Context and Narrative has been a challenge for me, I have found that narrative photography is not a natural fit for me. Although, I do understand that is not something I should run away from. It was a stretch too create images from scratch when I normally react to the world around me with my photography, however, I can see how (or should be?) these concepts can be applied to my personal vision as a photographer.

The course notes ask us to reflect on some question I’ll do that now.

Out of all the topics covered in this course, which felt most comfortable to you? Why?

How are they defining comfortable? I would say the Photograph as a document, I have tried to be a photojournalist in my approach to photography over the time i have lived in Asia, therefore, this felt the best fit with me, although ironically this perhaps the weakest assignment as I’m a little out of practice. Creativity and photojournalism require practice and need to exercise regularly – just like great footballer still have to go the training every day we do as photographers.

Did you discover anything completely new to you? What was it?

The world of Ronald Bathes and semiotic and meanings. I had some idea on artic theory as I had previously taken Introduction to Film Culture, it has lead to a new appreciation of art and photography and something I should study more – I think.

Which area enabled you to come closest to finding your personal voice?

Strangely for such an introvert assignment 3, I seemed to open my soul to the outside world and reflected on the isolation I was feeling at that time.

Which area seemed furthest away from who you want to be as a photographer? Why?

Making it up (assignment 5), as I have said before what drew me back into photography was my move to Asia and the photojournalist style of images I took. Creating a symbolic single image to reflect feeling or a situation more me is something best left to others.

What were the main things you learned? Were there any epiphany moments?

Context is vital, you need something to hook your viewer to your ideas, this perhaps most relevant in assignments 3 & 5 when my either my symbols were too esoteric or just plain vague. The audience needs some guidance to what your work is about. If you leave everything up there interpretation your concepts will be lost.

Will you return to any of the assignments from this course at a later date? Did you feel as if you were on the cusp of anything?

I like assignment 2, I think I would like to expand on that in some way or even return to trying to show units on time to physical objects my initial idea.

Overall, a challenging unit which had me close to throwing in the towel at many points, and it wasn’t for the honest sometimes brutal criticism from my tutor I way have thrown in that towel. However, I persevered and worked through my inhibitions and prejudices to be able to submit a collection of work I’m happy with more assessment.

“Almost everyone has their own collection of pictures -the earlier ones may be organized in packets or drawers, some may be in albums, others scattered around in a disorderly fashion but impossible to throw away” (Wells, 2015)

A Question for Seller is a strange project; collecting family images that are sold on eBay, and displaying them along with the response from the seller as to how they had come to acquire the images.

Firstly, it is hard for me to imagine that people would but their own family images up for sale in such a frivolous manner. I understand that images fall into our hands from finds in old houses and sometimes charity shops but the deliberate sale of personal images I doubt.

In the late early 2000’s it was the common cry you heard in the office when unwanted items were talked about “put in on eBay” and we all had watched TV such as Bargain Hunt which leads us to believe that is value in junk.

This leads me to question the meaning and explanation around the collections – particularly if the question was asked before the sale. Could the seller not just invent an interesting meaning to what the images were to raise their value or just promote the sale. Other than accompanying text meaning to the photo’s come from what an individual viewer brings to them – their imagination, personal experiences etc.

As with all “art” of course it value is increased by placing it on a gallery wall, there are many examples of this in the art world Damien Hirst’s infamous sheep and a lot of the work of Andy Warhol – on cynical level her was just recreating what already existed, Brillo-pad Boxes, Campbell Soup tins etc

The course manual directs us to watch a video that is no longer available on YouTube and I can find no alternative links on the student website which is rather disappointing.

I have done a brief search on YouTube for the photographer and have looked at some of his work and watched the interview below.

Not knowing the context of the video the college was pointing us to it is hard to know what they are looking for when they as us to consider the questions below, but as this is art there is no such thing as wrong…

Do you think there is more to this work than aesthetic beauty?

Crewsons’ work is very cinematic in its colour palette, very reminiscent of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet (1986) and the famous painting Nighthawks by Edward Hopper. So there is a beauty to them but it is certainly not a traditional form of beauty; for while the lighting and colour palette are stunning the subject and pictures as a whole give a sense of unease to the viewer.

How Crewson works is large scale, very much like a movie production – these scenes are staged and planned with many, many assistants involved. In fact, I  doubt that he has the physical capacity or skill to produce these images on his own – he is as a photographer is more akin to a Movie Director or Producer.

Do you think Crewson succeeds in making his work ‘psychological’? What does this mean?

I have no idea what is meant by psychological work – are you saying that they are there to make the viewer think?

I see images that are static, like a diorama, there is no movement everything looks very deliberately posed a lot of the time I can’t see what the photographer is asking me to think about – I more often wonder what was they photographer trying to say what was in his mind.

