The Delightful Adventures of Miss Hawkes

Ballet

Posted on Friday, 17 December

Thank you London Royal Ballet for putting on a stunning show and reminding me of my childhood fascination.

20’s, 21st, 22nd

Posted on Monday, 2 August

I have been thinking a lot recently about my upcoming 21st Birthday. I have been planning for a while now to hold a garden tea party with the theme of 1920’s fancy dress (in keeping with the whole ‘20’ related theme. My birthday is the 22nd August). All is going well yet I still have yet to purchase an outfit (apart from a cute turban that may come in handy!). So to help myself and other guest with inspiration, I have trawling through my ‘favourites’ folder. Here are the results! Also if you have any tips or you have attended a 20’s themed party let me know, or even better send photos!

All Images: Found, Vintage Photographs, Hello Beautiful, Jak & Jil and of course my man Mr Walker (Tim)!

Welcome!

Posted on Sunday, 1 August

Hello Readers!

I am not entirely sure who I am addressing yet but it is lovely to write to you nonetheless. If you have joined me here from ‘Oh My Blog’ then I hope you enjoy this blog as much as the last. Or if you have just found this blog out of luck (that is how I have found many of my favourite blogs) I hope it is one of the sparkles in your day!

This Tumblr was originally started at part of a University project. Each student set up a blog to track their weekly events while upon work experience in the fashion industry. Not only was it fantastically intriguing to read what everyone was up to, I also found it really useful to track my experiences and all that I learnt. Now I have decided to return to this blog to share this with you. I have missed having a platform to capture memories, ideas and inspiration that I can share with a community of like minded people.

So please feel free to get in touch with suggestions, questions, images, anything really as I would love to hear from you!

We will be in touch, I promise!

Image: Found (Let me know if you know the source)

Final Farewell

Posted on Saturday, 22 May

This shall be (I think…) my last post upon this blog. I think I will miss it. Its been wonderful to read about everyone’s experiences and for myself to keep track of all the fantastic things I have encountered over this short period. Often these experiences just get logged into the brain as memories however seeing them collect upon here lets me evaluate all these moments. Over the past six weeks I have worked at .Cent magazine part time, contributed to Glass Magazine (assisting the editor on tasks as well as writing content for the online version), assisting on 4 photo shoots with two different photographers that I highly admire, having my photographs (even if just quick snaps) featured on a magazine’s pages, as well as styling and photographing my own shoot (my first menswear). From this assortment of tasks I have learnt many roles within different situations. From office intern, where I have been able to improve my skills in communication within a team, time management and organising my tasks within the office hours, to improving my initiative to provide other team members with as much help as they need. Although I have found this testing at times, it has been a good experience for me to discover that I would not lead a happy life to work in an office full-time. It has also been great to see how another magazine works (as I have worked with Glass since October 09) and the different levels of input where asked of me. In some ways very similar as I had tasks such as transcribing and research at both, however I feel that my talent for styling and writing is appreciated to a greater extent at Glass as I am given more suitable tasks and my work is published.

I think I have learnt the most from working with other photographers over this six weeks. Although on a shoot there is often a lot of waiting around (really don’t mind this part as I find it fascinating to see everyone’s input come together), there is always a lot to learn from the small tricks they use (one tip involved a prism and an orange gel), to how they started within the industry and where they see themselves headed. With Nicholas Lawn I learnt the technical side of film (more than I already knew) which really inspired me to actually put film in the cameras that seem to mount up in my cupboards, and to experiment with this hands on side of photography that I have missed a lot since my A Level days. I also learnt that getting everything perfect in a shot before snapping away would create something beautiful and it was easy to analyse and make sure every element was working together. This can be very frustrating in post when for example you realise that a button accidentally came loose and you cannot replicate it.

From working with Jessie I feel very inspired to get my work published. At only a few years older than me she is quickly getting her work in many publications. She started and still does produce a lot of imagery for online magazines which is allowing her to receive a lot of coverage. This inspires me to see a freelance photographer gradually become more and more successful whilst I work with her and makes me believe that it is achievable. I also admire her courage to strive for her work, moving from Canada to Paris and then to London. She is  passionate with her photography and is able to create the most impressive shots with such low tech equipment (minus her new camera!). This also allows me to see how a location that many not look like all that much in person can create an amazing backdrop on film.

From my own work I have developed low tech effects (a vintage scarf makes for a fine filter) and have been able to see the strong elements of my photography that I am successful at (long landscape shots) and areas I need to work on (realising the small attributes of models poses and styling details). I look forward to shooting more over the summer break and with a new opportunity on the horizon hope to get some of this work into a publication.

