Following an agreed extension,
due to the difficulties that I had had in coming up with a plan for the major
project that was both true to the brief and to my original proposal in January
2014 (see earlier "Assignment 4" blogs), I eventually submitted major project parts 3 and 4 to my tutor in late
January 2015. The submission included 17 A4 prints that I intended to incorporate
into the portfolio, together with a revised story board and a long discussion document. The bulk of the discussion document consisted of comments
on the individual prints/images, how and why they had been produced and where
they fitted within the framework of the plan. This blog omits all those
details, concentrating instead on the introductory section, which explains my
thinking and plans at the time of the submission and has not been modified for
the blog. I have also included the story board at the end, although the individual images are necessarily small. The original 21 page document will be included for
assessment as “hard copy”.
Current Status
After much trial and tribulation
I have eventually come up with a plan, and a story board, that I hope satisfies
both the requirements of the brief for the project and my personal
environmental concerns, whilst still attempting to answer the question “why do we feed wild birds”? The current
portfolio consists of 17 images, which will be forwarded as A4 prints with this
submission. A further 3 images/prints have yet to be produced (these include
opening and closing images), so I hope to have a final portfolio of 20
images/prints. My plans are flexible and I’m still coming up with ideas that I
would like to incorporate into the portfolio, but at this relatively late stage
of the project I will have limited opportunities to diverge from the current,
basic plan. I will, however, continue to look for better photographs to
represent the themes running through the portfolio.
All the photographs within the
portfolio deal with our interactions (direct and indirect) with wild birds and
most of the photographs attempt to address the question of why we feed them.
There is a dominant photographic theme, which deals with the feeding of wild
birds. The images in this section are documentary, with a strong emphasis on
what might loosely be called “social documentary” or possibly even “street
photography”, although streets do not (yet) feature in any of these
photographs. Many of the photographs were taken in public parks. A second theme
addresses the topic of feeding wild birds more obliquely, by dealing step by
step with the environmental issues of habitat destruction and change of land
use, both of which have had a profound effect on populations of wild birds. I
struggled to find a smooth way to link the different sections of the story
within the portfolio. Eventually I decided to mix the two themes, causing (in
the absence of accompanying text) the viewer to have to think carefully about
the significance of each image and why it is in a certain position within the
portfolio. As a “fall back” position I have the option of removing the
“environmental” images from the portfolio, perhaps adding a few more images of
interactions between people and wild birds, to produce a portfolio made up
entirely of the direct interactions between people and birds.
Modification of the Story Board
The images within the story board
continue to explore the reasons why we feed wild birds. However my observations
whilst carrying out field work have led me to add entertainment, or at least
the pursuit of pleasure, as a further reason. I have also decided not to
include any examples of feeding wild birds to produce food for ourselves (e.g.
pheasant rearing) within the portfolio, because I was unable to come up with a
single photograph that could represent this reason and I decided that each
image in the portfolio would (with the possible exception of the opening and
closing images) consist of a single photograph. Furthermore, I have omitted any
images relating to the historical background of why we feed wild birds. The
portfolio therefore represents the following reasons for feeding wild birds:
(a) altruism, (b) commercial benefits, (c) conservation of species, (d)
introducing young people to nature, (e) taming and “controlling” nature, (f)
bird and wildlife photography, (g) companionship with birds and (h) human
entertainment. By studying the portfolio it should be possible to deduce why
some birds benefit from our behaviour and why others don’t.
Interactions between People and Birds
No fewer than 12 of the submitted
images/prints feature the act of people feeding birds. Between them, these
pictures illustrate all of the reasons (a) to (h) above for feeding wild birds.
Of these, six (images 2,4,6,15,17 and 19) are arranged to show how age
progression, from very young to very old, influences our reasons for feeding
wild birds. Of the other photographs there is also a link between images 10 and
11 (which are run together), 9 and 12 and 8 and 13, the ordering being
deliberately chosen to produce an element of symmetry to the portfolio.
Environmental Issues
Six pictures (images 3,5,7,14,16
and 18) will relate to the ways we have altered our environment in recent
years. They are intended to run as a very small picture story that tries to
illustrate how change of land use (for example, from countryside to housing
estates) has benefited some birds and been detrimental to others.
Opening and Closing Images
I have yet to choose between
various options for the opening image (Image 1). Some of these options will be
discussed below. It may well be a composite image, possibly incorporating text
such as “why feed the birds?” or a straightforward image showing a classic
example of birds being fed. I have had some elaborate and/or ambitious ideas,
but above all I would like an image that sets the scene. The closing image
could bring the series to a positive or negative conclusion: I have yet to
decide. I would like it to be a single photograph, ideally one that marries the
themes which are covered by the portfolio.
Story Board Diagram
The images chosen for submission
with this assignment are shown as thumbnails, in order from top left to bottom
right, in an accompanying Diagram (see later).
Style
The photographs are presented with
this submission as straightforward colour prints. I have considered ways in
which I could “individualise” them, for example by using high key monochrome
throughout. Whilst this could work for certain images others look, I believe,
better in colour. Vignetting every image is a possibility, but this would not,
in my opinion, add anything to the portfolio. More ambitious concepts, such as
“blacking” or “whiting” out all areas of each photograph other than those that
are key to the points that I am making are being considered, but would involve
considerable time and effort. However, concepts of this type would establish a
strong (bizarre?) individual style that I could take into other work.
Surrounding each photograph with a white border featuring faded images of birds
feeding or enclosing each photograph within the silhouette of a bird are other
possibilities, although these features may detract from the photographs
themselves and weaken the points that I am making. I have acquired a variety of
different types of paper on which to print my images, but have yet to
investigate the effects of using this paper. I suspect that some prints will
look better on certain types of paper but others will look worse.
Overall, I am currently just
trying to reach the point where I have a portfolio of photographs that satisfy
the requirements of the project remit and that both I and my tutor are happy
with.
Final Thoughts
I am constantly reviewing my
images and I strongly suspect that quite a few changes will be made before the
submission of Assignment 5. However, the story board plan is the most
satisfactory that I have come up with so far and I hope that the concepts
contained therein can be retained in the final portfolio.
I still intend to make some
videos featuring, for example, birds feeding from the hand. These will be
submitted with the assessment work, as an “optional extra”. I will also produce
a photo book, with added text for each of the photographs and possibly some
extra photographs, once the portfolio has been finalised.
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