Print quotes

June 2016

It's not a requirement to submit prints for formal assessment, so you may choose to submit your work for the self directed project in a different format, such as a book or a multimedia piece. However, for the purposes of this exercise, please imagine that you are going to submit prints.

1. Search the internet for different companies offering inkjet and c-type printing. Compile three quotes for getting your work professionally printed, with a variety of different options such as c-type or inkjet, for portfolio review. Prices will be available on the companies' websites. This kind of information is useful to inform your project proposal. 

2. Imagine you will order from one of these companies. Prepare one image file exactly as specified by the printers.

3. Write a brief entry in your learning log, reflecting on whether you feel an inkjet can be treated as a "photograph".

At level 1, I had work for assessment printed by a couple of different companies. Derby University offer a print service who gave me a lesson in types of paper, looked at my prints and recommended rag paper. Another company I used were helpful with formatting images when I couldn't get one to the right size but are no longer offering the printing side of their work.

A colleague recommended DSCL Colour Labs which I used for inkjet printing. I was not entirely happy with the result because I was not familiar with Lightroom's softproofing feature or the company's colour profiles, so I attended the Photography Show this year to develop my skill set. Having decided that my Canon Printer's inks dry out far too quickly, I spoke to my local Tesco labs to see if it was an option to initially print assignment prints as part of the selection process, then print professionally. He informed me that their printer adds a dark filter to the images which make most people's images more attractive. This cannot be taken off. Once the photos were uploaded, even though the crop line was checked, the printer still didn't follow the rules! So that is not an option for me. It prompted me to consider a range of on-line services, so production and delivery time will be important features in my 3 companies for this exercise.

Assignment 5 = 21 images

Quote 1 Peak Imaging

7"x7" on an A4 sheet  (11.7x8.5")              2   }    
10" x " on  A4 sheet                                19   } 21 x A4 @ £2.20=£46.20 
                                                                                  P and P £  3.50
                                                                                  Total     £49.70

Paper choice Satin Matt (Fuji crystal archive DP11)

Special requirements set resolution to 254ppi
                                 save image as sRGB colour space
                                 jpeg or tiff file
                                 no more than 17.8mb each

Quote 2 DSCL Colour Labs

ctype prints

7"x7" on an A4 sheet  (11.7x8.5")            2   }    
10" x " on  A4 sheet                              19   } 21 x A4 @ £0.65 =£13.65 
                                                                                  P and P £  5.99
                                                                                 Total      £19.64

Paper choice Fuji DP II Lustre

7"x7" on 12"x9" sheet  (11.7x8.5")            2   }    
10" x " on  12"x9" sheet                         19   } 21 x 12"x9" @ £3.75 =£78.75 
                                                                                       P and P £  5.99
                                                                                      Total      £84.74

Inkjet prints

Paper choice Fujicolour crystal archive digital pearl

7"x7" on an A4 sheet  (11.7x8.5")            2   }    
10" x " on  A4 sheet                              19   } 21 x A4 @ £7.50 =£157.50 
                                                                                 P and P  £   5.99 or Interlink
                                                                                 Total      £163.49
Paper choice Hahnemuhle photo rag

(2-4 days processing time)

Special requirements sRGB colour space

                                   print size 300dpi

                                   add 2-3mm to image for crop

                                   only ctype profile on website - email for other paper profiles

Quote 3 Simlabs

Ctype prints

7"x7" on an A4 sheet  (11.7x8.5")            2   }    
10" x " on  A4 sheet                              19   } 21 x A4 @ £0.65 =£13.65 
                                                                                  P and P £  5.99
                                                                                 Total      £19.64

Paper choice Fuji DP II Lustre

Inkjet prints

7"x7" on an A4 sheet  (11.7x8.5")            2   }    
10" x " on  A4 sheet                              19   } 21 x A4 @ £5.60 =£117.60 
                                                                                 P and P £    5.99 or Interlink
                                                                                Total      £123.59

Paper choice Fotospeed fine art lustre

7"x7" on an A4 sheet  (11.7x8.5")            2   }    
10" x " on  A4 sheet                              19   } 21 x A4 @ £8.00 =£168.00 
                                                                                 P and P £    5.99 or Interlink
                                                                                 Total      £173.99

