Final Review of my Objectives and My Progress Through This Course: 17 September 2020

This post also forms the basis of my submission for assessment

“4. A reflective presentation or evaluation reflecting on your work and learning journey as a whole.”

Over the time I have been doing this course I have found I have become more structured in the setting of my personal objectives and my reflections on these. As a result I have found it helpful to incorporate into my learning log a section under “Research and Reflection” titled “My Objectives and Progress”.

In my first post in this section I identified my objectives as being the aims of the course. I also considered my own motivation for taking this course. This I summarised as being “to develop my understanding of contemporary and historical approaches to photography and thereby to produce practical work which uses this understanding” and a secondary aim was “to develop my critical analysis and self-appraisal of ideas, processes and outcomes particularly as related to my own technical and visual skills”.

In the posts of my regular reviews of my objectives I have broken these large scale aims and into more manageable and achievable parts, but will try and return to the larger objectives and review what I have achieved on these.

My Objectives

“to develop my understanding of contemporary and historical approaches to photography and thereby to produce practical work which uses this understanding”

I think the most tangible example of how I have developed a better understanding of my photography comes from my reading about Colour Field artists. I have realised that this style of abstract painting was an influence on the landscape photographer, Franco Fontana. I had been consciously or unconsciously trying to emulate this in images I made before I started the course and show in my log. A more overt understanding of the influence of artists on my photography is illustrated by the comparison I have made between the monochrome landscapes of John Virtue and images I made in response to the landscapes of Don McCullin.

Overall I have found that visiting a gallery to see the work of photographers, tends to make me try to create images in response to those I see. There are many examples of this in my log, where I have shown a reaction to the work of photographers, including Edward Weston, Willy Ronis, Man Ray, Fay Godwin and Don McCullin. While on one level this may seem like merely copying the work of others, I find it has helped me to begin to understand how other photographers see their subject and portray it. My next step is to combine elements of the work of these into my images so as to better express what I want to convey.

“To develop my critical analysis and self-appraisal of ideas, processes and outcomes particularly as related to my own technical and visual skills”

This is an area where I think I still have a lot of work to do. Developing my skills of critical analysis of visual work and subjecting my own work to that critique has been an objective running through all the time I have been doing the course.

I realise that I started out appreciating only a limited range of types of visual art. Gallery visits, particularly to the Peggy Guggenheim collection in Venice, exposed me to a much wider range. While I might have a better understanding of what the artist was trying to achieve (or at least what commentators and curators think the artist was trying to achieve), I still have difficulty appreciating the work otherwise.

A major step towards this however has been a recognition that there can be considered to be different aesthetic codes. In an on-line tutorial with Robert Bloomfield on the subject of Wabi Sabi, I realised that there are many different frameworks against which a visual art work can be appreciated – this was something I had not really considered before. It remains something I need to study more.

My other original objectives were the remaining objectives of the course:

“to use technical and visual skills appropriately”

I believe I have used a range of technical skills to create my work. Initially this was confined to digital images, but I have extended my skills there to do more studio work for still life in my “Collections” assignment and “Homage” exercise.

Skills that I have not practiced in this course and I think I need more work on include formal portraiture and the skills of working with models and other subjects.

I have also done some work on the use of film and processing and printing this. It is much more time consuming and the constraints of time for the course have prevented me from doing more. However I did find this a major learning experience to go back to film and chose to do this assignment with film “as a learning exercise to better understand how Cartier-Bresson and contemporaries worked and to improve my skills of observation and timing”. I have come across the work of contemporary photographers who use film, but I still need to try and understand what their reason is for this.

Overall the quality of some of the final prints is acceptable to me, but there is still a long way to go to improve these.

“To produce practical work which uses the above understanding and demonstrates skills of personal engagement, enquiry, imagination and experimentation”

I do feel engaged in this course of study and have particularly enjoyed interaction with other students and staff at on-line and in person meetings. These have given me better insight into important concepts in visual art and also the work of students from disciplines other than photography.

I think overall that the skills of imagination and experimentation are probably the weakest part of my progress through the course so far. In part this may be because I tend to ask “Why” do something, rather than do it and see what the outcome is. My tendency is to perhaps take an intellectual approach, and plan the images rather than have any scope for the unexpected.

I became aware of this in an on-line tutorial with Robert Bloomfield. He asked “How do you notice that thing you have never seen before?” This captures that issue: I think I tend to over plan the image I am hoping to create, and if I can adopt a more spontaneous style it may lead to more unexpected results.

Interim Review of My Objectives: 5 August 2020

 

“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.”

For the last few months I have scheduled to post a review of my objectives every two weeks to ensure I was progressing towards my deadline. On that basis I am due to post a review today, however will make this brief as I am awaiting feedback from my tutor for Assignment 5 and will update my objectives in line with that in due course.

