. My final outcome was an oil painting based around my mother and brother, in which a light shining in the middle contrasted the dark background. The bright light created a sense of hope and highlighted the significance of spending time with family, especially in uncertain times.

YEAR 11 Art

Emily Dyer Art GCSE has been a exhilarating experience these past two years.

Over the course I have explored three projects which have entailed many diverse techniques ranging from Lino art and etching to paper collage and oil pastel. In my first year of GCSE Art we explored theory through ‘Elements of Art’. Some skills we learnt were cross hatching, continuous line, highlight and transparency as well as tints, shades and tones. Towards the end of the year, I ventured into the Chinese Silk Road in my ‘Pathways and Journeys’ exploration, in which I developed a love for Chinese calligraphy. During year 11, I studied the projects ‘Fragments and ‘Events’.

During ‘Fragments’ I delved into natural fragments looking specifically at human anatomy and flora. Over the course of the project I studied the artist ‘Fernando Vicente’ and I produced a digital painting using microscopic photos and the app Adobe sketch. My final

outcome was a water-coloured portrait etching depicting my younger brother’s facial muscles surrounded by flora. In ‘Events’ I looked at children’s illustration and the book Alice in Wonderland.

Some illustrators I looked at include the esteemed Quentin Blake and Lauren Child, through which I learnt the complexity of illustration, from character depiction to the effect of typography. My final outcome was two mixed media spreads of Alice in Wonderland in my own style. I really enjoyed having the freedom to create the scenes in my own depiction, drawing inspiration from the illustrators I studied.

In ‘Events’, I was especially inspired by the illustrator Lauren Child. I’d read her books as a child but never looked at her spreads from a artist’s point of view. I really love her use of pattern, photos and colour that make each of the pages interesting and unique.

YEAR 11 Art

Reethika Jonnada My aim for this project was to explore the theme of cultural events related to my Indian background. I explored different Indian art styles, such as Madhubani and Warli, as well as art related to different events, to aid my research. I particularly focused on patterns and colour as these are key principles in Indian art styles.

Overall, I’m pleased with how my dress turned out and I really enjoyed creating clothing garments inspired by my background. Growing up away from where I’m from and living in a british environment means I don’t get to flourish my ethnicity and learn

about my traditions as much. Therefore, I really enjoyed this project as I made something personal (as culture is an extremely important element in life to me) and learnt a lot from looking at art and researching on the internet and through my parents. This project has taught me more about my culture and background and I have learnt a lot about it as well as about fashion design and creating patterns.

YEAR 11 Art

Helen Khalid Art has been a delightful experience these past two years. During the beginning of Year 10, we were able to develop our skills through colour theory and experimenting with different media, such as pencil sketches, oil pastels, acrylic paints and lino. We also further developed our techniques through shades, tones, cross hatching, continuous line, and of course highlight and transparency. We did a range of different projects with a variety of diverse themes. The 3 main projects that we worked on were ‘Journeys and Pathways’, ‘Fragments’ and ‘Events’.

When exploring with ‘Fragments’ through the summer and beginning of Year 11, I decided to also use some of my photography skills, by having a photoshoot. I also did some sewing on canvas with one of my images that I had taken which was a technique I had

never used before. This helped me to expand into multimedia, as I had stuck with majority of pencils during year 10.

I was inspired by many artists throughout my project of ‘Events’ in Year 11, since I linked a lot of work back with the nostalgia and memories from my culture. For the most part, I particularly enjoyed looking at Jessica Brilli’s work, as her style of art really appealed to me. I also had not done a lot of work with acrylics, so this helped me to further develop my painting skills. My second response towards her work was an older image of my grandfather’s iconic car, which I really enjoyed adding to my sketchbook and gave a personal touch to my project.

YEAR 11 Art

Cecilia Melara - Zaballa During the two years I have taken GCSE Art, I really enjoyed looking at other creative ways to make Art that I wasn’t aware of before, and this gave me more options when deciding how to express my ideas in my project. I have also learnt about the style of multiple new artists and made my own responses to their work, using their characteristic style.