Paper choice Hahnemuhle photo rag

Special requirements sRGB colour space

                                   print size 300dpi

                                   add 2-3mm to image

                                   only ctype profile on website - email for other paper profiles

                                   sRGB profile (sRGB IEC61966-2.1)

Using DSCL Colour Labs, I downloaded the printer profile for DC Colour Labs Frontier Lustre and softproofed the images accordingly in Lightroom CC. I opened it in Photoshop CC, altered the resolution to 300ppi as recommended by the printing company and set the image size to 10"x6.667". I added the image to the 11.7"x8.3" canvas to give me an A4 print size.

For the purpose of illustration for my blog, I changed the border colour to grey.

Is an inkjet a photograph?
The Oxford English dictionaries on line (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/photograph) defines the word photograph as "a picture made using a camera, in which an image is focused on to light-sensitive material and then made visible and permanent by chemical treatment, or stored digitally". So a photograph is the process by which the image is made. 

Some papers and inks guarantee a photograph will last 40 years, some 100 years. With a giclee print, ink is sprayed onto the paper using a different format from ctype prints. I think the ultimate decision over the medium of choice should rest with the artist and/or gallery. Obviously cost will play a major part in it. Could you sell an inkjet photograph for a sum of money? I see no reason why it is not possible. Some artists in galleries mount their prints and number them 1 of .... with a signature. Martin Parr's Rhubarb Triangle exhibition at the Hepworth in Wakefield contained prints which were positioned on the wall with magnets and no frames. These could be damaged by fingermarks. The Print Space recommends ctype images can be cleaned with a damp cloth. So I see them as cheaper to produce and more durable although maybe not as long lasting as an image printed onto Hahnemuhle rag paper. 

Origins of the White Cube

May 2015

Read Thomas McEvilley's introduction to Inside the White Cube; the Ideology of the Gallery Space, which provides a good summary of O'Doherty's suite of essays.[...] Note down the key points of your own reflection in your learning log. OCA Course material

Source: O’Doherty, B. (1999) Inside the White Cube: The Ideology of the Gallery Space. University of California Press

At the very beginning of this course I read the essay for follow up work from an OCA Study Visit (Aspirations) Les Monaghan February 2015. It will be interesting to see if my thoughts differ after visiting more galleries. See Exhibitions page


McEvilley suggests that O'Doherty sees the White Cube as a parallell to a mediaeval church, the pyramids or Mesolithic caves with the outside world not allowed in, white walls, no windows and only light from the ceiling.  This, he theorises, encourages posterity and timelessness. It is symbolic and ritualistic.

By creating an unchanging space, a magical place is provided to view art work where the viewer beholds the artwork with a group of like-minded individuals. It becomes a spiritual meeting place with a code of values and behaviours to follow. 

"The white cube was a transitional device that attempted to bleach out the past and at the same time control the future by appealing to the supposedly transcendental modes of presence and power." O'Doherty (1999 p11)

During this course I have visited exhibitions in numerous art galleries:

DART - Aspirations, Les Monaghan - White Cube effect? No

Because of the informality of the presentation - photographs printed on sticky backed paper that could be taken down and moved from one place to another, and because the room was set up like a classroom, this did not feel like a spiritual place. Discussion was encouraged - no hushed voices. 

NEC- The Photography Show - various photographers- White Cube effect? No

At the NEC, photgraphers talk through their work, encouraging audience participation. This is very informal. there are more formal areas such as the exhibitions on the walls. Often these are presented very close together and tend to be competition entrants rather than a body of work by one person. The place is too noisy and bustling to hold any kind of reverence.

National Media Museum, Bradford -Drawn by light - various photographers - White Cube effect? No

Perhaps because this is a museum with children running in and out of the galleries and talking loudly, with people taking their own photos of the photos it does not hold the reverence. Even though to study a famous artwork close up such as Steve McCurry's Afgan girl (1985) allows you to step back and admire the image, you are still aware of all that is happening around you. 

