1st June 2021
Joined the Tutor led Session with Ariadne and a ever growing number of other Level 3 Students to discuss a number of subjects:
Time Management – trying to get Contextual Studies and Body of Work in parallel is often difficult with the ability to cross pollinate the key and the name to the game – something at times I’m find difficult to do. It was highlighted that it was important to work on both at the same time to ensure that the two aspects of the course remain linked. Find a routine and strategy is key but this needs to work for you, remember to link your ideas and writing. Work on the links as these need to be shown, show how they work but also how they are different, show your thinking. Your Contextual Studies should come out in your images.
When reading articles make notes and remember to compare and contrast. When reading the next article – how does this relate to the last one? This is something I don’t think I have done very well, wish I have had this meeting a lot earlier in the course.
When to stop reading and start writing: It is often all to easy to go down rabbit holes, which is fine early in the stage but not now when you are about to complete your final assignment. Interesting and relevant are very different thinks – learn how to identify which they are. Key to form questions at the start – what are you trying to identify and show? This didn’t happen to me until well into the course.
When to stop researching and start writing: write to a means to discover. Important to keep good records of what you have read. Research – write – review – repeat. Write notes, conceptual links. Your research may never stop and could follow you post submission.
4th – 7th June 2021
Attended the Auckland festival of Photography – events attended and photographs have been added to the Exhibitions section of this blog.
10th June 2021
Logged into another great supportive session with the Level 3 Support Group, although we were short of Helen this time due to personal issues, we still managed to discuss a range of topics both on subject and off. Sarah has submitted her Assignment Five for SYP and already received feedback from her tutor so she has time to address these before final submission and even kindly offered to review our work if we wanted. I think I will definitely take up that offer.
Sue has been working with her tutor using ‘Padlet’ to help her sequence and edit her Body of Work. The process and the tool seems to be working well and her tutor thinks the tool could be used for her final submission. She didn’t seem that convinced.
Anna stated that she had submitted Assignment Four and received feedback (not sure where mine is!) and now working on Assignment Five. She is a little frustrated as her tutor doesn’t seem to be reading her written work and keeps asking for areas to be reworked after they had already discussed to remove them. Her session are only 20 minutes long which seem really short to me meaningful to me so I can understand her frustration.
16th June 2021
I have been working on both the PowerPoint presentation to create the video and InDesign to form the book. The pages have been sent to my friend to print as I don’t have a good enough printer and I collected them last night. The next stage is to form a front and back cover and then video the page turning.
I have also reviewed the possibility of using the Adobe Portfolio package to build a website. It seems fairly easy to generate even for a non techie like me so over the next few weeks I will start to build using one of the available templates provided. Decided to pull together a series of images that would show my progress but not to introduce any new areas such as those that I have included in the book or video – cray boat session or the decaying cray.
27th June 2021
Had a bit of hit and miss sort of ten days. Have bee waiting so long for the written report from my tutor for Body of Work and getting so frustrated not knowing if I was going in the right direction that I posted it to a all-female social media Facebook group for feedback, to the OCA Critique Forum and to a professional photographer here in New Zealand. All the feed back can be found in my Work in Progress section of this blog. I finally received the report on the 24th June. I have to admit I’m non the wiser as to how I should have gone about the re-edit but I’m glad I posted for feedback.
On the 23rd June I logged into a Photo London Book Club Live talk with Sebastiao Salgado – I had previously missed one with him several months ago and then found the reporting but it was hard to follow as they used a translator. This one was in English and showed some of his amazing images from his latest book. I have provided write up in my Exhibition Section.
Friday (25th June) meant meeting up with the Level 3 / Documentary Student group. Reasonable turnout but not really a lot to report, most are between levels. Lynda was worried about work count and reducing the number for next submission. Jack had to leave early as he was not at home and in a part of the UK where the internet was poor. Bob seemed to be having the same issues.
Neil reported that he had undertaken his progression interview and finally after a week of emails received his allocated tutors for Level 3. His work will be based around man’s effect on the planet.
Niki has signed up for Level 3 after previously thinking about taking a gap but due to the fee increase decided to plough on and save money. Judith reported that she had submitted Assignment 1 of her SYP and two of her images had been selected for the 1854 Media Exhibition which was amazing news. She is working hard towards her own exhibition but still waiting to hear about a possible kidney transplant for her husband which will be amazing for them both but complete isolation again prior to the operation and after.
Faith joined a little late due to work but said she was moving on with Level 3 – well trying to but having issues with the OCA website. Finally, Jonathan is working towards his Assignment 5 after completing his essay.
I provided a brief summary of my progress and frustrations.
Joined the Rest of the World group (27/06/21) – not as such a large turn out as normal but still managed to get to see some amazing work by other students within the OCA. This group really offers some alternative aspects to art which broadens my outlook. Roger shared his work for his last assignment based around ‘man and machine’. Heavily influences by an artist called Prunella Clough and his time in the Navy. The work involved the use of oils and pastels, very experimental.
Elina is working towards her last part of the course which has asked her to look back on the course and select two artists that have influenced her the most. She seems to enjoy the still life aspect of the course the most and has the amazing ability to produce depth to her images.
Fr gave her up-date. She wants to try and finish her degree in four years which will mean doing two courses at once. Most of us expressed our concern about the level of work involved and ensuring she gets the most out of the courses but she has a number of external issues that are forcing her down this route.
Juanita is on the creative writing course and has just finished assignment two. She seems to be really enjoying it but not sure how she will progress – direction wise as she has also joined an OCA drawing session as this seemed to have cross over with her own course.
Michele Usher 