I explored different themes throughout this course, such as Journeys and Pathways, Fragments, and Events. I always followed the same process for each of them. First, I looked at all the possible topics I could explore, and that linked with these titles. Then, I chose the one that inspired me the most, and that I would enjoy focusing my investigation on. And finally, I made lots of research and illustrations inspired on that theme, which could then lead me to create a final piece.

Throughout my projects, I looked at different artists and their individual style. For example, my project about Fragments, I chose to look at Architecture. My main sources of inspiration were the artists John Ruskin and Abigail Reynolds. While Ruskin portrayed Greece’s beautiful architecture in his books and watercolour illustrations, Reynolds produced creative cut outs comparing two images from different photographers of the same building. I was able to imitate them and create my own illustrations using their techniques.

On the other hand, in my Events project, I decided to look at Fashion, and the artists Edgar Artis, Rene Gruau and Stinna Persson, to create fashion illustrations to use in my very own Fashion Magazine.

YEAR 11 Art

Talha Saif In my first project, I was interested in narrative. I started to explore different animation techniques and made a zoetrop and flip books as well as several short animation sequences. I storyboarded and shot films depicting the action and then used stop-motion techniques to animate them. I also experimented with etching and printmaking.

In my second project I researched War artists. I was interested in how memory and history impact actual places.

YEAR 11 Photography

ALI AL HAJRI During the first 2 years in the course of photography I developed lots of new skills and techniques that helped me improve my artistic and photographic mind. There were lots of different techniques taught to us like how to manipulate, Aperture, ISO, Shutter Speed, so that I would get a very good looking photo. I developed lots of new skills, for example analysing in detail lots of pictures of my own and of Artists and photographers. I really enjoyed the course from the start when we did the pinhole camera to when we finished our last project “Events”. I had lots of memorable moments with my fellow students and friends during lessons.

The first year of photography, was during Year 10. During this year we focused on developing our skills and techniques and the aspects of taking photograph.

We were also taught different methods of taking photographs like the stop-motion photography, Bokeh effect and many more. Then during the end of the year lockdown occurred, but we were

still able to further develop our artistic skills as we started “Multi flash photography”, “Multi perspectives” and we finished off the year with our last project “Journeys and Pathways”. We made very good use during lockdown and we didn’t waste any time and instead we grew our knowledge further of our subject.

The second year of photography, was during year 11. During this year we focused more on the analysing part of the course, and improving the quality of our work and our photographs especially. We had two projects throughout the year which were “Fragments” and “Events”. l

YEAR 11 Photography

ANNABELLA WATKISS Throughout the last two years my focus has been on exploring the idea of Fine Art Photography and expanding my knowledge of what photography is aswell as allowing myself to express my imaginative skills and creativity. By working on a variety of themes such as Still life and Stop motion. Every project I have done I have focused on the details in each image, including what’s in the foreground and the background and the lighting in the image to produce the best image I can take.

I have done many projects throughout the past two year, recently focusing on fragment and events. During the fragments project I had explored my editing skills as well as traveling to famous builds for my images including The Grand Mosque. When I was editing my images, I really focus on the small details but aswell making sure the image was not too busy. My second project, Events allowed me time to improve my editing skills aswell as help me bring out my creativity. I was able to make

a series of arts profiles on loads of different artists, which helped me learn different techniques and idea that helped me during my final outcome.

I was influenced by a large number of different artists throughout the two years my favourites being Grant Cornett and Stephanie Jung. I really like how they took an ordinary image and object and turned it into something new.

YEAR 11 Photography

AHMED AHMED At first, I thought photography was simply taking photos but over the last two years I have learnt how much effort and work goes into each photo, and over the past two years I have had gotten a lot more appreciation for all the different photographers and artists. Over my time doing photography I have learnt what to consider when taking an effective image and making it look the best it possibly can and learning how to edit them using photoshop and this was very enjoyable as it opened many options for the outcomes and allowed for me to be more creative in my final images.

In year 11 I was able to complete two projects both fragments and events.

The projects were my best work and made me engage in photography at a more advanced level. All the artist I worked on and look at were incredibly

interesting and had amazing pieces of work. With some artist I had to investigate editing my photos, so I was able to develop and extend my knowledge of photoshop and different editing techniques. For example, an artist that I had investigated was bill Armstrong where I can blend colours and hues by blurring the images on photoshop and while editing them. This allowed me to experiment and discover many of photoshops different filters and image adjustment.

