SYP: Thoughts and Reflections

Date: 26/10/2021

Restarting and getting back into study after submitting my course work for Body of Work (BoW) and Contextual Studies (CS) has not been easy.  Because my future plans rely on the outcome of these final three modules the stress levels and nerves about submitting work good enough has been high.  The added pressure of trying to obtain information from Student Support added to the situation so once the deadline was over the motivation to restart was very low.  The course material didn’t get up loaded to the new Learning Platform for three weeks post my start date.

I was a little surprised to find that I wouldn’t be working with either of my tutors for BoW or CS but considered that this would be an advantage giving me a new perspective on my project.  Our initial meeting took place virtually on the 16^th October.  I had previously provided links to my OCA blog site which I now need to change to include SYP and the website to my project ‘Inside the Shell’.  We briefly discussed next steps and future plans and how SYP can be a stepping stone to these.  I agreed to provide an initial plan for submitting each Assignment.

I have continued to attend the various forums that I started during BoW and CS.  The Documentary/Level 3 Support group met on the 15^th October, not a large turnout but we managed to see Jack’s BoW video he is working on for Assignment Four.  Its starting to look amazing, the mixture of local voices, found images and his own work really pulls together the narrative of the floods and life on the island.  The smaller Level 3 Support group met on the 21^st October.  This was more of a chat about how we were coping after finishing and submitting and now the waiting game till results.  Sue is back from her health break due to her back, so she showed her latest images.  I think she has several themes and strong links between her images, just a case of editing and then deciding on how to show them for final submission.  Helen hasn’t started SYP yet but has managed to organise a separate SYP group which will start in November, will be attending as I need all the help I can get.

On the 8^th October I attended a Photovoice Elements and Community Based Programme presentation by Diana Nazareth.  Photovoice is an area I would really like to explore more after my degree so take every opportunity to attend these events when the time difference allows.

The weekend of the 16^th October saw the Ballarat International Foto Biennale hold a series of talks with artists around producing a photobook.  There were five in total, but I only managed to see three:

• Artist talk: Rohan Hutchinson in conversation with Linsey Gosper;
• Artist Talk: Heidi Victoria in conversation with Julie McLaren; and
• Panel Conversation: The shape of a photobook project.

Of the three the first and last were the most helpful to my current module of SYP.  Hutchinson has self-published over fifteen books since he started in 2014.  Early versions were handmade, string bound Zine type publications.  One was not bound and allowed the viewer to re-order the images to give a completely different experience the next time it was viewed.  His latest is a fold out with eight panels of large format images.  He emphasized the importance of research and how the images in a book rarely reflect those used in an exhibition, often several his ‘B’ grade images find themselves in the book as they provide a link in the narrative.  He uses the book as a way to publicise his work – easier to ship a book than an exhibition.

Over the long weekend here in New Zealand I finally started the course work and pulling together the information for my Bio, CV and project over view.  This will be covered further in the Course Work section of this blog.

I don’t usually enter competitions or submit my work, but I did submit my BoW to be considered for the OCA Student Association ‘edge-zine issue 12 – identity’, fingers crossed its selected.

I have also started reaching out to local exhibition spaces here in New Zealand to arrange meetings to show my work and agree possible dates for a solo exhibition.  The first is a small independent gallery in Featherston called the ‘The Miracle Room’.  The second is a local government/council owned and run art museum [https://www.aratoi.org.nz/] that I’ve exhibited at before as a joint venture with another local photographer and as part of my local camera club, so they know my work.

I’m also looking at trying to get funding for the exhibitions and book/zine through ‘Creative NZ’ [https://www.creativenz.govt.nz/].  They have several opportunities throughout the year, so starting to gather information for the next round which is due early in the new year.

6^th November 2021

Busy week with a number of student forums.  The first this week was the Rest of the World Group (01/11/21).  This is a real eclectic group of students which is always fun to join.  Now the clocks have changed it crosses into my work day on a Monday so I have to ensure I book a room.  The students who attend are mixed both in courses and levels but its great to see and hear their progress.  An amazing way to feed of each other and gain new ideas.

Juanita shared her final assignment for creative writing ‘Confessions of a B&B Lady’. Beautifully written and read and had all in stitches with laughter.  Sadly, it was over too soon but she said it was just the first of many chapters so we look forward to the finished book.

Amano shared his visit to the exhibition ‘Amazonia by Salgado’.  I had previously joined an on-line talk and presentation by Salgado on his Amazonia project.  The exhibition looks amazing but it will probably never come to New Zealand.

Lynda/Juanita/Karen showed their work from the session called ‘Keeping up the Momentum’ this is a student run session and encourages anyone from OCA to join in.  Unfortunately, these are 3am – joys of living in New Zealand.  They explained that they were given a series of disjointed words that they had to translate and create a piece of visual art, theirs was a short video.

Mark, also from New Zealand attended after being away due to work commitments.  He explained that he was like many students stuck between levels.  After finishing level 1 he has been waiting for the course work to be up-loaded for Level 2.  The structure has now changed moving to three fixed courses, so no selection, glad I’m nearly finished.

Wednesday (03/11/21) saw the start of the new SYP Support group, set up by Helen.  This is for discussion around the course, experience and of course an exchange of information and advice.  The session was also joined by one student that just finishing BoW and CS, a glimpse of what’s to come!  This first session included a presentation by Andrew Fitzgibbon who is about to submit his SYP.  Interesting exchange and a great start so hope we get a continued level of support.

On Friday (05/11/21) I joined the Level 3 & Documentary Group.  Another great and interactive session.  Sue back from her sick leave spoke about her trip to the Bristol Book festival.  After lockdown found it a little stressful travelling on public transport but great to physically touch and interact with fellow students and photographers that had produced the books.  We have a photobook festival in march 2022 in Wellington so I’m planning on going and hopefully get some advice about my book.

Jack had just come back from his last interview and photo session for his BoW and CS.  His work is sound and video based and it will be really interesting to see the final results.

Seems like a week of student groups but I have progressed my course work and received positive feedback from my email to Susanna at Aratoi, the local Arts museum mentioned previously.  Copy of email:

I have subsequently sent her an idea of dates for June/July onwards next year this would give me time to apply for Creative NZ Funding, printing, framing, selecting etc and a short summary of the project.  I had produced a website of images for BoW so also included that.

Unfortunately, I still haven’t received a response from the smaller location in Featherston so I have called and left a message.

Having undertaken two joint exhibitions before the cost can soon mount up and I would also like to produce a book or Zine, so I have started to look at funding options.  I had previously stated that Creative NZ hold a number of releases of funding and so I downloaded their requirements and will start researching and pulling together the required data.

As part of my final submission for BoW I produced a draft book.  This included a collaboration piece with an illustration student from the Rest of the World student group.  She drew a crayfish and I included it towards the end under the Acknowledgements:

Working with others is enjoyable and most of the time rewarding and so I would like to add other pieces to the book/zine.  I currently have only two pieces of text as I wanted to allow the images to speak for themselves, however I have started the ball rolling with another photography student Jack who as part of his degree did a creative write module.  I’ve listened to and read his work and I think it will complement the images.  After an email exchange Jack has agreed to consider drafting a short section.

Whilst researching the location for my BoW I came across the book ‘On the Edge’ by Jim Graydon.  Jim travelled the East Coast of the Wairarapa recording and documenting the communities, one of which was Ngawi the subject of my BoW.  I decided to try and see if Jim was still alive and if I could contact him to see if he would like to write something for my book/zine.  It turns out that Jim is a member of the same camera club as myself and so I was able gain his contact detail and email him.  He kindly responded as follows:

Hope to catch up next week over coffee.

14^th November 2021

Bit of an interesting week.  Started with a bit of a rejection from the exhibition space in Featherston.  After reading his email I could see the issue.  I had asked for a meeting to show my work and discuss what I wanted to exhibit, without explaining where I was from or providing the link to my BoW website.  The curator had just looked at my personal website which forms part of my email signature and assumed I was a travel photographer.  Once I had explained I lived in the Wairarapa and the project was a local project I was able to secure a date for my platinum and palladium exhibition in November 2022.  I know it’s twelve months away but that will give me time to review the images and print them.  I need to consider the space as it’s not too large, so need to calculate the number of images will fill the space without looking too much.  Detailed planning is needed and some photos of the space.

As highlighted previously I spoke to Jack a fellow student at level 3 about providing words for my book/zine.  He kindly sent the initial draft through this week whilst on a boat in the North Sea, not far from Norway.  The words I think would work well as an introduction and following a few minor changes I will add to my draft book design.

Original words by Jack Delmonte (Student id:513760):

The perception of New Zealand, from the far off observer, could be of a deeply masculine country. This machismo exemplified by the fierce Maori war cry of the Haka, traditionally performed before the start of a Rugby Football match by the national team on its way to taking another tournament scalp. Recently, an enlightened woman Prime Minister, Jacinta Ahern, has started to dent that perception.   

 

In Michele Usher’s new work centred on the small fishing community of Ngawi, a harsh and remote place isolated at the southernmost point of New Zealand’s North Island. We see this masculinity totally stripped away to revealed the hidden strength of its community  – a group of Woman.  This band of sisters battle on so many different fronts, from day-to-day existence to managing mental heath issues associated with remote rural working class communities. 

 

With beautifully images, crafted from the deep trust that Michele has developed over a long period of time with the community,  we see in her photographs an empathetic portrayal of Ngawi woman and their surroundings.  This ranges from portraits to artefacts taken in black and white and colour, presented in a variety of framing. An artistic approach to this unique land and people that adds to our appreciation of the individuality of each of the woman and the roles they play in maintaining Village life. 

 

This documentary work is of vital importance. Not only in dispelling stereotypical perceptions we may have of the role of woman in New Zealand’s rural society, but also to expose the issues surrounding mental health that blight rural communities in some of the harshest environments on earth.  You may never have heard of the woman of Ngawi, bit after viewing Michele’s images of them and their environment, you will not forget them.

I have also started to investigate the possibility of applying for an OCA grant to try and help fund the zine and exhibition production.  One of the students that form the Level 3 Support Group, was successful last year and she has provided some useful advice, so I will complete the form and see how it goes.

There have been a number of opportunities to show my work to a wider audience this week.  I looked into the British Journal of Photography – Portrait of Humanity competition, but this would mean joining the BJP first as a very large fee and then paying again to submit images.  The second was the AoP – Emerging Talen Award, but the requirement was to have only been practicing your work for the last three years, so neither would work form. However, on a more positive front the Photo Book NZ festival are arranging a competition for aa A5 zine (https://www.photobooknz.com/zine-competition ), to be drafted, printed and submitted by February 2022, so I’m going to start to re-design my BoW images into the required format.  This will mean a re-edit and a careful consideration on layout as I move from A4 to A5.

To end the week my meeting with Jim Graydon went really well.  He has agreed to draft a longer text piece, maybe for the middle of the zine/book (500-1000 words) by Christmas.  I explained that I would like to use it for a submission to the competition and he seemed really pleased.  He also informed me that his book would be re-printed for the fourth time.

I managed to complete my course work for the first section and the first part of Assignment 1 and submitted this to my tutor and up-loaded a copy to my blog site.  Whilst I wait for feedback I will continue to part Two of the course material.

28^th November 2021

Not really sure where time is going as we speed towards the Christmas holiday season things at work have been a little manic and getting time to study has been difficult to fit in.  As its Spring going into Summer here in New Zealand so also busy outside as weeds seem to be growing faster than anything else.

I have progressed with the course work – well reading the notes and marking where I need to do additional research as a start.  I have also managed to attend (on-line) a number of talks for the Head-on Photo Festival and I will write these up separately so I don’t fall too far behind with this section of my blog.

I completed the grant application for OCA to apply for funding for the mock up of my book.  I included the work I would like to include from two fellow students, one for the illustration of the cray which sits towards the end of the book and a written piece as a foreword or introduction.  I thought I just needed to apply on behalf of the group but it seems that OCA wanted all three of us to submit a form so emailed the others with a copy of my application and a blank form for them.  Fingers crossed.

On the 26^th November joined the Level 3 and Documentary Support Group.  Usual great turn out and discussion session.  We started with the work the Jonathan had asked for review and feedback on.  This is for his final Assignment for Documentary.  The project has been based around ‘Dave’ a local man who lives and works in the woods near Jonathan.  He has a network of local grower (fruit and veg and as Jonathan says probably some other ‘stuff’ that can’t be discussed) that he sells through his little shed.  Jonathan has just a mixture of black and white and colour images.  I provided written feedback prior to the meeting.  Others suggested adding movement to some of the images or Dave at work rather than the passport type image.  We discussed the number of images required and if the format worked which we concluded did.

Jack discussed his trip to Norway to see the Northern Lights but this he said gave him the opportunity to get time away from being a full-time care giver and complete his first draft of Assignment Four for CS.  The boat was small with only 80 people including staff.  Sounded like an amazing trip.