Many of the images are very dark and as I have said give a sense of unease, but at the same time are very ordinary (to an American audience) scenes.

Crewson himself as said he has enough of the story to bring the viewer in, but there care no answers in the images just questions so perhaps he does make psychological images because the stories the viewers see are from there mind not Crewson’s.

What is your goal when making pictures? Do you think there is anything wrong with making beauty your main goal? Why, or why not?

My main goal when I take a picture is to have something that I like, second is that someone else likes.

I take photographs unlike Crewson who creates them. Mainly a combination of street style and travel photography

I want to capture life, emotion that I see, I not trying to explore my inner self and lay it bare for the world to see in my photographs.

And there of course nothing wrong with setting to capture beauty in a photograph that is why we take certain styles of pictures. However, there is a fine line before this falls into the banal for example when photographers only every photography pretty girls.

This again was a recommendation from my tutor and this is wonderful book which simplifies, shortens and summaries key works of photographic theory which can be notoriously impenetrable for the inexperienced student. e.g. Susan Sontags On Photography, Barthes Camera Lucida and John Bergers. Ways of Seeing.

I have used the booked as a reference tool dippingin and out where need to expand on my thinking and understanding on on topic and assignments.  

The book doesn’t appear to editorialise or push opinion just guides the reader to a better understanding on the cannonical texts it explains.

This book was a recommendation from my tutor Robert Enoch as it gives a good through introduction to the major concepts in modern photography theory – hence its title.

Not necessarily the easiest book to read in parts, in general its tone is accessible to the reader drawing them in and encouraging further research.

There is a clear contents section which breakdown the book allowing it to be used as a reference tool and nor requiring the reader to plough through the whole book on a first sitting for it to be useful. The book is designed as a teaching-learning tool – with a section at the back suggesting essay titles/subjects.

I have the Kindle editions and the annotated notes section is very helpful you can simply click and taken to explanation notes or references. This is the 2nd edition of the book which I believe has refinement from the 1st and I feel again it the follow me through my OCA studies and has the potential to become of the the books on many photography course reading list for many a year to come.

This is a very different book to the other book I have by Ian Jeffery, The Photo Book. Whereas The Photo Book takes you on a whistle-stop tour of the development of photography over the last 150 years by showing the reading iconic and significant photographs taken through that period, whether by recognised photographers or not. Photography: A Concise History takes a more academic route.

In the blurb on the back of the book is described as “explor[ing] the essence of photography both in itself and in relation to other visual art forms, explaining by what criteria we can judge one photograph to be better than another and analysing what makes the photographic recording of images so special.”

This seems to be a fairly accurate description, the book is written in an accessible tone and each chapter can be described as an essay, making it easy to dip into the relevant parts of the book without having to wade through the whole book (if necessary). However, its tone and presentation make it a book you want to sit and read.

Again I feel this is book that will a constant companion throughout my further OCA studies.

Liz Wells is a professor in Photographic Culture and Plymouth University and she has edited together this rather useful volume (now in it’s 5th Edition) which cover several major arrears of photographic theory, with chapters covering:

• Key debates in photographic theory and History
• Documentary photography and journalism
• Personal and popular photography
• Photography and the Human body
• Photography and commodity Culture
• Photography as art

Initially, I tried to sit down and read this from cover to cover but i found that an impossible task as it was not possible to take in everything that it was saying, therefore I use it more as a dip in a out reference volume.

The book is very user friendly with case studies throughout the chapters and has a “How to use this book” followed by detailed chapter summary and the beginning of the book.

I feel this is a reference that will follow me throughout the course of my studies with the OCA and I wish i had had it when I was undertaking EYV a couple of ago.

I have had this book for a good while I think the first Christmas after starting to study with the OCA. I added it blindly to an Amazon or Book Depository Wisj List and I received it as a Christmas gift.

The book presents 67 profiles of photographers, past and present, from Eugene Atget to Jeff Wall. Each photographer gets one small page of two-column text; half-column of biographical data and the remainder of the text page includes an appreciation. Each spread features a photograph by the photographer, and occasionally a couple more pages of photographs. The photographers are arranged in alphabetical order.

Initially, I thought this would be a handy reference tool for looking up (famous) photographers getting a quick overview of their life and style of work to give a jumping off point for further research, which to some degree it is however, it is not without fault.

The alphabetical presentation like with Ian Jeffrey’s The Photo Book is not ideal and the Biographical notes on the Photographers can be a little sketchy at best, it seems a little like a wikipedia cut and paste. Also there are notable absences from the book e.g. Richard Avedon something i noticed when It was the the first book I picked up for my research for my assignment 4 essay.

Overall, a pleasant if not a 100% reliable source.

I

Dear Robert

Thank you for your feedback and annotated essay.

