Progression work

I am currently looking into possible options I would like to take after completing my course. I have four possible routes in which I could take; do a foundation year (+18) course, university, an apprenticeship or employment. I have considered all areas and am now looking into each possible one. Ideally, I would like to do another year before branching off, so I have more of an in site to what I would like to do. This would either be an arts and design course, foundation interactive media or photography at a different college.

The first thing I have done in my research is looking into possible companies that I would realistically like to work for. I looked into companies in surrounding areas, closest to home, to start off with, these included the likes of; Team Cooper, Sumo Digital, Distinctive, Kuju and Game Faction, all situated in Sheffield. I have taken note of there contact details, and will contact them at a later date to ask about having a look around the company and see what the staff do there (individual roles).

Something else I have done, is looked on the UCAS website and at different courses and universities. I am still undecided in which course would best suit me, so I will look more into courses and what each one entails. Once I have decided upon that, I will look at the cost of travel and courses and if it's somewhere I would need to stay, look at accommodation. I still need to put all this in my progression folder.
Currently I am looking at examples of personal statements to help me with my own.

Frieke Janssens

Frieke Janssens is a Belgian photographer. I have a strong interest in one of her collections, entitled ‘The Beauty of an Ugly Addiction’. It is made up of 15 unsettling images of children puffing on cigarettes, cigars or pipes. These images are repulsive and some people may find them deeply disturbing.

Janssens did not use real cigarettes during the shoot, and instead replaced them with sticks of chalk or cheese, and used candles and incense to create smoke. Her models wore old- fashioned clothes – with touches of British missionaries, Victorian schoolmistresses and 1920 mobsters – showing the habit as archaic.

What inspired her for this collection is after she watched a video of an Indonesian toddler smoking cigarettes that made worldwide headlines in 2010.

“I felt that seeing children smoke would have a surreal impact on the viewer and compel them to truly see the acts of smoking rather than making assumptions about the person doing it.”

Yosuke Goda

Yosuke Goda is a Japanese artist who creates organisms with a body similar to the roots and vines of trees, using only black markers, covering surrounding white walls, floor and ceiling.

What I really find appealing about this artist is the intricate detail and imagination that goes into his work. Every piece is made up of thousands of hand drawn swirls and spirals, making the images look they are coming to live with movement. 

Below are just a few of his pieces:

This close-up image just shows how much detail and thought goes into each individual section of all of Goda's creations. 

And this photograph captures and demonstrates the vastness and size of each piece.