I have a number of images now which I think enable me to fulfil my interpretation of the brief.
My biggest learning experience, has been to not leave it to the last minute. Unfortunately, since registering for the course, I have been away a lot with work and other commitments. I have also spent a lot of time on the course sorting out my organisation and work flow pattern to keep notes and be easily able to produce my final submissions.
I have referred to some other artists for sources of influence, but recognise that this is an area in which I need to do more work.
I have chosen several sites for my images and because of the way I have interpreted the brief they are very different. I think it would be better for my own development had I concentrated on one style for this exercise and had more opportunity to explore different ways of approaching one setting. As a result of this I think my submission will be weak in the creativity and novelty of approach. I will adapt this in my future exercises.
The image “Glossop Brook near Calico Court and the base of old mills” is the one I believe best encapsulates the concept I was trying to show. At the base is the river, which was there before the town and the establishment of the town was dependent on it. Above this are the remains of the old mills, which brought about expansion of the town, all dependant on the river. As these have declined, they have been replaced by new buildings such as the Calico Court apartments in the upper part of the image.
The modern factory in Old Glossop, has interesting futuristic shapes, but I found it difficult to find an angle where I could juxtapose this with the river. I think that maybe it would be more effective without the river in the image, and it is enough for me to know it is there, rather than have to explicitly include it.
Overall I think the project shows different facet of the river at different points, and in that respect goes part way to illustrating the points I have tried to make. However, because they are all different locations I am not sure they fit as a coherent whole and the “backstory” needs to be explicitly stated to make sense.
I think that the images are pleasant, but not particularly striking and do not all make a strong visual impact. The Old Mill Ponds and Modern Retail Park is an example, but is in contrast to the image of the mill pond at the back of the retail park.
I would like to explore more view points and angles of the sites, to try and improve the compositions to become more visually striking. This would need more visits to each site, and going at different times to get different lighting effects. The lighting of Glossop Brook at Wren Nest Mill shows a warm light to the right of the image, associated with the modern carpark, and a cooler shadow of the old mill on the left. This use of light was accidental, but an area for more development.
Andrew Procter 