Reading your feedback and comments, I understand your points. This is my first essay reading a photograph, so I was a difficult struggle to mental under what I would be including. A bit like my first attempt in Instruction to Film Culture – I wrote from within and as with that course I will learn how to structure and develop my essays. 1000 isn’t a great deal and in hindsight I have tried to cover too much therefore only touched on some of the points.

With regards to the description of, and comments about punctum I am a little confused. As you say it can be a personal thing what is the punctum of an image. However, this is something, after reading the course notes and the relevant section in Barthes Camera Lucidia, that stood out for me. Made me understand punctum and almost perfectly defined hence why I decided to add it. Not sure why I would be wrong to talk about what I consider to be the punctum of an image – I understand your point not all photographs have punctum and its dangerous to talk about in all images but here there is a something happening that stands it out from a generic fashion image.

I have read the image as we would see it now in 2017, not as it would have been read in 1981. From my research and understanding yes, the image was taken as part of a Vogue fashion shoot, but wasn’t set up by an art director. The shoot was fairly standard fashion shot nothing earth-shattering. Polly Mellon (Vogue Fashion Editor) asked Kinski if there was anything, she would like to which she answered I like snakes. A python was fetched, and the shot was taken impromptu – the suggestion of nude came from Avedon. (In answer to you comment on the bracelet – Polly Mellon regret having her wear it too).

There is a sexual, even phallic feel to the picture, you are correct that she aware of her sexuality, but we are now aware from interviews Kinski suffered low self-esteem stemming from abandonment from her father, leading to appear nude in films from a very young age and rumour about her relationships with directors. I wasn’t trying to be pretentious with the comments around her career, moreover, when viewed in hindsight, there is a strength in that sexuality that was not obvious at the time – that she is not scared or interested in the temptation the film world was throwing at her. It seems now a much stronger image just a generic sexy poster to but on a wall.

However, I will take your points on board an assess and structure the essay to get a more as you suggest stream-lined essay.

With regards to the coursework particularly the reading of the Breitling advert – yes, I was aware of the manipulation, but I don’t seem to have found that word when I was writing it. Everything you have commented it what I thought, hence why I read your comments I was a little upset until I revisited my blog post and I have just skirt and touch on the ideas on expressed them fully. Again, I will redress that more my own learning and development.

a4 highlighted feedback A4 Tutor Annotated 

Wish we luck with the restructure and rework

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills

When I am taking photographs I am often pre-occupied on getting the basic technical elements in place and I neglect the artist side of the work. With this assignment, I have allowed myself to experiment with found images which at the being of the course and EYV I think I was fairly dismissive of as an art form. Why this should be the case when I have always admired the Campbell Soups and Marylin Monroe pictures by Andy Warhol which are essentially found images.

The reason for the found imagery is an am very uncomfortable in my own skin around my own appearance I hate being photographs, I look in the mirror and start to see my Grandma especially as I’m getting older. Combine this with lifelong low self-esteem, it didn’t bode well for a project of “putting myself in the picture”.

Of the photographers, I have studied for this module I was most moved and inspired Elina Brotherus Annunciation and Nigel Shaftons Washing Up.

When I look at Annunciation I can feel the sadness, isolation, loneliness desperation that she is feeling going through with the IVF treatment. It very brave to record that is such a public way I have known friends that went through it and for them it was a very private affair because once it did come attention of family and friends the stress level intensified. I am not comfortable in myself to be able to replicate Brotherus’ but I took inspiration on how to illustrate the isolation.

Shafton’s self-absented portraiture plays to me, being able to illustrate myself with having to deal with physical insecurities.

So reflecting on my normal pursuit of the technical, and inability to deal with my own image – need to found an outlet for combining them. After deciding that “found Imagery” of me and Anastasya was the way to go – because these are images I am happy with I am relaxed and had time to process them. I Initially I juggled with the idea of joiner similar to the joiner portraits of David Hockney. This did not work as they can’t be done successfully retrospectively – not about just cutting things up.

The next experiment “mosaic” imagery using photoshop to add a pattern over an image – this worked and my initial idea was a favourite sentiment image covered into this style but after butting to the side for few weeks for reflection I felt it did tell a story to the viewer/reader.

I feel my final selection of images – self-portraits which almost all avoid showing me completly work to convey to isolation I feel from my partner while living with a long distance relationship

 Quality of outcome

The images are not the pin sharp images I’m used to presenting however, they are not poorly executed, they are the product of time and experimentation with photoshop to get the right tome and feeling. I feel the images express what I am trying to say although perhaps there needs an element of time added to show that isolation is compounded by time

Demonstration of creativity

This is a leap outside of my comfort zone this for me I not sure how the assessors will feel, has been a change in direction. I have not been taking photographs. I have been making art using my camera. I’m not very good a reflecting on myself or my work but this has felt different, They are not great art I doubt I’ll be receiving an invite from the Tate  Modern, but I feel I have created something not just captured it.