Category: Notes

General rough notes.

Feedback on Assignment 2

Some thoughts and comments.

Blue text is my tutor’s comments, black my replies.

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity

I like that you used your dog as a ‘hook’ to get the subjects to ‘sit’ for you. Everyone has their own method and this is obviously working for you.

The pictures themselves raised a couple of questions. Please remember there aren’t right or wrong answers to these, they are intended to prompt your thinking about your own work. They could form the basis of some useful learning log posts. o Why black and white? You state: “I decided to use a monochrome conversion for the final images as this bought a coherence to the series and evened out the variable backgrounds and lighting conditions.” In what way does black and white bring coherence? What does black and white do that colour might struggle with? What does it not do?

When I looked at the series of images they were very variable in lighting condition as all shot outside. I felt the colour images gave more prominence to the surroundings rather than the face itself, while the monochrome allowed the focus to be on the details of the person. There were also some distracting pieces of colour that I had not managed to avoid in the background as the people were shot were they stood and I did not ask them to move to a potentially better location. However, colour might have emphasised the skin tones of the people or helped to identify their ages.

All of your subjects are smiling and the pictures have the feel of a relaxed but professional portrait shoot. What do the portraits say about these ‘heads’ when shown as a series? Do the smiles affect how the work is viewed as a typology?

The ‘heads’ show a generally happy and content group of people who were prepared to have a ‘bit of fun’ while being photographed by a stranger. They were all taken while out on a walk in a park, so presumably in a relaxed moment. This gives a positive image – but if taken on another day, or in another place, these same people might be more subdued. I did show the images to the people and they were all pleased with how they looked! The smiles portray Scots as a positive group of people – not how they are usually perceived.

How did your choice of focal length and distance to subject affect how your sitter is portrayed? Related to this, how does camera position affect how we as viewers regard the sitter? Traditionally men and women were photographed differently in head shots, women looking up for a more flattering pose and men looking down to reflect power. What do your pictures do to challenge or support these stereotypes.

The images were all taken with me fairly close to the person, and often while I continued to chat to them, this did mean that they were all aware of the photo, no unexpected moments or expressions, therefore no surprises or glimpses of deep contemplation. I tried to take the images at a level with the person to get a feeling of equality. I had not considered differentiating between the pose of men and women, possibly this is showing that the previous stereotypes are less prevalent than in the past. I was not attempting to show power or beauty, but just the person as a person, with no emphasis on gender.

One thing I should point out is your captions. To be blunt, no one cares what camera settings you used. What they will care about though is something about your subjects. Their name perhaps, and where/when the portrait was made. Imagine you walk into a museum in 50 years and you see your portraits hanging on display. Are you interested in what camera settings were used or do you want to engage with the work and find out more about the people photographed? I’ve found a good test for whether pictures are working or not is to ask this question. If technical information is your first stop then the pictures are probably boring. If you want to learn more about the subjects and don’t care about technical considerations then the photographer has succeeded.

This is a very fair point. I only captioned the photos with camera settings because when I was doing TAOP some years ago this is what my tutor at that time wanted me to do. I would never look at technical information unless I was curious about how an image was achieved, and the image would have had to catch my attention first.

Overall I was pleased with the feedback and found it helpful. It has made me think harder about the ‘why’s’ of the images rather than the ‘how’.

Reflection

Where I am now.

Self-Check Against Assignment Criteria:

Demonstration of Technical and Visual Skills:

  • These seem to be improving
  • Need to think more before I press the shutter
  • Check for background as well as foreground

Quality of Outcome:

  • Needs more work
  • Think about what I am trying to show
  • Learning log needs to be detailed but also usable and concise
  • Structure of learning log is Ok I think

Demonstration of Creativity:

  • This is where I struggle
  • Tendency to shoot the same type of image all the time
  • Need to think about outcome more, and what I am trying to achieve (see post Future thought here)

Context:

  • This I am really enjoying
  • Tendency to get side-tracked onto other thought
  • Risk of spending whole time on this aspect of course!
  • Finding language of an arts subject difficult, mainly due to usually having to be very factual at work
  • Need to be prepared to put personal opinion down on paper and defend it

Thoughts for the Future

What is coming though clearly in the reading I am doing and the photographers I have looked at is that they have more than just an interest in their subject matter, they have a passion. I assume that for some of them their ‘work’, if they are acting as a commercial photographer may not always be in their passionate zone, but their private work, what they put their heart into is. It’s the passion that fuels the drive to go and take photographs, and then to find creative ways to explore it and show it to others.

