Foundation Year Recap

Have a full breakdown of what was made and how it went during my year at UCLAN’s Foundation for Art & Design

TLDR;
Eyeopening, needed and vital to showing me my own potential

Contents:

Day One: What the hell?!

September 2024:

Around 50 people, ranging from 18 to 60, trapped in a small room with no idea what to expect. This man walks up, introduces himself and says we’re going to play some games. Nice to meet you Jigsaw, good to know you’re grading my papers this year.

I get to know a few people and we work our way through the torturous ice-breaker games. Day one wraps up, thank god, and we move onto day two, first project day!

Project One: Maps & Places (Preston)

As someone who has only lived in Preston for 2 years at this point, being asked to pick a place and make a thing about said place wasn’t something I was looking forward to.

Our choices were:

Preston Bus Station
Avenham Park
The Flag Market

I watched all the babies huddle for Avenham Park so, playing it safe, I went the opposite way and selected the Flag Market.

This was definitely a choice.

Step One, research. Find an aspect of our location and research it. Me being me, I went for the War Memorial. I have an interest in Military History so ended up down Alice’s rabbit hole while researching. After finding a few images of the Preston Pals Division, I wanted to create a 3-piece story showing the before and after of the war.

This was my final submission: 3 Images

Registraition: The joy to serve your country
Realization: The Reality of War
Remember: All that remains.

This was the first time I’d made anything this heavily focused on image manipulation and editing and to be honest, probably the only time I’ll do that willingly. Photoshop and I are not friends.

Research – 2:1

Development – 1

Final – 2:1

Problem Analysis 1

Overall – Pass

Personal Rating 6/10

Project Two: Context and Perspective

Pick an object. Make a thing. Done

My object? I chose was something that has plagued my whole existence for the last 6 years. From the Livingroom floor, to the Bedroom and even on one occasion, the Bathroom, these little piece of paper are everywhere.

Magic the Gathering Cards .

When I asked Ed how many he thinks he has, he said:

Probably 10’s of thousands going back to 2014-ish

This whole project was weirdly cathartic and let me do the one thing he’d never let me do. Cut up cards. ~~just the lands promise~~

Here are a few of my favourites from this project:

Foundation – MTG Cards
Foundation – MTG Style Background
Foundation – MTG in the Wild
Foundation – MTG Cardistry
Foundation – MTG Cardistry

Fun Fact!

When creating some of these, I ended up laying on the floor. Our course lead Andrew thought it was a good idea to show this to the Foundation Social Media…

That’s my butt. For the whole of the world to see.

Great…

Now onto the Final Collection:

Foundation – Context Final Collection
Foundation – Context Final Collectoin
Foundation – Context Final Collection
Foundation – Context Final Collection
Foundation – Context Final Collection

So, time to show the grades…

Grade – Pass

Personal Rating 6/10 _{loved the development, hated the final thing}

Project 3: Self-Analysis & Portraiture

Portraiture? Okay I can work with that. Self-Analysis? No thanks, I’m good with that one.

This project came in three parts. A write-up of our life story and two final pieces. One showcasing our external look (How the world see’s us) and one showing our internal perspective (How we see ourselves). Without trauma dumping too much, my story isn’t the prettiest and would make a great Eastenders plot line.

During this project, I called on the help of Lottie, my best friend for 20+ years and she came in clutch! The phone call went pretty much as follows:

Rosie: Hey, I need a model for a shoot

Lottie: What’s the theme?

Rosie: Portrait and Self Analysis, creating something based on my life

Lottie: If you want to create a raw feeling and expression…do you want a nude shoot?

Rosie: Yeah, sure. F**k it…

There are some more explicit images however, for the sake of this post and Lottie’s remaining dignity, I won’t be showing them here.

Foundation – Portraiture – Personality Disorder
Foundation – Portraiture – Victim Labeling
Foundation – Portraiture – Isolation
Foundation – Portraiture – Trapped, Cold and Alone

For the final submission?

External

Internal

Grade – Pass

Personal Rating – 8/10 _{Old wounds and fun memories…}

Project Four: Wrapping

That’s it. That’s all we got. Make a thing about Wrapping.

Research stage, I ended up going down paths that would make anyone question my sanity. A few personal favourites:

Hand Fasting Ceremonies
Tornados
Shibari
Hyperfocus/fixations
Spotify Wrapped

Our end submission was to submit 6 images as a collection and then one final piece that was our favourite. I went very metaphorical with the meaning and, as is with a lot of these projects, made Ed suffer.