Nottingham Trent Photography Degree Show - various student photographers in different galleries in Nottingham - White Cube effect? No

Urban spaces painted white, small art galleries and students present often chatting or eating lunch. If the unwritten rules are broken by the exhibitor, they will be broken by the viewer. One student was even dismantling his work early!

Southwell Minster - MOVE various photographers - White Cube effect? Partly

The fact that the exhibition is in a place where there is already reverence and a code of conduct means that the effect is pretty close. People spoke in whispers. During my visit a group of adults with carers visited, and were interested, asking questions. It made the art available to all.

Nottingham University, Lakeside Arts Centre - Emily Allchurch White Cube effect? Partly

The space here is dark, although the walls and ceiling are light. It is often quiet with interested people visiting. It is the closest I have come to a White Cube.

Mansfield Museum - Chris Upton - White Cube effect? No

The museum has a couple of galleries. This is the largest and had a big audio visual slide show with commentary of miners recollections. The visitors consisted of ex- miners and people interested in local history or photography. I visited with fellow OCA student and we talked all the way round.

The Lowry - mix of audio visual and photographic presentations White Cube effect? No

This interactive exhibition was fairly noisy and then suddenly it all went quiet. That was when I realised I had come to the end of this exhibition and walked into one on Lowry. It was interesting to see the difference that presentation has on the atmosphere.

So I think to find "the white cube effect" it is partly up to the viewer to be able to shut off from the outside world and admire the works. I find it difficult, always aware that I could be interrupted by a message or phonecall. What is the aim of my visit? If it is because it of something I have an interest in, I will view it differently, perhaps with a more technical approach than just enjoyment. I tend to go with an agenda; even to the student degree shows I will have researched the students work that appeals to me or which links into my course. Perhaps I should be asking myself if I need to seek out the experience of the white cube? I think over the course of planning my personal project and the interest I have had from people I have met, that I would like my work to be accessible to all people. After all, I work in an operating theatre which is like a white cube!

Signifier - Signified

February 2016

Roland Barthes (1977) The rhetoric of the image (pp269-282)

Source 
http://98.131.80.43/home/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/barthes_rhetoricofimage.pdf

accessed 16th February 2016 

Find an advert from a magazine, newspaper or the internet, which has some clearly identifiable signs. Using the example above to help you, list the signs. What are the signifiers? What is the signified? Read Barthes' essay to help you clarify your understanding of these principles. OCA course material

Main points from essay:

• "In advertising the signification of the image is undoubtedly intentional; the signification of the advertising message are formed a priori by certain attributes of the product and these signifieds have to be transmitted as clearly as possible." (Barthes 1977)

• My understanding is that a signifier is the physical form of the advert, for example the peppers in the string bag with the pasta on a red background. The signified is what it means to the viewer.This could imply healthy, "fresh" ingredients forming part of a balanced diet.

• Barthes described a linguistic message as being a coded or non coded iconic message, meaning that both were read together with a cultural and perceptual message. The linguistic message may be text and is usually constant. Text tends to be linked to the image to anchor the product. Barthes describes signifiers as being a "floating chain" of signifieds.They can be dysfunctional as in a play (polysemous) where the viewer can choose the meaning. The text helps to fix the floating chain by making it relevant to today's culture by identifying the "elements of the scene and the scene itself." e.g a recipe with a title helps to fix the gaze, understanding and level of perception.

• A symbolic message relies on interpretation from proliferation or dysphoria (opposite of euphoria.

• Using Barthes example of a jar of jam (d'Arcy preserves), the caption reads "as if from your own garden." This banishes a possible signified frugal harvest and makes the viewer think of home grown and fresh compared to it being artificial. The meaning is chosen in advance for the viewer because they are directed through the looking. The text is repressive and the morality and ideology of society are invested into it.

• Anchorage is found in press photos, adverts, cartoons and comic strips.

