Note for Assessors (Final Blog Post)

•              This blog is my logbook for the OCA Photography 3 course: “Your Own Portfolio”.

• It is indexed on the right hand side to provide easy access to posts on assignment work, exhibition visits etc.

• Tutor reports are not available, but have been included with my paper submission.

• Image files are not included. Prints of images have been provided alongside my paper submission.

• This is the last post for my blog: no further posts will be added prior to assessment.

Following assessment the blog will be closed down.

Final Thoughts

During the two years that I have been working on the “Your Own Portfolio” course my thoughts and views on the theory and practice of photographic art have changed considerably.

In particular, I have spent the entire course trying to merge my strong interest in the genre of wildlife / natural history photography with the demands of a practice in photographic fine art. This has proved to be very difficult. I have come to the conclusion that overlap occurs only in the field of documentary photography and photojournalism, where the impact of our society on wildlife (and vice versa) is portrayed. The works of Beltrá and Stirton (see my critical essay) are good examples of this.

Research, in the form of reading and multiple exhibition visits, has given me a much better understanding of how projects in the field of photographic fine art are conceived, developed and completed. Taking out a subscription for the “British Journal of Photography” has helped enormously in this regard, even if the content of much of the work described therein is of little general or photographic interest to me.

Working on a portfolio of images has caused me to finally move away from the idea that the purpose of a “good” photograph is to have aesthetic appeal, even if this is still an important requirement. Instead I am starting to look at themes and links between photographs as part of my work.

Instead of going out to take individual photographs I am now looking at creating photographic projects, with themes and subjects that are of interest to me.

I have invested in better equipment and will continue to upgrade, in order to be able to handle difficult photographic conditions better and to produce better results.

I have been helped by having a patient and understanding tutor, who has also provided much constructive criticism!

I feel more confident now than I did at the start of the course that I can make further progress as an active photographer, particularly in the documentary field.

I am still fighting, eight years on and into my sixties, to get that photography degree. One more course (hopefully) to go!

Final Reflections on the Major Project and YOP Course Work (18 September 2015)

It has taken me two years and, I estimate, around 1000 hours of study to complete the “Your Own Portfolio” course. Why have I taken so long and has the extra time (600 hours recommended) and effort been worthwhile? To answer these questions I need to look at how I navigated the course, review my mistakes and failings and consider what I have learnt.

In contrast to the level 1 and level 2 courses, where projects are largely imposed, the level 3 courses offer the photography student far greater freedom to explore their own photography-related ideas and concepts and to work in genres that particularly hold their interest. My major interest lies in the field of wildlife (particularly birds) and the environment and, away from my studies, photographing wildlife has for many years provided a major part of my photographic output. Having been somewhat frustrated by the very limited opportunity to incorporate wildlife footage into my earlier course work I was keen to select a wildlife-related topic for the major project. Encouraged by my tutor (who also has an interest in wildlife) I chose to look at man’s interactions with wild birds through the process of feeding them, and this formed the basis of my major project proposal, which is summarised below:

“My intention for the Major Project is to produce a portfolio of photographic images that both illustrate some of the many different ways in which we feed wild birds in Britain and explore the reasons for our actions. Our roles, both as individuals and within groups such as charitable organisations and businesses, will be covered. Crucially, the content of the images will be used to encourage consideration of both the motivation behind our desire to feed wild birds and the benefits that this action provides for the birds and, in particular, for us.”

The images produced would cover the genres of wildlife and (particularly) documentary photography and, after discussing the plans with my tutor, it was agreed that all my other assignment work (Assignments 1-3) would be used as preparation for the major project work.

During my first year of study, various factors influenced and changed my thoughts and project plans.

Firstly, I took out a subscription to the “British Journal of Photography” (BJP), the leading UK magazine that addresses the subject of contemporary photographic art. I also visited many more exhibitions of photographic art, both by leading practitioners and by final year photographic art students, than I had previously done. Through these media outlets I have developed a much greater understanding of how photographers in the art world create, develop and complete projects. I cannot pretend that I was inspired by most of the work that I saw; indeed, the motivation behind a lot of the work seemed rather obscure, but by the time I entered my second year of study I had a much clearer view of what was expected of me, as an art student.

Secondly, I started to feel uncomfortable about limiting my major project to covering what wild birds can do for us, even though my images of people feeding birds could provide a consistent set, with a clear visual link. A high percentage of photographic art focuses on people and I feel that we are becoming so obsessed with ourselves that we have forgotten that we are supposed to share the world with other life forms. I decided that I wanted to broaden the project to cover not just what wild birds do for us (and feeding wild birds is essentially for human gratification, as I hope my images in the first section of the project will demonstrate) but also what we do, both directly and indirectly, for wild birds. In this way I would be able to introduce the environmental issues that I feel so strongly about.

Initially I chose to integrate the images by alternating the photographs of people feeding birds with the much wider-ranging set of images (wildlife, landscape and/or documentary genres) relating to “what we do for wild birds”, which covered habitat loss and creation among other things. Whilst this ordering of images (which I used to produce a story board for Assignment 4) worked for me my tutor found it confusing and, after a discussion, we decided that I would split the major project work into two sections: “what birds do for us” (feeding the birds)- and “what we do for wild birds” (environmental issues). Furthermore, it was agreed that I should produce a multimedia (images, video and sound) presentation that would complement my image portfolio, both by providing a link between the two sections and by providing an overview of the project rationale. I decided that the photo book, which I had always planned to produce, would be a more rounded and balanced view of aspects of our relationship with wild birds than the multimedia presentation, which would be somewhat more subjective.