Thank you for your time everyone! Enjoy the Sun!

x

Everything Comes to an End

Posted on Saturday, 22 May

…and wonderful things continue! So this was my last week at .Cent Magazine. Although I originally signed up for a period of 3 months I had to leave the magazine earlier than expected due to expenses (the company could only partially cover my travel and I am poor!). This however sad, I felt was the right thing to do as I feel I have learnt as much as I could whilst upon the placement and I feel that this would not of expanded if I was able to do a few weeks more. It would of been wonderful to see all my long hours of research come into fruitation (this week I spent most of my time researching Freud’s interpretation of dreams and surrealist photography) and I look forward to the features when they are published in September. I have helped to plant the seeds and now I will see them grow!

As I already mentioned, I spent this week researching features for the magazine. As they are in their early stages it means that the subjects need thorough research into in order to grasp the knowledge needed to print relevant information to the reader and in order to find an angle in which to cover it. It also means that each section of the magazine is discussed in great detail every week in an editorial meeting so that each member of the group can establish how the coverage is developing or we can discuss new ideas. This was ever more apparent this week as the magazine hosted its ‘Creative Associates Dinner’ in which the team invite creative individuals to the office to help bat around ideas for the new issue. I think this is a wonderful idea. It allows the team to see the magazine from a different perspective, welcome new innovative ideas, and use the expertise of each members individual expertise. I wasn’t present for the meeting however I heard that it created a huge impact to the extent that the issue title may be altered as it may be mis-interpretated. Not only is it important to have the opinions of others upon a magazine, I feel that it is a great idea to have the input of others on any creative work as it is often difficult to distance yourself from your own work.

Friday was my last day and although like no other at the office, it was still a significant. I have been told that they would love to have me back to assist of photo shoots, keep in touch and fulfill a full internship after I graduate. I am flattered to have good feedback and will consider my options when I leave University last year. I know however that I will keep in touch.

Today I once again assisted photographer Jessie Craig on ‘part two’, of the previous shoot (shot 2 weeks ago). We had another 5 fresh faces in from Select, however I think this bunch were a little younger with the youngest coming in at 14 (I feel so old!). The set up was the same as before yet the conditions were a tad different due to the intense heat and sun today. This meant that we had to move the backdrop to stay in the shadows, as well as watching I didn’t cast a shadow! As I have worked with Jessie on several occasions now, I understand how to set up her backdrop and I know that I act as a second pair of eyes to each shot (some of the time I was on under-age breast look out). Although there is often a lot of sitting around on a photo shoot, I cannot explain the enphusiasm I receive from just being within the team of so many wonderful creatives. I feel that I learn from the way they seamlessly create something out of nothing, watch with a critical eye to seek out the correct aesthetics and most importantly work and trust each other as a team. As usual Jessie’s photographs never cease to amaze me and I love seeing her work become more and more well known (especially as she is only a few years senior to me so it gives me great hope for the future). I will pop up some backstage photos tomorrow!

Another work experience opportunity popped up today yet I do not want to divulge too much at the moment as to not jinx it! Lets say it involves using my talents with a camera!

Close to the Finish

Posted on Wednesday, 12 May

So after a busy weekend assisting on shoot as well as photographing and styling on my own (oh and lets not forget the editing and layout work on the Monday), I am back at .Cent Headquarters. Our Editor is back to good health (not sure if I mentioned she was off ill?) so now we have a very busy workspace with nine members of staff in yesterday. Although the more members we have in the office may help supply warmth in these chilly May (spring?) days!

Yesterday I updated myself on all areas of research related to the magazines content and up coming contributors so that I will have more insight and overall input when it comes to brainstorming within meetings. I have realised the importance of research whilst upon the placement as a key factor to the magazines content is related to finding an unusual way into an article or to cover a subject in a way that hasn’t been covered before. In this way I often feel a bit lost in the deep end as it takes a wealth of knowledge of different creative arenas to know what may be relevant or who we can get to write a piece or be involved. However I feel that I have learnt a lot in this way while working here and I am spurred on to find out more! Yesterday I spent a great amount of the day looking into ideas for web content and trying to find interesting events, or creatives to cover. This will then be discussed with everyone else’s ideas on Thursday at our Editorial Meeting.

Today I had the task of Transcribing, a task I know far too well from working at Glass. It’s a tedious task, and anyone would admit this, however I was able to complete 4,000 words in a shorter space of time then imediatly thought.  I know that it is a useful skill to practice and improve on as I am certain this will not be the last of my transcribing throughout my career! I was also able to quiz the team on a few questions from my report and also discuss an important matter of buiscuits over lunch, which has concluded in the following timetable:

Monday: Coconut Rings

Tuesday: Fruit Shortbread

Wednesday: Deal of the week/Fall Back Fig Roll

Thursday: Ginger Nut

Friday: Golden Crunch

Emergency (Nearer Deadline): Chocolate Digestives