Topic 11 - After Photography - Reflection

How have your ideas around ‘authenticity’ and ‘truth’ evolved as your photography has become more sophisticated?

-       Authenticity and truth have been key focuses for my photographic practice. I considered photojournalism and particularly the Magnum photographers important inspirations for my work.

-       Since those early inspirations I have diversified the types of work I look at and have found the line between storytelling and truth blur. I am finding the concept of narrative photography particularly interesting, where the images are produced in a creative or directed way but still communicate a story. A good example is the portrait, in the past I would have waited for the right moment, for someone to fill the space I wanted to capture. Or I would have stopped people on the road and produced a portrait. Now, I prearrange times and meeting points with subjects. I position them within the frame, wait for the right light. I took inspiration from Alec Soth when developing my approach to photography. He is a Magnum photographer but controls his subjects and the narratives in his work through organisation rather than chance.

-       I think that I am more likely to consider the audience when making images in my current practice. I feel asking myself questions like ‘what will the audience understand from this image?’ or ‘how will an audience member connect with this image?’ lead to better consideration, connection and communication through the photograph, even if this means choosing how the subject is sat, or whether they are engaged or disengaged with the camera.

Have you ever ‘designed events to be photographed’? Or have you ever been aware that your presence, with a camera, has had a direct influence on a turn of events that might otherwise not have happened, had you not been there with a camera?

-       My current practice is predominantly ‘designed’. Through communication with my subjects both before and during the photographic process I set up and create the image in collaboration with a person. There are aspects of my practice which are less designed, for example if I am photographing in the landscape, I am not sure what I am going to discover. However, I research and area or place before visiting so I can gain a better understanding of what I am going to photograph.

-       The camera is always an intrusive machine. It feels that people in the modern day have an obsession with being captured by a camera, whether that be moving or still images. As children and young people, we are trained to ‘smile for the camera’ which lays the foundations for a dynamic between camera and subject that is difficult to break. The concept of the smile in a photograph is that other people will see an image and will see a person ‘looking their best’. As we grow as people this relationship between subject and machine continues to strengthen to the point where smiling the natural reaction to someone pointing a camera at us, even if we do not feel happy.

-       If the camera is not used as an influential tool would people feel obliged to smile?

-       This also makes me consider if there is a predominant relationship between photography and perceived positivity?

-       Photographers have captured sadness, illness and death, however what is the relationship between the average, enthusiast photographer and works like Araki’s Sentimental Journey/Winter’s Journey?

-       To what extent does the family album and snapshot aid our memory of a loved one? Due to the positive nature of general imagery could this cloud the judgement of a person? Not everyone will have read Camera Lucida, how far is the educated photographic community blinded by Barthes’ references to his mother and how we then associate photographs with emotion and memory?

Topic 10 – Photography, Power and Others - Reflection

Reflect on the ‘triangle’ model in relation to your own current practice: do you feel that there is any kind of imbalance in terms of the relationships between the three ‘corners’?

I think photographers has always had an inappropriate amount of power. A subject, whether willing or unwilling to be photographed generally has a weaker standpoint than the person photographing.

The power imbalance is generated by the gaze and the concept that a photographer is taking a sustained look at a person or object that they are interested in capturing. This could lead to a more in-depth discussion of the male and female gaze introduced by Berger:

-        ‘according to usage and conventions which are at last being questioned but have by no means been overcome - men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at’ (Berger, 1972).

I don’t think I have treated my female subjects differently to male subjects, but there has always been a power dynamic going on. I have always controlled my subject and represented them how I wanted them to be seen rather than discussed how they would either liked to be seen or how do they not want to be seen. This is a complex question for a subject as they are aware people will look at them through the photograph that is taken but they a limited in the way they can impact the reading of this. Intuitively a subject is aware of the gaze, whether it be male, female, gender neutral, young, old, experienced, or unexperienced, and sometimes they fear it.

