My tutor commented on my use of vignetting to emphasise the central part of the image in some of my images for Exercise 4.4. I defended the use of this as I was trying to emulate the style of the landscape images from my Google search, rather than the content. He suggested I consider trying to produce “flat” images and cited the work of artists like the New Topographics and Fay Godwin, who showed landscape as the camera showed it, rather than manipulated.
Exercise 5.3 made me consider how we look at an image, our eye passing over all of it and returning to certain parts. Techniques such as vignetting and strong classical compositions (“rule of thirds” etc) can draw the eye to the centre of the image so strongly, we do not notice other parts of the image.
With these thoughts in mind, I considered the images I showed for Exercise 5.1. My final choices of the monochrome images. While these are coherent and I think quite striking, I was concerned they did not really show what I was trying to achieve.
I have slightly altered the image with which I was less happy, Woodhead-18. I have adjusted slightly to remove darkening in the bottom left corner. I said I thought this too “fussy”. However having looked at it repeatedly, I think it is a better image than I initially thought.
Woodhead 18 (reworked)
The strong line of the wall provides a clear separation between the churchyard (albeit overgrown) and the field where the labourers were buried. The background has detail that makes the eye move around – the lorries to the left and the pylons carrying cables to the disused tunnels.
Overall this seems a more interesting image than the monochrome ones.
I was referred to this work by my tutor in response to my images of the Woodlands Valley Plantation which I included in my images for Exercise 4.1.
Hunt in the Forest, Ucello
The Hunt in the Forest (also known as The Hunt by Night or simply The Hunt) is a painting by the Italian artist Paolo di Dono; his nickname, Uccello (‘Bird’), alludes to his depictions of the natural world. He was celebrated in his lifetime as a master of perspective, and of animals and landscape. The painting is an early example of the effective use of perspective in Renaissance art, with the hunt participants, including people, horses, dogs and deer, disappearing into the dark forest in the distance. (THE HUNT IN THE FOREST, s.d.)
My tutor suggested I look at this with a view to examining his use of perspective, but also to explore the nature of shadows and the iconography of shadows as mysterious and dangerous places. My images which most closely resemble the viewpoint and perspective of Ucello, include these
Woodlands Valley Plantation 01
Woodlands Valley Plantation 02
However as the light is coming through the trees, these images seem less mysterious than images such as this, where we are looking into the darkness of the forest.
Woodlands Valley Plantation 01
Woodlands Valley Plantation 03
References
References to the works cited in this post are found in my separate post “References”
“My over-arching objective now is to re-establish an effective, regular pattern of working in order to be able to complete the course with a view to submission for assessment in November 2020.”
I had a video meeting with my tutor today and have documented this. I will add the new objectives arising from this below.
In preparation for this I had some specific queries listed in that post. Of these the major point was that I believe that in general my work is not so visually strong and does not always fully express what I intend as well as I can express it in words. I am unclear as to how to develop that better
Objectives Identified Previously
OCA course Admin and medium and longer term plans:
The major issue here is to ensure I know how to submit my work for assessment and by when. I also have started looking at the next courses available to me and becoming familiar with their content so as to be able to make an informed choice.
Skills:
Film Photography
I have not taken this forward since my last review but my major learning point remains to establish for myself what the reason is for using film over digital. This is something I plan to do going forward to the next and future modules.
Better documentation of the technical elements.
The feedback from my tutor was that my documentation of my exercises is “thorough”. However it remains the case that I am making a conscious effort to take detailed records of technical parameters of my film work and other settings where these are not recorded in the metadata of the digital images. My aspiration for my standard of documentation of methods, is the principle with which I am familiar from my previous bio-medical research that experimental details need to be given to allow other investigators to repeat the experiment with exactly the same conditions.
Find ways of sharing my work for comment and criticism
I have not actively done anything more about this new objective since my last review of these. However as I had discussed my plan for Ex 5.2 with colleagues from OCA North, I plan to add the final selected images to the padlet for comment.
Assessment and appraisal skills
This remains an ongoing task and my objective above (“to find ways of sharing my work for comment and criticism”) reflects this.
New Skills needed:
I have described this above and it is to find ways to better visually express my aims and intentions.
Knowledge:
My objective was to gain a better understanding of other art disciplines and influence on photographic work. While this remains an ongoing learning objective, my tutor has suggested artists at whose work I should look.
