Category: Uncategorized

Study Days and Zoom Meetings · Uncategorized

Zoom: Keeping up the Momentum

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Meeting 1: 4/4/20

The aim of this meeting was to create a cross discipline collaborative group, and to help motivate students during the period of lockdown.  The meeting was attended by Bryan Eccleshaw, tutor, who led much of the discussion.

He started by listing a number of concepts to keep in mind to help with motivation and to help develop and create original work:

  • Art is not freedom, it is about restriction and finding a way out
  • It is a response to a difficulty
  • Avoid Perfection/purity.
  • Accept that “it is what it is”
  • Start small if necessary and grow
  • Commit to creating something every day
  • Look at juxtaposition
  • Look at the ordinary and make in extraordinary
  • Look at other disciplines
  • Try a new medium to spark inspiration
    • Collage
    • Drawing
  • Reframe the way you work
  • Communicate
  • Look from a different angle
  • Read, reread, research
  • Do the job in front of you
  • Revisit previous work
  • Morning pages
  • Write about the mundane
  • What is important – the click of the shutter

Helen had created a Padlet and added a board: Keeping up the Momentum  https://oca.padlet.org/helen416376/9q7g0fa5uard.  Brian had added some items and suggested that students could take an item and rework it, encouraging creativity and collaboration.

The group then went on to discuss work submitted by participants.

All links and comments from participants will be posted on the Padlet for future reference.

Meeting 2: 25/4/20

This was again attended by Bryan Eccleston.

Helen recapped on the summary from the previous meeting, and then Bryan led the discussion on the work submitted to the Padlet.

A folder will be set up on G Drive for all future collaboration work to free up the Padlet, and individual work can still be uploaded to the padlet.

Helen will be arranging a further meeting, but Byran will be unable to attend any further meetings.  He suggested contacting other tutors.

Notes and links from the meeting will be added to the padlet.

 

Part 2 · Uncategorized

Personal Stories

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Peter Mansell, Dewald Botha and Jodie Taylor: the three examples of their personal stories are very different, but all have one thing in common: without a narrative they would appear very mundane to the viewer.

I was unable to view all the images created by Jodie Taylor, except the image of the garage block, but was able to get a feel for the type of images she had created as she returned to her childhood locations.

I didn’t feel that the set of images created by Dewald Botha in the Ring Road portrayed exactly how he felt.  He said that he started out the project “as an exploration of a physical object”, but over time the project became more personal, and developed into a “metaphor for distance placed and personal limits reached”.  Simply viewing his images would not have given me an understanding of this development had I not read his narrative accompanying the images.

The project which resonated with me most was that of Peter Mansell.  I am not a paraplegic, and thankfully I am now fit and active.  However, this was not always the case, as I grew up a chronic asthmatic in the days before the new generation on inhalers.  I now lead an active life due to the medication, not because I have “grown out” of asthma.  When I was young I was crippled by the desease, at a time when not much was known about it.  When I managed to get to school, which was rare, I was bullied because the other children thought I had an infectious desease.  As I write this I realise how much of my childhood I have chosen to forget, and this is bringing it back.  Peter Mansell said he could write about his experiences, or create pictures, but “in doing so, the reader or viewer would have to rely wholly on my imagination and abilities of expression”. He felt that using photography as the medium there is “a direct relationship with reality at its centre”.

In the past I have tried writing about my childhood experiences without success, but perhaps I will think about Peter Mansell’s approach to exploring his disability and consider photography as the most appropriate medium.

When viewing an image, the viewer will always project their own experiences and emotions onto the image.  I initially feel defensive when I lose control of one of my images in this way, followed by a period of anger.  Why can’t people see an image as I do?  Then the anger passes and my confidence in my ability drains away.  I have a tendency to hide my images away on my laptop, instead of displaying them on social media or publicise the URL to my blog.  This has made me realise I should be more open and display my images for others to see.  What others make of them is a matter for those viewers not me.

Reflections · Uncategorized

Reflections on Outcome of Assignment 2

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Technical and visual skills

  • All images taken on same day, in early morning sunshine.
  • Position of camera has affected the exposure, depending on angle of the sun.
  • Should have adjusted the exposure, not left the camera setting the same for all photographs.
  • Attempted to rectify this in post production, but would prefer to revisit.
  • Unable to revisit as CRT are advising no access to towpaths.

Quality of Outcome

  • 10 images selected to give an overview of issues affecting boats and canals

Demonstration of creativity

  • Limited by physical constraints

Context

  • A subject close to my heart
  • Very aware of all boaters’ issues if movement of boats is limited
  • Overall pleased with the outcome given the current restrictions.
A2: Initial Submission · Uncategorized

Assignment 2: Photographing the Unseen: Canal Lockdown

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COVID-19: The unseen virus

This was a difficult task, deciding a suitable subject which I could complete whilst living with lock down.  The COVID-19 virus is affecting everything and everyone, and my plans to create a series of images to portray the unseen, see my list under Reflections. I was trying to think of another suitable subject, and then, yesterday morning, while the frost was still on the ground and the sky a perfect blue, I look down the canal to see a line of boats, their inhabitants safely locked inside away from the virus.  I had my subject.  How the lockdown has affected the canals and boaters as a result of the unseen: the virus.