Examples would be:

  • The environment – Burtynsky
  • War – McCallum
  • People – McCurry
  • Myth and magic – Aase Goldsmith

So – the over-riding question is – what am I passionate about?

It is people and their lives and motives, especially in the field of autism.

What do I almost never photograph – people, why?

I take endless images of plants (OK, I am interested in them, but not passionate), buildings and architecture, (again a somewhat bland interest – probably explaining the somewhat bland photos) and landscapes. The only people I photograph are family (when they let me) and musicians at concerts.

The overarching aim for this work needs to be how to get from where I am to where I want to be.

Things needed

  • Technical skills
  • Confidence to approach people
  • Access
  • Ideas about how to show the strain of living without pathos, doesn’t mean without despair, but in a way that means something.

Present problems

  • How to gain access – I have a problem in that my work with the health board could compromise access, I might have a major disciplinary action if I was seen to be using this for my own ends!

Plan 2 – May Update

  1. Work my way though course handbook, looking at each exercise and expanding as required. Importance high as I want to complete the course in a timely fashion. On time (just).
  2. Personal projects – present ideas
    1. People in the park: looking at people as they walk around, interacting with others, their dogs, phones etc.
      1. Initially looking at more distant shots, maybe using tele lens
      2. Close-ups! Started as in assignment 2
    2. Tree ‘Art’: following up on my interest in nature looking at and contrasting the natural bark /growth patterns of trees with the, often childish or rude, graffiti carved into them.
    3. Intimacy: close-up work
      1. Contrast people, or rather small images of them with detail of possibly buildings, or? plants
      2. People interacting with each other
    4. The logging industry in Scotland – thinking about this as a possible final piece for EYV.
  3. Looking at photographers work in detail – present possibilities but this list could go on forever.
    1. Dayanita Singh
    2. John MacLean
    3. Keith Arnatt
    4. Walker Evans Done –At least initially
    5. Burtynsky
    6. Graham MacIndoe – Investigated
    7. Diane Arbus
  4. Reading – again the list could go on forever
    1. Photography as contemporary art – Charlotte Cotton read
    2. The Genius of Photography – Gary Badger – started (and TV series found)
    3. Letting go of the Camera – Brooke Jensen – started
  5. Attend as many exhibitions, both of photography and general art as possible.

This list is much too ambitious, but it gives me a starting point.

To be reviewed monthly to keep a check on progress.

Initial Reflections on Part 1

A summary of learning points from Part 1:

  • Have projects/plans in mind when photographing. These can be short, medium or long term, but it helps to keep your focus and interest.
  • There is no harm in repeatedly photo’ing the same area or subject to learn about it, as long as you actually do learn something and not just endlessly repeat the same thoughts e.g. make a series over time.
  • Be aware of lines, both perspective and flat.
  • Think about framing
  • Learn by looking at other people’s images and then reading about them, reviewers may feel the same as you or have a very different viewpoint. Both will be valid.

Cropping and Framing

Are they two separate things? I think so.

Framing is about choice making, what you choose to take in an image, where the edges are, do you add the whole of something or only part of it. Is the image complete in itself?

All these descisions are best made when the image is taken, although there may be times when you know you will change the image shape – for instance- the picture you visualise is a square format, but your camera only takes rectangles, or you want an very wide panorama, and need to take and join multiple shots. The important bit is that you have framed the image you want in your minds eye.

Cropping is about how you get to what you actually wanted once you have the image, a bit off here, or a bit off there.