Faith is still continuing to have problems with her tutor – lack of response, no feedback and so she is giving her till the New Year to improve before raising it higher within the OCA.  Niki still seems to be reluctant to share but that’s fine, I’m sure she will when ready.  Finally, Sue stated that she needed to really start to concentrate and get down to writing her essay, feels like she is reading too much, far too much research and not enough action as she puts it.

On Saturday (28^th November) had a video session with my tutor to gain feedback on my first Assignment for SYP.  I have provided a more detailed description in my Reflections on Assignment One feedback post here.

4^th December 2021

Can’t believe its December already and looking at the time lines not sure I’m going to get finished in time. Following my session with my tutor last week I draw up a list of areas I needed to get done this week, but as usual work got in the way and only managed to get a few ticked off but I have set aside today to catch up.

To Do List:

• Continue working through Part two of the Course work
• Research Social Documentary Photographers who use text with their work
• Explore the use of sound
• Write up Talks and presentations – looks what’s on in Wellington
• Submit images to the Wairarapa Arts festival
• Continue to draft Zine for February submission
• Look at student submission for AoP
• Write up learning Outcomes for Assignment 1
• Draft questions for portfolio review
• Contact the women of Ngawi to discuss exhibition
• Contact the owner of Photospace Wellington for a portfolio review
• Book portfolio review with Sybylla Smith

So I managed to book a review with Sybylla Smith for the 9^th December, she was offering a one hour session at a special rate of $100, where she will review the whole of my portfolio.  I have received the link but she hasn’t asked for the work in advance which is a little worrying, need to ensure I get the most out of it.  I have also registered my work with the Student forum for earlier that day.

Questions:

• The project is about community and the male/ female roles, does this come across or is there a way of improving that narrative?
• My aim is to relate to not just New Zealand audiences how do you think I could improve on this?
• I’m currently considering an exhibition and book, but is this do you think the best way to show this work?
• I have included text within the draft book that was submitting for my course work, do you think the inclusion of additional text would help or distract from the images?

Course work for part two has not really progressed but trying to read the notes.

I have contacted James Gilbert from PhotoSpace in Wellington and hopefully he will reply and I can meet up with him and discuss my ideas. Copy of email:

I managed to get up to date with all the talks I have attended and added a section to my blog (here).  I really need to move the ones I did for CS and BoW from the front of the blog to a different section now that the marking of the course has been completed.  I’ve been a little reluctant to move things just in case the OCA need to review areas.  I think I need to find more to attend but, be a little more selective and relate them to this part of the course.  Whilst in lockdown it was a lot easier to log in and explore other genres but think I need to focus more on the social documentary area.

I have re-applied to AoP as a student and need to review the criteria for submitting as a student.  I have missed the early bird submission date as I was waiting for confirmation on my membership so the fees may be more.  Entries are due in January so I will add this to my holiday list.

Each year Aratoi – local arts museum holds the Wairarapa Arts review, this year sponsored by Sotheby.  This covers all aspects of art from local artists and I have submitted two photographs for consideration.  The opening is on the 10^th December but I will probably call-in next Saturday to see if I have been selected.

As feedback from my tutor was to not have a review with anyone you know I emailed a fellow Kiwi student and asked their advice about other professionals I could approach and if he had had any experience interacting with them.  He pointed me in the direction of Bruce Connew [https://bruceconnew.com/about accessed 04/12/21] who owns a gallery just round the corner from where I work.  I have often gone in to look at the work there and discussed a number of exhibitions I had attended in my BoW and CS course.  So I have emailed to see if he would be interested:

During BoW and CS I reviewed a large number of photographers that worked in the social documentary genre so I decided to start there because I the use of text wasn’t my original plan.  The aim was always prints as a final series for BoW and then SYP would move to an exhibition, however COVID and lockdown saw my plans move into a different direction and the production of a book.  I really want the images to speak for themselves.  I had considered an introduction and at the time maybe a collaboration with an extended piece of text.  For BoW I used a Māori quote and to end a quote from Jim Mortram a UK photographer who had struggled with his own mental health issues and someone who I could relate to in his approach to portrait photography.

The first photographer that used text extensively in his project ‘Raised by Wolves’ (1995) was Jim Goldberg.  Golderg is considered as a social documentary photographer.  His work focuses on the lives of the neglected, ignored and socially isolated.  Most of his projects take years to complete whilst he leaves his camera behind to focus on building the trust of his subject.  The projects consist of images and text which is often written over the image by the subject.

In an article for the New York Times (2014) Goldberg states ‘I think my outrage about the desperation of the poor — and the dissatisfaction of the rich — stemmed in part from my belief that they represented a derogation from that path, a veering off course that had to be rooted out and documented’.

‘Raised by Wolves’ focuses on the street children of both the areas of San Francisco and Los Angeles.  These children have often run away from abusive parents/relatives.  The images of the exhibition and book included drawings from the subjects, letters they have kept, their memories and their own images.  The text highlights the rawness of their situation.  The use of black and white gives a feeling of isolation.  An environment where they need to be seen to show no emotion but their scares are seen in their words.

Image by Jim Goldberg [http://www.jimgoldberg.com/  accessed 04/12/21]

Bibliography

https://www.sfmoma.org/artist/jim_goldberg/

http://www.jimgoldberg.com/

https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/jim-goldberg-raised-by-wolves/

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/arts/design/jim-goldberg-hopes-his-pictures-still-make-a-difference.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mfMjPkxePc

Duane Michals (b. 1932) is another photographer who uses text with images, but he known for not sticking with just one style of photography, constantly reinventing himself and his style.  With his staged images he often writes, draws, paints and manipulates the images.  He has stated that “My pictures are more about questions, not about answers.” (Lens culture online article https://www.lensculture.com/articles/duane-michals-storyteller-the-photographs-of-duane-michals-2 accessed 10/12/21].

Michals first came to photography and became noticed in the 1960s and era that was influenced by photojournalism.  Michals use of text in a way that serves as a didactic or explanation.  He uses his own handwriting rather than printed text which can add another dimension to the image resulting in a completely different meaning and gives voice to Michals’ thoughts which have been described as ‘poetic, tragic, and humorous’.  This in away is adding his voice to the image and could be an angle to bring my narrative out more as per my tutor’s recommendation.  The question is should this be about the subject, the location, mental health, isolation or how I feel about the place?

‘A Story about a Story’ (1989) DC Moore Gallery NY © Duane Michals

Bibliography

https://www.lensculture.com/articles/duane-michals-storyteller-the-photographs-of-duane-michals-2

https://www.dcmooregallery.com/artists/duane-michals

http://www.artnet.com/artists/duane-michals/

https://www.milkbooks.com/blog/inspiration/duane-michals/

https://www.lensculture.com/articles/duane-michals-the-illusions-of-the-photographer

During BoW I attended an on-line talk about Donna Ferrato’s latest book ‘Holy’.  A conversation between her and J Sybylla Smith [copy of which can be found here: https://www.jsybyllasmith.com/know-about/donna-ferrato%5D

Ferrato has spent her career photographing women.  She has a clear documentary style and as she states she sees her job as someone that should ‘cut out the noise and listen’ (DP Review March 2021).  Her projects and subjects range from swingers to survivors of domestic abuse.  Her images are confrontational and considered difficult to look at but they should be.  They show facts of life, in all its rawness.

The text she uses is factual and in her own hand, written directly on the image and in a way links the image to the subject.  Ferrato an observer, but also a recorder of fact.  She tries to get as close as she can, a very invasive style, gaining trust and then access to these women’s lives, she builds that trust and her images honour them.

Her images show women as survivors of the male domination, from home life to that of the boardroom, through the sexual revolution of the 1960s to the modern day #meto movement.  A photojournalist for me she is also a advocate for Photovoice although not putting the camera in the hands of the subject her work cries out for change.  In an interview with Lenscratch March 2021 Ferrato states:

‘I knew that things had to be seen to be understood.   The women in my pictures agreed to be photographed because I convinced them to fight through their pain and shame for something bigger.  With all my heart I believed the more women knew about the cycle of domestic violence, the factors, the outcomes, and more importantly, how it could happen to anyone.  This could increase public awareness and compassion for women trapped in mortal combat in their own homes’.

Bibliography

https://www.dpreview.com/articles/0645562752/interview-donna-ferrato-on-50-years-of-photographing-women

https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/donna-ferrato?all/all/all/all/0

https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/collections/donna-ferrato-living-with-the-enemy

https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/her-work-helped-bring-violence-against-women-out-of-the-shadows-1fece4d49d7a

https://www.nzgeo.com/photography/donna-ferrato/

http://lenscratch.com/2021/03/donna-ferrato-holy/

18^th December 2021

It’s been a while since my last up-date and a few things have happened.  Looking back at the last post I forgot to add that I had attended the L3 Support Group on the 2^nd December.  This might be the last one for Sarah as she will be qualifying this month, fingers crossed she will continue to join us.  She’s looking to going on to do a MA but there are a number of items that need to be done around the house so spending money on another course may have to wait.

Lynda is still on baby sitting duties and so is finding it hard to complete her essay, but doing lots of reading and is about to submit Assignment 4.  The weather and local conditions have not helped her BoW, from fires to months of rain in the matter of hours has caused major floods and damage so getting out around the lake has been put on hold.

Niki joined us for the first time, she’s just started Level 3.  Her project is about community how her local village has to deal with locals and tourists, but she will be using the local woodlands as a metaphor to represent the two and how conflicts can also form harmony.  It will be interesting to see how her work progresses over the next months.

Sue has not long returned from a period of time away due to health issues and is worries that her essay isn’t very academic, however her tutor doesn’t seem at all concerned.  She feels as if she isn’t getting enough feedback, which is usually given via a zoom session and verbally but what she wants is written.  There is a clear link between her BoW and CS but doesn’t see how her images will fit into the essay.

Anna was able to attend, even with limited internet access.  She said that she had a number of professional reviews during BoW and so wasn’t going to do any more for Assignment 1 of SYP, she thinks this needs to be something different for her.

The 9^th saw me undertake two portfolio reviews.  The first was with the OCA Student Forum which is run every month and chaired by one of the OCA Tutors – Helen Warburton.  This is a great friendly forum for any student from any creative form to present their work.  After a few technical challenges I booked the second slot and up loaded my project website for attendees to review.  I have completed a full write up here for the session along with the suggested research and my reflections on the comments.  I plan to take the changes back at various stages to help refine the work.

The second session that day was with J Sybylla Smith an American social documentary curator.  This was booked for an hour to review my project and I’m so glad I recorded it as trying to write and take in all she said was very difficult.  My recording on captured her side of the conversation but I noticed she had been recording the session so I was able to request a copy for my records.  A full write up is here along with my reflections and research she suggested.  I’m still waiting for the feedback from one other person – James Gilbert and I haven’t received a response from Bruce Connew so I will assume he’s not interested in offering that service or support.  I may have to explore other avenues.

On the 10^th December we had our usual Level 3/Documentary/Level 2 support group.  Neil gave an up-date on his project with ‘Dave’ in the woods and mentioned a photographer – Vera Lutter, who may be worth looking into.  I gave an overview of my two review sessions and my confusion on how I could put my ‘voice’ into my project when I really just wanted to be an observer.  Neil mentioned Walker Evans and his work in ‘The Americans’, someone else said that this could mean your style and it was also suggested that I look at my artist statement.  All good suggestions.

Holly has just started the new Level 3 modules and is feeling really stressed at only having 12 months to complete all the work as she doesn’t really have an idea yet.  Not sure the OCA realise the impact these changes have on students.  Judith was progressing with her Zines despite have issues with Publisher (software) on her iMac.  A large number of the usual group were missing but it was fun to catch up with how others were progressing.

Over the weeks I have been progressing my collaborative piece with Jim Graydon author of ‘On the Edge’.  We have had a number of conversations around how the piece will work in with the images, the length, if it will address the history and how he will consider the overall project.  The first draft can be found here.  I’ve never worked with a writer before and I think the first draft works well as a starting point.  May need to correct a few points around the spelling of my name and if I’m a semi-professional – clearly not!  I think this would be a great foreword to the book and the Zine I’m trying to produce for the Wellington Competition in February.

The Rest of the World Study Forum met on the 13^th December, just a small group this time.  Lynda suggested I revisit Identity and Place third Assignment on mirrors and windows and to also contact one of the students in the Level 3 group on the book he produced for Landscape.  Mark suggested I return to Ngawi with the mindset to focus on capturing the isolation.  Once again, these groups make you think of different angles and point you to new ideas.

Some good news, my grant application from the OCA was accepted and so myself and two other students will be receiving a grant towards the collaboration of work for this project.

1^st January 2022

The run up to the end of the work year and the year in general was a little manic to say the least.  I did however manage to get my portfolio off to Rohan Hutchinson in Australia for him to review.  He responded the next day with the following:

On Mon, Dec 20, 2021 at 9:28 AM rohan hutchinson <info@rohanhutchinson.com> wrote:

Hi Michelle.

I hope you are well, and thanks for sending the info through. I’ve had some ideas after a quick look and will have more of a look over the next few days. Is it ok if I get back to you after the 4th Jan?

