Week 3 - Reflection

Consider the intent of your own practice. How do you articulate this? What strategies do you use to communicate your intended meaning? How do you want your viewer to respond?

·       I want to communicate the idea of the flow of Oxford Road. This sounds complex but by focusing on everyday moments, people and objects I feel that I can communicate the atmosphere of the place and an imaginary journey up and down the road.

·       I want my audience to think of times they have walked up or down high streets, maybe whilst listening to music or looking at their phone. I want them to consider the moments they might have missed, the people they could have interacted with and appreciate the potential for a slower and more observed approach to moving through a location.

·       I don’t think my work currently communicates this but through portraits, single landscape/observation images and sequences of observation I think it could. More images are needed. I have found it useful having a consistent shooting schedule, always on a Friday and/or Saturday and always checking in with people either to give them a print from a previous shoot or to say hi.

Think about the fictional / constructed nature of your own photographic practice: identify the ways in which you do / might 'construct' the world.

·       I choose the framing for the photographs I take. This means I control elements of the image. I also plan where I am going to go, I am returning to the same location each week, this means I am putting control measures on what I might be able to find and photograph. I control where my subjects stand, if the light isn’t right or a shadow is landing on them in a distracting way I will move them.

·       I do not control my subjects, I give them the freedom to choose their pose and when asking them to look away from the camera, they control which side they look towards.

·       The idea of controlling a subject is an interesting one because by observing a person and photographing them they may act differently to when not being photographed. I want to maintain a positive ethical approach by having subjects sign model release forms and talking to them to ensure they are comfortable with the process before continuing to produce images. There could be contradictions to this in the sequences I produce. I am taking the approach of my eye leading the camera and following where my attention goes whilst observing a scene or location. I obviously choose when to release the shutter which means I am constructing the image but what is in the image is not always under my control.

·       Overall, I will be constructing and controlling the journey that the audience take along Oxford Road. I will be controlling the stops we make along the way and the narrative that is formed.

Identify any approaches / practices / practitioners that specifically resonated with you. Do any of these ‘constructed’ approaches give you ideas to develop your own practice?

‘I like to take the reality of the world and use it as a springboard for the imagination.’

   (Soth in Bubich, 2015)

·    This quote resonates with me and my project at the moment. I find that I am communicating the world as it is in front of me, what I see, what I deem important, what I consider others might find interesting. Then using these images to build my own narrative and journey describing the flow of the road which whilst partially based in reality is imaginative and a fiction.

‘Photography is Perception (seeing) and Description (operating the camera to make a record) of the seeing.’

                                                                          (Winogrand in Green, 1984: 97).

·       This quote also connects with my project and ideas for the project. I feel I am looking, seeing and observing, but also utilising other senses in order to draw out distinctive elements and aspects of the location. Although the camera is flawed as a recording device, compression of three-dimensions, only using a singular sense to communicate, capturing on a moment of time, even in a sequence.

I was also challenged by Barthes’ statement from Camera Lucida:

‘Why photograph this object, this moment, rather than some other.’

              (Barthes, 1980: 6)

·       It has made me think about why I am photographing what I am photographing. What am I trying to say and how is this represented in my work. I have come to the conclusion that I am still interested in the flow of Oxford Road and photographing people that I meet along with moments that catch my eye. I want to spend more time observing the location and the passing of time to feel Oxford Road, reflect on this and then continue to produce images that represent this.

Outline / summarise your independent research.

·       This week I have looked in more depth at Paul Graham’s American photographs in his book The Whiteness of the Whale. The combination of his projects in America along with a range of essays, I particularly like the David Chandler essay, has kept, and deepened my drive and understanding of the flow of life and how it can be communicated in images.

·       I have also been spending time with Gregory Halpern’s ZZYZX. The use of light and colour in his work interests me. I find it draws my focus to certain areas of the image and situation that potentially would have been ignored. Throughout the work there are images of hands which is making me consider how histories, businesses and lives are built and this contributes to the flow of a place.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Evaluate the development of your own photographic practice to date.

·       I need to continue working on the contextualisation of my images. Being more aware of my backgrounds so they do not interrupt subjects.

·       I need to continue working on sequences and exploring the combination of images to bring context to the moments I am photographing and explore the possibility of crossing images from different sequences to give a broader idea of the location.

·       I want to work on the interpretation of my images. I am considering contacting the local library and having some of the images so that members of the public can see the images and make suggestions about areas of Oxford Road I could photograph.

Reflect on the peer / tutor feedback you have received on your current / future practice.

·       I found this webinar session useful. There were good suggestions regarding mindful photography and approaches to observation of a situation. I plan to look at Dawoua Bey’s book ‘On Photography People and Communities’ and explore the concept of thinking of a colour, closing my eyes, turning in a circle, opening my eyes, and then seeing how much I notice of that colour. I could explore using iterations of this technique in different places along the Oxford Road.

Moving forwards:

What are your action points? Where are you going next?

·      I want to continue building my relationship with the people of Oxford Road. I want to spend more time slowing down my practice. A goal I have in mind is to sit and look for the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee, utilising the slowing down to observe more carefully and efficiently.

·      I plan to speak to the people at the local library to see if they will support me presenting images in the space so I can further discuss the project and ideas. Potentially this could lead to people sharing their opinion with me and suggesting areas of the road they think I should focus on. It would build my relationship with the community further and potentially will help me get more portraits.

List of figures

Fig. 1. Gregory Halpern. From the series ZZYZX. 2016

Fig. 2. Gregory Halpern. From the series ZZYZX. 2016

Fig. 3. Gregory Halpern. From the series ZZYZX. 2016