• In advertising, the literal meaning is never pure because you can't remove signs of connotation (ideas or feelings). The photograph is a literal meaning showing the relationship of the signifiers to signified by capturing the image mechanically. Drawing would add in or miss out certain things depending on what the artist wanted to show. With a photograph, there is a sense of having been there. Space / time, here / now, real / unreal. Photo is not an illusion or magic trick but a film could be. "The denoted image naturalizes the symbolic message, it innocents the semantic artifice of connotation, which is extremely dense, especially in advertising."e.g Panzani advert - being there, pseudo truth, nature. "the more technology develops the diffusion of information (and notably of images) the more it provides the means of masking the constructed meaning under the appearance of the given meaning."

• The third message (symbolic) was discontinuous panzani advert - string bag - plenty of fishes, from cultural code. So the message will reach out to different people based on their cultural understanding or attitudes. Must also include surprises -e.g italianicity - made up word but gives the viewer an idea.

Cosmopolitan March 2016

It appears this product was launched last year (March 2015). The subbrand is the first product within the Muller Light range to use the twin pot. Coley Porter Bell's design brief was "to create a concept which clearly differentiates the brand from other products in the Mullerlight range."

 http://www.thedrum.com/news/2015/03/09/m-ller-introduces-new-m-llerlight-goodies-range-following-uptick-sales Accessed 16th February 2016)

“Of Mother Nature and Marlboro Men”

February 2016

Read Deborah Bright’s essay “of Mother Nature and Marlboro Men” 

Source: http://www.deborahbright.net/PDF/Bright-Marlboro.pdf 

Text was written in 1985, and some of the things Bright argues for have been achieved. The text provides a contextual insight (particularly in relation to American Photography) and an interesting sense of the climate from which much critical practice has emerged. Read the essay, noting key points of interest and your personal reflections in your learning log.

At the same time as reading this essay, I was evaluating Viewfindings: Women Photographers: Landscape and “Environment”, Wells, L (1995) Available Light, UK and Shifting Horizons: Women’s landscape photography now, Wells, L, Fehily, C and Newton, K (2001) Ibtaurus, UK. This essay, together with the two books, helped to illustrate the difference between men’s and women’s approaches to landscape photography and understand that both came from a different place in history with different values.

Although written in 1985, some of Bright’s ideas behind the enquiry into the cultural meanings of landscape photography remains in vogue today. My own observation through the internet, books and exhibitions is that landscape is still a male dominated subject. Bright defines the history of the culture of landscape photography as developing from conservative images of the land to a development of a political voice – using landscape images to alert viewers to current issues affecting the land – whether it be mining or nuclear power. I think this has developed over the last 30 years from the new topographic movement to how we use the work now.

“European” landscape has been built up from painters in the 17^th and 18^th centuries. Paintings were commissioned by aristocratic land owners (reminds me of the podcast from Ingrid Pollard comparing paintings by Joseph Wright and Sir Nathaniel Dance Holland showing the owned land in the background). Dutch landscape painters started to paint landscapes which included property ownership. The English followed the principle and included prestige and achievements which were happening at the time.

“Whether noble, picturesque, sublime or mundane, the landscape image bears the imprint of its cultural pedigree. It is a selected and constructed text, and while the formal choices of what has been included and excluded have been the focus of most art historical criticism to date, the historical and social significance of those choices has rarely been addressed and even intentionally avoided.” Bright (1985)

Bright explains that in “small town America” the middle class church and businesses are in the centre of the town whilst the minority classes (the majority) are outsiders. These groups are repressed and are portrayed to look repressed rather than taken for who they are. Bright calls for landscape photographers to give careful consideration to how the minority groups are portrayed since landscape photography should be more than documenting personal expression and aesthetics, because it reflects collective interests and cultural meaning. When looking at landscape photography, the viewer should question why it was taken and who commissioned it. The photograph becomes a historical record and so should the photographer be truthful? Although Bright does not mention this – politics play a part in the recording. Whose side is the photographer or media representing? Thoughts spring to mind here of the original 1980’s Miner’s Strike (the government siding with the police) and Jeremy Deller’s “The Battle of Orgreave” to readdress the balance and tell the miners story.