When making judgement or giving advice I like to consider the work for about a week.

Also I am away from the 24th-3rd camping without the computer. If you need me to get back to you before then just let me know and I will see if I can squeeze some time in.

 

Cheers

Rohan

I agreed that the 4^th would be fine as I have other course work to progress, so I’m looking forward to what he has to say as he has self-published over fifteen books and has his own publishing company. – will update this blog with his feedback and my reflections.

Following the initial two reviews (Student forum and J Sybylla Smith), I have started to think of alternative editing styles and approaches to try and keep the same narrative but to enhance it and to also bring out my voice.  Ideas so far include:

• Removing the black and white images and replacing with different textures of a fabric/metal cover, grey coloured pages for the foreword pages containing the words from Jim;
• Taking macro or textures images of cray, rocks, shoreline and using these as a textured backdrop on each of the pages or as a boarder/margin that fades across the page;
• Re-edit to include the male element throughout the book:
  • Male image on the left page verses a female on the right;
  • Male image the bleeds across the page with the female on top
  • Male image on a transparent page so that you can still see the female beneath
• Two Volumes – male as platinum and palladium. Second volume of digital images, B&W and colour
• Use bifold pages. The male on the two facing pages but then on opening the female is contained across the pages inside
• Introduce more text; quotes from the women or my own thoughts
• Use of sound within the video and a written piece from myself
• Use of different paper textures to represent the male v female elements.
• Return to location to focus on textures, sound and isolation

I will start to draft these in InDesign and blog results and gain feedback.

On the 22^nd December I managed to have a long and information discussion with a fellow student here in New Zealand who had kindly listened to the recording of my session with J Sybylla Smith.  Mark is just about to enter Level 2 but it was great to hear his opinion and to discuss the project and my ideas with someone other than my partner who I’m sure turns off.  Mark had sent though a link to a National Geographic article: (https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/the-beach/ that I had already used in BoW but it was good to revisit as the images gave me a few more ideas of what to cover when I return.  He also pointed me in the direction of Guy Fredrick a Christchurch photographer who documented the communities following the earthquake in 2011.  I remember researching his work before during BoW and Documentary but he also works for the N=University of Dunedin so I might try contacting him.

On the 23^rd December I received a response from James Gilberd on my portfolio – I have documented this fully here, to say I was disappointed was an understatement.  As a PSNZ judge I have been trained to give constructive comments, to help guide others, its not about me its about their images.  It was clear that he hadn’t read my questions or offered any real advice apart from that he wasn’t interested in showing my work – which I hadn’t requested! That said he did point me in the direction of several New Zealand photographers and on reviewing those it has confirmed the need for additional text – but I think there is a fine line between using text to tell the narrative and letting the images do the talking.  My aim for this project is not just to be about New Zealand, it should relate to anywhere in the world.  Yes people think of New Zealand and think of sheep, wine and rolling hills but there’s more to it than that and I want this project to show that.

Over Christmas I have managed to work through the course work for part two and that can be found here.  I have until the end of the month to complete the submission for the assignment for my Tutor.

On the 28^th and 29^th I spent some time trying to remember and produce some digital negatives and then some platinum and palladium prints.  Still so much to learn and remember, so lots more practice is needed.  I did realise that I will need to go and measure up the space in Featherston to see how many prints will fit on the wall.  Also, if I can just matt them or if I will need to provide frames which will add to the cost.  I can then pull together the possible list of images and concentrate on getting these correct.  If I plan to produce a series for a book then these will also need to be printed and ensuring I apply the chemicals cleanly is going to be very important as I can’t cover any mistakes with matt boards.

9^th January 2022

The following image shows the now dry results from two days trying to remember how to produce a digital negative, coat and prepare paper for printing with platinum and palladium.  My friend even took a polaroid image of me in action:

Over several days I have returned to InDesign and created a number of different versions to try and address the feedback received to date.  So far, I have drafted:

• A male v female version – this consists of black and white ‘male’ image on the left page with a corresponding female portrait on the right (pdf here);
• A female only version – here there are only the portraits of the women, the male element has been replaced by grey pages and the cover of the book will have a different texture (pdf here);
• Male as an overlay – here the male images are throughout the book but have been re-edited as a pencil type sketch and printed on transparent paper so that the female portrait is seen beneath/through the male. This will have to be fully printed and a mock up produced so the effect can be seen as the pdf from InDesign will not show the full effect (pdf here).
• Bi-fold Design – this will need to be produced to show the full effect. Here the male black and white image spans two pages, when these are opened the female image set is printed inside (pdf here).
• All Black and white – this contains no colour images (pdf here).

InDesign screen shot of draft versions:

I still have a few more ideas but think I need to return to Ngawi to gain some more images for textures, isolation and use as a bi-fold image.  I have realised that my Photoshop skills are very limited as I would assume that most of the effects, I want could be achieved using that software, however I have only ever been an in-camera photographer and not a fine art photographer and this is more about the social documentary than my ability to use software.

To get back into the swing of the new year I addended a PhotoVoice Lit Review Workshop (6^th January 2022).  This was really for personal reasons and possible future studies, so I wont be providing a write up, but that said it was really informative and the group were really helpful.  Several attendees had already started their PhD’s.  I asked about the foundation course they run and everyone highly recommended it so depending on the outcome of this module I may undertake that next.

On the 8^th January I attended the first Martin Parr talk of the year with Michael Stripe.  Stripe is probably best known as an American singer/songwriter and the lead singer of the pop group R.E.M. Over the years of this career has been taking thousands of images which have been formed into a series of Volumes.  Listening to him he doesn’t seem to like to promote his work but he has managed to photograph some amazing people and artists such as Kurt Cobain, River Phoenix to name just two.  There’s a strange mix of portraits of other artists, self and archive images including some that he purchased complete with coffee cup stains.

It was interesting to see how he designed and edited the selection but then he stated that he had no idea how to do that and relied heavily on a designer.  For me the selection was quite eclectic, almost thrown together.  I’m not sure that for me it shows a ‘voice’, something that I’m still trying to find with my own work.  One thing that both Parr and Stripe agreed was that ‘producing a book is the ultimate form of photographic control over the final product, unlike that of work produced for a magazine’.  This may be true but it can also be extremely frustrating.

Bibliography (accessed 09/01/22)

https://www.1854.photography/2020/01/any-answers-michael-stripe/

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/oct/20/michael-stipe-photography-art-solo-single-extinction-rebellion

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/michael-stipe-book-1716408

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/michael-stipe-wants-to-make-mistakes

23^rd January 2022

A frustrating few weeks where I seem to be taking one step forward and several back.  I have continued to work on the various re-drafts/edits but this has been around the original images and changing the style, layout, use of different papers and possibility the use of a bi-fold layout.  I’m still not sure if these have addressed the comments from my first two reviews.  Some can be easily seen as pdf versions but a number will need to printed and videoed to see the effect and design.  I still need to return to the site to get some additional images because as I was re-designing, I realised that some of my original images didn’t really fit.  I have planned to return on Monday 24^th January as this is a public holiday for the Wellington region here in New Zealand.

On the 13^th January I joined the talk with Laia Abil for her second chapter of her project ‘History of Misogyny’.  A full write up can be found here in the Exhibition section of this blog.  This was a NEPN event.  On the same day I also attended the talk with Matilde Simas from the Social Documentary Network.  This has also been written up and my notes can be found here.

After a few calendar issues I finally managed to get book a portfolio review with Rohan Hutchinson.  This occurred on Wednesday 19^th January and the full write up and research suggested can be found here.  Overall, I think the session was really helpful as he provided a number of useful suggestions around reedits, layouts and approaches to the zine I want to produce for the competition due by the 14^th February.  I think this new approach may be very different and offer a new angle and feel to the project.

The morning of the 21^st saw the first Documentary/L3 Support Group meeting of the year.  It was great to see everyone after the holiday season.  Bob had been busy working on his final submission and needed feedback which I provided prior to the session and additional thoughts during the session as he had made some changes.  The changes were an improvement, but the end credits were still running a little too fast to take them all in.  Following submission, he should be ready to move to the new Level 3 modules.

Holly provided a summary of the talk by Pat McDonald that had been on earlier that morning (well morning for New Zealand).  I had attended and found that it was a little disappointing as it was more a promotional session for the book rather than the contents or approach to the work.

Sue and Lynda spoke about the talk they had attended by the photographer Ken Sukekoike (https://www.kensukekoike.com/).  A photographer that takes found images, cuts them up and reforms new images but based around the original.  His website is full of videos on how he has created these new pieces of art.  Not really relevant to my work but interesting to see the results.  Not sure I would be comfortable cutting up an original image.

Linda, a fellow Kiwi photographer reported that she was due to have her Level 3 progression discussion and is thinking of progressing her work on the destructive processes that she undertook at level 2.  She wants to explore this more using analogue methods of photography.

30^th January 2022

Joined the Rest of the World group on the 24^th which was a public holiday here in Wellington.  This meeting was the first for the year and only a small turn out, think most were trying to complete work for assessment so too busy.  Linda reported that she had completed her progression interview and will move onto the new Level 3 Photography at the end of the month.  She didn’t want to leave too long a gap between courses so that she didn’t loose momentum.  Her CS will be ‘what is a photograph’, looking at analogue and alternative techniques which will be interesting to see.

Elina said she was trying learning how to complete a critical analysis.  Not the easiest thing to undertake if you haven’t done that before.  Amano has finished all his assignments and putting in for assessment but not sure what to do.  Thinking of progressing on to do a MA.  He has built a cabinet to display his images and has entered the work to a local gallery for consideration.

Roger discussed his aim to produce a ‘piece of art’ rather than something that will be mass produced.  He his working on a piece that is environmental, using photography more than painting.  The work is focused on a road near his home that seems to have regular accidents.  He has been recording the aftermath of these accidents and placing large pieces of paper on the road and allowing cars to drive over them.  The pieces look like large brass rubbings.  It will be interesting to see how the work turns out.

As previously reported there is a local competition to produce a zine, so following the Rohan Hutchinson and the feedback I have produced six draft versions trying to produce a different narrative, bring out my voice and not be so literal.  It was difficult to let go of some of the images, go back and review those that had been dropped for BoW final submission and change the format but I could see how these changes would improve the story.  I have added the pdf files here and also sent them to various student support groups for feedback, I will add comments when I receive them.  I have also sent them to Rohan Hutchinson who offered to take a look and provide comments.

I returned to Ngawi to try and gain some additional images – texture for possible front covers, isolation and the bi-fold images for the book examples.  To finish the week I completed and submitted my second assignment which can be found here.  I still need to complete my reflections and learning outcomes for this assignment but have a session booked with my tutor on the 5^th February for feedback.

12^th February 2022

I seem to have spent the last two weeks or so working on the zine for the New Zealand Book festival which was due to take place in March but has now been moved to August due to the COVID status.  The zine needs to be handed in on the 14^th February.  I have detailed all the different designs and the feedback here.  I have also included a video of the final version.  I don’t expect it will be considered but it has been an experience in designing in a different format, constraints and time lines.  Not having a printer of my own has meant that I’ve had to rely on a friend to print the document to see proofs and then to make changes which has been a little frustrating and time consuming.  All good lessons learnt for the future if I decide to ever produce another.  I think I will ask for further feedback as I would like to produce something for the exhibition.

On the 31^st January I attended the talk by Head on Foundation who organize the photo festival in Sydney each year.  The talk was based around how to make the perfect pitch when submitting your work for them to consider but the advice seemed suitable to any opportunity really.  I have to admit after the mixed reviews I’ve had I’m finding it hard to be really motivated to put my work out to the public domain.  Anyway, the full write up for the Head on Festival talk can be found here.  Work needs to be submitted by the 20^th February.

On the 4^th February I joined two very different talks, the first was with the Photobook Book Group run by J Sybylla Smith and the second was a Photovoice Worldwide – Plastic Pollution: Social Innovation and Community Engagement.  Both were for personal interest and so I haven’t provided a write up.

I forgot to mention in the previous post that I had finished the course work for part two (here) and submitted the Assignment for the Proposal (here) based on my intention to complete an exhibition in November with platinum and palladium prints.

At the exhibition there will also be the opportunity to purchase a bespoke book containing 20 prints and maybe a copy of the zine but this will be digitally printed.  A feedback session with my tutor was held on the 5^th February and feedback was provided following my submission of the summary here.  I have completed and posted my Learning Outcomes on the course work and Assignment here and my reflections here.  I now need to start to progressing the three options for Assignment Three, the changes to the book designs I’ve been thinking about and selecting images for Lens Culture, Head on Festival and Women in Photography.

27^th February 2022

These posts seem to be a little less regular than during BoW and CS so I really need to sharpen my pencil and keep them up to date as I’m progressing things and not really recording my progress so I will have issues when I come to submit in January 2023.