The work was completed according to the revised plan. On the negative side, changing direction and expanding the subject area cost me a lot of time and resulted in the production of an image portfolio that cannot readily be interpreted without the aid of the multimedia presentation. On the positive side, producing the multimedia presentation allowed me to acquire new skills in the use of video and sound which, in combination with my images, will be harnessed for future work. Furthermore, adding the second section has given me the opportunity to present photographic work on a subject that I feel passionate about: I was highly motivated to do this, which must be an advantage. The photo book, which is essentially a brief overview of the relationship between people and wild birds in the UK, is a permanent record of my course work.

I am happy to have been given the freedom to combine my keen interest in wildlife and the environment with my photographic output for this course. However, because of this I have found some difficulty in sticking to the remit of the major project, and I believe that I’ve taken the somewhat tenuous link between wildlife photography and photographic art (see my critical essay) as far as I can and as far as I want to go. In the future I plan to choose projects that develop other areas of photographic interest and provide more uniform, yet distinctive portfolios of images.

Final Status Report 8 September 2015

My portfolio of 22 images for the major project has now been printed, to A3 size, on Fuji “C-type” archival print paper. I sent five images each to two separate printers and compared the results. The prints that I obtained from “The Print Space”, a London printer, were both marginally sharper and also lighter in tone than those I received from the second printer, so I went with them. Although “The Print Space” offers a mail order service I chose to download the images on their premises, and return to pick up the prints a few hours later. In total, I spent over £300 on the prints and, when added to the cost of the portfolio box, storage sleeves and the cost of producing two photo books, this brings my total printing expenses in line with the original projected expenses of £450.

All that remains is for me to assemble and index my assignment files, tutor reports and logbook for submission both on disc and as hard copy, together with my prints (assignment prints other than those for the portfolio will be submitted at A4 size), my multimedia presentation and a copy of my photo book. I will update my blog with final thoughts and, as there is a large amount of material to be examined and I am aware that the assessors have limited time to look at each student’s work, I will also provide a concise explanatory note for the assessors, both on my blog (which acts as a primary source for the logbook) and in the hard copy presentation. All this will take time, but I intend to have the submission ready for handing in at the OCA offices on or around 23 September.

Costa Rica: A Photographer's View

In August 2014 I spent a fortnight in Costa Rica with my partner Helen, as part of a group on an organised “Exodus” trip. Costa Rica is very much a place to visit for tourists interested in its incredibly rich and diverse wildlife and environment, although it also offers excellent surfing and sun-soaked Pacific beaches. However, as befits a country with tropical rain forests the weather can be extremely wet! Whilst I was strictly on holiday I did, of course, record (where possible) the wildlife that we saw and, in the light of the “why feed the birds” subject of my major project, I was particularly interested in recording the Costa Ricans’ use of bird feeders to attract (mainly, but not exclusively) hummingbirds. During our fortnight I took 3300 photographs, ultimately keeping around 1000 as a photographic record of our visit. The following is a very brief commentary on our adventures.

Red-eyed Tree Frog, Manuel Antonio NP

The People

I’ve never been to an “exotic” country before where the people treated me as “part of the scenery”. They are not rude (quite the opposite), but they are presumably so used to seeing tourists that we don’t register as being unusual in any way. This was quite a revelation on the holiday. I also felt completely safe everywhere I went, although there is a small amount of petty crime at some of the major destinations. The Costa Ricans are clearly peace-loving people (they don’t have an army and have largely escaped the [civil] wars, which have recently affected some of their neighbours, unscathed).

The Landscape

Costa Rica has volcanoes and mountains reaching almost 4000 metres. But it also borders both the Caribbean and the Pacific oceans. The high rainfall (particularly in the east and in the mountain regions) produces lush vegetation (no deserts here!), which carpets large tracts of land and virtually all the mountain regions. As a consequence the landscape can start to look rather “samey” after a while: there are few exposed rocks or lone trees. This is not ideal habitat for landscape photographers! Upland areas are often hidden in a layer of cloud or mist, which can produce some atmospheric effects if you are happy to put up with a visibility of 10 – 50 metres. The limited numbers of landscape scenes that I photographed whilst in Costa Rica were mainly produced as representative images of what it was like to be there, rather than for their artistic or aesthetic qualities.

The Wildlife

Now you’re talking! Costa Rica has an incredibly rich, diverse and (importantly) colourful wildlife. It is possible to get close to monkeys, sloths, birds, snakes, frogs, spiders, crabs, butterflies and dragonflies. Not to mention all the orchids and other plant life. You name it, Costa Rica has it! With the exception of its secretive “big cats” (Puma, Ocelot and Jaguar), it is possible to find and take decent photographs of pretty much anything. The diversity of species reflects the diversity of habitats, so animals that are common at sea level may not occur up in the mountains and vice-versa.

Male Resplendent Quetzel, Savegre NP

So is Costa Rica the wildlife photographer’s dream? Well, not completely. For a start it rains heavily throughout the year and particularly in the summer and early autumn months (i.e. when we visited!). This causes problems with water getting into the camera lens (as happened to me on more than one occasion) and steaming up: good waterproofing of your equipment is strongly recommended! Also, much of the wildlife is found in and around forested areas, which are shady at the best of times and particularly when the weather is overcast and/or wet. Consequently you have to rely on the subject being static or, if it is moving, using a high to very high ISO setting (say 1000+) to capture the action without blurring. I mainly used my Nikon D7000 camera in these conditions. The camera has many qualities, but does exhibit some graininess at higher ISO settings. Images would not print up well under these circumstances.