YEAR 11 Photography

FRANCISCO SIMIAO Over the last 2 years, I have explored the multiple aspects of photography and learnt everything from how a camera works, to photo manipulation on Photoshop. I have worked through a variety of themes, starting with ‘Journeys and Pathways’ on the first year, and ending with ‘Events’ not long ago. These themes allowed me to learn a multitude of skills by learning about professional artists, their styles, and how they create their work. I also had to the chance to go on a trip to take photographs in the Grand Mosque which was one of my favorite moments in the course.

My favorite project over the last 2 years was ‘Events’, as it is when my knowledge and skills were the most development, which allowed me to analyze and take photographs at the most advance level, ‘Events’ also allowed me to further my Photoshops skills as it is when I created my most complex pieces. I also really enjoyed ‘Fragments’ due to the interesting

and unique artists I studied, such as Alma Haser and Alexey Bednij, which both had completely different styles, but were still linked to ‘Fragments’.

Over the last 2 years a small amount of the artists I studied have really influenced me and my work, the first one being Silvia Grav, which is when I first started using Photoshop to replicate the style of an artist. Another artist I really enjoyed studying and recreating was Yorch Miranda, who also pushed me to further my photoshop skills. Miranda’s work featured miniature people in fantastical situations which really broadened my creativity as anything was possible.

YEAR 11 Photography

HUMAID ALSAEEDI I had a lot of fun throughout my two years of photography since it not only taught me how to make my images look better, but it also gave me a fun lesson that is not as stressful as other lessons. Photography lessons are fun because we can roam around the school and brainstorm new ideas for our images as well as brainstorm other ideas linked to the theme.

since we could capture photographs of anything and we had school time to finish it. When taking my photos I mostly used procreate to edit my photos and the mainly kept changing my aperture settings.

I enjoyed photography a lot because I got inspired by many artists such as Stephanie Jung, Billy Kidd, Amy Friend and Brno Del Zou. All these photographers had different styles In photography, we concentrated on of photography so it was fun interthe fundamentals of shutter speed in preting these artists ideas into mine. photography, during the beginning of photography we learned about aperture, ISO, and many other things. We also learned techniques like Bokeh, which we applied in our second year.

During the second year, we began our first big topic called fragments. I like this theme since it let me to focus on taking photos of portraits, especially because it was during Abu Dhabi’s lockdown and I couldn’t go out and take images of different things. After Fragments we starts the theme events which I found simpler than Fragments

YEAR 11 Photography

MAHRA ALSAEEDI These past few years I had the opportunity to take GCSE photography.

This entails learning new skills such as photoshop and many more. In my project I used aperture and motion blur to create a cool effect on my photos.

I enjoyed this subject since its very different to other classes they offer.

YEAR 11 Photography

MIRA ABDELMAJID My favourite aspect of GCSE Photography was the freedom to take photographs on my personal themes in a . I really enjoyed exploirng how fast or slo movement could be captured with my DSLR camera. I was hugely inspired by Harold Edgerton and Eadweard Muybridge work and created my own interpretations in their style.

YEAR 11 Photography

SAMER IDRIS I have throughly enjoyed GCSE Photography and have learnt lots of interesting techniques such a light painting, flash photography and one stop animation. My favouorite project was the one stop animation i produced with plastercine. The flexbility and design process was really fun and helful in understading how to develop a n animation.

YEAR 11 Photography

SAUD SHIRAZY Over the two years in GCSE Photography i learnt how to confidently use a DSLR camera and adapt my camera to capture some amazing photographs.

My best photographs that i took where those that showed movemet and speed.

I enjoyed working with different shutter speeds to emphasis body movement.

YEAR 11 Photography

YARA SHARAF Having the subject of photography as an option forced me to step out of my comfort zone and try a hobby and skill I’ve never considered taking. It sparked a new passion that I am going to take forward, even after doing GCSE photography. I was taught how to manually work a camera, by altering ISO, shutter speed, aperture and many more. or my project I focused a lot of capturing motion. To do this I dug into how to use shutter speed. I mostly instructed the subject to move in a certain way, and with using shutter speed it would capture every twist and turn.