The weekend of the 12^th was a little bit busy as I finally decided to submit for a the LensCulture Portrait Awards [https://www.lensculture.com/photo-competitions/portrait-awards-2022] which also included a written review for an additional $15USD.  A fellow student had also undertaken the same and was pleased with how the review was completed and the feedback she received, she is undertaking BoW and CS at the moment.  I have previously written about my intension to submit but with my complete lack of feeling for the project at the moment and the mixed reviews I have received I wasn’t that interested in submitting work, but in the end I did.  Feedback on the work was received on the 24^th February and I have provided a full write up on the process and a copy of the comments here.

On the 14^th February I managed to submit my Zine for the Wellington competition.  It’s not clear when the winners will be notified as the book festival has been moved to August but I also managed to do a short video of the final submission here.  I need to write a reflection of the process and add that to the site.

A group of Level 3 photography students who have just graduated or will be applying to graduate later this year have decided to complete a group submission to ‘The Source’ [https://www.source.ie/index.php].  An initial meeting of those interested was held on the 14^th February.  This included David Fletcher who was the student Lead last time for OCA level 3 students.  David has moved on to start an MA at Westminster but was happy to answer any questions.  Amano will be the Lead for this round.  We each need to pull together eight images and a short explanation of the work in 120 words.  The work will be shown on the SOURCE website but only a few will be selected for the SOURCE publication.  Overall cost is £38.

On the 16^th I dialled into a VII Agency talk which covered the ‘Photography from Pasifika – New digital storytellers in Aotearoa’.  As this presentation was based in New Zealand I thought I should support local.  The course had been advertised during 2021, asking for photographers within New Zealand who might be interested in representing the culture of the Pasifika people as they live within New Zealand.  The criteria stated that you had to be from one of the islands as they wanted you to be able to show the voice of the community.  Over the years they have always been the subject, now they were giving the camera to the people to get a community perspective.  Their aim was to challenge the Western view, to break the mould and show the truth.  A large number of on-line images are based around culture but as the three presenters demonstrated there is more to be Pasifika than these cultural representations.  The project allowed each photographer to show their view of every day reality.  These images were from a Pasifika perspective as they are the best to show this, they have the relationships and the trust of their community that would show the true narrative, with the camera a tool to tell the story.

I have been progressing my research for Assignment Three and posted a request for points of contact in the forensic photography field.  The post went out on the Photography Society of New Zealand (PSNZ) Facebook page as well as my local Camera Club and NZIPP.  I have to admit I didn’t expect to get any responses but the feedback was really positive with names being suggested and messages being sent on the same day:

WCC Facebook page request

PSNZ Facebook request.

I produced a set of draft questions and sent these off to my tutor to review and give comment and points on a possible direction for my Assignment.  The initial list and her suggestions can be found here.  Over the last few weeks, I have made contact with three people and arranged an interview with one for the 28^th February.  The rest are work in progress.  I have a fourth name but they wouldn’t be available until after the 28^th so I will make contact then.

The 21st saw the next ‘Rest of the World’ Group meet up.  A smaller turnout then usual with just seven of us.  Mary was new to the group and had just started level 1 photography following the foundation course.  She is in Canada and getting to grips with Photoshop/Lightroom and a new camera.

Elina was trying to get her very limited point and shoot camera to do ICM.  We all provided various options after we had figured out which camera she was using.  Allan offered to send some additional advice after the meeting.  Seems unusual for a drawing course to use a camera but it seems that they were looking at abstract art.

Lynda said that she was struggling to get things done as she was still looking have her grandchild and waiting for possible surgery.  Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.

Allan hasn’t been at a meeting for some time so he caught us up on progress.  He has just started the last level 2 module before moving to level 3.  He wants to continue the work he started in Self and Other looking about ‘where he belongs’.  Moved nine times before high school so hasn’t ever felt like home.  The only constant in his life were his grandparents.  This might be a very interesting and challenging project.  Next meeting will be the 6^th March.

On Thursday 24^th we held a depleted Level 3 Support Group, missing two members, one caused by storms and lack of power in the UK the other through the very sad loss of their partner.  Sue reported that she was about 2 months behind on her very detailed plan but needs to submit for Assessment in November as the college believes she only has 11 years in total to complete the degree and she will need at least 12 months to do SYP.  She has however submitted Assignment four for CS but not BoW.  Like many of us she has lost heart with the whole project.  She feels she is so far off her original project and ideas.  This started with the outbreak of the pandemic and lockdown.

Sarah has just received her certificate kindly provided us with some points for final submission:

• Remember to show progress and reviews
• Show collaboration, networking and exhibitions
• Add links to areas to show how you have met the learning outcomes – need to tick those boxes
• Show your decision process
• Define your audience – even if the work is just for your family this needs to be clear.

Lynda showed us the results of her images being transferred to fabric which she will gift to the ladies that she interviewed as scarfs and also the final book will be wrapped in a similar piece of fabric.  I suggested a local New Zealand photographer – Esther Bunning who had just undertaken a similar exercise but had also stitched on the fabric [https://www.estherbunning.com/#/phosphene-a-portrait-of-a-landscape/].

Niki shared the platform and showed her initial images.  She is using the woodland as a metaphor for community and support.  The images were very straight and she would need to use text I think to really explain her project.  She wants to experiment more and so I suggested she look at the work of Eva Polack who is an impressionist photographer who completes her work in-camera (as Niki didn’t want to use Photoshop) [https://evapolak.com/home.html].

To finish the week, I have arranged a meeting with my first forensic photographer on Monday 28^th after they failed to attend on the original date and a catch up with Jack who I will be working with on a collaboration piece for my book.  This will be in addition to the written piece by Jim Graydon.

8^th March 2022

I have been busy progressing my contacts for Assignment Three and on the 28^th February I held my first interview with Michelle Fey, an ex-forensic photographer who now photographs weddings and new born babies, both I would imagine as equally stressful.  A full transcribe of the zoom session can be found here.  My second point of contact decided to provide his responses to my questions in written format and these can be found here (Don Bruce).  My third contacted wanted to meet first and so that was held on Saturday 5^th March.  He has offered to respond in writing and also try and find me some additional points of contact and a possible (no guarantee) day out with a working forensic photographer.

On the 1^st March I had a catch up with Jack a fellow Level 3 student currently completing BoW and CS to discuss the collaboration piece he has kindly agreed to do.  I provided him with links to the website, foreword written by Jim and the draft redesigns of the book.  We considered location within the book and the type of text either a short narrative or a poem.  After considering both we agreed on a poem which didn’t address the women directly but more about the location, place, space and isolation.  The text would probably be a summing up of the book, a way of confirming what people had seen and so would sit at the back before the acknowledgements.  Jack has promised to try and get something back to me in about three weeks.

I have continued to publish my work by entering a number of on-line submissions including the Royal Photographic Society IPE and the AOP awards.  Locally I have submitted work to be considered for the Photographic Society of New Zealand Annual image publication.  If successful, the book is sent to over 600 members.

Friday 4^th March Catherine Banks who is invite in the publication ‘Edgezine’ (12^th Issue) notified us that it was now published.  I had forgotten I had submitted my project for consideration – first toe in the water for getting my work out in public other than my usual student groups, so I clicked the link and scrolled through some amazing piece of creative work by other students and then on page 37 was my project, so pleased (https://www.edge-zine.com/issues) I posted the link on my Facebook and Instagram sites.

Over the last few weeks I have been working on the five different book designs.  Version two can be found here.  I shared to the various team drives and requested feed back but also planned to walk people through at the Rest of the World Group on Monday morning.  Written feedback on pdf files can be found here.

Monday the 7^th New Zealand time saw just a small core group of students join the ‘Rest of the World’ forum where I had promised to show my draft books.  Amano started by confirming that he had finally submitted his work for Assessment and was just in the waiting zone to hear his results.  He had been on a short trip to Finland to photograph eagles which was a break from his project.  He is also exhibiting a renovated cabinet which acts as a gallery space for images of his late mother.  And he has picked up the Lead for the OCA student submission to SOURCE which I will be submitting images for.

Linda gave an overview on the new module 3, which seems to be a major change from the current structure, going from five assignments to ten.  There’s a lot more flexibility and mix between BoW and CS and more interaction with your tutor.  You are left to experiment and read a lot more.  This may be why a number of students are finding it hard to change.

The discussion was getting a little heavy with the current issues in Europe, so Juanita kindly shared with us part of her submission for assessment.  A short story called the ‘The Magic Bed’.  She has an amazing talent for really making the story come alive and making us all laugh.

Lynda shared her latest pieces – images printed onto material which she shared with the Level 3 Support group.  They have really worked out well and I think will be well received by those who helped with her BoW.

I shared my draft book designs. Showing each as a pdf file didn’t seem to work that well and trying to work on only one screen wasn’t the easiest but I think I captured all the comments and suggestions as follows:

The bi-fold design once I had explained the style/design was more understandable but it was suggested it should be made into a physical draft to really show the effect.  They seemed to like the fact that there would be more of an interaction with the book, liked the idea of opening up to see what’s inside.

Female only – the use of the textured cover and grey paper didn’t really work as the male element/presence.  Liked the images but something was missing.

B&W only – this seemed to have lost its narrative as the contrast between male and female wasn’t there.  The colour gave the female element, the softness in the harder environment.  There wasn’t a difference between the genders.

Male overlay – liked the idea once I had explained that I wanted to print the overlays on a vellum or transparent paper.  Best shown as a physical mock-up to see how the female image would work.  It might become a little confusing.  Other options to consider:

• Printing on normal paper or making them platinum and palladium (as there will only be ten copies)
• Using only text on the page and not the image
• Text and image but changing the position of the text

I have been continuing my research into platinum and palladium printing and have provided a separate blog section here starting with a brief history.  I will also post my progress on the images I’m selecting (here) and the printing results here.  I have also added a reflection on the zine process here and posted the result to my project website here.

20^th March 2022

I have continued with the five different book designs and following feedback I have made further changes.  The various changes have been documented and can be seen:

• A male v female version – here;
• A female only version –here;
• Male as an overlay –here.
• Bi-fold Design –here.
• All Black and white –here.

The latest versions are being printed ready for video production which I will then share with a wider audience for feedback and the selection of which to progress to final professional production.  I still need to add the collaboration pieces from Jack and the illustration.

I thinking of using the illustration of a cray and making a Lithophane [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithophane] using a 3d printer.  This would be fitted into the cover of the bespoke book, in a similar effect to this from the ‘Ceramic Arts Network’:

The cover would be considerably thinner and the image smaller.  If the illustration isn’t suitable then I may consider one of my images.

I had some difficultly selecting a font and so after narrowing the selection down to seven I asked for advice.  This can be seen here.  I finally decided on the open sans as most seemed to think Time New Roman would be just like everyone else’s book.

I have spent some time researching papers and background information for Assignment 3 on forensic photography.  I have received two more responses back one from Bob Hooker (here) and the second from Rod Gully (here).  The second was a bonus as Bob kindly asked a colleague to complete the questions as well.  I will need to start drafting my essay as the due date is end of April.

I have also been researching book binders and have found a few in the local area so I will make contact and explore the costs once I know which of the designs will be progressed.  If its one of the simpler designs then I could consider a more commercial organisation, if it’s the overlay or bi-fold design then I will need to look at an alternative.  The bi-fold is causing all sorts of issues around printing, just to be able to produce a mock up for the video and I haven’t even considered the type of paper yet.  For the videos I’m just using normal printer paper but the final production will need a more professional finish.

27^th March 2022

Version four of the book designs are being printed.  I will then assemble them into the original cover for four of the designs as they will fit.  The bi-fold design will not work with this kind of cover so I will need to tape together but ensure that the pages lay flat so the bi-folds open.  The video is only to show the concept so that I can present to the student forum on the 7^th April and ask for a advice on which to take forward to production.  I can then continue my research into printers and book binders.  I would like to use someone local so that I can discuss paper types and cover designs.

On the 24^th I met up with the Level 3 Support Group.  Two members were missing but discussed progress and general issues.  Sue had submitted A4 for CS and BoW.  Lynda had just received feedback for her A4 for CS.  She only has to complete a few minor changes for A5 and then assessment.  She had previously asked for feedback on her book designs for which I had provided written feedback during the week.  Sue asked for advice on how much to produce for assessment.  My advice was to keep some in reserve for SYP.  She spoke about how her images were made of layers and so I suggested she could make an element of her book – if she decides to produce one, as layers, with each element on a different layer of transparency, so the experience of the viewer is more interactive.  Her project would work well as an exhibition as the images should be seen in various sizes.  This she said would have to be a virtual one as finding a location close by would be difficult.

Sarah has been trying to get make into image making and has bought a cheap plastic camera film camera to keep with her everyday to make at least one image a day.  Niki reported that her so called voluntary job as chair of the local boat club had taken over her life for the last 3 months so following a reminder from the college, she is putting that to one side to get back into her studies.

Several weeks ago, Bob Harris sent around a list of free zoom talks and workshops, one of which was with Sunderland University covering how to prepare for a practice-based PhD.  As this is something I would like to do I signed up.  There were on 12 places and so I spent the night with 11 strangers thinking about and discussing my ideas following this BA.  I didn’t expect to have to come up with an idea there and then and little did I know that I would also have four weeks of homework to produce and then present a proposal!  It was a great interactive session and I made the most of it by presenting and discussing an idea that I would like to progress – well one of them anyway.  It was a bonus that one of the professors had worked in New Zealand for two years.