A second problem was evident when we made a nocturnal visit to watch green turtles laying eggs on a Caribbean beach at Tortuguero. Strictly no photography! This rule was essential, because taking photographs may disturb the turtles and cause them to abort laying, but watching the huge female turtles emerging from the sea, digging holes, laying eggs and then covering them with sand was an amazing “once in a lifetime” experience, which would have produced a dream photographic sequence….

The Hummingbirds

During the first part of the holiday hummingbirds were in short supply. However, we had the opportunity in Monteverde National Park to visit a “hummingbird garden”, equipped with sugar feeders, where several species of hummingbird were zooming around, sometimes within a few inches of our faces. What an amazing experience, and definitely one of the highlights of the trip! However, we only had limited time and the light was very poor (overcast with light rain in a forest clearing), so I had to settle for some static images of various species, taken at high ISO values. Fortunately the final lodge we visited, in Savegre National Park, had several (mainly hummingbird) feeders and attracted good numbers of three main montane species (we were situated at 2200 metres altitude). The staff had gone to some lengths to provide natural perches for the hummingbirds and I was finally able, on the penultimate day of the holiday, to get some decent photographs of the hummingbirds at rest. The commonest (and most photogenic) species was the Green Violet-ear: I took over 100 photographs of this bird, one of which is shown below.

Magnificent Hummingbird at Feeder, Savegre NP

Green Violet-ear Hummingbird, Savegre NP

Photographing the hummingbirds hovering and feeding on nectar proved challenging, even though they kept their bodies still during the process. My favourite portraits were all of static birds.

Do the hummingbird feeding stations in Costa Rica provide any insights for my project work? The feeders are easy to set up and common throughout the Americas, obviously benefit the birds and provide pleasure for tourists and locals alike. Monitoring birds coming to feeders provides useful information for conservationists and there is commercial gain for the manufacturers and lodge/hotel owners (the latter would attract fewer visitors if they did not provide feeders in areas where hummingbirds are common). The provision of “natural” perching posts close to the feeders encourages wildlife photographers. Unfortunately we don’t have hummingbirds in the UK, but many of the reasons for feeding the birds in Costa Rica are equivalent to our own reasons. Perhaps the biggest gain of all would be the personal pleasure gained by the private home owner or tenant, in the UK or overseas, who can get close to the birds and enjoy watching their activity by providing them with the food that they need.

Status Report 24 August 2015: Major Project Update and Preparation for Assessment

With submission for assessment due in the second half of September and holidays having taken up most of the second half of July and the first half of August I have now entered a frenetic period of activity in order to complete the course work in time.

·         Following on from my tutor’s comments and my own observations I have produced a revised photo book (see below). No further work will be carried out in this area.

·         I have made a final decision on which images/prints to submit for my major project portfolio and am getting some “trial” exhibition prints produced by two companies (see below).

·         Following on from the changes to my portfolio images I have made some minor changes to the multimedia presentation, which is now complete and ready for submission.

Photo Book

My tutor kindly offered to comment on the first draft of my photo book. His very helpful suggestions, which related both to the design of the book and to the image content, combined with my own reflections on having received the book from the printers (“Blurb”), encouraged me to make revisions to the style and content of the book. One or two of the images were not “up to scratch” and this allowed me to make a final choice regarding which images/prints to include in my final portfolio.

Having made modifications to the text and images, a revised photo book was printed by “Blurb”: the front cover is reproduced below.

Front cover of my revised photo book (against a black background)

All the portfolio images are incorporated into the book in (7x5) landscape format and a few additional images use this format too. The result is a rather orthodox and clinical feel to the book’s design. However, I wanted to show consistency in the different sections of the submission (images/prints, multimedia, photo book). One “letterbox” and one square format image are included in the book: neither of these is included in the portfolio. I’m happy now that the photo book represents a fair overview of my project work which, in conjunction with the multimedia presentation, will provide necessary insight into why and how I carried out the project. The photo book will be submitted for assessment without further modification and I will purchase further copies for personal use and possibly to accompany a future exhibition.

Portfolio Images and Prints

I finished practical work in July. All the portfolio images for section 1 had been chosen by then, as had most of the images for section 2. I had hoped to complete the portfolio with a strong image of a bird in natural habitat, (such as a reed bed) on a nature reserve. Unfortunately, for various reasons, a suitable image could not be produced or reproduced. This necessitated a slight re-ordering of the final few images and the inclusion of a photograph of wild swans being fed at Welney Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve. These changes are reflected in the second photo book. One advantage of using the Welney image is that it provides a link between the two sections of the portfolio and reinforces the direct connection between people and birds that was evident in the first section.

I spent a lot of time researching how to go about producing a print portfolio. This involved producing A4 prints of a variety of my images on standard matt and glossy and “fine art” A4 papers, using my own printer. My tutor had a look at some of these prints. It became clear that, for the subject matter involved, using specialised fine art paper would not offer a significant advantage over “standard” archival print paper. Indeed, some of the best results on my (Epson) printer were achieved using “Permajet” inkjet gloss (271gsm) (this is my favoured combination for competition prints). After further research I chose to have the portfolio images printed on C-type gloss archival paper, costing about £10.00 per print. At the time of writing I am getting a small selection of prints produced by two separate companies. Assuming that the results are satisfactory I will choose one company to print the remaining images in early September.

Multimedia Presentation

I have made slight changes to the multimedia presentation, in order to incorporate the final portfolio image set. The videos and accompanying sound remain unaltered. My only remaining challenge here will be to ensure that the 238Mb presentation copies satisfactorily to disc, so that the assessors can watch it! A screen grab of the opening slide from the presentation is shown below.