When discussing the gaze Sturken and Cartwright write:

-        ‘A gaze is, in one sense, a kind of look. You may turn your gaze upon objects, places, or other. Whereas a glance is quick, a gaze is sustained. In its verb form, to gaze is to look intently.’ (Sturken and Cartwright. 2018).

Potentially subjects are concerned that an image will reveal something they do not want others to know and could be judged against, for example social class or political belief. Could it be the audience is concerned they will be judge, grouped, and stereotyped so they are complied with other in a list.

More complex still, the subject could be concerned about the relationship with the photographer and how the image will be used, linked into this is the subject’s relationship with social media, a platform of diverse imagery, in which they enjoy looking and experiencing the representations of others. These representations could be negative and due to the saturation of content glanced at by views (I use the term glance as there can be a limit to the context and length of the image/video) they do not want to be put into a similar situation themselves. This leads to a restriction of the gaze through limiting content of themselves.

Think about any previous experience out shooting: have there ever been any moments when you felt that what you were doing, or had done, was unjust or inappropriate? If so, what prompted this?

I photographed on the streets of New York and had recently seen the work of Bruce Gilden. I photographed a man pushing a trolley. Despite having his permission, I didn’t consider how they wanted to be represented or how they valued their representation through my camera.

At the time I didn’t think anything of it and was proud of the image for a while. However, when looking and reflecting on the image now there is a significant power imbalance because from what I could tell the man was homeless, and I was playing on what I considered to be my power, a young traveller who felt invincible behind the camera to demand something.

I think I try to justify my taking of the image as I was looking to gaze and understand this person’s lifestyle. However, this is not the case as it was just one image and if I had cared I would have spent more time with the person to understand how we could have collaborated and created an image together that we were both comfortable with.

What did this experience teach you about your approaches, both practically and conceptually?

I learnt from this and other experiences to spend time with the people that were kind enough to give me time to talk about my ideas and projects. I now dedicate time to my subjects to consider how they feel having their photograph taken. It is more of a challenge to discuss project ideas, but this has also forced me to simplify and detail projects before discussing them.

Subjects have also helped shape projects, in my current work about Reading I am relying on the subjects to be collaborators for the work and give me locations to photograph too.

This leads to another layer of importance and connection with the subject in order for them to trust me and the way I will represent them and places they consider special.

Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London., Penguin Books, 1972.

Sturken, Marita, and Lisa Cartwright. Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture. 3rd ed., New York, Oxford University Press, 2018.

Topic 9 - Nature and Culture - Reflection

What is your understanding of the word ‘nature’. How is this term problematic?

-       I believe the word nature to be complex especially when it comes to images. The word Nature is regularly linked to the environment and the global goal of reducing impact on the rising global temperature. I think that nature can be further reaching than this and could consider the idea of human nature or the nature of an object (for example the two-dimensional nature of a photograph).

-       When it comes to images I think that Dorothea Born’s writing in Source accurately describes the nature of photographs, particularly when focused on a climate change or from a more generic activism standpoint.

-       ‘So while they are effective in creating awareness, catastrophic images can also have a demotivating effect and not necessarily foster individual engagement to counter climate change.’ (Born, 2019)

-       I think it is important to try and point out natural disasters of any kind, but photographers need to have the understanding that they can instigate a dialogue on the subject and are not going to change the world.

-       It is also important to realise that images could turn people away from the problem or discussion. It is not possible to force the audience to view and understand an image in a particular way and oversaturation of a style or concept could lead to disengagement.

How does location and environment feature in your work? 

-       As I am exploring and examining a specific place and groups of people within this place the geographic features and environmental elements are key.

-       The environment elements of Reading will be featured through different places in the town and the places people consider to be unique. This will cross a range of different areas and varying conditions.

-       I have focused on Reading as a location because of its reputation and the continued reinforcement of negative rumours towards and about the town. In his book Perspectives on Place Jesse Alexander writes:

-       ‘Perhaps the enhancement of the edgelands is not so much because they are closer to an idea of wilderness or sense of isolation but rather because they make up the least well-documented and most ignored bits of the country.’ (Alexander, 2015).