After just two hours sleep, I joined the Level 3/Level 2 support group.  Lynda gave an up-date on her tutor feedback session and her decision to progress with version 2 of her book.  Holly reported that after having nearly 6 weeks off she was progressing.  She said she came close to giving up but hopefully has turned a corner.  She is looking at how to put mood into the landscape.  Has completed a lot of reading but now feels like she needs to do some practical stuff.

Faith reported that she has finally got a new drone and is progressing this for her project work.  Documenting the new hosing development and how there is a loss of land.  Looking at the surreal images made from aerial images.  I pointed her to the work of an Australian photographer who documented the effects of increased industry and the loss of water.

Neil seems to be motoring ahead – even though he has been without a tutor since November due to COVID.  His CS and BoW are very closely linked.  Looking at pollution on the nearby waterways.  Would like to use drone images but as its close to a military site this will not be possible.

Matt has been having family illness issues but is trying to get back into the swing of things and Linda has been experimenting with destruction of the environment and local waterways.  Plans to use alternative printing processes.  Sue thanked everyone for their fast response to her request on videoing work and websites – I suggested that if she had a Creative Cloud subscription she should take advantage of the free portfolios you can get.

I received the collaboration work back from Jack and this can be found here. And I also held a zoom session with Flavia to discuss illustrations for my book.  I have booked a place on the Open Forum on the 7^th April to get feedback on which design I should progress to production.  I need to progress my essay for Assignment 3 which is due at the end of April and will be attending a discussion tonight with fellow students concerning the submission of work for the SOURCE.

10^th April 2022

The session with Flavia went well and we agreed that she would provide a number of illustrations for me to use in the book and also as a Lithophane.  She sent through a selection and these can be seen here.

Each of the book designs were printed.  There were a number of challenges with the bi-fold design but as it was a mock up to show the concept, I wasn’t too worried.  Four of the five could easily fit back into the original cover that I designed for the project submission for BoW.  The bi-fold had to be taped together.  All the videos can be found here.

I sent the link to my blog and the videos to a number of the groups I attend (Rest of World, L2/L3 Support Group and the L3 Support Group) for feedback and the comments can be found here along with my reflections here.

I attended the student Open Forum for Level 3 students on the 7^th April having previously posted the link to the videos.  There were only two of us presenting and the attendance from other students was very poor.  It was obvious that the tutor hadn’t looked at my work and so the overall feedback and advice was very poor.  The experience was nothing like the last time and I’m left wondering which way to turn.

Following the receipt of the initial poem from Jack for my second piece of collaboration I sent the work to obtain a second opinion from a local writer.  He provided a number of comments which can be found here.  I met again with Jack on the 31^st March to discuss the feedback and see how to progress.  Jack agreed with the comments and we worked through each verse and I agreed to produce a list of possible other words to incorporate that reflected my thoughts on both the outside and inside shell of the community.  I sent these through a few days later along with a link to the images I took of the trip out on a cray boat, the pdf version of ‘On the Edge’ and a short film that was made in Ngawi.  These were all research materials from my BoW.

The ‘Rest of the World Student’ group meeting was a little light on the ground this month (4^th April) with only five of us logging on.  Lynda is wondering if she needs to defer as she is about to undergo a hip operation.  Elina stated that she is trying to finish project 5 and we discussed the new structure of the courses now.  Don’t think she realised the number of levels and modules in each level and the number of years it was going to take to finish.  Linda explained the detail behind the level 3 photography for Mary.  Linda expressed her frustration at not being able to go a lot faster as the next course 3.2 isn’t available yet and she would like to go on and do am MA.

19^th April 2022

Finally started Assignment three which is based around independent research into forensic photography.  Not really sure why it’s taken me so long to start maybe it’s my experience with CS.  Anyway, it’s started and I’m hoping to send the final version back to my tutor by the end of the month as per my plan.

I received the next version of the poem from Jack which can be found here.  He has taken on-board the comments from both myself and a local writer.  I think it reads better but still needs a few changes so will send back my comments.

I received the illustration back from Flavia (here) and sent them to a friend who has a 3D printer to see if any were suitable for the book cover.  I have provided a write up and reflections on the next stages.

The reviews and comments from by book designs seemed to add to my overall confusion on which way and how to progress with the book so I contacted my tutor for support.  The comments and the resulting changes can be found here along with my reflections.

On the 15^th April I attended the Photobook Book club talk with mona Kuhn run by Sybylla Smith.  It wasn’t so much the book that interested me but the technique she used to produce the images – Solarisation. A darkroom technique that was first discovered by accident in the darkroom of Mann Ray the surrealist photographer.  The concept shows how the tones of the image are reversed, black becomes white, along with every other grey tone to white also becoming reversed.  As I have a darkroom, I’m thinking that I might experiment and try the same with some of my Ngawi images.  I found a useful video on the process here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JOs4nQE5Us

and a help article here:

https://mitphoto2016.wordpress.com/2016/04/13/a-good-article-about-solarization-with-detailed-procedures-and-tips-on-how-to-do-that/

As it was a long weekend, I returned to Ngawi and decided to experiment with my pinhole camera.  The conditions were a little to bright to get a long enough exposure but I plan to return again:

Only managed to get two pieces of film exposed, but as we have another long weekend coming, I will go back again.

12^th May 2022

Have fallen a little behind with this part of my course so I will try and capture all the things I’ve managed to do since the last entry.  The 22^nd April saw me log into the Level 3/Documentary Student Group.  A good turn out as usual and always lot to learn.  Steven has just started the new Level 3 modules and trying to pull ideas together, feeling a bit lots like a number of other students working their way through this new way of approaching Level 3.  His main idea seems to be based around perception and nature of, undertaking lots of research.

Bob will be continuing his theme of consumerism, what people see and what advertisers want you to see.  He has started his research and is comparing the UK with Denmark as they don’t seem to work or live in a consumerist economy.  Matt reported that he was progressing with positive feedback from his tutor.  Worried that his CS is taking a very different direction, but the analysis of the images will help.

Linda is investigating ‘what is an image’ and how far can it go before it’s not a photograph, looking at destruction, using burning of film and paper prints so lots of experimenting, continuing with research and taking little steps to progress.

Neil received feedback for Assignment four, a little disappointed as the feedback seems to be the same for the last three submissions.  He had previously sent his work round for feedback which I had provided written comments on.  There seems to be about three themes within the book and unless he wants to produce three volumes – which he could very easily, he needs to focus on one.  His tutor recommended the more abstract angle to his project (link between land and sea).  He has also started to work with the local university.

Faith I think has been struggling to really get started, her area of surrealism was considered too broad so needs to narrow this down.  She has been experimenting and progressing ideas but still needs to clear other issues before really starting – luckily, she’s on the old module for Level 3 which seems to be more flexible about submitting work and progress.

On the 28^th April I managed to submit Assignment 3 which can be found here.  As part of my submission, I asked for feedback on the latest version of the book which addressed feedback and suggests of changing the internal images into male v female combination.  This version can be found here.  I also requested a discussion around the latest collaboration version (here) and the initial images I was considering for the exhibition (here).

On the same day I also joined the Level 3 Support Group.  We managed a full turnout which was great.  Sarah confirmed that she would be going to the OCA graduation which would be taking place in July. She is going to set up a new blog site for reviewing cameras and film developing which sounds like fun.  She is also considering an MA but at the moment the cost is too high and she’s applying for a mentorship programme for women over 35.

Lynda confirmed that she had submitted both Assignment fours and will be receiving feedback for her BoW the next day.  Sue stated she was ready to submit her final CS assignment although her tutor has suggested some additional points, he would like her to include so that will mean some rework.  She also took us through her draft book, two versions at the moment, needed help with sequencing and the placement of text.  I have previously suggested she make the book more interactive with the text printed on labels fixed into the spine.  The labels representing those that were tied to children who were evacuated during the war.  Not sure how I can come up with ideas for others and struggle with my own.

Anna reported that she would be part of an on-line virtual exhibition, one of six, with one being selected for a physical exhibition in a key location – no details but assume maybe London.

On the 3^rd May I submitted my images for the student SOURCE application.  Selecting just eight images wasn’t easy and I don’t think it was probably the best representation of the work so I don’t think my work will be selected.  The images and the project brief can be found here.  Nine students have submitted work with the deadline closing on the 12^th May so fingers crossed.

The 4^th May saw my feedback session with my tutor.  I was really pleased that there weren’t any major issues with the essay and that she was pleased with the analytical approach I had made.  I completed a set of notes for her to review and these can be found here.  I have made the recommended changes to the Assignment here, with Learning Outcomes here.  I have also addressed the missing items in my Reflections here.

We also discussed the new version of the book, and my tutor offered some suggestions on possible changes.  I have detailed these here and will progress these changes over the next few weeks as I have reviewed the draft mock up and think that there needs to be space between the foreword and the first bifold.

The collaboration piece was well received (latest version here), and we discussed where I intended to place the piece.  I had discussed previously with Jack that it might fit well at the end of the book as a kind of summary however, my tutor suggested that if it was used within the book, it should not distract from the images, my audience should remember my work and not the words.  I will continue to experiment and try different locations.  It might fit as a prologue or even an introduction to the exhibition.

We spoke about my initial image selection for the exhibition and my request for advice on which to print.  As highlighted by my tutor this is my work and for me to decide, she is happy to make suggestions, but I really need to start printing as some will work as platinum and palladium and others will not, so until they are printed, I won’t know.

Monday the 9^th May saw the Rest of the World Student Group meet up.  Bit of a light turnout but Mary gave an up-date on her progress through project 3.  She has been working through exercises based on camera technique, lens selection, depth of field etc.  She shared images from her project on looking beyond to find the truth in an image.

Juanita asked for feedback on a chapter of her book.  For her assessment she needed to write the first five chapters and so she read chapter four entitled ‘the great escape’.  As always she is an amazing writer.

Lynda was just back from having a major operation but needs to question some of the feedback received from her tutor for assignment four.  She also showed the printed work that is now on silk.  This was a short video of them on a line outside her home.  Elina had just finished project 6 and waiting for feedback but has moved on to project 7 which covers place and time, hopefully we will see some of her work soon.

Linda has been burning film, both 35mm and 120mm.  These will be scanned but kept as a negative rather than a positive as she wants to retain the burnt colouring.  She wants to try larger negative film but until she gets the technique correct will hold off due to the cost.  The next meeting will be the 13^th June.

11^th June 2022

Once again playing catch up with this aspect of my blog.  Work has been getting in the way as the whole of the New Zealand health service is migrated into a new organisation.  The aim is to try and improve the service but that remains to be seen, this however has meant that study has taken a bit of a hit.  I also had a brief holiday from the 13^th May to the 26^th.

On the 11^th May the SYP Level 3 group received a presentation from Sarah Deane who has graduated but provided us with an oversight of her process and the hurdles she went through.  She spoke about how the lockdown affected her project and the final work for submission, her change in direction and her new work which utilised found archive images and items from her garden.  The use of archive image seems to reflect the state of most students work due to the pandemic.  Those that have used this type of imagery seem to achieve higher marks.

She highlighted the fact that everyone’s journey will be different, but it was important to stop calling yourself a student and start being a ‘photographer’ or ‘artist’.  She said this seemed to change her mindset and direction.  She explained the importance of research and looking at other photographers’ websites and to document all your processes and decisions as these will link to your Learning Outcomes – something that was introduced late in the process for her.

She explained her mixed experiences when promoting herself, lots of lows until she started to be more selective, setting an aim to only enter those that were free or were relevant to her work, then she was more successful.  Social media really helped, making your account relevant and professional was important.  Building relationships – and not just with photographers but printers, other artists.  Her Assignment 3 was really helpful as she spoke to a publisher and book maker and linked that with her work and practice.  She produced a zine and sold that through her social media account and this was written about in her final assignment and submission.  I found this session really helpful and informative, with a number of ideas that I could incorporate myself.

13^th – 26^th May saw me take a photography trip to the Chatham Islands, great to get away from both study and work and to do nothing but talk about and take photographs.

The 27^th May saw the Level 2 / Level 3 support group get together, however a little light on attendees with only six of us turning up.  Neil reported that he may have been hacked as he was losing items/data from his blog site, so he was having to sort that out.  Following feedback from his tutor for BoW he is changing direction and concentrating on his more abstract images.  This will mean however that he will also have to rework his CS but he didn’t seem to mind too much about that.

Niki reported that she had finished Assignment 2 for BoW and had received positive feedback, she was now concentrating of CS.  Bob on the other hand was racing ahead and was already on his third project under the new modules for level 3.  His work is based around consumerism, producing lots of mind maps I said it was more of a PhD than a BA! Faith has finally started her 30 images for Assignment 1, but looking for alternative software options for creating her blog as she uses a MAC.  Bob suggested ‘Sandbox’ or Square Space’.  I said she should talk to Jack as he uses the latter.