Multimedia Presentation: Opening Slide

Future Work

I have updated my logbook/blog with details of exhibition reviews, status reports etc. and plan no further work here. In addition to putting my print portfolio together I will write two more blog posts / logbook entries, one describing how the major project has developed and changed since its inception and the second discussing what I have learnt during the two years that I have been working on the course. Finally comes all the indexing and organising that occurs with every assessment submission……

Exhibition Visit: Two Exhibitions in Cornwall

Having a partner who is an art student and exhibition addict, it is hard to get away from art galleries, wherever in the world we may be. A week’s holiday in St Ives inevitably involved a visit to the Tate gallery there and another rainy day later in the week prompted a visit to the Newlyn art gallery. Both held exhibitions of interest, which are briefly commented upon here.

“Images Moving Out onto Space” (Tate St Ives)

This exhibition featured art works that relied upon movement to produce their effect. Old and new works by almost 20 artists were featured, with a series of kinetic sculptures from the 1960s by Cornish artist Bryan Wynter (example: Image 1) lending the exhibition its name. Wynter’s sculptures involved placing rotating mobiles in front of a refracting lens to achieve a pleasing, constantly-changing abstract effect. Sadly, Wynter died before he could fully realize his concept.

     Image 1: “Imoos 6” (Bryan Wynter)  

 Elsewhere, the gallery featured abstract, minimalist and kinetic works of art by (mainly) living artists. I was particularly taken with Liliane Lijn’s rotating conical structures, which are wrapped in enamelled copper wire to produce constantly changing lines of reflected light (see Image 2). As far as I could see not every work of art moved, but the exhibition did raise the question of whether it would be possible to produce a kinetic work of art involving moving photographic prints (as opposed to the obvious example of the moving image) and, if so, how? Photographs depicting change were part of the exhibition (along with several typical works by Bridget O’Reilly), but they didn’t move!

Overall, this was a thought-provoking and appealing exhibition.

Image 2: “Red Line Koan” (Liliane Lijn)

Exhibition Review: “In Search of the Miraculous” (Newlyn Art Gallery)

The exhibition was inspired by the life of artist Bas Jan Ader, who set sail alone in July 1975 from Massachusetts to cross the Atlantic to Falmouth in Cornwall. He was lost at sea and never seen again.

The exhibition features grand concepts and designs, mainly involving video work, by an international group of artists. In common with Jan Ader, many of the artists have embarked on journeys in pursuit of new experiences and recorded these journeys for the viewer. For example, at the start of the exhibition we see a looped 10 minute video of artist Guido van der Werve, walking across sea ice in Northern Finland, followed by an icebreaker (Image 3). The video is trance-like in its monotony, but somehow manages to convey a grand picture of cold Arctic scenery.

Image 3: “Everything is going to be Alright”, Guido van der Werve

As I live within a few hundred metres of the Greenwich meridian line I was interested to see Simon Faithfull’s video of his journey along the meridian line from Peacehaven in Sussex (where he walks out of the sea) to Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire (where he returns to the sea). In between we see him using ladders to climb over hedges and walk through peoples’ gardens as he attempts to keep exactly to the meridian line. Did he really follow the meridian line so exactly? I have my doubts, but Faithfull’s work is certainly a classic example of a grand concept put into practice. The depiction of artists’ journeys, using a variety of art forms, is becoming more and more popular. As a keen walker myself, who is also becoming more interested in video art, here is an area that I can consider developing as part of my own practice.

Other videos in the exhibition featured an Icelandic trawler going round and round in circles, creating a circular vortex of water, and a work called “blind date”, in which a blindfolded Mat Collishaw  travels to The Prado in Madrid to view (blindfold removed) Velasquez’ classic painting conundrum, “Las Meninas”.

Final Thoughts

Both exhibitions feature classic, concept-driven works of art. Whilst the exhibits at Tate St Ives are material they are also changing. At Newlyn the art is largely ethereal, representing (artistic and/or real) journeys, often on a grand scale. Here is “art for art’s sake”, a pure representation of artists’ pursuits of new experiences.

Exhibition Visit: "Environmental Photographer of the Year" (Royal Geographical Society, London, 4 July 2015)

This exhibition featured the shortlisted photographs from the 10.000 images submitted for the 2015 Atkins CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year competition. The competition encourages participants from around the world to “share their images of environmental issues to encourage our awareness and understanding of the causes, consequences and solutions to climate change and social inequality”. Whilst largely concentrating on human issues, such as poverty, culture, population growth and human rights, environmental issues such as biodiversity were also covered.

My interest in this competition was threefold: to observe how winning entrants in the portfolio competitions presented their selections of photographs, to understand better how some of the drier subject areas could be given aesthetic photographic appeal and to study how photographers dealt with wildlife-related issues such as biodiversity (a subject of particular interest to me).

The exhibition was visually stunning: beautiful photographs highlighting important environmental issues. Most of the portfolios, in particular, had been taken by professional photo-journalists. I envied them their opportunities to travel to spectacular places in order to highlight important environmental issues. Having said that, having recently returned from Vietnam with around 2500 images I have nothing that remotely compares with Ly Hoang Long’s beautiful night-time image of fishing net checking there (Image 1)!

Image 1 (Ly Hoang Long)

Some familiar themes were highlighted, such as the growing accumulation of (mainly) plastic waste in our oceans and on land and the shortage of (clean) water in many parts of the world. Burtynsky’s epic photographs of the massive ship-breaking yards in Bangladesh have encouraged many other photographers to visit the Chittagong area and some beautiful images have emerged, with Michael Blach’s photograph (Image 2) being my favourite from the exhibition. Work in these yards is fraught with danger and many deaths have resulted: Bangladesh appears to be one of very few countries that are prepared to take on the task of breaking up massive container vessels and dealing (or not) with the resultant environmental legacy.

