I plan on this summer, obtaining a position working as an apprentice for my cousin and cousin's wife at their advertising firm located in the KwaZulu-Natal of Durban, South Africa. SB Productions is responsible for promoting many new names and faces worldwide. My cousin Jeff is responsible for controlling the advertising and business aspects of the company, while Sally is responsible for creating the aesthetic image through various visual media.
Over the course of one month I plan on shooting over twenty rolls of film, in both color and black and white. As Jeff and Sally live near the Indian Ocean and wildlife preserves, I will focus primarily on humans, animals, and nature. I do not want to photograph any technology or human creation, I want to capture the essence of Africa "as is". I think that this project will encourage both personal and professional growth. By traveling to a country that is so unlike the United States, I think it will be impossible not to capture the most genuine of human beings. .
While working with Jeff and Sally, I will assist them on any photo shoots they may go on, go on shoots of my own, work on the set of any music videos, shoot pictures with Sally, and learn personal photographic techniques from Sally herself.
I am proposing that during my one month stay in South Africa I receive six credit hours for Art 500. I plan on working eight hours a day, five days a week for four weeks. Over the course of a month I will spend over 160 hours working, while during a regular semester of photography I am in class for 96 hours over the course of 16 weeks. Upon returning home from South Africa I will bring a portfolio of twenty prints to be reviewed before the start of my senior year. I plan on focusing the remainder of my independent study program and my graduate exhibition on a study of South Africa and its people.
Over the course of my senior year, I plan on focusing all my studies towards my South Africa project.