But- cropping could be seen as taking an image that only shows part of the whole, part of a head, a suggestion of a window rather than the whole scene.

The definition of cropping from the Collins dictionary is ‘the trimming or masking of unwanted areas from a negative or a print’. – a verb, while framing is ‘the act of a person or a thing that frames’ – a noun. So cropping is something you do to an image, while framing is something that is!

 

Initial Plan – April 2017

  1. Work my way though course handbook, looking at each exercise and expanding as required. Importance high as I want to complete the course in a timely fashion.
  2. Personal projects – present ideas
    1. People in the park: looking at people as they walk around, interacting with others, their dogs, phones etc.
      1. Initially looking at more distant shots, maybe using tele lens
      2. Close-ups!
    2. Tree ‘Art’: following up on my interest in nature looking at and contrasting the natural bark /growth patterns of trees with the, often childish or rude, graffiti carved into them.
    3. Intimacy: close-up work
      1. Contrast people, or rather small images of them with detail of possibly buildings, or? plants
      2. People interacting with each other
    4. Looking at photographers work in detail – present possibilities but this list could go on forever.
      1. Dayanita Singh
      2. John MacLean
      3. Keith Arnatt
      4. Walker Evans
      5. Diane Arbus
    5. Reading – again the list could go on forever
      1. Photography as contemporary art – Charlotte Cotton
      2. The Genius of Photography – Gary Badger
      3. Letting go of the Camera – Brooke Jensen
    6. Attend as many exhibitions, both of photography and general art as possible.

This list is much too ambitious, but it gives me a starting point.

To be reviewed monthly to keep a check on progress.

Reflections After Assignment 1

Assignment 1 in and feedback received, very fair comments. I was thinking more about the content rather than the technical side of the images. Need to think better about presentation so that images are seen in the order I envision them, not the order the computer sees (alphabetical).

I have had technical problems with my printer, now I hope sorted, mainly due to not using it for some while. I am also using a new (to me) software program as I have made the step of moving from Elements and Lightroom to Adobe Creative Suite. It’s taking me some concentration to get my head around photoshop, although in practice I am mainly using Lightroom.

I am finding that I risk flitting from one project plan to another, too many possible ideas, and not enough time. I need to make a list of the ideas, then hone them down so that I actually get something workable and worthwhile. I am also getting endlessly distracted by the work of others and again jumping from looking at one set of images to another without really concentrating on one or thinking about how they work and what I can learn from them. I also have far too large a pile a reading to attempt, again I need to slow down and read one book at a time, making annotations as I go so that I can find the source of my ideas or thoughts to review them as required.

I need a plan! One that I can refer to and remind myself where I am and what I want/ need to concentrate on.

Square Mile – Reading and Research

On examining the photographers and images suggested for researching the Square Mile project I noted that although all of them show some linking in their thoughts to an area that is clearly important to them the actual thought processes and end results are very different. They can be broadly divided into a group that use photographs of people to show the identity of the place, and a group where the focus is on the place itself.

Barney, Dearden and Knorr focus on using people to give identity to the area of interest. Tina Barney (Artic.edu, 2006) took images of her family and friends in New York. These images show details of family life and the tension that can occur, thus exploring the place though the people that inhabit it and whom she knows well. Cotton says ‘there is a compelling blend of a photographically distant perspective with a subject that is intimately known’ (Cotton,2015).

Venetia Dearden’s series ‘Somerset Stories, Fivepenny Dreams’ is set in the area where she grew up. She says ‘My passion and curiosity for Somerset has been fuelled by my long-term connection with this area where I spent my childhood. I am compelled to return again and again to explore my relationship with the landscape and the people living here……… I witness a sense of belonging and identity within these rich bonds of family and community’ (Dearden, 2014). Dearden looks at the lives and activities of the families’ resident in Somerset at present to explore a place she knew well in the past.

Karen Knorr (Karenknorr.com, 2014) uses portraits to show the ideas that were prevalent in a very wealthy area of London during the 1970’s.