Bright questions the masculinity of landscape photography. As a viewer of photography, if I can engage with the work, I don’t think it matters whether work is masculine or feminine provided the above rules are considered. As a photography student though, it was important for me to understand how and why women’ s landscape photography has developed differently because it helped identify my feelings towards exploration of the landscape on my own and still being around for my family and working full time. So possibly in the 30 years since this essay was written, with women landscape 

photographers now presenting at exhibitions, things are starting to change. Women are being accepted into exhibitions, for example Helen Sear into the Venice Biennial with “The rest is smoke” (2015). I thought this was inspiring work, especially how the context relates to the presentation. On the other hand though, some women exhibit in women only exhibitions such as Mistresses of light at the OXO Tower in London last year. Although I missed this exhibition, the links to the photographers are still available, enabling me to look at their work. I came across the work of Valda Bailey at MOVE last year (which appears on my Exhibitions visited page). I liked her ice work and was hoping to experiment myself this year, especially for my Transitions assignment. It seems there was a strong feminist movement within landscape photography which has driven the genre forwards. Certainly degree shows at Nottingham University which I have visited a couple of years running show female students with final exhibitions in Landscape, so I think the genre is more accessible for women than it was.

In the development of the modern America, parks were created to be used by the workers and immigrants, “to elevate their aspirations and manners”. People could then identify with cultivated nature. Park rules were created and ritualistic behavior was followed. Similarly, Capability Brown cultivated (or tamed) the land of the wealthy even creating views for them similar to Claude Lorraine’s paintings or creating country parks (industrial land being reclaimed and “naturalized”) for people to enjoy their leisure time.

Bright suggests that “photography has merchandised landscapes for public consumption.” Channel 4 (2015) featured a series on Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire whereby Alan Tichmarsh encouraged and helped the Duchess of Rutland carry out Capability Brown’s proposals. Huge tasks were undertaken such as planting several trees and creating water storage. The end result was a different landscape but was it better? I am undecided. I felt that by removing the dead wood the landscape would be healthier and allow new growth. It has created better local views for the immediate users and visitors. Hopefully the castle will attract more visitors because people will have followed the series. This also applies in guide books, where the beauty spots are photographed as the “must see” location, or with places such as the National Trust as a way of showcasing what they have to offer. I think the danger of this is that people do not look with their own eyes. With the rise of the internet and more television channels, people can travel without leaving their armchair. In 2014, Google maps (via trekker) produced maps of walks in the Peak District in Derbyshire. On the other hand, the increase of the number of selfies taken and posted on social networking sites such as Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter etc. is just the modern day version of the stereoscopic films for sale or postcards to buy (photographs as a talisman) except that people have taken them themselves rather than buying them. This means that the onus falls to the photographer to show what is really happening so Bright had reason to be concerned with how landscape was depicted.

Cowboy films were established in the 1920’s and depicted men in male dominated roles such as wood chopping or rodeo who also featured in advertising campaigns selling cigarettes to presidents. Bright argues that this masculinized the western landscape. Since 1972, “Marlboro has been the most purchased cigarette brand in the US.” (http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/02/the-real-marlboro-man/385447/ accessed February 2016) Prior to this smoking was seen as a feminine occupation. Philip Morris masculinized the brand by creating the Marlboro man in the image of a cowboy. Ironically, cowboys did not smoke tobacco, preferring to chew it. Critics mention that perhaps Marlboro was more about being a white American in search of a dream since more women smoked Marlboro than men. The original Marlboro man supported the Indian way of life which the pioneer Americans had fought to destroy. So maybe the Marlboro advert was a paradox? I think Bright’s comment about the masculinization of the Western landscape would have to be looked at in a historical and social context.