To gain an insight into more contemporary and historical approaches to photography
I have looked at the work of photographers to whose work I have been directed to by my tutor. I am conscious that I have not looked at much work other than that referred to in the course notes in the last few weeks. This is of some regret as I was more wide ranging in my reading and study in the earlier part of my course. The deadline to which I am working has made me more focussed, and has emphasised the discipline of study. However I will continue with this, and more general reading and study.
Attitudes:
My objective was the “Demonstration of creativity – Imagination, experimentation, invention”
This remains an objective and I hope with better understanding of the creative process used by other artists I will develop this more.
As I have indicated in my posts reviewing my learning objectives, I had asked for a video feedback for Assignment 4.
In addition to getting feedback on that assignment I had a few points I wanted to discuss with my tutor.
These were:
I will be submitting my assignments for assessment in the next weeks and I wanted to check whether any further re-working of these is needed.
While I have used the OCA format for my learning log, I have modified it a little and want to check if this is the correct format. I am also aware that some of the posts are quite long, and wondered if some of these are going off the point of the course
The last point is something I have been aware of, particularly since Assignment 3. I think I can express my intentions and the aims of my work verbally, but this is not expressed as effectively visually. I believe that in general my work is not so visually strong and does not always fully express what I intend as well as I can express it in words.
We had a lengthy video call which was very helpful. Andy made a number of points.
Andy was complimentary about my learning log and documentation of the work. He said he thought I had completed the coursework thoroughly. He gave as an example the account I gave of the technical aspects of light in my write up of the assignment, and the photographs of the set up for my studio work.
We had a general discussion about “quality of light” and he referred me to a Radio 4 programme with Oliver Stone in which he described using the “golden hour” for filming. He also referred to the cultural references to light, and humans’ innate fear of shadows and darkness. As an example he referred me to look at a painting Hunt in the forest by Paolo Uccello.
One of the points Andy made in our discussions which I found very interesting was his concept that photography is “subtractive” whereas other visual arts media are “additive”; ie a painter starts with an empty canvas and adds to it to create the image, whereas a photograph shows everything in a scene, and photographers often remove elements from that in order to emphasise others aspects.
Andy referred me to the work of a number of painters with particular reference to their use of colour. These were Paul Nash, Eric Ravillious and John Piper.
With regard to the exercise, Egg or Stone, Andy referred to the concept of object orientated ontology and the writing of Timothy Moreton , and which if I understood correctly, suggests that inanimate objects exert an influence on us. Thus my choice and selection of that particular stone was influenced by the stone. I am sympathetic to this view, as I did indeed choose the stone while out walking, and chose it as a piece of gritstone. I have referred to this in my write up of the exercise, and would suggest that the course notes which say “we recommend that you choose a natural or organic object such as an egg or stone rather than a man-made object. Man-made or cultural artefacts can be fascinating to light but they’re already authored to some degree” do not address that element of choice we have in choosing even a natural object.
With regard to my next assignment Andy gave me suggestions as to sources to examine for influence. These included, Allan Sekulla, Fish Story and Between the Net and the Deep Blue Sea (Rethinking the Traffic in Photographs)
Our discussions had addressed the first two points I needed to ask about. I raised my concern that my work is not so visually strong and does not always fully express what I intend as well as I can express it in words. Andy agreed with this, but appeared to regard my recognition of this as a positive point. He said it is very common for visual artists to have this concern and my recognition of it is a good starting point for further development.
Suggested sources to research
Oliver Stone, Radio 4 Documentary
Hunt in the forest by Paolo Uccello.
Paul Nash, Eric Ravillious and John Piper
object orientated ontology and the writing of Timothy Moreton
Foam and Self Publish Be Happy
Allan Sekulla, Fish Story and Between the Net and the Deep Blue Sea (Rethinking the Traffic in Photographs)
“Look again at Henri Cartier-Bresson’s photograph Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare in Part Three. Is there a single element in the image that you could say is the pivotal ‘point’ to which the eye returns again and again? What information does this ‘point’ contain?
Include a short response to Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare in your learning log…”
A Google search for images of “Henri Cartier-Bresson Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare” gives several results and they differ slightly in the shading and density of the reproduction of the shadows. While this may in part be a function of the reproduction of a print on a webpage, some of the variation may be due to the printing process as there are different dates given as to when the print was made.
Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare (1932) Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gelatin silver print, 17 1/2 × 12 in
This image is titled on the website as “Henri Cartier-Bresson, Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare (1932), Gelatin silver print, 17 1/2 × 12 in” and is I believe one of the older versions, and I assume truer to the original intention of HCB in making this image.
Is there a single element in the image that you could say is the pivotal ‘point’ to which the eye returns again and again?
