2nd February 2021
Can’t believe it’s already the second month and I need to submit my first draft of my essay for Contextual Studies. I so wish the writing part came easily to me, hate facing a blank page or trying to get point direction of an argument to flow into the next.
Logged into the Documentary/level 3 student group this morning. Another great session of ideas and discussion. Missed the first few minutes due to technical issues. With this new way of working – home and office, the work laptop seems to keeps resetting back to the factory settings so I have to keep changing the microphone and audio. Anyway, great turnout with Bob, Susan, Lynda, Faith, Neil, Nicola and Jack.
I missed the up-date by Nicola and Jack, but Neil gave an up-date on this feedback for his latest assignment, which he was disappointed about, seems there was some confusion from his tutor so the comments were not helpful. He his thinking of a book for his final submission, making it into a hide with cut outs to give a feeling of looking into and then through a window to the outside. Sounds really creative, can’t wait to see the results. He’s also looking at progressing this into level 3.
Sue spoke about her experience of a book making course which wasn’t very successful so she’s not looking at that for her final assessment so we discussed a number of different alternatives including the reproduction of a gas mask – bigger than life size so she could project her images onto the clear screen. Great excuse for off the wall ideas which usually results in lots of laughter. Breaks up the stress and improves the mental health.
Lynda had produced some more images for review, which I think are moving in the right direction for her Body of Work. She has been talking about putting them to the back of her book but I think they are too strong to hide away. I suggested that she use her landscape image on one half of the page and then a gatefold page on the right. The base being the icy landscape and then the archive image on a transparency page that could be folded out of the way. Sent her a link to a talk I had attended where the artist used a three way folding book of images that each time you opened the book produced a different image [https://vimeo.com/216370975]. Not sure if she like the idea.
5th February 2021
I seem to have spent the last week or so working or struggling with my Contextual Studies Essay. Realising that maybe I’m not such an organised person that I thought I was. There must be a better way to review, make notes and then be able to find things? I have sat in front of my computer knowing I have reviewed a piece of work, made notes but can’t find the piece I’m looking for! Getting very frustrating.
My Body of Work images have remained on the wall whilst I think about the next steps – reprocessing and lining someone up to print so I can produce a draft book for assessment. Not sure how draft that should be and how much I leave to SYP, something I need to discuss with my tutor. As I’m thinking of using the ‘gatefold’ pages as a chapter divide this may not be something I can do via an online tool.
8th February 2021
Attended a few talks over the last few days. Both talks have been written up on my Exhibitions section to this blog.
Spent two solid days working on the first draft of my essay and submitted it for feedback. Over the last few weeks, I had been adding sections to the rough plan and layout but as this was a long weekend in New Zealand (even though I had to work on Monday) I set aside this time to complete the main section, conclusion and introduction. I think the introduction is a little short and rushed and will need to be reworked. I’m worried that the link to my Body of Work is weak and I don’t really have a strong enough argument. Not sure while this has been so difficult, maybe it’s the pressure that this will be for my final grade and I would really like to continue my studies after this degree. I have also realised that although I took a large quantity of notes my ability to find what I remember was not that great. If I continue with my studies I will need to find a better way to cross reference and tag key bits of text and articles.
The Rest of the World student group was held today. This group keeps on growing which is great and the attendees are not all photographers which means that we interact with other creative artists in the making and there is some amazing talent. To we had ten people turn up. It had been suggested that we start a short agenda to ensure everyone who wants to show work gets an opportunity. Work is placed in the shared drive and we view beforehand. This is a faster approach than trying to share screens which can be difficult in some locations when the connection is very limited,
We started with an up-date by Juni on a College led discussion on Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity. She raised the issue about photographers/artists being labelled ‘black’ without being offensive and how do we embrace diversity? Flavia also said she had attended but became very frustrated, stating that we should refer to people as ‘artists’ and not by their colour. I agree, their work should speak for itself, you shouldn’t just get work because of the colour of your skin or because that is the current trend. We should be noting and promoting local artists in our work. This work should be included in your studies. I have included a number of local Kiwi artists in my Body of Work studies which have produced work on rural communities and mental health issues.
It is important that we all see things differently. We are all affected by our culture, parents, history etc but that should not stop us from accepting another’s point of view and respecting that.
Flavia had up-loaded some of her drawings for her next assignment on visual metaphors. Her designs were about economic catastrophe. She is a really good artist and the group provided feed back on each of the five drawings. She was looking for both positive and negative comments for her log. The negative ones I think were as always with this good given in a constructive way, which helps you progress and develop.
Amano presented more images from his project on his mother. There was a discussion around the use of text with the images. The final image of hi mother just days before her passing I said needed the text to explain the situation as I didn’t get the feeling of approaching death, just of her sleeping, other’s thought that the text was not needed – just goes to show we all understand or interpret images differently.
Lynda was next with more of her work on montage. Once again, I think these are really nice images and shouldn’t be placed at the back – hope she changes her mind.
11th February 2021
Another great session with the Level 3 Support Group. Its always a fun and interesting exchange of information, ideas and support. The usual group attended: Sarah, Anna, Helen, Susan and Lynda.
Sarah wanted to discuss her book ideas which was really interesting for me as I need to do the same but not fully publish, I think, otherwise what would I do for SYP? Sarah explained her work along with an essay and poem which was part of a collaboration would be included. We discussed where the written work should go; front, back or in the middle. Most believed that the middle would disrupt the flow of the work but it would probably be best to produce a mock up and try which worked best. We also discussed paper selection – recommended to order a selection from which ever publishers you are planning on using, fonts and colour of the text. All useful info for me to store in the back of my mind for later.