Laura Gilpin Enduring

The development of straight photography after WW1 by Paul Strand and Alfred Stieglitz borrowed forms in nature from symbolism as an expression of the emotion of the photographer at the time of exposure. Weston and Adams carried this on throughout their photography producing aesthetically pleasing landscape images. Bright sees this as a limitation because there is no intended meaning of the photograph. I think she means that the photographs lacked context (latin con = together and text = weave). It was Szarkowski who came up with a written set of photographic vocabulary based on the work of Timothy O’Sullivan - one of the pioneers of American Landscape photography in the days of the railroad. Bright mentions that two women (Dorothea Lange and Laura Gilpin) were featured (one photograph each) in the American Landscapes exhibition (1981) and accompanying book by

Laura Gilpin 

Szarkowski. In the Moma press release, only Dorothea Lange is mentioned (with more than one photograph). However, I found the description interesting; “The landscapes of Dorothea Lange and those of Alfred Stieglitz, dealing respectively with social truths and the "secrets of creation," will be on view. So, too, will the magnificent photographs by Ansel Adams of those corners of the American terrain that look much the same today as they did hundreds of years ago. Interpretive works by contemporary photographers Robert Adams, William Clift and Frank Gohlke will conclude the chronological survey of the American landscape. Each of the photographers in the exhibition has attempted to define what the earth is like and has presented new discoveries concerning the structure, the beauty and the meaning of our habitat” (https://www.moma.org/momaorg/shared/pdfs/docs/press_archives/5905/releases/MOMA_1981_0036_37.pdf?2010 accessed February 2016) Laura Gilpin was not mentioned in the Press release. I looked up her work which showed the landscape and the Navajo people with a real empathy and understanding. Considering her rejection by male landscape photographers during her early career, it probably made her more determined to pursue her own interests.

In the 1970’s the environmental concerns gave context to exhibited photographs such as the New Topographics: Photographs of a man altered landscape. However, by hanging them in galleries with minimalist labels people viewed them with awe and may not have understood the context or meaning of them. Bright is of the opinion that the photographers ““take great pains to prevent the slightest trace of judgment or opinion from entering their work,” (Jenkins as cited by Bright 1985) these representations (no less than those of other landscape traditions) are charged with meanings that derive from the personal identities and histories of the photographers and which, in turn, are relayed to audiences with their own social and psychic predispositions.”

Bright suggests that Robert Adams was commissioned to take photographs of open pit mines by the mining company and not form alliances with the miners and their families. When comparing his work to an unknown photographer who addressed the issue of nuclear waste and living conditions, Adams won an award because his work was less political. I think Freemen fits in with today’s photography and has embraced the digital times. His work has stayed current, but then he is of a different generation to Robert Adams. I have the benefit of being able to look at the subsequent volume of work which Freemen has produced whereas in 1985, Freemen would have been a relatively new photographer to the field. Bright suggests that “this is how the elite art world and its gate-keeping institutions ensure the silencing and self-censoring seen as necessary to keep art free of “overt politics” which does not bring results. Freemen reported that in 1991 Rocky Flats was closed down. Maybe the question is what do we actually want the art to do? Freeman may not have received an award for Rocky Flats, but he brought about political change through his work.

Bright compares two works of the same subject (a nuclear powerstation) by different photographers; John Pfahl and Lisa Lewenz. Phahl uses a postcard style sublime/beautiful which he accepts in one single image does not address the environmental concerns. Lewenz on the other hand, made a calendar of images addressing the concerns of the people who lived there.  On key dates were printed the dates of accidents. Although they are of the same subject they are not totally the same. Bright criticizes Phahl for not giving a context to his work and views his work as fantasy. On his website now is an artist’s statement.

Phahl	Lewenz
Gallery	Public display
Art Museum	Cheap $6 per calendar
No artist statement	Empathy with workers and families living there
Small audience	Large audience
Themed portfolio for art collectors	Articulates politics

Recalling the work of Toby Smith’s power stations, I re-visited his website to look at his presentation. His work was for National Geographic and his website shows a tear sheet magazine cover. This adds context to his work.

Bright explains that “women, I think, have a special stake in documenting zones of privacy and public spaces used primarily by their sex”. I would agree with this, looking at the work of Laura Gilpin or Dorothea Lange. I think women have an understanding of the space because we are the homemakers. As she mentions later, men are the hunters and go after the virgin wilderness to photograph. However, I think some men can document the landscape and its people equally well such as Alec Soth.

Various arguments have been put forward such as whether men are better at symbolism and women at natural creativity because they are closer to nature, to whether the difference is in humanly organized landscapes compared to natural or historical landscapes.

