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 5 - Interdisciplinary Practice - Activity

How are why does your practice relate to a particular discipline?

My photographic practice has similarities to the geographical planning and reviews completed as part of council’s self-assessment of the areas that they control. I have been reading the ‘Reading – Historic Area Assessment, Reading HAA – February 2023.’ A 226-page document on the historic environment, its character and heritage assets in the town. This text, statistical and image-based approach to reviewing the town helps me highlight areas that could be good or valuable to photograph.

What I find most interesting about the publication is that each section of the town is broken down and the buildings are assigned based on their ‘…Relative Contributions to Character’.

These do not consider how people in the town feel about the buildings that are being categorised, but the opinion of the company doing the study for the council, with the view to future development/redevelopment.

-       How does this link to my practice?

I want to connect with people to understand their perception and opinions on Reading, what if one of their favourite buildings was designated as a ‘detracting contributor’?

Is this study based on what is popular within town planning and development? What about what is unique to Reading?

-       JACKSON, Sam, Charles WAGNER and Mary NEALE. 2023. Reading - Historic Area Assessment. Reading Borough Council. Abingdon: Built Heritage Consultancy. Available at: https://images.reading.gov.uk/2023/05/Reading-HSHAZ-Historic-Area-Assessment-2022-Approved-27.2.23.pdf [accessed 24 Oct 2023].