The Uses of Photography studio was truly a valuable class that I have taken. The class gave me an opportunity to learn the technical skill on both camera and editing (Using Adobe Lightroom) and also taught me how to reach the professional photographer level. Most importantly, it taught us how to collaborate in class and outside the class.

The first project (inspirations) allowed me to understand different types of photographic style and look for the one that I am interested while second project (mimesis)gave me a chance to mimic the photographer which I have chosen. After the first two project, I have started to understand the use of photograph deeply. The third project (strangers & stories) is my favourite project and also the most challenging task. The project gave us a chance to approach to strangers and use your own skill to tell their stories. This helps me to improve my social skill which is important in the media industry. The last project (photobook) allowed us to showcase our photographic skill on what we learned so far, in addition to produce our very first photobook.

Both class exercise and project brief were beneficial for me to have more practice on camera skill in terms of learning composition, lighting, camera setting and editing. At the start of the class, I was only able to use automatic mode on my DSLR where now I am able to use manual mode without any helps. The new experience in the class would be postproduction where I have learned to use the software of Adobe Lightroom. Before the class, I merely understood the editing skill by using smart phone and now I am more familiar with the editing software.

One more thing that has changed my understanding on the uses of photography is the ethical issues we have argued so far in the class. Some people like me were really interested in street photography where we photograph people on the street. However, there is an ethical rule here in photography. Are we able to photography people on the street without permission? Literally there are camera everywhere, we can’t avoid every single shot. Sometimes the photograph comes out better if people react normally on the street, however as being a professional photographer we have to rethink about the importance of ethics in photography.

Overall, I am really happy that I was able to attend the Uses of Photography studios. I have learned so much in the class and I now see photography with an in-depth understanding where photography is not just an image itself, it speaks word, it tells a story. The class will be very valuable for my future career, not only on the technical skill but also social skill.