Final Major Project

FD PHOTOGRAPHY Year 2

Project Proposal
Name: Adam Denson

Project Title – The Ten Commandments, Media For The Day Modern Day Disciple. Final title will be decided before final major project hand in date.

Subject / Concept
What is the project about? What is your ‘viewpoint’ on the subject? Include any relevant background information.
For my final major project I have decided to stick to documentary photography and document the posters that are found outside places of worship. The idea came about when traveling in my car I noticed how religious posters are used to communicate to an audience. One poster I saw stated how ‘Jesus Loves The Weakest Link’. Using a religious undertone and associating it with modern culture I found this statement quite humorous. By using photography as my chosen media my project will focus primarily on written communication and therefore I will record various statements made by the church. Why do religious institutes go down this route of advertising themselves? Should we question why the church chooses to advertise this way? Are their methods a form of preaching? One valid reason could be because churches are experiencing a decline in attendance levels, communicating to wider audience could be a way of enticing the public through their doors. What is the true meaning of these posters? Who is responsible for making these statements?

Aims
What do you want to achieve with your project? What are you trying to communicate through your project? What is your motivation?
As a non-religious person I am not intending to preach religion, nor am I being disdainful. Documenting, collecting and sharing my findings and presenting them in a book are my key interests and motivation.

Audience / Context
Who would be interested in the project? What is a suitable professional outlet for the work (eg. Gallery, editorial, book).
The project is specifically aimed at anyone who shares a similar interest as me in documentary photography. The images should not be taken too seriously, however at the same time I would like my work to provoke some thought and therefore help answer some of my questions. My work will hopefully attract people with a religious belief but also those who have a sense of humor. If I intended to publish my work then I may look at contacting the likes of Daylight Magazine and source.

Outcome of project.
What is your proposed format, medium and presentation for the work?
The images will be presented in the form of a digital book (supplier bobbooks.com) and in addition several A2 prints from the series will be exhibited.

Time Management
What issues are there with completing the project to the set deadline?
What is your schedule for completing the project? Provide a rough schedule of your workload.
Should I have to travel further to my location then I may need to negotiate time off from college. My main aim is to finish the final project two weeks prior to the official hand in date. To help accomplish this a rough schedule is drafted below. I would like to continue the project after submitting my work. Regarding time scales I have no real concerns other than ensuring that enough time (ten working days) is set aside for preparing and submitting my digital book (bob books).

Photography 7th April – 9th May 2008
Editing images 12th May – 16th May 2008
Prepare digital book and final large images 19th May – 23rd May 2008
Print final large images, ready for mounting 26th May 2008
Digital book submitted, time allocated for the final book to arrive 26th May – 6th June 2008

Research Methods – Reference points
How and where will you research your project? What and who are your initial reference points?
The research required for this project is limited, nonetheless I will look at whether other photographers have explored this subject and if so, look at how I can improve my idea. Finding places of worship will also be easy to locate. Whether it’s searching online, road maps or using a Tom Tom to find my locations, I have no real concerns.