I have completed the exercises from Part 5 and Assignment 5 now.

I have also submitted an application for the assessment event in November.

My next objectives are more like tasks in preparation for that assessment, rather than new learning. When I get the feedback from my tutor I will review my overall learning objectives and make a post about my learning from this course and my objectives as I go forward to the next course.

Review of My Objectives: 23 July 2020

 

“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.

Review of My Objectives: 8 July 2020

 

“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.

Review of My Objectives: 24 June 2020

 

“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 been able to work steadily to the timetable and interim deadlines which I drew up. To date I am on track for submitting my next assignment to my tutor the coming weekend, having completed my images. I am therefore on track to complete the course within the framework I have set.

I have not identified any new objectives in the last two weeks other than the work arising from completing the exercises and assignments.

Objectives Identified Previously

Skills:

Film Photography

I have posted digital images for Exercise 4.4, but at the same time I shot film which I plan to develop and print. However I have not had the time to do this in order to keep to the deadlines I have set. However I have been working on some of the exercises from Part 5 (in advance of my timetable), so anticipate having time in the next short while to do this film work as I intended.

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)

I have not used the EYV padlet but we have a discussion planned soon about the use of the OCA North Group Padlet. We had a hangout meeting last night about it.

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. This continues.

Assessment and appraisal skills

This remains ongoing task and other than my research and assessing my own work; one aim of the OCA North Padlet is to help with this.

New Skills needed:

Studio Lighting

I have used this in my exercise and also completed some images for Ex 5.2 Homage using studio lighting (in response to the lighting in Weston’s “Pepper No. 30”). I am more confident with this, but it remains an ongoing aim.

 

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 not looked at any other artists than those referred to in the notes in the last two weeks, but have the plan to research photographers I have been directed to by my tutor, for the next assignment.

Studio Lighting

Better theoretical knowledge remains a goal.

 

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.

 

Review of My Objectives: 27 May 2020

Once again for personal reasons, I have not been able to add to this log for longer than I had planned, so this review is later than the monthly reviews planned. Following an episode of illness last year and subsequent health issues, I have been granted an extension for completion of this course. My completion date is now August.

I am now able to work and study more effectively and am very aware that the deadline is not long away!

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. To this end I will be incorporating techniques and suggestions from Andrea Norrington’s Zoom meeting in January.

Since I last reviewed my objectives in November I have received feedback from my tutor on Assignment 3.

Also, there has been a major change in our methods of working associated with adaptations to the restrictions for the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. This has been associated with greater use of web-based experiences.
Objectives Identified Previously
Skills:
Film Photography
The feedback I have had about my submission for Assignment 3, indicates to me that this has been a worthwhile exercise and development. There remain areas for further work.

• Better documentation of the technical elements
• Continued improvement in the practical aspects of shooting the images and making the prints.

I plan to continue to use film for remaining exercises, but may not use this for my next assignment in order to be able to examine all parameters of light – not just black and white.
Videography
This area remains something I want to explore more, but is not a priority for me until I have completed the course and submitted Assignments 4 and 5. I will not carry this forward to my next review, except where it would shed insights into other objectives.

Use of WordPress
I previously described that in general I can achieve what I need with this. My tutor is encouraging about the structure I have developed for my Learning Log. The weakness I have identified for this is the use of references and a system for recording these. I think this will be important for future courses and I need to develop a system for recording references and generating bibliographies. In addition, there are other digital formats with which I need to interact.

I will re-define this objective as Use of Web-based and other Electronic Learning Tools, which in turn has subdivisions:

Development of Learning Log and Information systems
I need to develop a reference database and will be testing the use of Paperfile for this. I have already set up a paperfile account and will be importing those references I have used to date into it.

Use of other Work Sharing Websites (eg Padlet)
There is a new EYV Padlet and I have identified I need to visit the EYV Padlet regularly and use the materials there, contribute to discussions and share my work as appropriate.

Engagement with Electronic Web-based learning events
Access the sites suggested on the EYV Padlet for podcasts etc for useful background reading/learning. In addition I will be looking for other electronic learning experiences, either from the OCA/UCA or other organisations.

Assessment and appraisal skills
This remains an ongoing task and by accessing the EYV and OCA North Padlets I will have opportunity to do this.

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
This is another ongoing objective, and I have done little since my last review of my objectives. However the feedback from my tutor is to concentrate on more contemporary practitioners.

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.

 

Review of My Objectives: 18 November 2019

For various reasons I have not been able to add to this log for a longer period than I had planned, so this review is later than the monthly reviews I had aimed for.

Since I last reviewed my objectives in July I have submitted Assignment 3, and am just about to start work on Part 4, The Language of Light.