Image 2 (Michael Blach)

The exhibition was quite small and easy to negotiate in under an hour. It was also very popular: when we visited (admittedly on a Saturday), the crowds were such that it was difficult to get close enough to the photographs to read the accompanying texts or fully appreciate their impacts.

The photographs in this exhibition resemble those one might expect to find in an issue of “National Geographic” magazine. They are beautiful to look at, as well as highlighting the many environmental problems that the planet and its people face. But will they have any impact on dealing with those problems, and does this matter for a visual arts exhibition? These are the issues that I find hard to come to terms with. As a former scientist I have spent much of my life tackling problems and trying (usually unsuccessfully) to come up with solutions in order to make the world a better place. Using photography as a documentary tool to record and highlight social and environmental issues is an area that I am particularly interested in and to see how other photographers have managed this in a creative and aesthetically pleasing manner is inspirational. However, do these images represent photographic art? The photographs of Daniel Beltra, discussed in my critical essay, occupy the same area of documentary / photojournalism. Beltra is a photojournalist (or so I’m told) and his work is commission- rather than concept-driven.  Nevertheless I would argue that he and many of the photographers whose works feature in this exhibition are artists and that their work holds far more relevance for us in our daily lives than does that of photographers whose work is entirely concept-driven.

Exhibition Visit: "Fresh-faced and Wild Eyed" (The Photographers' Gallery, London, 4 July 2015)

This exhibition, now in its 8^th year, presents the work of 25 recent graduates from photographic and visual arts courses across the UK, showcasing the best emerging artistic talent. The works were selected by a panel of judges. As such, it presents an overview of current practices and gives a boost to talented recent graduates at a critical time in their careers.

As a potential graduate from a visual arts course, the concepts and ideas behind emerging graduates’ work was of particular interest to me, as was the way in which these ideas had been exploited.

Looking round the exhibition, a few obvious themes emerged. Most of the works were (loosely) portrait based, with images of (male and female) naked bodies to the fore. Whilst the aesthetics and story lines behind the works were very varied, it seems that many students prefer to stick with the type of photography with which they are most familiar, namely taking photographs of themselves and others.

I was impressed with the globe-trotting capacities of the graduate photographers. Jonathon Simpson (“I am Fine”) spent time travelling between Bangladesh and Singapore delivering video messages of love and support between Bangladeshi workers in Singapore and their families, in order to investigate the exploitation of Singapore’s migrant workers. Betty Laura Zapata ("X-Ray, Inside Venezuelan Public Hospitals”) returned to her home country to work undercover to expose the appalling state of healthcare facilities in Venezuela. James Bell (“Beach Boys”) managed to wangle time in Barbados to portray members of the local community who are dependent on the tourist trade.

Intermingled with more hedonistic pursuits, one or two projects were of a distinctly personal nature. Sian Davey’s project, “Looking for Alice”, features her own young daughter, who was born with Down’s syndrome, and reflects on how Alice’s disability influences family relationships, whilst also examining prevailing attitudes in society towards “difference”. However, the work that had the greatest effect on me featured very little photography. Aida Silvestri’s work, “Even This Will Pass”, features a small number of portraits of Eritrean sitters, blurred to protect their identities, together with passages of text describing their dreadful and traumatic experiences on journeys to this country, as victims of human trafficking. At a time when many thousands of migrants are attempting to enter our country illegally, this project is a timely reminder of the other side of the story. We should also appreciate how lucky we are to live here, when we compare our lifestyles to those of others around the world. Silvestri was born in Eritrea. Her work reminds me that when a project revolves around a concept as powerful as this, photography becomes just a simple tool to assist the narrative.

Some of the projects were video-based. I was particularly impressed by the short film from Alexandra Vacaroiu’s project: “I Want to Remember Everyth”, in which she attempts to recreate memories that were never photographed. Her work concentrates on objects that trigger specific memories and its potential benefit for patients living with Alzheimer’s disease is explored. Here is a creative and imaginative project, with an aesthetically pleasing output and a worthy goal: what more could one ask for?

The creative energy and output of these graduates is to be admired. As expected, many of the works were of little interest to me in my perpetual search for ideas and inspiration. However, some of the works (in particular that by Aida Silvestri) were quite moving and demonstrate that sometimes the photographs themselves can play a relatively minor role as part of a bigger concept (a reminder of the work of Sophie Calle).

In looking to the future Sian Davey’s work reinforces my wish to develop a very personal photographic project relating to the relationship with my mother between 1995 (when my father died) and 2007, when my mother passed away.

The increasing use of video by the students encourages me to incorporate more video work into future projects, following its introductory use in my major project for this course.

A Photo Book.......at Last!

At long last I've produced a Photo Book, which is intended to compliment the images and prints for my major project portfolio, using explanatory text to place the images in context. Without the multimedia presentation and this photo book, I have to accept that the assessors might struggle to find a link between the images in the first section (people feeding birds) and the second section, where a mixture of wildlife and documentary genres are used to discuss environmental issues. The photo book will, of course, also be a lasting record of the year that I spent working on the project and who knows? I may even sell a few copies in due course.

A page from my first photo book

I found the production of the book relatively easy. The time-consuming step was preparing the text and images in a Word document, ready for transfer. Using the Blurb interface it took me a morning to download and work out how to use the "Bookwright" software, upload my text and images and then send the resultant file off for printing. I made a few mistakes along the way, most obviously not filling all the space on the front cover with my chosen image, but I was reasonably satisfied with the outcome.

The book arrived after about 10 days. Some of the images had printed rather dark and I noticed one or two defects in the images that had been missed when I looked at the corresponding prints. One image, which was additional to the portfolio images (all of which were included in the book) hadn't printed at all well and was clearly unsuitable for publication. However, overall I was satisfied with the outcome.