-       I feel Reading fits with this and the town whilst not on the edge of anything, could be considered an outsider when compared to the closest two big cities, Bristol to the West and London to the East. This has meant it has gone undocumented and ignored in the most part by modern audiences.

What is the relationship between your practice and human consumption?

-       I want people to consume my images and build a relationship with Reading to the point where they feel they could explore outside of their usual surroundings and areas.

-       Alexander also writes about Keith Arnatt’s A.O.N.B (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), 1982 – 1984 project:

-       ‘Arnatt’s photographs stubbornly resist conventional notions of beauty and representations of this part of the country’ (Alexander, 2015).

-       I’d like my work on reading to resist conventions when it comes to the representation of place. This could be in terms of concept and the style of the images I use to communicate my ideas. I want to avoid the potential mocking nature of Arnatt’s photographs and have a more positive but questioning relationship presented in the work.

-       I also plan to involve the communities of Reading in my project. I am doing this through a survey but feel that there might be space to further this collaboration by including residents’ photographs in an exhibition of work to promote the project and its ideals.

-       Penelope Umbrico explores the inclusion of other photographer’s work in her projects, particularly Suns from Sunsets from Flickr.

-       ‘The artist’s preoccupation with photography lies in the idea of the medium as a collective practice, something we can all contribute to and to which individual authorship has no relevance.’ (Alexander, 2015).

-       I believe this is partially true. Whilst I agree that photography, especially when people are involved, is a collaborative format there is still the curator or a photographer leading the project and concept.

Alexander, J.A.P. (2015). Perspectives on place : theory and practice in landscape photography. London: Fairchild Books.

Born, D. (2019). Nature Gone Wild? Source: the photographic review, 99(1369-2224), pp.22–25.

ROBERTS, Michael Symmons and Paul FARLEY. 2011. Edgelands Journeys into England’s True Wilderness. London Jonathan Cape.

Topic 8 - Audiences and Institutions - Reflection

-       How has your on practice been shaped, manipulated perhaps, by the makers of the technology you employ and/or the spaces in which you share your work?

The main space for me to share my work has been on Instagram. This has impacted my work as I will not really share a body of work or images in a sequence. The medium encourages the single image and the quick snapshot to encapsulate a moment.

I have shared work through my website but never feel I produce enough work in order to post it and communicate a rounded project.

-       What institutions do you wish to engage with to further your photography?

-       How / Will your skillset and practice need to develop in order to be accepted within that institution?

I want to engage with more galleries and physical locations to share work. Digital and online is quick and easy but it is not fulfilling and can be frustrating. I also think the magazine style publication would be somewhere I would like to explore sharing work, HAPAX is a good example of the type of magazine I would like my work to feature in.

In order to be accepted within the institutions I want my work to be shown in, I need more rounded and complete stories that have an interest to a range of different people, mainly in the photography world but also outside too.

I need to be proactive in seeking out opportunities and speak to people in these places. Paris Photo was a great opportunity to do this and I found the people I spoke to engaging and supportive. It certainly started to shift my expectation and stereotype of the industry being intimidating and cold, deep down I think I knew this already, however when you are in front of someone that you respect and admire it can be tricky to get over the concept.

-       If you do not consider yourself to be a ‘professional’ photographer, what do you think you need to do or achieve for this? If that is not something you desire or aspire to, how would you like to be referred to, and how will you achieve that?

To be considered as a ‘professional photographer’ I need to have my work published in a book which could be bought by members of the public. I do not think it is important that I earn money to be considered a professional, but I need to contribute to the global art-based photographic community in some way.

Topic 7 - Words and Pictures - Reflection

-       To what extent has text been part of your practice to this point?