Overall my experience with GCSE photography broadened my skill set and I’m excited to further learn about using a camera.

YEAR 11 Photography

AYAN KHAN Throughout the last two years, I have explored many different concepts of photography. I experimented with different techniques, photoshoots. By working on different themes such as fragments and events. I also looked through different aspects such as lighting, angls and contrast. Research with different artists was carried out so I can analyze their work and take some inspiration from them.

The theme fragments was a way to explore the daily life and the whole society.

It was also an oppurtuiny to apply the skills of using a camera into this theme.

The theme I personally liked and enjoyed the most was events. The theme involved the exploration of different types of scenery. With this theme I experimented different locations like the school and the city to capture my shots.

Throughout the coursework, I was influenced by a large number of different artists such as Takashi Kitajima and Daniel Lewis. Both of these artist produced images of around the city.

However, I was inspired by Micaela

Lattanzio and Matt Wisnewski for fragments as theyre main focus was people.

YEAR 11 Photography

ROHAN SUSARLA In year 11 the project titles, Fragments and Events enabled me to work in different technqiues and develop further as a photographer. My most successful pieces responses were my covid posters inspired by artist Barbara kruger. The use of typography, powerful messages amoingst the stricking image worked well and communicated the message i had ntented.

YEAR 11 Photography

HELEN KHALID Throughout the last two years, I have thoroughly enjoyed the topics given and the skills I have gained through photography, from the basic uses of a camera to the environment of the image when it comes to lighting and composition. My personal favourite themes were when I worked a lot with food, which I worked on in Year 10 and more in detail with my Year 11 Fragments project. I mainly focused on creating ‘scenes’ within images or my images having some sort of meaning or story behind them, which I wanted to make clear to the viewers of my photos.

Through the course of year 10, we developed many techniques through using aperture, shutter speed, and making our images sharp through understanding shallow and deep depth of field. Year 10 helped me to develop my skills further during Year 11, which allowed me to start experimenting more with my work.

During Year 11, I gained a passion for more striking, bold images. Maurizio Di Iorio truly inspired me, as he took the

use of everyday objects into brighter environments and elevated these items that we often see as ordinary and boring. I used Di Iorio within my events project and created responses of these everyday objects that we use or need during our daily events.

YEAR 11 Photography

JIHYO JEAN My final work produced for the theme “Fragments” was based on fragments/ pieces of everyday objects that can be found around our houses (such as glue sticks, eraser, pencil, etc). Firstly for my final work, I found objects with similar colour and placed them together and took photographs of them. Then, I repeated this process with different colours. Finally, I placed the different colour images in different patterns for my final outcome. This made my work successful and effective as the vivid colours of the object grabbed attention and the repeated patterns used made my final work look interesting. This final work reflected the theme ‘fragments’ very effectively as it showed fragments of everyday objects and fragments created when all the images were placed together in a pattern. or my “Events” project, I have taken various images using everyday objects and created a scene with it. For example, I have taken a photograph of dry noodles (close up image) and used it to portray/

reflect waves in the sea. Then, I placed mini figures/people (I have taken) on to these images. I did this process for three different scenes in total and made a stop motion out of these images. This required photoshop skills as I had to crop/erase the background of the figures and colour some parts of the photo to get rid of unwanted parts. The images were very successful as it showed a short journey of a figure which reflected the theme “Events”. This Events project has helped me incredibly to improve my photoshop skills as well as my photographing skills (focusing, lighting, etc).

YEAR 11 Photography

OLIVER CROFTS The work I produced for fragments was mainly based on nature and mixing humans with nature. I produced a wide range of images using double exposure. I experimented with different factors like lighting and composition and during this process I studied different artists and used their work as inspiration for my final image.​ When I moved onto double exposure, I experimented with colored images and black and white ones. I found that the black and white images are more effective and look better so I used them for the final images.

I also used layers on photoshop for ‘Events’ to create eye catching effects.​ The theme ‘Events’ was my favorite as it allowed me to manipulate the images more with layers and take images of large buildings and exiting skylines.