1^st June saw me attend the second part of the PhD workshop on how to write and submit a proposal for a practice-based PhD.  A great session which I will not discuss here.

5^th and 6^th June Long weekend for New Zealand and this saw me get the opportunity to start printing images for my exhibition.  A full write up can be found here.

7^th and 8^th June saw me talking to a number of different printers for the book which will be sold at the exhibition in November and given to the people who have helped me complete this project.  A full detailed write up can be found here.

On the 9^th June I joined the SYP Support Group but I have to admit I wasn’t really in the right head space.  Sue has finished her final essay and her fifth assignment for BoW is still with her tutor.  She is finding it all a little stressful but she still has lots of time to pull together the work for final assessment which isn’t due until the end of September.

Lynda reported that she is still trying to reduce her work count and might send it off to a professor she worked with to read and comment to see they can identify any areas to reduce the word count.

Helen has until next August to complete her SYP and has started to work with a local charity to set up a workshop for 16–17-year-olds on the power of photography – I have to admit not sure how she finds the time.

Anna’s exhibition is now live and we all offered to vote for her work.  She has completed a take-over of the Redeye site for a week and found that short videos and GIFFs seemed to work well and were well received from the Redeye viewers.

Sarah who can still join us, reported that she attended a Redeye event and presented her book and some of her cyanotype images.  Said it was great to finally meet up with people.  She has started a new photography only Instagram account.  She wasn’t successful for the TRACE mentorship but has started to use her camera again after finishing her BA.

21^st June 2022

Sunday 12^th June saw another productive day printing possible images for my exhibition.  Progress is further detailed here, where I show the images produced at each session, the hits and maybes.

The 13^th saw a very small group from the Rest of the World student forum get together.  I gave an up-date on my printing and how I was happy with progress.  Finally got three under my belt, just need to push on and get the rest done.  I explained that the location had changed so fingers crossed I don’t have to print too many more.  Linda kindly pointed me in the direction of Scott B Davis who uses a large view camera loaded with platinum and palladium paper and exposes using a metering device to measure the amount of UV captured.  Exposures are often for hours and usually at night (https://www.scottbdavis.com/).

Linda has been progressing with her burning of film and prints, has lots of ideas in mind but needs to be able to link it back to her research.  She went on to explain about one of her other processes of photograms.  She has been making her own developer using native plants, those that have been affected by local bush fires. Plants are socked in water for a number of days to produce a liquid which she then dips new plants into and places on light sensitive paper/negative film, covered with glass and then exposed to the sun to expose.  These are then fixed as normal.

Mary is moving forward with her project 3 (ten to do), says she needs to submit by the end of the week.  Showed a series of prints depicting coastal erosion, very simple but powerful images.  Next meeting will be 11^th July.

On the 16^th I attended the Social Documentary Network all Women Salon, where five female photographers presented their work:

• Cheryle Galloway – women’s rights on the change to abortion rights within the US
• Rivkah Walton – pandemic 2020
• Angela Rowling – Prince Edward Island – climate change on the island
• Ada Tritto – Ukraine conflict from a refugee’s perspective
• Benita Van Winkle – ‘Please remain Standing’ on the disappearance of local theatres around the US

I also attended the SYP Network meeting.  This had a really good turnout with nine of us providing up-dates on progress and work completed and any issues, not sure how long this will continue or the value at the moment.  We spent a long period of time discussing Jack’s project and the use of photovoice as part of your SYP.  I raised the concern that the assessors were not see Jack in the submission, but other people’s work.  I understood that the act of photovoice was a form of SYP but I didn’t want him to miss out on all the hard work he had completed to date.  He did state that he wasn’t interested in finishing as he had achieved all he had set out to by understanding and gain an insight to photovoice and working with the community.

Sarah was still able to join us and stated that she will be graduating in three weeks, she will continue with her project, which is great to hear.  Anna joined from New York.  Her BoW and CS was based around identity and the meaning that comes from the technological code. She photographed children in their bedrooms, giving them freedom to dress up and be who they wanted to be.  Looking to exhibit and thinking of a library although others suggested a local children’s hospital.

Neil covered his change in direction from environmental/social documentary to more abstract following feedback from his tutor.  He’s managed to link in with his local university which is a good step in the door for any future projects.  Judith has just finished her Assignment three and is not looking towards her exhibition in seven weeks.  She managed to find a local place with a cancellation so it’s a little stressful pulling everything together.

Gerard has only just started SYP.  His BoW and CS was based around the inequity of social housing but has moved into a very abstract form rather than straight documentary, using different ways to show the same narrative.  A project based more around power.  Like Jack he’s not really worried about finishing.

Sue is starting to think about her SYP as she is about to submit her work for the next assessment round.  She is not sure how to show her work.  Feedback has been to exhibit but locations around her are limited, so she is moving towards a book.  Helen has had a few issues outside of the course and her tutor left so she has now received a new one that she believes is a good fit.  She would like to complete both a book and exhibition having received positive feedback from a Redeye review.  I provided a brief update on my progress but as time was running out this was very brief.

On a separate note I have been progressing the printing of my book with a number of printers and this has been more fully covered here.  The printers near me have gone quiet so need to chase them and see about getting a quote.  One in Wellington has concerns around the sheet/paper size so I may need to consider an alternative.  I’m also trying to find an independent designer to review it.  This I hope will give me some direction on the fonts, colour and covers.

9^th July 2022

I seem to have spent several weeks getting nowhere.  Printers have all gone to ground, either not interested or have covid issues and the printing seems to have taken over my life.

The 24^th June saw the usual Documentary/L2/Level 3 Group get together which is always a good session.  Jonathan started by introducing us to his idea for Level 3 based around the man/nature interface at a location near his home.  He had completed his first 30 images which he requested feedback on.  We discussed various ideas.  I suggested including looking at old maps to find the line between reclaimed land and main, possibly following the line and photographing that.  Also introducing archive images and finding the same location as this seems to be popular at the moment with OCA.  I also suggested talking to Linda around alternative processes such as cyanotype of the plants in the area.  I always have great ideas for other people, shame I can’t come up with them for me!

Judith is busy preparing for a last minute exhibition opportunity and trying to work out insurance for the period of time her work is on show.  She has made the finalists of the Student AoP awards which is great news.  She had submitted new work for that.

Matt is progressing his A3 for CS with BoW on the back burner for a few weeks while he plays catch up.  He’s been looking for alternative locations for his BoW and would like to complete this prior to the end of July.  Bob is on hi second project for the new modules of Level 3, seems to be more research than photography.

Finally, Neil gave an up-date on this CS progress, currently writing Chapters 2 and 3 having to rewrite due to change in direction of BoW from documentary to abstract.  He managed to speak to Anna which was a useful session and realised that his lit review would still be relevant but would need to document the changes.  The next meeting will be the 29^th July.

On Sunday 26^th June and Tuesday 5^th July I finally managed to complete all the 10 x 8 prints.  I had to do a few repeats and some have turned out more successful than others but I think I have enough for the location. On the 25^th I visited the new site.  It’s slightly larger and the windows are less problematic.  The new location will allow me to produce a single large image as a centre piece.  There is also an area for written material such as the printed book – if that ever happens, my artist statement and I think I’m going to include the poem.  A more detailed description of the process and results can be found here.

I chased the printers in Wellington.  Finally got a reply with an apology, quote will be delayed due to staffing and covid related issues.  Think I will try an alternative that’s in Auckland and I don’t want to leave the printing to the last minute.

11^th July 2022

A frustrating few weeks trying to chase down printers with little or no success, starting to get a little worried that this will not happen and I may have to either look at alternative ideas or a different printer.

Great to join the Rest of the World Student Group today (11/07/22).  A good turn out as we have been down to around four of us for the last few sessions, but this time Roger, Juanita, Alan and Elina joined the session.

Roger explained that he had been on holiday and then had an accident, fracturing his left elbow, luckily, he’s right-handed so he could continue with his course work.  He has been progressing his personal project of an artist book which he will make himself, consisting of approximately 30 pages which will be hand stitched.  He’s had to order the materials, such as needles and thread.  He is also just finishing the first part of Level 2 and about to start the next.

Alan has been away for awhile but has been working hard to finish the last of his Level 2 course (Landscape).  He decided that he would attend a local course on printing to learn more ready for level 3.  The group was small just three other photographers and the instructor so lots of one-to-one help and advice.  He has also started writing for a local Canadian photography magazine and has been sharing the links on his Facebook page.  He highlighted that the courses were well received and many students go on to be very accomplished commercial photographers.

Juanita has nearly finished her first year and has been learning how to undertake script writing.  I have to admit I didn’t realise how complex it was, but she’s been watching a lot of old films and having to re-write the scenes.  She said you had to think in images and not be descriptive.

Linda reported that her project was going well, taking more photographs and then burning them.  She’s about to start her CS Lit review.  She has also been printing on film rather than paper which is something that I find interesting and may look into after this course.  She shared her screen and took us through her burnt negatives.

Elina is working on her project of place and time, archive using pictures and text.  She may use video for a combination of truth and fictional items.

Lynda is working toward submission, trying to understand the Learning Outcomes for CS and BoW but her tutor is away for 2 months so she won’t receive feedback until closer to the time of submission.  I’m sure she has nothing to worry about.

I provided an up-date on my printing and the possibility of producing a single large image as a centre piece for the gallery.  I would need to get the negatives printed but as my friend already has the files this shouldn’t be a problem.  I also discussed my frustrations on printers and the possibility of dropping the book idea.  I also let them know that I had registered to show my work to the Lux.et.libera group on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/lux.et.libera/). This is a new group that recognises ‘the leading role women play in film and alternative/historic process photography’.  The event is being held via Zoom on the 26^th/27^th July.  I will report back on how it went.

24^th July 2022

On the 14^th July I joined the usual monthly Level 3 Support Group, although there was only four of us.  Niki who had missed the last few sessions said that she had completed both Assignment two’s for BoW and CS but her tutor would be away for several weeks so she will carry on and make corrections when the feedback is received.

Sarah gave an up-date on her graduation day.  She said it was great to catch up with other students but hadn’t appreciated how many other graduate sessions were being undertaken at the same time.  It didn’t seem very well organised and took far too long to obtain her gown and have her photograph taken.  It was nice that they get one, as foreign students just receive their certificate in the post.

Sue reported that she had completed a portfolio review with a photographer from the Photographer’s Gallery at a cost of GBP30.  It was an on-line session via Zoom and she provided the material before hand via a pallet link.  She said it was well received which gave her a boost and some confidence that her work is on track.  They discussed ideas around exhibitions and the way forward with her work which she will progress in SYP.

We finished with an up-date from me on my frustrations on printers and then the learning Outcomes that they needed to reference for submission.  As always Sarah gave some great advice, so I think Sue seems a little happier to enter assignment.

The 17^th July saw my last printing session.  This was for a single large print that would act as a central focal point for the exhibition.  A more detailed description of the process can be found here.  This now completes all the printing for the exhibition and I now need to look at the staging, selecting the images, order and the gallery set up.  This I have started and can be found here.  I really enjoyed making the maquette and seeing how the images would hang in the space.

I have to report that the printing of the book has become a bit of a nightmare.  More detail can be found here with me swing between it’s all sorted and going ahead to being back at square one, trying to find an alternative printer.  I know that the design of the project with the bifold pages wouldn’t be easy but I didn’t think it would cause so many issues.  This maybe due to the limited equipment here in New Zealand but fingers crossed I may have a way forward.

31^st July 2022

After a rollercoaster ride with a number of printers I think I have finally found one that gets what I’m trying to achieve.  More details can be found here, but in summary I had a really productive meeting with a new printer in Wellington called Wakefield Digital.  The designer listened to me, the project, my ideas instead of just dismissing me and saying the binding would be too difficult and that I should think of that before I started – as if I had ever printed a book before! With Vikki walked through the mock up, the overall construction, the types of covers, printing techniques and then the binding.  We spoke about the hard verses the soft covers, the fact that it would not lie flat but the bifold would still open and that we could first do a full mock up to discuss my concerns around font and text sizes.  I came away from the meeting feeling a whole lot happier and less stressed.

A few weeks ago, I registered to attend an on-line workshare event through group I had started following on Instagram for women using alternative printing techniques – https://www.luxetlibera.org/ .  The group was founded by Dale Rio who is a photographer and teacher [https://www.dalerio.com/ accessed 20/07/22].  The group ‘seeks to recognize the leading role the female-identifying artists play in the fields of film and alternative/historic process photography and to create new opportunities for them’.  For the event I was going to present some of my platinum and palladium images that I have produced for the exhibition in November.  This would be the first time I had shown my work and as I was going to be in the office at work, I didn’t want to show the actual prints, so I scanned them and produced a short PowerPoint slide show.  We only had ten minutes each, so I selected eighteen images that gave a flavour of the project.  I did not really put them in any order as I wasn’t sure if there would be time to get feedback.

