Category: Uncategorized

Final Thoughts

03/04/18

I have eventually come to the end of the work for ‘Expressing Your Vision’. The only jobs left to do are post it off, and then wait for the outcome. What did I learn? I had previously done ‘The Art of Photography’ and passed it with an acceptable mark. At that time I hadn’t been able to go any further because of health and family issues. I was slightly concerned about repeating the initial part of the course, but, in practice, the two are so different that this was not a problem. I enjoyed the new course much more, and found the research parts of it extremely interesting. I find I can spend hours looking at other peoples work and thinking about it. This enabled me to work through the ‘barren days’ when I could not think of a single thing to do that was relevant to the question asked.

The various support groups were also helpful (sometimes):

  • the e-mail group for EYV – interesting to follow, and sometimes with very helpful suggestions and quick answers to technical problems – but also sometimes very negative, with a recurrent theme of ‘Why should I look at these images, I’m not learning how to take the sort of images I want, etc.’
  • Facebook groups – more thoughtful responses, both in the Year 1 group and in the Scottish Group
  • Scottish meeting in Glasgow – very helpful. I didn’t manage to get to as many as I would have liked to have – but will continue to try to attend when possible
  • OCA discuss forum – often fascinating, I haven’t yet had the courage to post any work for discussion but need to as a next step!

Learning points:

  1. Don’t get bogged down
  2. Think around the question, look at it sideways, leave it alone and go back
  3. Re-do, re-do and do again
  4. Print and hang on the wall for a month
  5. You might like the image – but if it doesn’t fit the brief discard it (or use for something else)
  6. All research is useful, follow random trails, you don’t know where they will lead
  7. Visit as many exhibitions of any art forms as possible
  8. You might not like a photographers work this week – but it may grow on you
  9. Read other people’s opinions then make your own, but be prepared to argue for them
  10. Liking is not the same as having a reaction to an image, or whether or not it is ‘good’
  11. Think clearly
  12. Write concisely (need to work on this one)

Many thanks to my tutor for his help, and the multiple other people who commented and gave advice.