Demonstration of technical and visual skills
I think observational skills and technical techniques came to the fore in this exercise. As described in my assignment write up, my objective was to portray how harsh the (very green) landscape is towards anything manmade. To frame images that do that when faced with what are stunning mountainous vistas, requires some thought.
Visually I chose to isolate specific features that I thought illustrated my point. I think this has created quite an intimate feel to the images in a way that is similar to that of Luxemburg who isolates specific parts of the urban landscape; the images are certainly very different to wide landscape scenes.
Technically, taking the shots at midday removed the challenge of dealing with broad contrast as most of the scenes are bathed in harsh midday sunlight. However, the act of choosing the time of day in order to make use of a specific type of light has however been a new skill or thought process for me and shooting in full blown sunlight meant I had to get my positioning right as where there was contrast, it was very extreme and certainly beyond the capabilities of the camera to cope with.
Quality of Outcome
I think the light technique I used certainly builds on what learned in Exercise 4.2 and what I learned researching Schmidt. I also think that the result does reflect what I wanted to from a lighting perspective.
What I am not so sure is how well my images evoke the feelings associated with harshness. When I look at the images, I remember how hard it was to capture these on long hikes in the middle of the day. But I don’t think the absolute harshness comes across so much in the images themselves.
It is possible that the intimacy of the scenes, rather than wide vistas, may be contributing to this. It seems that isolating detail has done a good job of stopping these images from becoming pure landscape images but at the same time, the approach has detracted from their impact of the theme that I wanted to convey. I think it is there to see, and so I have chosen to stick with it, but it is hard for me to judge if somebody who hasn’t been there would feel.
Demonstration of Creativity
Much of this part of the refection has been written up within the assignment itself. Instead I have chosen to reflect on the personal voice aspects.
Over the 7 months that I have been studying this course, which is even called “expressing your vision” I have come to understand far more about how a set of images can be used to express my vision or my interest in something. Assignments 2, 3, and 4 all pick up on a particular point I have thought of when I have stood in my chosen location and thought ‘what do I think about this then?
What strikes me in this part of the course though is that my answer to that question has always been driven by the location that I have been in. And more often than not, that location has been chosen due to some aesthetic notion or because I just happened to be there anyway. Because of this, and I think rightly so this early in the degree programme overall, each assignment is portraying something different.
In my research of Luxemburg I discovered that as well as photography, she also studies Urban Aesthetics. As soon as one knows that, or even before, it is clear to see this interest in all of her work.
I have reached the point where I know that I want to create images that express something, and I have learnt techniques that will allow me to do that, but as yet I don’t think I have decided upon what I want to comment on. The idea of bringing other interests that I have into my world of photography may seem obvious but it is not something that I had thought of. I intend to take this thinking further and consider areas that I am most passionate about and how they can play their part in my photography.
Context
My research has focussed on the photographers introduced in the course text but in all cases I have researched wider than the links provided.
It was my wider research into Luxemburg that triggered my thoughts in my reflection above – the idea of bringing other interests into my creative photography.
I also enjoyed researching Shintaro and discovering his creative techniques to capture images that would otherwise not be possible. He developed a technique to capture images at night in busy streets yet capture the street with no people. And he stood out on fire escapes to find unique viewpoints!
In both of the cases above, the main learning I got from the research was beyond the reason that the photographer had been introduced into the course text – again in both cases, they were introduced for their artificial light image.
What I learn from this and my reflection on other interests is:
- Always to keep an open mind when researching somebody or something, the piece of learning most influential may not be the topic that took you there in the first place.
- I should spend some time researching photographers who have established themselves in fields that I am interested in. Its more than this simple statement though. If I tried to research landscape photographers (I am interested in the countryside) then a google search would likely send me to a world where aesthetics reign supreme, photographers such as Jo Cornish come to mind. His images are beautiful but he is not usually trying to say anything. On the advice of my tutor I am currently reading Land Matters (Wells, 2011) in this book, Wells describes many things to do with land and statements one could make about it that I would probably not have thought of. It is research like this that I need to explore further in combination with focussing on my interests.
I don’t have results to show yet, but I have been putting some of that learning into practice. I am currently looking to buy a house in the Cotswolds and so that has meant a lot of driving around the whole area. As I have been driving around I have spotted a theme which comes up often in Land Mattes, the juxtaposition of man and nature. I aim to explore this idea with actual images when I have the time to stop and absorb the area (which I don’t at present). In writing this reflection, it has just occurred to me that this theme is not so far removed from the topic that I have picked for this assignment and so the learning is obviously influencing my thought process already even if subconsciously.
Bibliography
Wells, L. (2011). Land Matters. Freeport, N.Y.: I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd.