Graduating and Begining of a new Tracey and what winning an award means
What a year it was finishing my time at the most brilliant LIPA or Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts to give it's an official name with a First ! culminating with my Paul McCartney handshake and beginning life back in the real world once more.
This proved a little more bumpy for me personally than I had bargained for, I guess as an evermore self-employed freelance person the daily structure was a lovely respite in the challenge to find ongoing work. Also the vibrant world of higher education and forging new friendships along the way, a creative and learning playground for the three years.
So the year finished on a high that was never in my mind when I began a study into stage lighting that of video design. My mission was incredibly narrow at first, then fate took part and I was brought in to creating content for what would prove one of my most memorable moments at LIPA. A true piece of collaboration with set designer Kirsty Barlow and Director Will Hammond for the production of Love of the Nightingale. I was sold! two months of self-learning of many adobe platforms including After Effects and Premiere Pro (ongoing) I went on to create content for dance and musical productions in my final two years.
The annual Association of Lighting Designers awards for recent graduates was fast approaching and I was keen to enter, but which me? The lighting designer or this newer crossover with my photography life that as a video designer? After consulting with my amazing lecturer and lighting designer Sofia Alexidou I made the decision it would be video.
Having entered photography awards with some success pushed me along creating my interactive portfolio. Early December arrived and no news! the waiting is the worst part, then news, what a great email day that was I had won! Attending the lunch in London with Sofia was brilliant and to add that title to the new Tracey took a bit of getting used to, resisting adding it to my website and email signature. A trademark of Tracey has and to a certain extent still here is to play down my achievements and fill that hole with a whole load of self-doubt. But this award given by my professional piers has increased both my confidence and belief which I think is one of the best bi-products from any award, as we are often in the creative industries our harshest critic!
So here I am a recent graduate seeking collaborations and work in the world of theatre and performance, the year has got off with a bang more of soon, with projects in discussion including lighting and video design for a one-woman show. Still learning and working on the skill set I got from my time at LIPA and every now and then a visitor back there as one of their preferred photographers which is great as I get to keep my ties with a place I loved every second of .
So Happy New Decade from me Tracey Gibbs Winner of the I-Blue Media Award for Excellence in Video Design
here is the link to my winning portfolio which gives you an insight into both my work and methods
https://indd.adobe.com/view/443ebaaa-363e-4c3f-9d9f-b9a2677e78ca