The tables were then turned on me, hoping to be missed this week as I wasn’t really in the right frame of mind to explain that although I had submitted my draft essay I wasn’t looking forward to the feedback. My Body of Work is sort of ok but since I can’t submit prints for assessment and I’m working towards a book my heart isn’t really in it. I’m not really happy with any of the images and I can’t face an extension.
Lynda was next. She explained that she was working on her Lit Review and discovered work and notes which she had forgotten about so needed to go over that again. Her aim was to send this off this week. She explained she had had a breakthrough with her images for Body of Work and was pleased with the feedback she had received from the various other groups she joins.
Anna is suffering badly with the home schooling as the UK is in yet another lockdown period. Must be hard this time of year as she can’t let the children out side to play and let of steam. They are also in the middle of a house move (not sure how that works during lockdown?). She explained that people are at breaking point.
Susan was over the moon as she had just had her vaccine jab against COVID. Still not sure when New Zealand will get their supply. She has put in her images for the second Assignment for Body of Work, feels these should really be for her first as she had to change tutors and the new one seems very confused as to her project and its meaning. A little bit worried about how they will fit and how to move one and create more in the current lockdown situation, but she is continuing to build on her archive images for future experimentation. She is going to get back to her contextual Studies but feels that she leaves too long a period between sessions on this (I’m the same) and spends the first part of the day re-reading old work. Helen suggested that we do the ‘power hour’, where we spend an hour a day reading something to do with our essay so that it keeps it fresh. Good idea but work that pays the mortgage gets in the way!
Helen was last as she normally pushes everyone else first and then we run out of time. She was pleased with her tutor’s feedback and session over her Lit Review. Tutor told her to reduce her sources and concentrate on only a few themes. She needs to do more images for her Body of Work which she feels are rushed and is not happy with (are any of us?). She has a meeting with her Body of Work tutor on Friday which she is concerned as they haven’t spoken for over a year.
14th February 2021
After reviewing and gaining feedback from fellow students and friends who have a mild interest in photography I finally managed to get an order to my images that I think will work. I have removed them from the wall and have spent the last few days reprocessing to obtain a consistent colour palette as I did notice that some of the reds were a little saturated. This may have been due to the printer not having been calibrated to my screen. As this was a simple edit, I didn’t need them perfect, just to give me an idea of order and flow through the book.
Having reviewed a large number of my own collection of photography books and a number on line and those from Tessa Bunney (see Work in Progress) I decided that I would crop the images into a square format – returning back to my original hope of re-using my Hasselblad. I like the professional look, and the white boarder will focus the viewer on the image.
The panoramas are causing some concern. I need to reprocess so that they can work across three pages in a ‘gatefold’. The images need to stand alone but also work as a panorama. These will take more time to process and I will need to leave them till next weekend.
16th February 2021
Watched the CSA annual photography lecture with Donna Ferrato and Laura Pannack. I have seen both talk before and it just amazes me how passionate Ferrato is. She has had some harrowing experiences both personally and professionally. Her work doesn’t shy away from showing the facts and the horror of personal relationships. I have provided a more detailed write up in the Exhibitions section to this blog.
Moved onto the RPS Contemporary Group Talk with Sarah M Lee, and all before my usual work day, sometimes you just have to love time zones! I had seen her work before but it was interesting to see her mix of colour and black and white images. How she selects depending on the event, location and style/mood she wants. Another passionate photographer who stated that photography was a ‘vocation, career and a love’.
19th February 2021
Friday morning saw me join the fortnightly level 3 and Documentary group. Probably not in the right frame of mind today so just sat and listened to the others as they gave an up-date. The group consisted of Lynda, Jack, Bob, Susan, Michael, Jonathan, Neil and Nicola. Sue started the discussion by giving us an up-date on the feedback she had received from her Assignment Two for BoW, all very positive and she was surprised by the quantity as she had never had the detail before. She stated that she really felt that this should have been her first assignment submission rather than the second, then she would have felt further down the road of progress. She stated that her tutor was more interested in her thought processes and influences than the images.
Jonathan was next and showed his initial thoughts for his assignment three – story telling in ten images. Michael felt that the images formed a strong narrative but struggled to see it as a documentary piece. On the whole the idea was well received and a good start, more work needed before completion.
Jack provided a link to his video of his scrap book of ideas for his Body of Work for Level 3. Consisting of newspaper articles, poems, notes and images, which he plans to add to over the course. Most of the other Level 3 studies (myself included) have kept an electronic version although I also have about three books for my notes as I log into talks, these forums and as I come up with ideas. These would have been posted with my final submission so I will need to video or photograph for my final submission – add that to the list of final to do jobs.
Michael stated that he had just submitted Assignment two but was finding it very heavy going with all the reading and research involved. I don’t think he will be happy with Level 3, but he still has another level 2 course to complete. Nicola was now working though Assignment Five, aiming to use both images and text as a basis. The images taken from Facebook for her local village, highlighting how the tensions people were feeling during lockdown were causing issues and increasing feelings of unease – these are not easy times and I feel extremely lucky to be living in New Zealand.
Neil working through Assignment Six and cleaning up work for final submission, so the end is in sight.
22nd February 2021
Logged into the Graham Vasey on-line talk on the 20th February, this was with the Hexham group. A personal interest so no formal write up but food for thought following this course. Interesting use of different papers to obtain the final result and feel to his images. The Michael Cook talk through Photo 2021 has been written up and discussed in the Exhibition section to this blog.
The Rest of the World forum today had twelve members including the new International Student Rep. We seemed to spend the first 40 minutes introducing ourselves and so I had to leave after the first hour and listening to Linda show a previous piece of work on diversity. My early departure was due to the time difference and the fact that I have to work. Once the clocks change attendance will be a lot easier as they will start well in advance of my work day.
Michele Usher 