Today I finished my second year of Uni - yay! There has also been a gigantic change of plans and due to Topshop falling through and my house falling through and many other reasons I am now heading back to my parents house in Oxford for the Summer. I pretty much already have a job lined up so that's grand, to be honest as boring as it sounds I'm just looking forward to earning some money and seeing my Oxfordshire friends and maybe a very cheeky trip up to Sweden. I also have nine full books to read over the Summer as dissertation research so there's no rest for the wicked!
A few weeks ago I was contacted via my Tumblr by someone to ask if I would be interested in participating in a photoshoot to help with a photography project this person was working on. At first I was a little alarmed because the message was sent anonymously, but the culprit soon unmasked herself and turned out to be my now very latest friend Loni, who also writes poetry and posts photography and such on her Tumblr too (as I'm sure you'll see if you'd be so kind as to click the link) and once we got discussing ideas and so forth I was very excited as I haven't posed for photos that are going further than the internet for a good two years.
So after her having to re-schedule twice and me being an hour late, I met Loni at Brighton station and we headed to the beach, amongst other locations, where she patiently and professionally directed me and took what I'm sure will be some fantastic photographs. I also bought along my DSLR, and managed to persuade Loni inbetween breaks of snapping me, to take photographs of her (which was an opportunity that I rinsed and did near enough all day). Here is the cream of the crop!
The basic idea of her project/exhibition is to look at how ordinary people carry beauty, and she is photographing 100 people who could have the potential to be models but aren't - so I'm very very flattered! I'm also very excited to see the outcome once the rolls are developed. So Loni, I wish you every bit of luck with your exhibition!
It's funny how things can work out and take a turn for the better when you least expect it. I swear I have someone watching me from up there... (Flavia and/or Nick I'm looking at you)
I also need to stop worrying so much or I'm going to give myself a heart attack or a hernia. (maybe even both if I'm lucky).
Uni has finished for the week, but there's no rest for the wicked. I have two presentations due in next week, which are also my final two presentations for second year (eeek), and in true Lewi fashion I've started neither of them. I have a photoshoot tomorrow with a friend from London where I'll be wearing strange contact lenses and posing on the beach, which I'm genuinely looking forward to. Friday spells work (but only from 10-2pm) and it's also PAYDAY which means I can finally afford stamps to post some vital forms up to my parents, amongst other things, which include coffee with my friend Clare. Saturday I have work again and Sunday will be dedicated to doing Uni work - thankfully I finish for the Summer in six weeks eh? Time will also be made in-between all of these shenanigans for xBox, tea and napping.
I'm also having a problem with my DSLR! When I put it on aperture priority mode, the picture becomes grainy and yellowish - any ideas what I've done wrong? Any assistance from you clever people would be much appreciated.
Here is a photo I took last night when I was tearing my hair out and worrying about things that don't even matter.
What are your plans for the rest of this cold, rainy week?
Or, the times I remembered to bring/use my camera.
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1. This was taken on Monday morning. The light that was coming through my room looked peculiar in a beautiful way, and I loved the effect it was having on my (thin shitty) curtains, so I decided to snap a shot.
2. Just the clothes I wore to bed that night, but taken from my windowsill r.e. the aforementioned lighting that I spoke of.
3. Lasagne the stray cat has now been officially BANNED from our house after he MAIMED MY FACE on the Tuesday night. I was picking him up to let him out of my door, which is normally something he is fine with to the point where he mostly purrs, but on this night he decided to stick his claws right into my lower eyelid, quite literally 1cm or so away from my eyeball. If he'd got the tiniest bit higher I would have been blinded so I'm grateful! It's left a tiny mark but I'm still pretty pissed off about it. If it was on my arms or my chest for example I wouldn't care because you can cover those areas up, but your face - that's something people have to see everyday! Not cool man.
4, 5, 6. Last Tuesday as we all know was Shrove Tuesday e.g. Pancake Day! I hope you all had fun eating lots of pancakes! What toppings are your favourite? My housemate Matt made myself and him a stack of them with bacon and lots of maple syrup, and my goodness they were so good! I wanted chocolate spread on my next round by then remembered we only had nutella, which also belonged to my other housemate who was back home in London. Fate is keeping me and chocolate apart!
7. This is a polaroid picture of Matt and myself taken at the Vice Issue Launch Party at Brighton's Green Door Store on Friday night by my coursemate/future housemate Lulu. I love it!
How have you all been? This week spells madness and mayhem for me - I'm heading to my first houseviewing in an hour! I know I can't afford the deposit but it's something to start us off with at least and I'm going to see if I can negotiate the cost of the deposit and such. It'll be nice to meet Matt's friends/my future housemate's Matt and Ellie too. After that I'm going food shopping then will desperately be cranking out my presentation - which is only about 10% done, due Wednesday and my lecturer isn't replying to my e-mails about the content of it! Shit shit shit.
On Tuesday I am gracing London for the day with a University organised trip to Shoreditch, which I'm very excited for. It'll be nice to get out of Brighton for the day and I'm with one of my close coursemate's Rhys, who, through him being constantly stoned, makes everything funny. We have open return tickets to the capital so I'm excited to see what the day will hold for me. Wednesday is Uni all day, and we have another houseviewing on Thursday (the other two got cancelled!), working Friday and Saturday but I am also heading to Jack Beats Saturday night with Matt and some of his friends from home, so that should be good. As I have (attempted to) shown with this post, I'll try and illustrate as much of my week as I can via the medium of photography!
Right now I must finish getting ready and have a quick snack before heading to the viewing. What do you have planned for the final week of February?
P.S. If you haven't already heard of him, check out 'Baths'. I've been listening to his music for months but only very recently have I gotten back into it and I've had the 'Cerulean' album on repeat for a day solid now. Check this out below whilst you enjoy your Monday afternoon, you won't regret it!
One thing that has really been inspiring my photography, and making my creativity easier and more open, is the iPhone app Grid Lens. I downloaded it from iTunes via their 'app of the week' recommendation for something stupid like 69p, and it's the best 69p I've ever spent! I love the vintage effect of the photos and how you can apply subtle changes to them that, in my opinion, don't make them overly pretentious. I've been having lots of fun with it recently and will continue experimenting with it. Here are the fruits of my labour thus far:
If you fancy a go yourself, search the App Store for 'Grid Lens', I promise you won't be disappointed!
P.S. Are you excited for Pancake Day today? When I drag my arse out of bed I'm having a Canadian breakfast with Matt, then heading over to my coursemate Nicki's house with about 15 other people for a curry, more pancakes and alcohol - good times! Take it easy everyone!
Sunday, 19 February 2012
Today, inspired by the mention of it by my housemate Rich, I decided to take a walk up through the forest near my house and up onto the sloping hills. It was beautiful! Such a nice wintry afternoon, lots of people out dogwalking etc. I took my SLR with me (as promised) and snapped some photos as I strolled through the forest and then eventually up onto the Hollingbury hills. Here is the best of the bunch:
Tomorrow I have work in the afternoon, and Tuesday will be dedicated to Uni work and EATING PANCAKES! Too good. Wednesday is Uni all day, Thursday is more Uni work, Friday is PAYDAY (at last!) and working again, and the same story with Saturday - it'll all pay off eventually. Hope you all had a lovely weekend whatever you got up to!
