15th January 2020
Since my last entry I have managed to complete several key activities so was pleased with that such as the initial photoshoot which resulted in gaining two local contacts. This I obtained by just talking to a few people on the beach. This is was a big thing for me as I’m an introvert so find this very difficult but, after completing the Alec Soth Magnum Photography course over the Christmas holidays I realised that I needed to get over my nerves and just approach people – what’s the worst they could do? Say no! but once I had explained that I was a student working towards my degree they were more than happy to give me their details to contact at a more convenient time. – First win.
I have also managed to complete a large amount of reading and notes for Contextual studies and the first assignment for Body of Work which I will submit for assessment once I have completed Assignment one for Contextual Studies – just facing that white page of death and trying to figure out where to start.
I attended an exhibition by Susie Baker at Photospace in Wellington. Baker is a Scottish photographer who now lives and works in the South Island and experienced the major earthquake in 2016. I have provided further details in my blog. She is another photographer using film and this is pushing me more and more towards using film, but I thing I will also use digital as a back-up.
I have also received a copy of Bryan Greetham’s ‘How to write your undergraduate dissertation’ which I will start to read in preparation for the next assignment and final work. This is part of the course I’m concerned most about. I have written a number of essays for my MBA and my engineering degree but not really one for art, so a little nervous about getting it wrong.
OK back to the blank page of the assignment for CS. I will also start to line up photoshoots of the residents of Ngawi, but I would also like to work with the women that live there following the article I read on Stewart Island by Daniel Eriksen [see Research log].
Michele Usher 