Bright raises the use of photographs as an issue. What happens when the context / artists statement / gallery blurb etc. is separated from the photograph? In this day and age, it is all too easy for someone to wipe the meta data from the photograph and it be claimed as someone else’s work. It seems that this has been an ongoing problem for the last 30 years.

Her summary is that “If we are to redeem landscape photography from such a narrow, self-reflexive project, why not use it to question the assumptions about nature and culture it has traditionally served? Landscape is not the ideologically neutral subject many imagine it to be. Rather, it is an historical artifact that can be viewed as a record of the material facts of our social reality and what we have chosen to make of them.” I think this is true and relates across either gender so although Bright has separated men and women as being different, at the end of the day we are both working towards a collective goal; it is just that we have different approaches.

References

All accessed February 2016

http://www.deborahbright.net/PDF/Bright-Marlboro.pdf

(http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/02/the-real-marlboro-man/385447/

(https://www.moma.org/momaorg/shared/pdfs/docs/press_archives/5905/releases/MOMA_1981_0036_37.pdf?2010

Bibliography

All accessed February 2016

http://www.photomonitor.co.uk/2015/07/helen-sear-the-rest-is-smoke-representing-wales-at-the-venice-biennale/

http://www.oxotower.co.uk/events/mistresses-of-light/

Viewfindings: Women Photographers: Landscape and “Environment”, Wells, L (1995) Available Light, UK

Shifting Horizons: Women’s landscape photography now, Wells, L, Fehily, C and Newton, K (2001) Ibtaurus, UK.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/titchmarsh-on-capability-brown/episode-guide

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/02/the-real-marlboro-man/385447/

http://www.johnpaulcaponigro.com/blog/9497/laura-gilpin-the-enduring-photographer/

https://www.moma.org/momaorg/shared/pdfs/docs/press_archives/5905/releases/MOMA_1981_0036_37.pdf?2010

https://johncraigfreeman.wordpress.com/public-art-in-the-virtual-sphere/

Tutor report Assignment 1

Tutor report Assignment 1 (PDF - follow link)



Tutor Feedback from Assignment 1
Really helpful tutor comments which will enable me to develop my critical writing throughout the course. I now have a starting point on which to build my work.

Good points

• "Strong feeling for viewpoint, light and framing."
• "Thinking seriously about the ideas in part 1- plenty of research and linked the research meaningfully back to your own work."
• "Full of good references, flows very well."

Improve upon / recommendations

• "Start making prints of assignment work now."
• Ambitious work and should make for a visually impressive first assignment
• Qualify statements rather than stating a fact
• Be suggestive (as in an investigative journey) rather than having already arrived at my opinion
• Add factual evidence to notes - date, location and photographic evidence.
• Add a shot of self on location.
• Add counter argument to Burke - e.g include beauty
• Support the association between death and mourning with one or two good references
• Learning log - page no's with dates inside brackets (blog in process of being updated)

I always find the first assignment quite difficult to gauge, especially this time with moving up from HE4 to HE5. However, I am encouraged to revisit my assignment and look at providing a counter argument to Burke and also take an image of myself making the photograph. 

My images conform to landscapes which have been ingrained since the 1800’s as they include diagonals, some foreground, middle and background, trees and hedges, use of thirds, horizon in the upper third, and a moment frozen in time.

"Are your images in the painterly tradition of landscape or are they actually more ‘photographic’? I’m thinking of your movement blur, your perspective distortion, your extreme sharpness. In another way you’re right of course, its one point perspective within the frame." Tutor report (2015) When I was putting my assignment together I was still looking at landscape like paintings were constructed. As the course has progressed, my views on "what is landscape and what makes a landscape photograph" have completely change. I would agree now with my tutor's comments.

A subjective voice

14th December 2015

A subjective voice

"To help develop a personal voice as an independent practitioner, it is important to acknowledge your subjective attitude towards the subjects you're researching and photographing. 