We recently received a directive from the Canal and River Trust (CRT), the body who manages and maintains most of Britain’s inland waterways, advising boaters only to move boats if absolutely necessary, and if living on a boat, to adopt the government directive of only going out for essential shopping, and only going out once a day for exercise.  For “live-aboard” boaters, particularly those who do not moor in a commercial marina where all the facilities are available, essential shopping covers more than food and toilet rolls. 

We need:

  • Petrol for generators
  • Diesel for engines
  • Coal
  • Water
  • Access to toilet emptying facilities. 

Boatyards have closed, and hireboat companies have suspended their activities, so these facilities are few and far between.

I wanted to create a series of images which capture the canal culture under the lock down restrictions. To use David Hurn’s terminology, I see this as an Essay, rather than a Story, ie: a series of related images which may be viewed in any order. In Hurn’s view a Story relates to a set of images which follow a narrative and should be viewed in a specific order for the story to  make sense. (Hurn, 2008).

I decided to take the photographs in colour rather than black and white because the canal is a usually a colourful place and I felt that to photograph in black and white would lose that vibrancy.

Unfortunately, I was unable to take as many photographs as I would have like because the day after I took these initial photographs, CRT issued another directive saying that everyone should avoid the tow paths because many are not wide enough for people to pass safely, and also the inhabitants of the boats could also be put at risk as people pass by too closely.  So I was unable to complete the project. 

Fortunately, I have been able to put together a series of images from that first day.  

Bibliography

Hurn, D. (2008) On being a Photographer.

 

 

A2: Initial Submission · Reflections · Uncategorized

Assignment Two – Initial Reflections: possible subjects

Avril Harrison1 Comment

Street Rubbish

Images of rubbish discarded, and its implicit meaning: what sort of rubbish – takeaway boxes, empty beer cans, cigarette butts etc.

The illogical

Images of scenes taken from certain angles so the result is not what it seems.  Animals standing together often appear surreal, several legs and heads.

Journey to get fit

Equipment, gym,  images of Garmin Bike sat nav, images of bike about to set off.  (Some of these images have been used before in EYV so may be difficult to adapt to this unit).

Weight loss journey

Scales, foods, cookery books, clothes, website, group therapy

Logic puzzles

An interest of mine, but not sure how I could develop this into a set of photographs. 

Unfortunately, none of these were practical because they all require me to go out and about which has now been banned for the foreseeable future due to COVID-19.

So I decided on a different angle:  to photograph the effect this lock down is having on the UK waterways.

 

 

 

Part 2 · Uncategorized

A Poem in Pictures

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For this exercise I selected the lyrics to the Simon and Garfunkel song The Sound of Silence.  I have always been a fan of Simon and Garfunkel’s music, especially the lyrics, and more recently was amazed at the cover version recorded by Disturbed, a heavy metal rock band. The lead singer, David Draiman, shows a different side to his voice and personality, producing a beautiful sound.  I my view it is better than the original Simon and Garfunkel version. I created a story board and planned to visit London to create a set of images. Then came the news that all unnecessary travel should be avoided, closely followed by a full lockdown due to Covid-19.  So my plans were scuppered!  I decided, rather than try to change my plans, I would upload my story board instead.  I felt that this would be preferable to trying to find another poem and recreate a new story board. Fortunately I was able to use a few images from a previous trip to London when I took a series of night time photographs around Southwark, and I have embedded these into the storyboard where appropriate.

The Sound of Silence

Simon and Garfunkel

Hello, darkness, my old friend
I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
‘Neath the halo of a streetlamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
No one dared
Disturb the sound of silence

“Fools,” said I, “You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you.”
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed
In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, “The words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sounds of silence.”

Lyrics written by Paul Simon

Paul Simon said these words were written to show how he felt about society and his view that we no longer communicate effectively.  However, I feel these words are just as relevant today and can be applied to the plight of the homeless, the invisible members of our modern society who are consigned to sleeping in the cold and dark streets in many cities across the world.  I wanted to include images of people during rush hour on escalators in the London Underground.  The words in verse three sum up my impressions of a busy Underground station.

People talking without speaking, people hearing without listening

This story board consists of some sketches of the final images, and some actual photographs I was able to take before the lockdown.    I hope to be able to visit London to create the additional images of homeless people, and of a typical scene on the underground at rush hour before submitting for assessment, but that depends on the extent of the Covid-19 virus lock down.

 

Reflections · Uncategorized

David Hurn: Selecting a Subject

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I recently bought a copy of David Hurn’s book: On being a Photographer (Hurn, 2008), which I found very inspiring.  The chapter on how to choose a subject helped me with my choice of subject for Assignment 2.  Because of the current situation with Covid-19 virus and lockdown country wide, my initial plans for the assignment were not possible.  So I went through the options in the way that Hurn suggests.

The first thing to do is carry a notebook and during quiet times or as the thought occurs to you, compile a list of anything that really interests you. In other words write a list of subjects which fascinate you without regard to photography.