On the morning of the event there were only six of us on the zoom session, one of which was the founder.  Some seemed to already know one another from other events.  I was the only one from outside of the US.  The work was very creative with mine being the only social documentary project.  The techniques varied from the use of silver gelatine to cyanotypes, photograms and silver lumen.  These were difficult acts to follow as I did not really think my work was that creative using platinum and palladium, but they kindly provided the following comments in the chat function:

From Kimberly Schneider to Everyone 09:46 AM

Michele, don’t be so hard on yourself. You are creative. Beautiful work, but I would suggest thinking more about sequencing. And editing, so the work can be more cohesive as a whole. But I do really enjoy these images. Keep up the good work!

From Tina Tryforos to Everyone 09:47 AM

I love how you are using this expensive and difficult process to represent such quiet moments and scenes of everyday life. The prints are beautiful

From Marian Howard to Everyone 09:53 AM

Michele, the black and white format allows the story to be heard. For me, the images present another side to the stereotypical idea of New Zealand

From Rachel Guardiola to Everyone 09:53 AM

Michele: also book format sounds great for your project!

Despite the nerves I really enjoyed the event as they were so friendly and encouraging, I will definitely be looking out for more events to attend.

I have also ordered the frames for the prints and have completed and submitted Assignment four which can be found here.

As I had scanned all my platinum and palladium prints foe the Lux event, I decided to remove the old video of the photobook I used for submission for BoW assessment and replacement with my new scans on the ‘Inside the Shell’ website here.

20^th August 2022

A busy month at work so only now catching up on SYP progress.  The month started with a Level2/Level 3 session.  A good turnout with Lynda, Rob, Faith, Niki, Neil, Alan, Leonard and Sue.  They had all attended a tutor led session on CS and the requirements for the Learning Outcomes and so the whole meeting was based around that.  As I had already covered this previously I only contributed the odd comment, probably one of my least vocal sessions.  There was also discussion around the change to OU which might affect some of the group and this was causing some concerns.

An early zoom session with my tutor on the 6^th provided feedback useful feedback on my fourth assignment which can be found here.  The session covered both the assignment but also my request to address the feedback I received following formal assessment for BoW and CS.  The feedback for Assignment Four was overall good, with just a few areas to address.  These were based around the need to reflect more and detail how I came to the decisions I made and not to assume that the assessor will have the time to read all my blog posts.  I need to justify the direction I took and how that worked for the final result such as the reason for using platinum and palladium printing for the exhibition, the books I referenced, why were they valuable to my book and why did I decide to use such a traditional approach to hanging the images for the exhibition?  I addressed all the comments in a revised submission here.  Learning Outcomes for the Assignment have been discussed and provided here.

On the 8^th I met with the printer to see the first mock print of my book without covers as this would be on the next version.  There were a few issues around the folding of the pages i.e. they weren’t a double bifold but I was assured that could be easily correctly.  I was also a little concerned around a few of the B&W images being very dark compared to when I see them on my screen.  We discussed the possibility of the issue of converting to jpeg files and I said I would look at the set up and export settings from InDesign.  I also stated that following feedback at the weekend I would need to change the wording of the foreword and I wanted to add additional wording to the copywrite section.  We agreed that I would send a new file with the changes.

During the week I made changes to the foreword and sent the changes to Jim to ensure that he was happy with the final version (here).  This now fits nicely on a single page.  I also realised that when I exported the jpeg the image quality wasn’t at maximum.  I corrected this and resent to the printers.  Think we are nearly there.

Thursday 11^th saw me attend the Level 3 Support Group.  Sarah following a short break has been busy submitting to lots of competitions but with no success, however she has attended a local workshop in darkroom practice, only three on the course so lots of one-on-one advice and support.  Although she has her own darkroom, she is thinking of taking up a membership so that she can use all the equipment, including chemicals.  Still wanting to continue with her studies but at the moment cost is an issue.

Helen has finished assignment one for SYP and waiting for feedback.  She is currently looking for printers and arranging a crowd funding event to pay for it, but she feels like she hasn’t really started.  She believes that a large amount of her BoW can be reused for SYP.  She has also started teaching and completed a two-hour workshop for sixteen-year-olds.  This is funded through her work.

Niki reported that Assignment 2 for CS was completed and submitted and was now working towards Assignment 3.  She has already started Assignment 3 for BoW.  Seems like she is still having to deal with a number of external issues but is happy with her progress.  Like other students is a little concerned around the change to OU from UCA and how that will affect her progression on to SYP.

Both Lynda and Sue are working towards submission and trying to figure out which is the best way to present their work and playing catch up on a number of missing blog posts so that they can link to the Learning Outcomes.  All in all, another great session and we agreed to meet again on the 22^nd September just before the deadline for final submission.

The Rest of the World Forum took place on the 15^th. Alan started as he needed to leave early. He is thinking of leaving after Level 2 as he has just attended a course run by the local University and really enjoyed the physical interaction of a more traditional course.  He thinks that he will gain more and form more useful networks.  He showed his project for his last assignment of a journey.  This he based on his journey to Canada and all the homes and memories he had.  Using google images and text that he had written about the memories he had of each location.

Rolf was new to the group and is based in Germany.  Just completing the foundation course in photography but he enjoys story telling through images and digital art.  He has previously had work published.

Elina was busy on Project 9 which is an essay on memory and time.  Lynda offered to send through some articles and suggested Martha Langford’s essay/book on ‘Suspended Conversations’.

Mary said that she had attended an interesting exhibition which included the work by Joseph Karsh and that she was comparing it to the portrait of the same person taken by W. Eugene Smith.  She shared her screen to show first the studio image by Karsh and then the environmental portrait by Smith.  I think we all agreed that the latter was way more powerful.

Linda reported that she had been travelling for the last month so hadn’t progressed any further with her course.  She was in both the UK and Australia seeing lots of exhibitions including RPS, Martin Parr and the Tate Modern where she attended the Cornelia Parker’s exhibition which she enjoyed and gave her lots of ideas for her own work.  Parker uses a lot of positive and negatives in her work.  The exhibition seemed to be around negatives of both words and sound for which she used metal filings from engravings for words and vinyl records for sound.

Lynda reported that she was busy working towards assessment and I provided an up-date on my tutor feedback, the changes I needed to apply and progress on the printing of my book and matt cutting for my exhibition.  Next meeting will be on 19^th September.

Wednesday 17^th saw another meeting with the printers, this time the cover was on – well the soft version.  As they have had to change printers the cover wasn’t a consistent tone so we have decided to scan the linen cover of the hard back version and see if that works better.  The B&W images are looking a lot better and so are the colour images, just a couple of the B&W bifolds need to be lightened and the Māori/English translation seems to have been changed so that needs to be corrected.

11^th September 2022

On the 23^rd August I attended an on-line event run by WorkShowGrow addressing the question of what happens next after you graduate from your studies.  The talk by Natasha Caruana offered a number of useful tips to consider and review around how to select your next course if that is what you want to do.  She highlighted that you did not need to be in a bricks and mortar establishment but you should consider your networks and if this could help you progress, possible work experience or an international exchange.  She highlighted the importance of considering what will work best for you and to not rush into any decision as any course will be expensive so it needs to be right.  Undertake as much research as you need to ensure you understand the full implications around cost and time required to complete.  Although this was mainly based on MA studies the principles remain the same.  I did ask what was available for overseas students and Caruana offered a number of options from USA and the UK who offered accredited course but these were once again MAs.

On the 29^th August I returned to the printer to see the alternative cover (here).  Although the scan was of a high quality, I found the cover of the linen fabric too busy and felt that both the title and my name were lost, they needed to standout and so we started look for an alternative.  After some discussion we decided to move away from a printed cover and look at what was called ‘card stock’.  This would already be of the correct colour and be able to travel through the printer to receive the ink for both title and my details.  This would remove any of the previous difficulties of banding or tonal issues.

On Friday 2^nd we had a small Level 2/Level 3 Student forum consisting of only six of us so it was just a general discussion without any work being reviewed, but a brief update on progress and a few issues that people were having.

On Monday the 5^th I collected the final mock up to review and confirmed that the new card stock cover looked so much cleaner and professional.  The black and white bifold images looked a lot better and all text was now correct.  There was a slight increase in cost as we have changed from a fully printed cover to a coloured card but the increase was not insurmountable. I have confirmed that everything is fine and that the print run should commence and now await delivery.  Once received I will video the final result and post here and on my website.

I have also started the last assignment for the course which is the overall evaluation and preparation towards assessment.  With the changes taking place in OCA it’s important that I submit and have feedback by early October in order to be invited to take assessment in January.  I’m still not sure how this invite process happens, I don’t want to miss any dates or process as I’ve done so much work.

1^st October 2022

Not sure where time has gone and did not realise that I had missed so much in this section of my blog so playing a bit of a catch-up session.  Back on the 15^th September I attended the SYP Network Group.  This was a really great turn out (11) as had tuned in to hear a fellow student who had just completed SYP and was now looking at undertaking an MA in fine Art discuss his experiences of the course and assessment process.  Bob completed the Fine Arts degree that included photography.  The course covers a lot of history which he seemed to enjoy.  He presented his final work which was in the form of a Padlet which seems to be the in thing to do.  He stated that he had set himself five goals as to what he wanted to achieve from the course and linked these to the Learning Outcomes and that seemed to work well for him.

He had completed additional courses whilst completing SYP and documented these on his Padlet site and produced an e-book.  He had also managed to get an article published which was in the form of a collaborative piece.  This was featured in an on-line magazine.  He stressed the importance of a dedicated website and the use of social media, adding links for assessment also seemed important and well liked by assessors.  He said that collaborative piece seemed to go well with assessors and is now looking at undertaking an MA in Fine Art.

The 16^th saw the return of the Photobook Book Group run by J Sybylla Smith.  These usually mean an early 3am start.  Today the talk was with Yelena Yemchuk who spoke about her latest book and the importance of gaining a connection and for a collaboration with her subjects.  The project started as black and white but she soon realised that colour worked best as the light she found could only be portrayed in colour.  Like other photographers she doesn’t use her camera at the start, she spends time getting to know her subject, lets them relax and gets to the point where the subject forgets she’s even there.  She uses a combination of images, text in the form of poems and also film.

The Rest of the World Forum was due to take place on the 19^th but only two of us attended.  We decided to still carry on and discuss progress.  Mary kindly shared her work for Assignment/project 5 which consisted of a short video presentation of work addressing shadows and darkness and what hides in those places.  I provided feedback which she later emailed and thanked me for saying that on reflection she thought my suggestions made the images a lot stronger.  I spoke about my final mock-up of my book and that I had set the wheels in motion on getting the copies printed.

On the 21^st September I collected the fifty copies of the soft cover version of my book and a few days later the hard copy version.  Further details and images can be found here.

The level 3 Support Group met on the 22^nd.  Lynda is busy preparing for assessment.  She had sent off her Learning Outcomes to her tutor for CS review and was waiting for feedback and for the ‘G’ drive access to be issued.

Helen reported that she had had her catch-up with her tutor and received some positive feedback.  They seem to be working well together.  She plans on using the crowd funding method to fund her book production and delivery, looking at various incentives to offer.  She reported that trying to find printers prepared to do a limited run was difficult in London.

Sarah has continued to apply for various competitions and the Redeye mentorship.  She has also applied for the Warwick Contemporary Arts Festival which she was successful for in the past.

Sue reported that she had some images selected for an exhibition in the US entitles ‘Jumping through Time’ at the Gwinnett County Library.

I reported that I had collected my books from the printers and so we discussed the final stages and my initial ideas of how to promote and sell them.  I still need to return to Ngawi and give copies to the ladies that took part.

During my lunch break I logged into a 2020 Foto Festival talk on long term collaboration with Marc Ohrem-Leclef.  Marc is a German born photographer who moved to New York over twenty years ago.  He started as an advertising photographer.  He liked the team work aspects and often found that at the end of the project there was a feeling of loss a case of what next?  He spoke about two long term projects – the first concerning the effects on the local population of major sporting events such as the Olympics.  How people are displaced to make way for venues.  He worked with the people living in the slums of Rio and China to record the effects on the location and their lives.  The second project was a very personal one, working with men in India to record how they show their affection openly, looking at the meaning of love and comparing this with how the West views the same thing.  He uses a combination of images, text from interviews and film.

The 2020 Photo Festival also provided a session with Liz Sales on the 28^th covering ‘Writing about your practice’  Sales is a photo-based artist, writer and teacher.  She has edited a number of magazines and has been a guest writer for ICP.  She covered a number of areas:

• Brainstorming – how to beat writer’s block
• Free writing – freely capturing your thoughts on a specific idea, allowing your thoughts to flow
• Writing artist statements v project statements
• Artist Bio
• Project proposals

Lots of useful ideas and tips for after this course.

On the 30^th I submitted Assignment Five: Publication evaluation and preparing for assessment which can be found here.  Feedback session has been booked for the 8^th October.

I have also prepared a short PowerPoint presentation on platinum and palladium printing which I will be giving to the local camera club on the evening of the 4^th October.  I will be following a fellow presenter who will cover the process and technique so I will just be discussing my experiences and promoting my exhibition.