My eye is consistently drawn to the figure of the man striding into the puddle – his forward foot has not hit the water yet, but his posture indicates he is committed to his leap, as shown in this part of the image:
Behind the Gare St Lazare 1932 – detail
It is his unbalanced position that contains the key information of that “point” he is in motion, but the outcome of that is as yet unknown.
In my consideration of “The Decisive Moment”I referred to the concept of “peripeteia”, from the Greek meaning “dramatic moment”. Bate (Bate, 2016) described this as “the striding foot indicates a future event, caused by the past, whose outcome is anticipated by what we see in the picture.”
I think it is the uncertainty as to what might happen next which fascinates us (or at least me) and keeps drawing me back to that point. I would suggest that the story of a man stepping into a puddle is a classic image in the slapstick comedy of silent film and so widely known that we are aware of it almost subliminally. An example of this is in this clip of a Hal Roach comedy with Oliver Hardy cameo from the 1920s, a few years before HCB produced his image, (Hal Roach comedy clip with Oliver Hardy cameo in 1920s. | Huntley Film Archives, s.d.). I cannot upload video to this site but the relevant section of this is at
But these do not draw our eye and fascinate us as much as this one though. There are other elements of the image which I believe cause this.
The example of the image which I show above, has been printed in such a way as to emphasise the line of the railings behind the jumping man. The background buildings show a gradation of density from the top (darker) to behind the railings (lighter) and the line of the railings is more obvious and frame the man. Similarly the water is not featureless, but there are objects showing above it. These curves are then echoed by the ripples at the left end of the ladder from which he jumps, as seen here:
Behind the Gare St Lazare 1932 – detail
The water is, however, generally smooth and this enhances its mystery – how deep is it, there are no clues.
There is enough interest in the background that after a while our gaze is drawn to the posters, the other figure and the surface of the water. But these are not so intrusive as to detract from the foreground figure.
Overall I find the image itself fascinating, but more so is the way it was made. My experience of trying to complete “The Decisive Moment” using 35mm film cameras was to increase my admiration for both the technical aspects of this as well as the compositional aspects.
References
References to the works cited in this post are found in my separate post “References”
“Select an image by any photographer of your choice and take a photograph in response to it…
Add the original photograph together with your response to your learning log.”
The notes refer to an essay by Barrett, (Barrett, 1997) originally published in (Goldblatt and Brown, 1997). In this essay Barrett suggests that we interpret pictures according to three different types of information: information in the picture, information surrounding the picture and information about the way the picture was made. He calls these the internal context, the external context and the original context.
“Internal context includes the picture, its title, if it has one, date, and maker. External context refers to the picture’s presentational environment. Original context refers to the picture’s causal environment, namely, that which was physically and psychologically present to the maker at the time the picture was taken.” (Barrett, 1997)
Method
I chose to photograph a series of peppers in response to the Image, “Pepper No. 30” by Edward Weston.
Pepper No. 30, Edward Weston (1930)
I used a set I had made for Exercise 4.3, and had the same camera settings and equipment as I used in that exercise.
I wanted to emulate the lighting of the pepper which Weston had achieved by photographing it inside a shiny metal funnel. In Weston’s image the pepper appears illuminated on all sides and has reflections from its surface on all the visible surfaces.
To attempt to replicate this I used a set with a large softbox almost directly over the pepper, and another, smaller, to the side. I made reflectors of aluminium foil on either side of the pepper which were angled slightly upwards, and another reflector in front of the camera. This set is shown in this image.
I converted the images to monochrome to replicate the image of Weston, and enhanced the contrast, otherwise there were no other post-processing manipulations.
I chose these final images.
Pepper 241
Pepper 239
Pepper 227
Pepper 225
I am most pleased with this one, and think that it has captured the lighting effect Weston achieved.
Pepper 235
My images however all are readily seen as peppers and lack the abstraction achieved by Weston. I think that this may be because of the form of my peppers; they are classic pepper shaped and therefore acceptable to the supermarkets!
I have previously included in my learning log images in homage to Willy Ronis, Man Ray, Fay Godwin and Don McCullin. I have commented on these at the time of the post regarding my context for them.
References
References to the works cited in this post are found in my separate post “References”
“The camera for me is more a meter that measures the distance between myself and the other” Alexia Clorinda, quoted in the course notes.
On her website, Alexia Clorinda, describes herself as “an art historian, cultural critic, photographer, lecturer and independent researcher”. Her methods are described there as a “set of method and vocabularies informed and envisioned by collaborative work across chronologies, geographies and practices”(Alexia Clorinda, s.d.). My brief study of images and her projects indicate that her work involves valuing the contribution and experience of her subjects, regardless of their backgrounds.