My work on Assignment 3 since July has not identified any new objectives for me, so in this post I will review my progress on the objectives I set out in my last post.

Skills:

Film Photography

My overall objective was to start developing and printing my own work.

I have attended a printing workshop, and learned the technique of split-grade printing. This has also given me confidence to print larger images. As a result I have been able to complete Assignment 3 using 35mm film and hand-printed large prints.

I indicated in my last review that I needed to gain more experience with the behaviour of different film and papers stock, and ensure the standard of my final prints is as high as possible. I have started this in that I used two types of film and have found better results with one than the other for this particular work. I also thought there is scope for improvement in the quality of these as I have indicated in my reflection.

This is objective is ongoing and will be reviewed when I get my tutor’s feedback.

Videography

I have done no further work on this, however my other reading and reflection leads me to recognise that the meaning of an image and narrative is important to me and my appreciation of art. This area remains something I want to explore more.

Use of WordPress

I find that while it remains something of a challenge at times, I can achieve what I need with this.

Assessment and appraisal skills

This remains an ongoing task and I think will continue throughout and beyond the course. I have attended the OCA North student group meetings and feel more confident to express and opinion about other work, including that from disciplines other than photography.

I have not been able to seek the views of my tutor and/or others as to whether my assessment is reasonable and accurate, and need to do so.

Knowledge:

My objective was to gain a better understanding of other art disciplines and influence on photographic work. While like the previous objective I think this will continue throughout and beyond the course, I do think I have achieved some steps forward in this.
I offered to help organise the meetings for the OCA North Group, and this makes me consider other disciplines besides photography. In particular the planning of meetings makes me examine other artists’ work and I can consider how this relates to my own. An example of this is the planning of forthcoming meetings and planning the speakers.

However this remains an ongoing learning objective.

To gain an insight into more contemporary and historical approaches to photography

This is another ongoing objective, and I have done little since my last review of my objectives.

Attitudes:

My objective was the “Demonstration of creativity – Imagination, experimentation, invention”

I have deliberately experimented with film in my latest assignment – for reasons which I justify in my account of that. I will hopefully get feedback from my tutor about this and advice as to how to improve.

I hope that a better understanding of the creative process used by other artists will help me develop this more.

As I start Part 4 of my course after a break, these are my current objectives, however I am sure more will emerge as I progress to Parts 4 and 5.

I set out my objectives in my last post in this section. I will review my progress on these.

Skills:
Film Photography
My objective was to start developing and printing my own work. I have achieved this by recommissioning my darkroom and obtaining a medium format enlarger. I have successfully developed 35mm and 120mm film and printed these up to 10x8in sizes.
This is an ongoing project. I intend to submit my next assignment as silver prints and have started making images for this. However I believe I need to gain more experience with the behaviour of different film and papers stock, and ensure the standard of my final prints is as high as possible.

Videography
I had been using the Adobe publication Premiere Pro CC: Classroom in a Book to develop my editing skills. However the importance of his area is less at the moment and I have concentrated on my film still photography. As a result improving my videography remains ongoing.

Use of WordPress
I have been able to alter the headings and menus appropriate to my needs. I do not see this now as an important area to develop and concentrate on. Related to this I have also started using “Rocketbook” notebooks and phone app. This enables me to quickly and easily convert my handwritten notes in to pdf files and file them in a way that they can be accessed from my learning log or by my tutor with the appropriate link.

Assessment and appraisal skills
This is an ongoing task and I think will continue throughout and beyond the course. I feel I have more confidence in this area, and have included in my log my reflections on images. I now need to seek the views of my tutor and/or others as to whether my assessment is reasonable and accurate.

Knowledge:
My objective was to gain a better understanding of other art disciplines and influence on photographic work. While like the previous objective I think this will continue throughout and beyond the course, I do think I have achieved some steps forward in this.
I have referenced other art disciplines in my learning log and by attending the last OCA study day gained insight into the work of students, other than those studying photography.
I still have a long way to go…

To gain an insight into more contemporary and historical approaches to photography
This is another ongoing objective, but I have been reading more widely and think that my approach to research of this topic is more systematic and better informed. It has been greatly helped by discovering the course reading list which is at the end of the paper notes and not referenced earlier in the notes or included in the pdf file. It has taken me a year to find this.

Attitudes:
The main objective here I think relates to the Assessment area of
Demonstration of creativity – Imagination, experimentation, invention
I have concerns that this is an area in which I am weak, and this remains so. I plan to seek more feedback from my tutor about this and advice as to how to improve

I hope that a better understanding of the creative process used by other artists will help me develop this more.

 

 

These are the main objectives I have. I think I have approached the coursework more systematically lately and begun to address some of these as a result.