PowerPoint presentation:Platinum and Palladium Printing

17th October 2022

It has been busy few weeks as I work towards the exhibition and continuing to promote my book.  I have managed to sell almost half of the fifty.  The remaining will be available during the exhibition.

The weekend of the 1st and 2nd was spent matting each of the prints.  It’s been some years since I was first taught how to cut matts, so a refresher of my old notes was in order before I started but once I had confirmed the measurements for both the landscape and portrait images the calculation for the matt size was easy to produce.  The frames all came with backing boards so that was one less thing to do.  Further details and images of the process can be found here.

The 8th saw my final feedback session with my tutor to discuss Assignment five.  Overall, no major issues apart from the length and the inclusion of the Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria which should be moved to my blog.  Comments can be found here.  I now need to start preparing for submission and to consider how best to present the book and exhibition.  I would like to prepare a draft and send to my tutor for review by early December as she is away for two weeks in January.

11^th November 2022

It has been a manic four weeks as I worked towards my exhibition.  Additional advertising and proof-reading posters and Instagram posts to try and ensure a good turnout.  I have continued to attend online talks and student forums.  The first on the 19^th October was through Photo London ‘Beyond the myth of Vivian Maier’ with Anne Marin.  Marin works at diChroma photography who produce exhibitions with international locations.  They are currently showing work by Vivian Maier from a collection of almost one hundred thousand.  This show has been seen in Europe and is now in the Far East.

On the 27^th October I attended my first photobook talk by Aperture (https://aperture-photobook-club.mailchimpsites.com/ ).  This session was based on the work by Bettina Cirone (b.1933) an American photographer and former model, who photographs celebrities including former presidents.  Her work has been seen in magazines, newspapers and books with a collection held in the Guggenheim Museum.  The book under discussion simply called ‘Bettina’ was produced following an exhibition of her work.  The panel was very difficult to hear as they were sitting around coffee table well away from the microphone.  It seemed that Cirone was very reluctant to be interviewed or contribute to the book and it took considerable negotiation to obtain different images to the ones originally supplied, seemed not prepared to share/publish her work unless completely in control.

Photoworks provided a discussion panel on ‘What’s next? Tips on establishing a professional photographic practice’ (31^st October).  This session was moderated by Diane Smyth director of Photoworks with Natasha Caruana (WorkShowGrow), George Selly and Maryam Wahid who discussed ideas of how to take the next steps following the end of your studies.  Based around entering competitions (expensive!), applying for grants and forming networks, which is all good advice if you have come from a conventional university as both were spotted at end of course exhibitions – not helpful when distance learning.

3^rd November saw me spend the morning hanging my exhibition prints.  I’m so pleased that I used the maquette to plan the layout.  This made the whole process so much easier.  The gallery owner stated that many just turn up with no idea and it take hours of rework to complete the hanging, as it was it only took two hours to unpack and fix to the walls.  Details can be seen here.  I need to source a table for the box and unframed prints and for the book to be displayed, but luckily, I had one at home.  I had already sent through the price list and my artist statement and bio for printing. Fingers crossed for people to attend – the big unknown.

The morning of the opening (4^th November) after a long night cooking and preparing food for the event – yes I was providing food and the gallery provided the drink, in future remember to check, but anyway kept me busy and my mind off the upcoming opening.  I also managed to log into and join the L2/L3 Support group.  As usual a good turn out and after giving them my up date on the exhibition and the hanging Rob started by sharing his work produced from his trip here to New Zealand.  The work entitled ‘Modern Life’ was a short video piece which will form part of his work on the ‘Broken planet’. This will consist of six different types of work which he will progress to one final piece during his last year of the course.  His next project will be on night photography and trees.  Jack and Jonathan recommended work by David George and Lance Keimig.

Jonathan explained that he was on a three-month deferral due to a broken camera but was still progress with two projects which are both long term.  One piece is a 3D printed camera and the Rye Harbour, the environment and constructed environment.  He also reported that he had submitted images and was successful for an exhibition in Brighton.  He said that it was very commercial and had sort of lost control of the process, but overall, he found the whole process interesting.

Faith was pulling together A2 and finding locations for new models and planning and finishing CS A3.  Neil reported that his double vision seems to have been resolved and is now planning to submit in March.  His work on the estuary is progressing but working with long and multiple exposures along with ICM.  He needs to submit two assignments before Christmas for BoW but is CS is complete.

Sue is now ten days into SYP.  She reported that she had an image accepted to a US library exhibition.  The theme was based around time.  There were over 900 entries from over 41 countries.  Like Jonathan there was no control over the printing or placement of the image but she was sent details of the exhibition.  She’s currently not feeling very comfortable with SYP and the process of putting her work out – just like most of us! She would like to do an exhibition but her location isn’t ideal and the cost would be too high.  The group offered several alternative ideas including projectors, virtual and pinning images to walls and railings.

As Lynda wasn’t able to join us due to illness, Jack finished the session by giving us an update on his photovoice work with the Cavey Island community.  The great thing about it is he’s getting funded for the whole project.  There will be a final exhibition which will be before he needs to submit.  His short film that he produced for BoW is going over to Holland and they also want to use some of his images and archive images as well.

Over the last few weeks I have been building a box to house a series of additional prints that I produced but would not be framed.  These five prints were matted like those in the frames, but I needed to also cut backing boards and fully seal them.  Each image was then protected in a clear plastic envelop so people could look at the print but not mark the matt.  The other reason for the box was to house the lithophane.  This is the result of the third piece of collaboration work (here).  I have to say I was really pleased with the results and the effect; the matted prints look beautiful when inside.

I have provided a more detailed write up of the exhibition and a video of the installation here, but I’m pleased to say that on the night I had fifty people attend and sold one print and a further two copies of the book.  Feedback has been positive and comments on the book can be found here.

Due to the pressures of trying to finish my last assignment and preparing for the exhibition I had really dropped the ball on submitting my work for exhibitions and so I decided to do something about that and submitted my book – well a version of it to the PhotoNZ open call.  They just wanted a pdf version so for this I removed the bifolds but kept the majority of the book the same.

I also submitted to the End of Year Exhibition at the Glasgow Gallery of Photography.  The best thing was it was free to enter unless you get selected and then it would be £48.  I didn’t expect to get selected but sent three of my scanned platinum and palladium images from the exhibition.  Imagine my surprise when on the 8^th November they informed me that one of my images had been selected.  I’m not allowed to let anyone one which image but if I want to have the work displayed, they will print and frame provided they hear from me by the 12^th November.  This I have done and also sent them my website information which will be included.  The exhibition runs from the 3^rd – 30^th December and they will also advertise the show on their social medial platforms so I will include that link on my own for friend back in the UK.  I can select to have the work sold, donated or collect.  The latter being a little impossible so will sell the work with the Gallery taking 10% commission – just need to come up with a price.  Their website: www.glasgowgalleryofphotography.com

11^th December 2022

Not really sure where this last four weeks have disappeared to, so a lot to write about.  On the 17^th November I joined the Level 3 Support group with Lynda, Sue, Helen, Sarah and Anna.  Helen was having internet issues so didn’t really contribute to the discussion and Anna didn’t say anything.  I gave an up-date on the exhibition opening and sales progress and my rather slow progress to bringing SYP to a close and how best to present.

Lynda stated that she has to give a one minute talk at the exhibition where her images are on display.  The opening consists of walk about with each artist standing in front of their walk and then saying their piece.  The exhibition has 78 artists but only two photographers, so a great result for Lynda.

Sue admitted to having a bit of a slow start and not having completed A! for SYP yet.  A case of going in all different directions, however she has had her first one-to-one portfolio review with her local gallery.  She took along a few of her images.  The session went really well and she was given lots of links into other artists and organisations within the area that might be interested in her project.

I decided to submit to the Belfast Photo Festival for 2023.  This involved sending 15 images, an artist statement and a bio.  It doesn’t close until February, so I won’t know the results until after I have submitted.  Full details can be found here: https://www.belfastphotofestival.com/

Also, on the 17^th I attended the first of a two part session with the Social Documentary Network in the US.  Here they introduced four different photographers and their projects.  All US based.  Images are up-loaded to the SDN website in portfolios but here the artists were allowed twelve minutes to explain and discuss their work.  It’s a shame that there’s nothing like that in New Zealand – something to look into.

On the 22^nd I joined a presentation by Falmouth University for their online MA course.  After a few technical issues the presentation finally managed to play but gave a great overview of why I should consider doing an MA and how the course worked online for them.  The intake is approximately twenty students which means the access to support and feedback is considerably higher than other organisations.  There seems to be a strong ethos and drive to look after the students.  For the MA there are 5 modules covered in 12-week blocks within takes in January, May and September.

The SYP Network Group met on the 24^th November.  Helen had arranged for Hugh Hadfield to attend and present his SYP project which he has completed.  Hugh is an illustration student and has based his project around his father’s trip to hospital following a fall.  His father suffers from dementia.  He has used a comic format to show both sides of the situation.  He spoke about his process and is now looking at how to showcase his work.  Looking at self-publishing in the comic format or an exhibition.  His work was very interesting, and I think it could have been used as a form of training material for both sides – NHS staff to improve how they treated patients with dementia and families as to how to cope with going to hospital with family relatives with this debilitating condition.

I joined the Level 3 Support Group (originally the Documentary Group) on the 2^nd December.  There were eight of us at this session.  I reported that my exhibition had closed, and I had managed to sell another 3 books and a print, so not too bad.  The images will now move to Ngawi for the summer period.  I also raised the issue around waiting for an ‘invite’ to the assessment and highlighted the fact that others should make a note of their end dates and to ensure that all assignments and tutor feedback is uploaded by that date.

Faith provided an up-date on her progress.  She was still waiting for feedback on her Body of Work and as of yet still trying to finish Assignment Three.  Neil has been getting ready for submission in January for both Body of Work and CS.  He has been experimenting with timelapse, ICM and abstract.  He has also started using 6×4 film to produce a scrap book.  He said that he was struggling to find text to fit with his images.  It was suggested that he places text at the end of the book he was working on in a similar way to Chris Killip.

Sue has completed her first portfolio review with a local gallery at a booked one-two-one session.  She took along a few images.  She said she should have taken ones that probably weren’t her best to get more feedback however, the session seemed to be really helpful as they were able to provide contacts with similar interests to her project.

Jonathan was still on his deferral however he’s been busy with his 3D printer to produce a 4×5 camera whilst he waits for his to be repaired.  He has been using his phone to create images of the nature reserve.  He attended the exhibition opening of David Fletcher an OCA student who went on to complete a MA in documentary photography.

Lynda spoke about her three images in a local gallery exhibition and her one-minute presentation.  She also reported her success at being accepted to the end of year exhibition to The Glasgow Gallery but waiting to reveal which image was selected.  We should both know which image was successful when the exhibition opens later UK time on Friday. 

Judith had also had some success with two medals, one gold and one bronze, from images entered into the Budapest International Photo Festival.

On Saturday morning I was allowed to reveal that my landscape of Ngawi was selected for the Glasgow Exhibition:

The 8^th December saw the second part of the American Zeke session through SDN.  This saw a further five photographers discuss their projects:

• Matilde Simas – modern day sex trafficking
• Brian Branch-Price – American dance, how black culture has contributed to American dance culture
• Cheryl Guerrero – life and culture within the Mission District in the Bay area.  A place know for its cars but this concentrates on the people and the community
• Raymond Holman – COVID-19 in black America
• Lizzy Unger – Abortion rights, the day Roe v Wade was overturned.

On the 9^th December I joined the Photobook Book Group covering the book by Odette England and Jennifer Garza-Guen.  I had previously joined a discussion with England and Garza-Guen on their joint sabbatical using analogue techniques and out of date photo paper.  It was interesting to see how they had transferred these images into a book and combined a written essay by Susan Bright.  One aspect of this series by Sybylla Smith is you don’t ever see that many images of the book, which is often frustrating.

On the same day Santa Fe Workshop presentation continued their Creativity series.  This was new to me, and I noticed from their website that there were a few other presentations that would be interesting to attend and so I have registered.  Today’s presentation was entitled “Going Beyond with Frank Ockenfels 3”.  Ockenfel is a commercial photographer who has photographed the likes of Bowie.  He extensively uses journals to document images and text, adding images that he has found and images of his own.

His origin was with film and the use of contact sheets.  He uses is journals as a form of portfolio when presenting his work for projects.  He uses these journals to also form his final image, printing on used board or even skateboards.  These one-off pieces are charged out at $500.

His images are a combination of found images, journal entries, paint, collage and items out of the garbage bins.  He often uses items to distort the image such as crystals.  During COVID he took portraits from his PC screen and used mirrors to distort them.  The images and work is interesting but not an area I would think of entering.

In a follow up to my earlier post on the Glasgow Gallery Exhibition a fellow student who lives nearby kindly attended the gallery and took some images as evidence to the print being on show.  Thanks to Neil Gallacher for providing the following images: