REFLECTION: I was satisfied with this shoot because I felt I achieved what I wanted, a rare occurrence for me, usually I lose my focus and my vision changed however here with the exception of editing and choosing I am happy. I particularly like second image down, there is something so strange and demure about it to me, there seems to be this strange sense of elegance. I think that this may come from the gentleness of the hands which appear to be fading away. The bottom two are playful, I am trying to choose between them, I like seeing more of the body yet at the same time I like the hand in the very bottom one, in both I love the sense of movement, even though, from the voyeur's point of the view, the subject is alien and estranged, there is still a distinctive playful, almost childish mood that can be empathized with.

For some reason the use of a mask in these images triggered a whole set of references and inspirations: it reminded me of Anna Fox's image (seen in my sketchbook) of a girl dressed as a cat in a green kitchen which I saw at the D.B. exhibition at the Photographer's Gallery Some of my more close up images reminded me of Marcel Dzama's styled photographs and illustrations (also seen in sketchbook), although these photographs are a side note and may not be using I think they are important to note in my development. Similarly I was reminded of Sarah Moon's older black and white work.

On the note of Sarah Moon I was given 'Master Photographers' and instantly I flicked through to read about Moon's technique which I found very similar to my own, this has helped me become more relaxed when shooting. She explains that she styles a shoot and 'if you put people into situations, eventually they will respond to the mood' therefore she waits for the subjects natural reactions and happy accidents.

Also when reading this I found a quote by Ansel Adams which also inspired me about fortune favouring the prepared mind, as so much of my work for this project and beyond has been a combination of waiting for the right moment or light and having a styled situation or scene prepared, I have come to accept that much of my best work comes from not being in complete control.

NOTE: finding top one to edit difficult this is another variation on it. As much as I personally like this image, partly for the slightly childish sense of dress up, I think I'll have to eliminate it as it may look hokey and take the seriousness away from the other images it is presented with.