For this project I was asked to create a symbolic camera that was a visual representation of what our first memory of a camera was and one that may relate to our future projects. However, this creative step was very early on in the module and at the time I was uncertain of what kind of ethnographic project I was going to create. So I decided that as photography is a field of art I wanted my camera to have an element of textile design; an art element that I used to enjoy throughout my childhood.

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 For me personally, I always think of a camera being a specific shape, so with this in mind I combined this with textiles.

I made my symbolic camera from a recycled square box, that I painted white, as to represent a blank canvas in which any story can be told, like the journey of life. I then used a webbing spray around the outside and inside of the camera. My family has always been quite outdoors orientated in the activities that we enjoy together and I think that the webbing spray represents the excitement and flow of life. But also through the branches and conjunctions represents life's many obstacles and challenges. The Camera represents elements of what I learnt and somewhat does reflect into my project as it can also be noticed that the webbing spray looks similar to veins in  leaf or the branches on a tree. 

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Lastly I wanted the lense of the camera to be the focal point of my symbolic camera. Therefore my aim was to make it aesthetically pleasing, in order to gain attention. I used a heat gun to morph and contort a plastic bottle acting as my lense into a manipulated, mirrored and reflective shape. So that the viewer may be distracted by the insides of the lense before seeing the exact pinpointed picture at the end of the tunnel. (Image on the right shows in detail the manipulated lense) 

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