My tutor had kindly agreed to look at the book and came up with several suggestions for improvements, mostly to do with the design of the book. He also recommended changing the front cover image. After 35 years of writing science reports my writing style lacks a certain flair and my lack of subjectivity and anecdote in the text was also noted. The visual impact of the text was described as "rather childlike".

My tutor's comments were very helpful. I have spent the last couple of days revising the photo book, replacing some images, removing others and adding a couple of new ones. I have cut down significantly on the amount of text, but I'm afraid that my objective, scientific style of writing will not change overnight - however, I hope that my passion for wildlife and the environment shines through in the text. I will upload the text and images shortly, make many of the recommended changes to the design of the book and send the resultant file off for the printing of my second (and last, for this project) photo book.

Revising the photo book and looking at potential replacement images allowed me to make a final decision regarding which images and prints to include in my final "assessment" portfolio. I had hoped to get the opportunity to photograph Cornwall's very aggressive herring gulls on a recent holiday in St Ives, but on the only day that I would have had any free time (it was a family holiday!) I was ill. Now I am out of time for practical photography and I will use the remaining weeks (when not on holiday) to prepare for assessment submission in September. 

Story Board for Assignment 5

I have produced story boards for the two sets of images (12 each) that I submitted for Assignment 5. The first story board, for section 1 ("what wild birds do for us: feeding the birds") of the Major Project, is shown below.

Following my tutor's suggestion I will remove Image 7 (too similar to Image 6) from the final portfolio. I will not actively seek replacements for any of the other images, which I am reasonably happy with, but will replace one or more if, by chance, I am able to photograph something "better" or more relevant. It should be noted that the ages of the participants in this story board increase steadily in going from Image 1 to Image 10, which is why the images have been placed in this order.

The images for the second story board, for section 2 ("what we do for wild birds") of the Major Project, is shown below.

The images in this section are more varied and highlight the direct and indirect effects of man's actions on our wild birds. There is an environmental message behind these images and it will be necessary to view the multimedia presentation and/or read the accompanying photo book to appreciate fully the story and message that the the images in this section convey. I am committed to replacing Images 22 and 24, which lack the quality necessary for the portfolio (see my last update) and will remove Image 18, following my tutor's advice. It is possible that I will replace one or two of the other, later images before finalising the portfolio by the middle of July 2015.

Assignment 5: Tutor Feedback on Major Project Work and Future Plans

My tutor’s response to my submission for Assignment 5 was largely positive and I feel that I am finally on the right track, with not too much work left to do before submission for assessment in September 2015.

Image / print portfolio.

By splitting the portfolio images into two sections, relating to “what wild birds do for us” and “what we do for wild birds” I have produced a portfolio that “now has a more editorial feel to it. You are observing, categorising and capturing the responses of individuals or the content and atmosphere of various scenes with a view to explaining how it fits in the grand scheme of our relationship with birds”.

He commented on the new images that I had produced since my submission for Assignment 4, noting that (new) image 6 was very similar in content to (old) image 7 (robins and starlings feeding from the hand, respectively): do I need both? This is a fair point: I will remove image 7 from the portfolio, whilst retaining it in both the book and multimedia presentations for the assessment submission (see below).

He noted that image 18 (bird food, feeders etc. in a shop) had “not got anything of the editorial about it”. I half expected this response: the image is very different from the others in the portfolio, although the point of including it is that it provides a clear link between the building of new housing estates and the use of bird food, nesting boxes etc. in the gardens of our (new) houses. Nevertheless I will remove this image from the portfolio (making two sets of 11 images/prints), whilst retaining it in the book and multimedia presentations.

There were quality problems with images 22 (peregrine falcon on cathedral spire: bird too small in the frame) and 24 (bittern: lacks sharpness as an A4 print and unsuitable for A3). I had only chosen these subjects a few weeks earlier and had hoped to have produced better images in time for submission of the assignment work: I was aware of their shortcomings. Both will be replaced, along (potentially) with one or two of the other, later images, with “better” photographs showing similar content, for the portfolio, multimedia and book presentations.

Multimedia

My tutor commented that “this is a strong part of your final submission” and that although “the presentation isn’t slick and quick” it “has got insight and substance”. Also, “it does show the depth of your feeling regarding the environment and the subject which you have treated with respect and a good level of subject knowledge and technical expertise shows through”. He noted that “one or two of the images need a little sharpening”. This may be because I reduced the sizes of the images somewhat in order to reduce the overall size of the multimedia presentation (which was still a hefty 312Mb). In future I will use full size JPEG images for the multimedia.

Book

My tutor noted that “the addition of a book will form a strong circle of presentation for you with this set of work”, but warned that its aesthetic presentation (use of facing pages, white space, text etc.) should add to the images in an accountable way. Also, “…we can look at a page for as long as we wish to so stronger images are better”. The images in the multimedia “may form more of a narrative when used in bursts, as opposed to dwelling [on them] so the formats are not the same”.

Learning Log

My tutor commented that “the learning log [my blog] is well kept and supportive of the development of the project”. However, I should continue to maintain it noting the additions / recommended inclusions that he had mentioned, relating to the major project.

Future Plans

Portfolio Images

My work on the first section of the portfolio (images 1-12, or 1-11 as they will become) is essentially complete, as is my work on the first half of the second section (images 13-19, or 12-17 as they will become after I remove current images 7 and 18 from the Assignment 5 portfolio). I am still looking for stronger images to complete the portfolio – in particular, I must replace images 22 and 24 and the main focus of my work in the next few weeks will be to finalise the image portfolio by getting out and about on the streets. If I have the good fortune to produce “better” examples to replace earlier images so much the better, but I will not be actively seeking these. I am keen to retain a “peregrine” image in the portfolio set and have decided to wait until urban peregrines have fledged (late June –early July) before looking for a replacement for image 22. The final image portfolio may differ slightly in content from what I currently have: allowances for potential changes have been predicted in the text for my book.