Foundation – Wrapping – Wrapped up in your own little world
Foundation – Wrapping – A ring, everlasting.
Foundation – Wrapping – Hyperfocused on the birds, not listening to anyone
Foundation – Wrapping – The coast line, encasing a country
Foundation – Wrapping -The bypass, surrounding the city
Foundation – Wrapping – A tornado, destroying everything in it’s path.

I had this image in my head of someone wrapped in Christmas lights in the style of Shibari. I had to be the unwilling subject. We tried lots of different styles but I wasn’t 100% with al of them. That was until it hit 2am, Ed flopped on the bed and threw the remaining lights on his head.

To date, this is one of my favourite photos I’ve ever taken.

Grade: Pass

Personal Rating: 9/10 _{Maybe a bit too metaphorical}

Project Five: The City Brief

Pick a city that isn’t Preston.

Make a thing

Done…_right?

This would be if I had chosen a city I knew, like Lincoln or Bristol. Ones that I had some semblance of knowledge or understanding about.

But No.

Smarty-pants here decided to pick a city I’d never been too before. Lancaster. Which, in theory worked. New city, no prior experience or tainted views.

However, as someone who was raised in England’s Flatlands, I forgot just how hilly the north west is. That’s fine, until you remember your body doesn’t like hills.

Three trips and two panic attacks later, I managed to collect a nice amount of photos. The trick was to take Koda with us, that way he can pull me up the hills! Best boy! ❤

Foundation – City – The Side of a Games Shop
Foundation – City – How far the eye can see
Foundation – City – A dog’s view point
Foundation – City – Stop the Killing
Foundation – City – Waiting…
Foundation – City – My worst enemy

For my final piece, I found a fantastic little church courtyard I’d fallen in love with.

Grade: Pass

Personal Rating: 6/10 _{literally painful to create…}

Project Six: Collections

Just a repeat of Wrapping but this time, with Collections.

As is my theme at this point, I hit notes that you wouldn’t normally see in these topics. Internal thoughts, medications and addiction. Oh, and my unhealthy obsession with Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy. _{its a really good series…}

Fun Fact: The post-it notes are still above our bed, as a reminder to myself and my fiancé what a bad time looks like for each of us.

Foundation – Collections – Circuit Board
Foundation – Collections – Favourites
Foundation – Collections – Thoughts on a wall
Foundation – Collections – Two People, Two Personal Dilemmas
Foundation – Collections – Daily Meds.

For my final?

Grade: Pass

Personal Rating: 7/10 _{A bit dull and simple imo}

Project Seven: The Final Exhibition

It’s all comes down to this.

The Final Brief. One we write ourselves and work to our own specifications.

What did I pick?

Unsettling Mental Health Issues.

because, y’know. why not?

Idea? Create a piece of work using a doll that showcases the effects of mental health and how it feels to live with a condition like that.

I ended up having to build my own set, studio and props for the whole thing. Originally just one image, I ended up creating a set of six that showed an overarching image.

Foundation – Exhibition – Trapped Inner Child
Foundation – Exhibition – Masking
Foundation – Exhibition – Trapped in a List
Foundation – Exhibition – Weighed down
Foundation – Exhibition – With one, comes more
Foundation – Exhibition – Coping Mechanism

It was one hell of an experience getting to see my own work on an exhibition wall and other people seeing it. I’ll admit, it’s not my greatest work but I’m still insanely proud of it!

For someone who grew up, afraid they’d amount to nothing more than a retail manager in a vape shop, this was an beautiful taste of what is instore for me. And to be able to share with with my Mum and Dad, it was a delight!

Final Remarks

By the end, I’d decided Photography was my path and if this is what I could create without guidance, think what was possible with the right teachings.

My sole reason for getting my degree was to achieve my PGCE and become a teacher. However, when you have people tell you about potential with a career as a photographer, you start thinking a bit differently.

I’ve met so many fantastic people that, even now in First Year where we’ve all gone our separate ways, we keep in touch and help each other out.

I am so glad that I chose to do the foundation year and that I saw it through to the end. Every late night, panic attack and crying through a can of monster while screaming at Lightroom was worth it in the end.

What’s next?

First year.

Let’s do this.

AlphaRose Photography