(Hurn 2008)

He then goes on to suggest that having created a definitive list, it can be cut down by asking yourself the following questions:

Is it visual?  …….

Is it practical? ……..

Is it a subject about which I know enough? ……….

Is it interesting to others? ………..

(Hurn 2008)

 

I like this structured approach as I my background is in IT, a very logical subject, and at times have found the creative aspects of the course challenging.  This structured approach, I believe, sits well in a creative environment.

Bibliography

Hurn, D. (2008) On being a Photographer.

 

Part 2 · Uncategorized

Image and Text

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For this exercise I selected photogaphs taking during the period of social isolation due to the spread of the Covid-19 virus, and then using the two concepts Anchorage and Relay, applied different captions to the images, changing the context.  Barthes suggests that any text linked or incorporated into an image either serves to control the meaning of the image (Anchorage) or implies meaning and ambiguity (Relay).  I have added captions to reflect these two concepts.

Image 1

20200327_145759

In this image three youths are being asked to move on by police, in accordance with the social isolation guidelines.

Alternative Captions:

  1. Police question a group of youths in relation to drug related offences (Anchorage)
  2. Police are searching for a missing person and ask a group of youths if they have seen that person (Anchorage)
  3. Three youths asking police for directions (Relay)
  4. Three youths chatting to the local beat coppers (Relay).

The captions in images 1 and 2 give different meanings to the image: one shows the police questioning and possibly arresting the youths, whereas the other caption shows the police asking for the youths’ help.

Captions 3 and 4 both imply ambiguity:

  • where are the youths going?
  • What are they chatting about?
  • Are they giving police some information?

Image 2

20200327_151025

In this image crowds are enjoying the sunshine in the Brecon Beacons, defying the social isolation guidlines.

Alternative Captions:

  1. Despite being advised to keep to the social isolation guidelines, visitors flocked to the Brecon Beacons. (Anchorage).
  2. A wonderful day out in the winter sunshine (Relay).
  3. You will always be warm and comfortable in Explore Clothing (Relay).

Caption 1 is describing exactly what happened on the first day of social isolation, visitors defied the guidelines and went out into the countryside en masse.  As a result of this the Prime Minister imposed stronger sanctions and gave police the powers to break up large groups.

Captions 2 and 3 recontextualise the image as a pleasant family day out.  Caption 3 is an advertisement for Explore Clothing.

Image 3

20200327_151802

Alternative Captions:

  1. The benefits of working on an allotment can be twofold, a healthy lifestyle and the nutritional benefits of fresh produce. (Anchorage).
  2. Working on a allotment means you can keep in touch with fellow enthusiasts whilst keeping to the 2 metre distance rule. (Anchorage).
  3. Older people reminisce about the “dig for victory” campaign during the second world war.  (Relay).

Captions 1 and 2 define the benefits and why it is a positive activity.  Caption recontexualises the image as it is not about the actual image, but of events which happened in the past.

 

Research · Uncategorized

Post Modern Narrative

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The work of Sophie Calle and Sophie Rickett both reflect postmodernist approaches to the narrative although their work is very different.  However, the one aspect of their work is similar: the use of images, text, videos, and other media.

In her project “Take Care of Yourself”, Sophie Calle takes a letter received from her boyfriend in which he “dumps” her, and offers it to 107 women asking them to analyse the content according to their personal and professional interests.  As a result the letter was converted into music, displayed complete with handwritten annotations, projected onto images of faces, acted out, converted into a crossword.  The whole was an unstructured but meaningful display which reflects the postmodern approach to art.  She recorded an interview, currently available on the Tate.org website, explaining how the project developed.

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/sophie-calle-2692/sophie-calle-dumped-email [accessed 3/4/2020]

Sophie Rickett developed her exhibition “Objects in the Field” following an encounter with a retired astronomer, Dr Roland Willstrop, while she was working at the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge.  Dr Willstrop had previously developed a camera: The Three Mirror Telescope.  No longer in use, Rickett obtained a selection of now obsolete images, reprinted them herself, editing some in the process.  The result is a set of images and videos displayed in an unstructured way. The title of the exhibition, Objects in the Field refers to the atrological term for a light in the sky, object, and the sky itself, field.

 

Reflections · Uncategorized

Every Picture Tells a Story

Avril Harrison1 Comment

David Hurn’s explanation that there is a difference between a photo essay and a photo story has helped me understand and differentiate between the two.  Previously I had seen a set of photographs as just that: a set.  I think this concept will help me in the future when planning a set of photographs.  I will be better placed to decide which the set will be: an essay or story.  I will utilise the questions listed in the unit text:

  • Do the pictures have a consistent theme?
  • What elements back up the central theme?
  • What disrupts it?
  • Are there good reasons for this disruption?
  • Do the pictures have a visual consistency that holds them together as a recognisable set?

However, I was confused by the next paragraph in the text relating to post-modernism.  The text implies that in literature postmodern authors have challenged the concept of beginning, middle and end. Does this also apply to pictures.  If a pictorial story follows the same route, then it would need some text attached to each picture in order for the viewer to understand the events.   If no text is available, then the viewer could be drawn into thinking it is an essay (to use Hurn’s analogy).