Portfolio Prints

In addition to providing the portfolio as A4 prints on Permajet “glossy” paper, using Epson inks, I sent some A4 examples of images 4 and 20, printed on a variety of Hahnemuhle test papers, to my tutor, asking for comments. Commenting on the print quality, he noted that “the images are printed to a very good quality [on the Permajet paper]. Using standard (Permajet) paper with Epson inks is in no way unacceptable for the finished portfolio should you wish to use it….the images produced on it are “half way house” – they don’t make the bad things worse but, perhaps, they don’t make the good things better”. Commenting on the test images he noted that in general images were better resolved on the Permajet paper, probably because my Epson printer is not set up to get the best out of the Hahnemuhle paper. The bottom line was that the choice of papers is a very personal choice and “…the decision has to be yours at this level”. Given this feedback, I will look at getting one or two images commercially printed at A3 size, using a small selection of “standard” and Hahnemuhle papers, before I make a final choice. I will also check whether Permajet print commercially at A3 size using their own papers (which I like) or whether they supply paper to other commercial printers. This has now become a key element of my work, which I will concentrate on. I will write up progress in my logbook / blog.

Multimedia Presentation

I am reasonably happy with the multimedia presentation as it stands. I will need to replace certain images as the portfolio changes (see above) and I will look to make the overall presentation more crisp and “snappy”, perhaps by replacing, leaving out and/or shortening some of the video clips. I will continue to look to produce instructive video clips for potential use in this presentation. I will put the final presentation together a few weeks before submission.

Book

Whilst noting my tutor’s comments I feel that I am close to getting the desired format and presentation style together for the book. As soon as the image portfolio has been finalised I will get a small “prototype” book produced commercially: my tutor has kindly volunteered to comment on this book. Following acting on his and other peoples’ comments I will produce a final version, for submission for assessment.

Story Board

I will shortly produce a simple story board of Assignment 5 images 1 – 24 for incorporation in my logbook and blog.

Final Comments

The way ahead is now clear. The most urgent need is to finalise the image portfolio, because until I have done this I cannot produce a portfolio book, complete my multimedia presentation or get my portfolio printed to A3 size. I have allowed myself 4 weeks from today (10 June) to do this, following which I will get a prototype photo book produced. Concurrently I will continue to get some A3 test prints produced on various papers and make a decision on which papers to use by the middle of July. Holidays (one week in July, two weeks in August, one week in September) will intervene later, so I will need to get as much work as I can (and all the practical work) completed by the middle of July. Progress updates will be provided in my logbook / blog.

On Influences and Inspiration, Part 2 (May 2015)

Incorporating reviews of the following exhibitions:

“Unofficial War Artist” (Peter Kennard, Imperial War Museum, London)

“Freedom of Assembly” (Theaster Gates, White Cube Gallery, London)

(Both visited on 16 May 2015)

In Part 1 I discussed how I derive inspiration for my photographic work from many different areas of the art world, how the paintings of Salvador Dali have influenced and inspired me far more than the work of any photographer, living or dead, and how the aesthetic appeal (a very subjective value) of any work of art plays a part in influencing my photographic output. I have always struggled to elucidate how the work of artists seen in exhibitions, books and films has influenced my own work or state of mind. This document provides a practical example, concerning a recent visit to two very different exhibitions on the same afternoon, which influenced my thinking and may provide me with material for future photographic work.

“Unofficial War Artist” (Peter Kennard)

Peter Kennard has, for nearly 40 years, been a strong and vocal pacifist voice. His work (Image 1 is a typical example) uses photomontage to denounce war and call for nuclear disarmament. His montages have appeared regularly on banners, fly posters and t-shirts at Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Amnesty International events. Student demonstrations have featured his work, as have many “left of centre” publications, including “The Guardian”.

Image 1: “Protect and Survive” (Peter Kennard)

Kennard’s work could not afford to be too subtle. It had to be consumed and understood by the general public, members of whom could then appreciate and use his art work to express their feelings. The work shown in Image 1 was produced shortly after the British Government’s public information booklet, “Protect and Survive” (1980), suggesting measures to be taken in the event of an imminent nuclear war, had been published. The meaning is obvious. Arguably Kennard’s most famous montage, a “reproduction” of Constable’s “The Hay Wain”, in which the hay has been replaced by cruise missiles (made at the time of the Greenham Common protests) is represented here. Another more recent “Photoshop” montage, in which Tony Blair is taking a “selfie” at the time of the Iraq War, with a background of oil well fireballs and explosions, is not here but can be seen in publicity material about the event. Amongst his most poignant material is the “Decoration” series of mixed media (a mixture of digital printing and oil paint) canvases displaying war medals with frayed ribbons, each “medal” displaying unpalatable aspects of the Iraq war such as the number of kills by an American sniper unit (see Image 2).

Image 2: “Decoration” (Peter Kennard)

I have long held a fascination for photomontage work and Kennard’s is some of the best. His motifs are hard-hitting and, in many cases, imbued with a pleasing aesthetic quality which somehow seems to contradict the dirty businesses of war and the nuclear arms race. Furthermore, he was doing this work long before the advent of digital made it that much easier to manipulate and falsify images. In the final room, Kennard pulls many of his works together with a series of numerical facts (e.g. the explosive power of the nuclear weapons carried on each of the four British Trident submarines is equal to 320 Hiroshima bombs). I congratulate the Imperial War Museum, of all places, on bravely putting on this exhibition of Pacifist art.