Text has formed some part of my work in the past generally through titles and written communication to support the images. I have also used it to influence project ideas and starting points. This is becoming more important for me as I mature as a photographer as I can interpret text in different ways and then explore it photographically.

-       When have you found it most important or effective?

I have found text to be most effective at the end of a series of photographs, for example a written essay in the back of a book. This usually helps give an understanding to the image and encourages me to look back through the work to see how the words could bring new interpretations.

I think it is also important to have a piece of text at the beginning of an exhibition to set the scene for what an audience will see and experience when walking through a gallery.

-       Can you think of instances where your use of text – titles or captions perhaps – has ‘intimated’ too much to the viewer?

In several examples of my work I have over written titles to try and force the audience to experience the image in a certain way. A good example of this could be social media and the titles or hashtags that accompany and image.

-       Have you ever experienced text undermining your photographs?

During my degree I wrote a disappointing and gushing introduction to a book a created which was a study of a church community in Plymouth.

I also collaborated with an English student who wrote an article that supported images I had created. This was a particularly poor experience because they didn’t represent the image effectively and the article ended up being misrepresentative of the images and the subject matter.

In the future I need to be more selective with the people I choose to write text and consider what I am trying to communicate in my images so I can then write about it effectively.

Topic 5 - Interdisciplinary Practice - Reflection

-       Other than photography, what art forms and creative media do you take inspiration from?

-       How have you directly draw from non-photographic disciplines to develop your practice?

I take inspiration from a range of different sources. When it comes to portraiture, I find painting and sculpture good sources for ideas. Painting mainly for how identity can be communicated and how people of different backgrounds were represented. With sculpture, the way that pose and power is communicated interest me. It makes me think about how these elements could be used in photography to represent a person or group of people.

I also find text more useful than I did previously, I believe that words can help guide an audience and can help set them up for the work they are looking at. I have tried to use text with images in the past to guide the audience but it has not always been successful.

-       How would you describe the distinctive, essential qualities of photography? Are any of these characteristics the reason for you choosing it as your means of expression?

Photography is the visual communicator. When I first started taking photographs I was fascinated by the machine and the idea of digital images. As I have matured I am more interested in the way a photograph can communicate different things to different people, which I appreciate is not unique to photography, but the forced perspective, rules for images and then the breaking of those rules makes me want to continue using photography to explore and learn.

Topic 4 - Reading Photographs - Reflection

-       What challenged you?

During this topic I have been challenged by the variance and variety of responses to images. Even though we can have a set of guidelines or a checklist in order to read an image, each audience member will use them, prioritise them and interpret them and the results of them in different ways.

-       What surprised you?

I was surprised by the similarities in approach to reading a photograph, for example the different suggested writings by John A. Walker, Paul Martin Lester and Liz Wells, all had similarities between the approaches and conclusions. They all write and discuss different areas of photography and give different examples. I think my favourite concept discussed is Wells’ writing on taste and the idea of ‘connoisseurship’. She references A. D. Coleman and says:

‘A. D. Coleman reminds us that the term, connoisseurship, originally “simply distinguished between those who had actually laid eyes on particular works of art, thereby truly ‘becoming acquainted with’ them (the original definition of the term’s Latinate roots, cognoscere) and those who knew them only second-hand, through written descriptions or etched and engraved renditions[1]’ – and later, of course, through the photographic reproduction (slides, book illustrations, postcards).’ (Wells, p.433)

I agree with what Wells says is elitist connotations of this statement, but it rings true that a person that has experienced all that the art world has to offer, even within the sphere of their own country, may have a better and deeper experience than those who have not got access to these opportunities. A good example could be those isolated (to a point) in the North or far South West, their opinion and perspective of an image will be different due to the second-hand nature of seeing images away from the gallery walls. Equally a person living in the isolated parts of the world may not have experienced images of other places at all, as they focus more of their lives on survival. Does this make them any less of a connoisseur? I think that connoisseurship looks to divide cultures and peoples, so that the elite classes can feel a sense of ownership and authority over those that cannot afford to visit and experience artwork of all types first-hand. Wells suggests two further points in her essay,

1.