The notes also cite the work of Ariella Azoulay, who describes the act of taking a photograph and relationship between photographer and subject as an “encounter… never entirely in the sole control of any one of them”.
I found this a key concept, and one I had become aware of but never articulated so clearly. I noticed this watching the TV video of Don McCullin at work, where he engages with his street subjects and they have some degree of choice in how they portray themselves. Similarly in his lecture, Peter Aitchison described also engaging with his subject and not “stealing the photograph” with telephoto lenses.
Brief
“Use your camera as a measuring device. This doesn’t refer to the distance scale on the focus ring. Rather, find a subject that you have an empathy with and take a sequence of shots to ‘explore the distance between you’. Add the sequence to your learning log, indicating which is your ‘select’ – your best shot.
Look critically at the work you did by including what you didn’t mean to do. Include the mistake, or your unconscious, or whatever you want to call it, and analyse it not from the point of view of your intention, but because it is there.”
My Subject
I have chosen to take photographs around St James’ Church, Woodhead. This is an isolated chapel, now only used very occasionally, situated near the trans-Pennine road over Woodhead pass. Nearby is the site of the first railway tunnel through the Pennines linking Manchester and Sheffield. Work began on it in 1839, and was carried out by itinerant labourers, many of whom were Irish immigrants. These labourers and their families lived in temporary huts high on the moors. There were many accidents during the building of the tunnel and many labourers died. There were also outbreaks of disease such as cholera in the camps, killing many of the families. These people were buried in unmarked graves in St James’ church yard, although it is rumoured that the Irish Catholics were buried in unconsecrated ground behind the church yard. (Higgins, 2017)
The original rail tunnel and two later parallel tunnels were closed in 1981, but the adjacent road has heavy use from lorries. Bizarrely, there are now calls to improve rail links across the Pennines although it is unlikely this tunnel will re-open as it is the route for electric cables.
I want to capture in this exercise some reminder of the labourers who built the trans-pennine link. They were poorly treated in life and now forgotten, although their construction seems to be what is now needed.
My Intention
I wanted to make images that captured the isolation of the chapel and graveyard. In addition, that it is largely forgotten and overlooked; yet it is adjacent to a busy road, which today takes the traffic that would otherwise go through the nearby disused rail tunnels.
My initial thoughts are that this may be a suitable subject for conversion to monochrome, as this will be reminiscent of old photographs, but also distance the viewer from the real subject and landscape.
Methods
I shot this using my DSLR, on a day with sunny intervals and showers. As a result the images are all quite brightly lit.
I have made a contact sheet of all the images I shot, and have selected a number for post-processing. I based this selection on the technical quality of the image and the composition, as well as how closely the image demonstrated the qualities I had aimed for.
Post processing was done with Lightroom and involved cropping and local adjustment of exposure. For the monochrome images I adjusted the contrast to result in a satisfying image.
My Images
My initial selection was these colour images.
Woodhead-10Woodhead-28-2Woodhead-13
I had tried to include the busy road, and this is the only one which seemed to work.
Woodhead-18
However overall, to me this seems to be too fussy and the road is too distant to be of significance.
The graveyard is very overgrown and all the graves are difficult to find. I did not find any gravestones of the labourers (apparently marked as from “Woodhead Tunnel”) but most are probably unmarked. All the graves are overgrown and look untended and forgotten, and it is this aspect which I think altered my approach to the exercise. If the graves of people who had been local residents with friends and families in the area are so forgotten, how can we expect anything more for those of the temporary residents with different cultural backgrounds.
Woodhead-36Woodhead-28Woodhead-13-2Woodhead-10-2
The monochrome images remove the bright colours of the sunny day and add to the atmosphere of neglect and decay. While this is obvious in the images of the church, my select is this of the overgrown graves of local residents.
Woodhead-30
(note added 26/7/20) I have had further thoughts about this exercise and added a further post in light of later exercises and discussions with my tutor.
References
References to the works cited in this post are found in my separate post “References”
The course notes cite a quotation from Flusser (Flusser, 2000) “Ideology is the insistence on a single viewpoint thought to be perfect”
The course notes say “any photograph as defined by a point of view: both in the sense of where the photographer stood to take the photograph, but also as saying something particular about the world that could also be said in a different way, from a different point of view.”
I found this an important concept, one with which on reflection I have been struggling for some time and I think is part of my major motivation to enroll on this course. The suggested dichotomy between “where the photographer stood” and “saying something particular about the world” is at the core of what I want to better understand.