Horn, Hunter, Taylor and Barnard have focused on the place itself to explain their sense of connection with an area. Romi Horn (Tate.org.uk, 2009) has published a series called ‘To Place’ where she looks at the identity of a specific place, Iceland, in detail though photographs, drawings and text. Interestingly, this is far from where she grew up in New York, however, has become an area that she has studied intensively.

Tom Hunter’s ‘Living in Hell and Other Stories’ (Purdyhicks.com, 2017) investigates the history of his local area in East London, re-staging stories which paint an unsettling picture of the area.

Jodie Taylor (Taylor, 2013) for her OCA project focused on the area she lived in as a child, and the memories of that place which have been revived by returning there as an adult.

Gawain Barnard investigates the wildfire burning in Wales which occurs yearly in ‘Boredom for Burning’. He focuses on small details of the remains after the fires, bringing back memories of his youth. He says ‘The landscape of youth is laden with memories………our place of youth, our ‘home’ and the memories created during this period, for better or worse can create an embedded sense of place and can go some way in self-defining our later life attitude.’  (Barnard, 2013).

Keith Arnatt has utilised ideas from both these of groups with two series that are linked to his local area. The series ‘Walking a Dog’ (Tate, 2010b) is a collection of 40 out of 200 photos taken in his local area of people and their dogs in a standard pose taken in 1976 -1979.  The number of images form a work that makes a comment on society and people and points up the oft remarked similarities between dogs and their owners. He later showed a further series based in his local area ‘Pictures from a Rubbish Tip’ (Tate, 2010 a) 1988–9. This shows close-ups of rubbish from a local tip. Although these are factual images the way they are taken gives the series a feeling of an abstract composition.

John MacLean has taken a fascinating twist on this approach in photographing the hometowns of artists and photographers that he is inspired by, looking for what has, in turn, inspired their work. He says ‘It’s about escaping the hometown to spending all our time exploring, only to find ourselves back there once again’ (Pantell, 2017).

References:

Artic.edu. (2006). so the story goes. [online] Available at: http://www.artic.edu/aic/exhibitions/story/barney.html [Accessed 25 Mar. 2017].
Barnard, G. (2013). Boredom to Burn. [online] Gawainbarnard.com. Available at: http://gawainbarnard.com/photo_13162026.html [Accessed 25 Mar. 2017].

Cotton, C. (2015). The photograph as contemporary art. London: Thames & Hudson.
Dearden, V. (2014). Welcome to Venetia Dearden’s Website – Somerset Stories Fivepenny Dreams. [online] Venetiadearden.com. Available at: http://www.venetiadearden.com/en/somerset_stories_fivepenny_dreams.html [Accessed 25 Mar. 2017].
Karenknorr.com. (2014). Belgravia | Karen Knorr. [online] Available at: http://karenknorr.com/photography/belgravia/ [Accessed 25 Mar. 2017].
Pantell, C. (2017). Hometowns. British Journal of Photography, (7857), pp.60-74.
Purdyhicks.com. (2017). Tom Hunter Porfolio at Purdyhicks Gallery. [online] Available at: http://www.purdyhicks.com/display.php?aID=10 [Accessed 25 Mar. 2017].
Tate. (2010). Pictures from a Rubbish Tip, Keith Arnatt 1988 -9 | Tate. [online] Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/arnatt-pictures-from-a-rubbish-tip-t13169 [Accessed 25 Mar. 2017].
Tate. (2010). Walking the Dog, Keith Arnatt 1976 -9 | Tate. [online] Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/arnatt-walking-the-dog-t13064 [Accessed 25 Mar. 2017].
Tate.org.uk. (2009). Roni Horn aka Roni Horn: explore the exhibition, room guide, room 10. [online] Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/roni-horn-aka-roni-horn/roni-horn-aka-roni-horn-explore-exhibitio-22 [Accessed 25 Mar. 2017].
Taylor, J. (2013). Photography and Nostalgia – WeAreOCA. [online] WeAreOCA. Available at: https://weareoca.com/photography/photography-and-nostalgia/ [Accessed 25 Mar. 2017].