‘…connoisseurs being viewed as steeped in knowledge and therefore able to exercise discrimination within particular field of expertise. Such notions clearly support power infrastructures within national and international economic and institutional art networks,’

2.

‘…as Poggioli suggested, “sons”[2] rebelled against their father figures. This implies a singular historical trajectory within which younger generations of artists and critics act as a vanguard challenging the previously established.’ (Wells, p.433)

-       What do you feel you learned?

This week I have learnt that it is important to consider a range of different perspectives when analysing an image or set of images. Utilising checklists from Bate, Lester or Walker can help give insight into the singular perspective, however discussion and debate are essential for exploring and highlighting the ideas of others and potential further reading, understanding and interpretation.

Talking about interpreting photographs has led me to consider my own position within society and how this can impact my opinions and perspective. It is and continues to be a challenge to refocus the lens of my mind away from the privileged white, middleclass, male perspective I have gained over the years studying and taking photographs. This is something I want to continue challenging, progressing and engaging with to give a better and more rounded view of the world.

Bibliography

WELLS, L. (2002) The Photography Reader Routledge: London. P. 433

[1] A.D. Coleman (2000) ‘Connoisseurship in the digital era’ in Photo Americas 200, Portland, Oregon: Photo Americas, p. 2

[2] Poggioli, R. (1981) Theory of the Avant-Grade, Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press.

Topic 3 - Authorship and Collaboration - Reflection

Topic 3: Authorship and Collaboration

Reflection

-       How have you allowed the input of others to shape your practice?

Throughout this topic I have collaborated with another member of the FASTNET cohort on Objects of Memory – ordinary possessions that have become irreplaceable. I chose this topic as I felt that there is a selection of objects in my home that have stories behind them and whilst they may not be used as much as they once were they hold a relevance to life and memory that is irreplaceable.

By letting my collaborator take the lead with the theme of this topic I have put myself in a position where I am responding to a set brief and the vision of other person which then helped shape my practice.

We also discussed approaches to the theme, which developed over time based on the images that we both produced. This led to further direction and input from my collaborator as they led and made decisions to shape the final outcome of the work.

We also shared edits of each other’s work, including the images used, position and size of the photographs, this allowed me to see an alternative perspective on my work.

-       What is your attitude to drawing on the ideas of other people, or their work?

I think it is important to draw on the ideas and practice of other practitioners, especially from a wide range of sources. Research can spark and develop new ideas and methods when creating images. I think that through studying the work of others you can improve your practice as a photographer. I feel my practice as a photographer has improved through looking at photographers like Alec Soth and Paul Graham.

When it comes to collaboration, there are multiple forms, working with others to form a project or respond to a brief can lead to interesting outcomes which, like in my experience, can alter the perspective of the participants. Collaboration can also take the form of a photographer working with a subject in order to create an image, particularly a portrait. The sitter has to participate and contribute in order for the work to be created, their input can make the difference. The same works for the collaboration between two equal sources but the power balance between photographer and subject can be different and less equal but can still influence the ideas and outcomes of the creative.

I like input from others on the development of my photographic work. Feedback can also bring different perspectives and improve research sources, particularly with regard to diversity and experimental techniques.

-       Where do you see the line between ‘collaboration’ and ‘plagiarism’?

Collaboration and plagiarism are very different. Collaboration is a process that involves parties working together in order to create an outcome with a range of different levels of participation, however there is agreed aim, strategy and use of the outcomes.

Plagiarism differs as it involves one party using the work of another person without their permission.

The lines might blur when something like documentary photography is involved. Potentially, if a subject does not have the ability or is not considered worthy to give consent for the use or publication of an image it may not be a plagiarised image but could be seen as morally unacceptable. Examples of this could be seen in early photographic examples where a photographer has explored and photographed in unexplored (by a western audience) places.