‘Fragments’ Had allowed me to develop my skills with photoshop and learn how to take better photographs. These

2 years have taught me many techniques like using tools on photoshop ranging from simple to more complex.

YEAR 11 Photography

SIMONI SHAH Throughout the past two years, I have gained numerous skills in the art of photography ranging from sketchbook presentation to taking effective pictures. This magazine was my final piece for Events and I incorporated my running subtheme of pandemics into it. Amongst the various artists studies that I have done, I refined my work with Ana Strumpf’s style in my cover.

The pandemic has been a roller coaster of emotions for many of us and it is a major event happening in everyone’s lives. I wanted to express how many people from different backgrounds have felt during these tumultuous times. I photographed many candid images (as Kasia Strek does) and have manipulated the images to reflect what many people who are suffering in silence might be feeling like.

When visiting different places in the UAE, I realized that patterns were an interesting idea to look at since they

show all the ‘events’ in one’s timeline but obviously, the pandemic was something not many could have predicted. This ideological contrast between patterns and the theme of pandemics led me to designing this magazine and further refining my ideas.

During visual explortions, I decided to focus on publishing and magazine/layouts, I created my own magazine of my work. It was immensely challenging but exciting to experiment with the different texts, fonts, colours and layouts at my disposal as well as exploring compositional relationships. As a photographer, I find the audience often perceives work to be viewed as a 2D product.

YEAR 11 Photography

VAISHNAVI NAIR The past two years I’ve spent on the photography course has proven to be extremely enjoyable and has been crucial in helping me build my photography skills.

Throughout this time, my main goal has been to explore and learn as many different styles of photography as possible. I’ve worked on two projects outside of the first year spent developing skills.

The first project I worked on, Fragments, was a turning point in how I presented and annotated my work. It also significantly helped me in envisioning and executing my second project better. One of my final responses presented here is the pinnacle of my entire fragments project. It combines contrasting elements and manipulation techniques from artists that I have researched and responded to throughout the project. This particular response is very effective in conveying the light vs. dark theme that my final pieces were centred around. The second project that I worked on was ‘Events’.

There is a visible improvement in the

photography, presentation, and annotation here. Throughout this project, I picked up on a lot of photoshop skills and learned how to control elements of my photography further. The process of developing this project has also helped me learn to weave stories and scenarios into the work that I produce. One of my final responses presented here is the peak of the project that ties together skills I’ve learnt from various artists.

My journey through this course has been swayed and influenced by numerous artists. Responding to Magdiel Lopez’s work in Year 10 was my first experience with the complexities of photoshop. I then later developed this skill through my study of Matt Wisniewski’s work. It also helped me work with the much more complex nature of Pep Ventosa’s and Lera’s work. In addition to this, my study of Abigail Reynold’s pieces is what inspired my physical manipulation of matching patterns up for the Fragments final response.

YEAR 11 Photography

XANDRA EID The work I produced for my final project on the theme of Fragments was based around two artists I studied throughout it, Mauren Brodbeck and John Stezaker. Brodbeck successfully created a fragmented aesthetic by changing the medium of her subject (the buildings) and Stezaker with his use of black and white images from the 1900’s. This quickly inspired me to create pieces about fragments in time based on juxtaposing fashion era’s and locations, subtopics tackling my main aspect relating to fragments; time.

These pieces helped me build my skills in using layers to manipulate images on ProCreate and they also gave me the opportunity to experiment with different tones for my visual experimentation. Using these skills, I created a dual era effect, making it look like the girls are from the 50’s in a modern location.

I think I speak for all of us when I say that the year 2020 was an Eventful year – especially academically for us – and it seemed like the saying, “life is a game,” was appealing to a lot of these situations.

Personally, I love how open to interpretation I could make my images when it came to events as not only is it something that humans have experienced and been to, but also since it’s been a while since events last happened, the viewers could decide themselves what each person was thinking or what events they remind them of.

YEAR 11 Photography

YASMIN YOUSEF GCSE Photography has taught me practical skills in terms of taking and editing photographs and also to explore and understand the work of well known photographers. Alot of work in Year 11 was influenced by fashion photographers such as David Bailey and Annie Leibovitz. I really enjoyed working in black and white, exploring emotions through a lens as well as capturing vulerbility.