Photo by Holly Webb

 

Our task in our fifth seminar session was to go out into Leeds and talk to people and take their portrait. To see my attempt, click here.

I thoroughly enjoyed the task, however I believe it could have gone better as I encountered a few technical difficulties with my SD card. I am glad I encountered those problems on the day rather than during my project, as I now will be sure to not make these mistakes when doing my actual project.

Because of this, I decided to try again throughout the week – this time, in my home city of Sheffield.

These are a couple of my favourite images and quotes I gathered:

Kevin, 19

‘As soon as I left sixth form, I thought about uni and things like that but then I decided it’s not for me at this moment in time – it’s expensive man! I put a lot of pressure on myself to think about what I wanted to do and I decided I wanted to do an apprenticeship, I’m actually a personal banker’, he laughs, ‘which is a bit different to dancing on the streets’.

‘It wasn’t an easy decision by all means, to step out of the norm of going to uni is ridiculously difficult to do because … for me personally, there’s not been one person I know who has done an apprenticeship, so I don’t have anyone to go to, to ask for help. Which is why I think a lot of people do go to uni.’

‘But dancing is great whenever I’m really stressed out. I think you’ll find a lot of people turn to something creative when they have a lot on their mind’.

‘I started dancing when I was… eleven? So I’ve been dancing for about seven years’.

‘That doesn’t add up does it. Eight years’.

‘I have typical asian parents, so they fucking hated it. My mum in particular was completely livid when I started dancing and stuff, she said that there was no point. I could keep it as a hobby but she said it was never going to be a big thing for me in the future’.

‘Really traditionalistic, she said I wasn’t going to be able to make any money from it – and by the time I’m thirty I would be crippled’.

‘She kind of brought me up with the mentality that I should be a doctor, lawyer or a solicitor. So she was really happy when I started a banking apprenticeship’, he says laughing again.

‘I made the decision to go into banking on my own, it’s not like my mum forced me. Because the number one thing for me is that I want to make my family proud, and I want to be able to fund for my family. So I’d like to have a proper job I think, but definitely keep dancing as a hobby’.

‘It’s one of my favourite things to do, and it honestly makes me who I am… but I don’t see myself doing it ever as a career. If money is involved, I think it would take the freedom and the fun out of it.’

I do believe that these photos and quotes were more successful than my first attempt – mainly due to my growth in confidence when speaking to new people.

I ended up speaking to Kevin for quite a while, which shows me that although my confidence may have improved, it also affects the quality of the interview when you have limited time on your hands (like in my first attempt).

I am looking forward to next week’s session where we will hopefully be learning more about post-production with our images. I am also excited to receive feedback from this week – as it is a first step to doing something similar to what my project will hopefully be on.

To read my reflection on this week’s task – click here.