I have found over the years that it is easy to get preoccupied with the technical side of photography, and once I felt I was reasonably competent have been seeking new motivation and understanding of the work of photographers whose work I have come across. I have opinions about the subjects of much of the work I have shown in the earlier parts of this course; the difficulty I have is in knowing how to express that in the image. This section of the course will, I think, present interesting and difficult challenges.
References
References to the works cited in this post are found in my separate post “References”
This meeting was the first of a regular monthly zoom meeting to replace our previous meetings in person in Halifax.
There were only 4 of us able to be there, and we each gave a presentation of our work at the moment.
I was able to discuss my plan for Exercise 5.1, and had encouragement with that from the others who thought the area I was trying to depict sounded interesting.
The biggest learning point for me, was the presentation of his work by Michael Millmore who discussed the work he has been doing and posting on Instagram. He is writing an essay at the moment and exploring the use of social media sites and how these affect the presentation of visual images.
“My over-arching objective now is to re-establish an effective, regular pattern of working in order to be able to complete the course with a view to submission for assessment in November 2020.”
I have submitted Assignment 4 to my tutor as planned and continue to work to my timetable to complete the final assignment by the end of July. I have been looking at other aspects of administration for the OCA and have identified new objectives specifically around the process of submission for assessment and also about the choices of the next course.
I hope that my next tutor feedback will be a meeting rather than written so that I might have a chance to clarify and get advice about this, however I have not had a response to my request for a Zoom/Hangout type meeting yet. I will be adding a new class of objectives around this for future reviews. (“OCA course Admin and medium and longer term plans”)
Objectives Identified Previously
Skills:
Film Photography
I have developed the film I shot for Exercise 4.4, but not yet printed it. I plan to but the pressure of the deadline for completion means I am tending to do exercises in digital as it is quicker.
My major learning point about this is to establish for myself what the reason is for using film over digital. This is something I plan to do going forward to the next and future modules.
Better documentation of the technical elements.
I am making a conscious effort to take detailed records of technical parameters of my film work and other settings where these are not recorded in the metadata of the digital images..
Use of Web-based and other Electronic Learning Tools
Use of other Work Sharing Websites (eg Padlet)
We have had OCA North meetings to discuss this. I can see that Padlet is only a sharing tool, and am now confident with using it – but need to work out what I need to use it for! I do not think that learning about the procedures for using this needs to be an objective going forward.
Engagement with Electronic Web-based learning events
In the last two weeks I have not joined any new events as I have been working on my practical exercises. In other contexts I have become aware that such remotely accessed events are effectively like any other learning or social experience and like the previous objective, I do not think the “use” of these over any other experience is an ongoing objective for me.
However I am conscious that there are many ways of sharing work available. I use social media very little, but have seen from studying some photographers’ work that these are important ways for them to share their work.
My new objective to replace “Use of Web-based and other Electronic Learning Tools” will be “to find ways of sharing my work for comment and criticism”. In addition I am seeing that social media provide a forum for expression of personal views on areas hitherto restricted to “experts” (such as bio-medical research, an area of which I have personal experience). In the same way, images are more easily shared and there is a blurring of the boundary between expert (artists) and non-expert. This is a theme I would like to look at more over the coming months.
Assessment and appraisal skills
This remains an ongoing task and my objective above (“to find ways of sharing my work for comment and criticism”) reflects this.
New Skills needed:
Studio Lighting
I have no immediate plan to incorporate this into any work. While I recognise it is an area I can do more about, I do not intend to retain this as an objective in this list for now.
Knowledge:
My objective was to gain a better understanding of other art disciplines and influence on photographic work. The feedback I have from my tutor is that I am “starting to connect other art forms to your method and approach to research”. However, this remains an ongoing learning objective.
To gain an insight into more contemporary and historical approaches to photography
I have looked at the work of photographers to whose work I have been directed to by my tutor. I am conscious that I have not looked at much work other than that referred to in the course notes in the last few weeks. This is of some regret as I was more wide ranging in my reading and study in the earlier part of my course. The deadline to which I am working has made me more focussed, and has emphasised the discipline of study. However I will continue with this, and more general reading and study.
Studio Lighting
Better theoretical knowledge was a goal, however as discussed above, while it is an area I can do more about, I do not intend to retain this as an objective in this list for now.
Attitudes:
My objective was the “Demonstration of creativity – Imagination, experimentation, invention”
This remains an objective and I hope with better understanding of the creative process used by other artists I will develop this more.
Andrew Procter 