Influence and Inspiration

This exhibition was “right up my street” for three reasons. Firstly, I love the idea of producing photo-montage (and photo-collage) work that has intent and purpose. I’ve dabbled in this work in the past and it was a pleasure to see the work of a master craftsman of the genre. Perhaps the art of Peter Kennard will be a significant influence on my work in the future.

Secondly, Kennard’s use of statistics to back up his montages and further demonstrate the futility of war relates to my current major project work and the views I hold about how and why man is damaging the environment. Perhaps he is too forceful, perhaps he is preaching to the converted but the use of statistics to back up his arguments, whilst it may not be art, is certainly effective. The sad fact is that the vast majority of us will agree with his anti-war sentiments, but we can do nothing about it. The few politicians who do have the power to change things may well also agree in private with his sentiments but will also do nothing to change the current status quo, such as unilaterally getting rid of nuclear weapons. The same is true with my views about the environment, but I have a voice and Kennard shows me one way in which I can use it.

Thirdly, Kennard’s work is full of ideas and imagination. I was particularly impressed by his use of a magnifying glass to explore cause (the image in the glass) and effect (the linked image surrounding it) or, as in Image 3, to contrast wealth with poverty (“the richest 85 people in the world own the same amount of wealth as the poorest half of humanity, 3,500,000,000 people). Can I use this type of concept in my future work? I believe that I can.

Image 3 (Peter Kennard)

I found this exhibition to be both influential and inspirational. The very act of writing this review has further cemented the ideas contained within – I hope that I can return to those ideas in the future.

“Freedom of Assembly” (Theaster Gates)

Trained as a potter and an urban planner, Theaster Gates has been making a name for himself on the (poor) south side of Chicago by buying or otherwise procuring abandoned or run-down properties, renovating them and using them as community centres. He uses his art works to fund his projects and has established quite a reputation within the art world.

I was tempted to this exhibition by my partner, for whom Gates’ work holds greater resonance. The new work on display here features sculptures in various media, elements obtained from a hardware store, sections of flooring from a school gymnasium (with a series of markings depicting the various sports that were played on the floor) and a series of tar paintings, using materials that his father would have employed in his job as a roofer, before he retired and handed over his materials to Gates.

I found that Gates’ individual works generally lacked appeal and their combination was somewhat discordant. Some of the tar paintings provided a sombre atmosphere and the sections of gymnasium floor worked well as “discovered” abstract art objects, but the sculptures left me cold and uninterested. However, all was not lost. Unusually for an art exhibition, photography was allowed. Whilst the works themselves held little photographic interest I became fascinated by the way in which they interacted, both with their surroundings and with exhibition visitors, in the main gallery of the “White Cube”. I also photographed some close up details of the tar paintings, trying to create art from art.

Interaction between the Exhibits and the Gallery

Images 4 and 5 demonstrate aspects of the interaction between Gates’ exhibits and the gallery space. In Image 4 one of his tar paintings runs into the gallery wall, whilst in image 5 a sculpture and a tar painting are shown against the plain white background of the gallery walls and the gallery floor.

Image 4 (Theaster Gates / White Cube)

Image 5 (Theaster Gates / White Cube)

Interactions between the Exhibits and People

Images 6 and 7 are a couple of the many photographs that I took of the interactions of people with the exhibits. Here, the images are less “Deadpan” and more “Tableau” than Images 4 and 5. They could be left or added to in order to create a narrative.

Image 6 (Theaster Gates / White Cube)

Image 7 (Theaster Gates / White Cube)

Art Detail

Image 8 depicts a detail from one of Gates’ tar paintings

Image 8 (Theaster Gates / White Cube)

Influence and Inspiration

In this exhibition I was influenced not by the exhibits but by the way that they interacted with their surroundings. With its plain, bright, white rooms and lack of distracting décor, the White Cube is an excellent venue for displaying art, particularly when it is not just attached to the walls of the exhibition rooms. Here, the freedom to photograph anything and everything allowed me to experiment and create images with a range of styles: my favourites are the (to my eyes) interesting tableaux.

I am interested in (un-posed) street photography and the tableaux may inspire me to do some more work in this genre, perhaps concentrating on onlookers interacting with an outdoor statue or sculpture. If I can combine this work with on-going projects (such as “feeding the birds”, which is essentially street photography) then so much the better.

Is there a link between the two exhibitions?

In their own, very different ways both exhibitions provided me with ideas and inspiration which, by recording my critique of the work, I can recall and perhaps incorporate in my own work. Sometimes there is an obvious link between exhibitions of the work of different photographers, but here I struggle. Perhaps I could use a tableau such as Image 7 and, using “Photoshop”, replace the tar painting with a mirror or a window (related to the Kennard magnifying glass: see Image 3), with a view that connects in some way to the rest of the image. Alternatively I could create my own tableau, incorporating people, a white wall and a connected “exhibit” in the form of a picture, mirror or window.

Conclusions

Exhibitions, books, films and magazines all have an influence, to a greater or lesser extent, on my thought processes and on the art that I produce. Sometimes it is difficult to quantify that influence, as I have tried to do in this review. Inspiration largely depends on state of mind. Sitting at my computer I invariably struggle to find inspiration from any source. However vising an exhibition, in different and possibly new surroundings, can provide a setting from which ideas and inspiration can flow. If the featured art resonates with what I am trying to do in my own work it can have a significant influence. Memory then plays an important part, so by writing down my thoughts relating to the exhibition (or book, or magazine, or film) work, as I am doing here, I can return to sources of inspiration and use them again, at a time when they may be required.