Practicum artium: photography portfolio
Practicum artium: photography portfolio
Marjolijn van Raaij (International Relations and Organisations student)
HC Humanities Lab: Practicum Artium Photography
As part of my individual track, I followed the Practium Artium Photography class. The class is offered by the Royal Academy of Art (KABK) to students at Leiden University. Since my individual track is focused on media and journalism, learning more about photography in such a hands-on way was great. The classes were highly collaborative, and there was lots of time to reflect on our own work. We also spoke about how photographs can be used as a form of communication, which gave me a lot of insight into how images are used in the media, by politicians and as autonomous works of art. Here, I’ve collected some of my own work from the course, with bits of information about the assignments that they were made for.
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Autumn in the Netherlands
In this group assignment, we were asked to create work around the theme ‘Autumn in the Netherlands’. This was one of our first assignments, and we took inspiration from different types of weather and the colour-associations that they invoke.
Wij zijn 17
In this assignment, we were asked to take portrait photos of our friends, in the style of Johan van der Keuken’s photography collection called ‘Wij zijn 17’ (‘We are 17’). I decided to photograph my queer friends. I like the intimacy that comes with personal spaces, so I decided to photograph my friends on their own beds. With each photo, we tried to include some details and items that say something about the person: a postcard from a trip, a favourite book, a family photograph. I'm proud of these pictures because they feel so personal.
Still life
The following pictures were not made for an assignment, but were part of the my portfolio, which we were asked to bring to our interview. I love still life paintings and photos, and wanted to experiment with that style. I’m also happy with these images because they were part of a conscious effort to embrace having more colour in my photos.
Green
These photos were also in my portfolio. I like the first one because it’s reminiscent of the beginning shot of my dad’s favourite movie, Stalker. I was happy with the second photo (taken in the Botanical Garden in Amsterdam) because of the vivid green and the hazy, dark lighting that surrounds this massive plant. Because of the similar colour-schemes, these photos always fit together in my mind.