Write an entry in your learning log  (around 300 words) reflecting on any current and previous circumstances and experiences that you think may influence, or may have influenced, your view of the landscape. Describe how you think these factors might inform your ideas about landscape photography or related themes." OCA course material

I spent my early childhood den-building and climbing trees in a rural village in Lincolnshire with a small group of friends. Everyone had (what seemed like) a wilderness for a garden. Endless days were spent playing out in the safety of the garden, or picnicking on the wide verges of country roads and walking in the countryside with the family. Lincolnshire was full of disused airbases and derelict buildings which established my interest in abandoned buildings. My father drove everywhere taking the "scenic route" so I developed an interest in the changing landscapes from the car window.

When I was 10 we moved to a village in Nottinghamshire with so many "twitchells" or footpaths that my younger brother and I felt like adventurers. We learnt the village layout by drawing maps. It was always possible to go from one end of the village to the other using a variety of different routes. This freedom of exploration also extended to family holidays, spending the 6 weeks holiday on the Isle of Wight visiting family and exploring the island by foot and bus. Our annual family holiday was a week on the Norfolk Broads (out of season) messing around in a dinghy exploring dykes and derelict windpumps.  Visits to Belton House in Grantham allowed me to appreciate the work of Capability Brown.

It was only as I became older and an incident in the village became local news that my individual freedom became more restricted. Living in the centre of England I missed the sea - choosing a seaside town for my nurse training. I loved being able to walk on the uncrowded beaches and spent the summers learning to avoid the tourists, trying to find the "wilderness" of my childhood. I could associate with the landscape, but had to move back to urban landscapes to progress my career. Affordable housing was only possible in ex-coalmining areas, which started to challenge my view on landscapes. The area I lived in was no longer picturesque but flat and easy to cycle around so I now spend hours in the saddle exploring the landscape by bike with my family. Exploring at night has given me a different perspective but I am uncomfortable doing this on my own.

As a child, the traditional picturesque landscapes learnt about at school were similar to rural Lincolnshire and I was too far away from the industrialized midlands to appreciate the political and social effects on the landscape. Cooling towers and sugar beet factories were architectural landmarks like cathedrals. As a result I associated with the topographical work of the Bechers because it fitted into my view of the landscape.

I had always been interested in cameras and taking photographs, although most of my early landscape experimentation pictured family and friends in a documentary style, looking at how people associate with place. Up until now, I have associated landscape photography with male photographers and am currently challenging this perception through reading and coursework and 2 books edited by Liz Wells (Shifting Horizons) and (Viewfindings). As a female, I found that the Landscape genre didn't fit with family life. It tended to be my husband that went off exploring with a camera whilst I looked after the children. These books supported my views but also encouraged me that landscape is on the doorstep and that it just needs looking at from a different angle. Psychologically, they almost give permission to do things differently from men based on the time limits of school runs and after school activities.

My passion is that access fought for (by Fay Godwin) should remain accessible without the fear of coming across wire blocking the route or glass strewn across the tracks or unauthorised motor vehicles churning up the land so I am supportive of multi-user routes and diversions for mountain bikers to separate them from walkers. I am protective of walkers using the wrong trails in the forest and will direct them back onto the right tracks at busy times. I believe that landmarks should be preserved (such as the headstocks at Clipstone, Pleasley pit or Papplewick pumping station) and will support causes to preserve the architectural past. However, the idea of a zip wire between the headstocks as a tourist attraction is one that challenges my opinions on heritage landscape. I watched with interest the BBC 4 TV programme "Tales from the National Parks" (2011) which put forward the plan for a zip wire at Honister Pass in the Lake District National Park which was challenged a few times (by walkers) and eventually went ahead. I do believe that to attract tourists the planners have to move with the times and that activists should be able to have their say before plans go ahead.

Critical review proposal

January 2016

Following my tutor feedback from Assignment 3, A Sense of Place, my suggested further reading included looking at the work of Jeremy Deller's Battle of Orgreave (2001) which was re-enacted 17 years after the original event. This was a hyper-real situation and prompted me to do supplemented reading around the subject. I was interested in how re-enactment changed peoples collective memory of the event which followed on from David Bate's essay on the Memory of Photography (exercise 3.6)