Thursday 3 November 2011
Self Evaluation
I believe I am well aware by the issues raised within my Environment Unit, that the concept of litter on the streets can symbolise human interaction on the landscape and something that’s seen as ugly in the environment, can create an interesting image by the way it’s randomly placed. My object unit is seen as more of a personal issue, but is widely common and the research that took place during my project enabled me to be well aware about the issues behind the theme of Child Abuse. For the object, the reasons behind my photographic choices were basically dependant on how I want the viewer to feel when looking at my final photograph, I wanted the photo to be hard-hitting as the topic I chose is quite deep and moving. I therefore decided on using a dark background and have the objects lit from the side, creating shadows and making the image darker. I believe the china doll in the photo is particularly moving and completely represents the theme of Child Abuse. I think my visual choices translate the theme of child abuse successfully, as the contrast between the wine, doll and broken glass symbolise a child that’s obviously broken by alcohol, and the way in which I chose to photograph the objects also translate the theme by being quite dark and eerie. For The Environment, my photographic choices weren’t as obvious as I wanted the photos to be more random and I didn’t want to plan what to photograph before the shoot as I wanted the litter I found to be obviously random. I think my visual choices translate the theme of litter well because the rubbish seen in the photographs look randomly placed, they completely change the way the environment is viewed. I have managed my studies for these projects by trying to do a lot of research from the very beginning to inspire me with an idea from an early stage. The most significant challenge I found was trying to find the balance of work for both units and doing equal amounts of work, which I definitely found difficult as my idea for The Object unit came to me a lot quicker than my idea for The Environment. Another problem I found was the actual shooting and printing of the projects as this is where I really struggled, but have learnt for next time to do more testing and shooting early on so it wasn’t done as last minute.
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Alexa,
ReplyDeleteI read your self evaluation with interest, which made me think about basic concepts. I was intrigued that you describe litter as symbolising human interaction on the landscape and something that is seen as ugly. I would ask who considers it "ugly" and why? As a starting point it can only be humans that see it as ugly, obviously because "ugly" is a human word, as is the concept of "landscape". So what subsets of humans decide that landscape with litter is ugly, and who do not? And is there such a thing as a "landscape" that does not represent interaction with humanity? How would litter be viewed by an archeologist? Something distasteful or a source if information about an ancient civilisation?
Changing the subject to the object project I was pleased that you've researched Hans Belmer but surprised that you perceived him merely as interesting. The first time I came across him I was shocked by his doll images and to be honest, disturbed. He was doing things to those dolls which I suspected gave him power and excitement, in other words he was experimenting with persecution - he was effectively an abuser? The opposite of what moved you to develop your object project? Or do you disagree? If so, tell me why.
And finally I've been doing some research on Wolf Tillmans. I've been excited by some of his quotes and how it relates to my own processes. For example, tell me what you think of the following:
"For me the photograph is first of all an object in space. It is primarily not a depiction but a picture."
"In my lens based paper images I made the photographic paper itself my subject matter, creating images that are figurative and abstract at the same time."
"The Lighters initially happened through a paper jam in my processing machine at a time when I had already been working on the paper drop images for a few years. Did I feed the processing machine with colour exposures knowing there was the likelihood of a paper jam, or did I only notice the connection when it materialised in front of my eyes? It is hard not to give in to the temptation to expose the act of manipulating coincidence because you want to show that you did it yourself, that you were there, but I tried to resist that. I regard chance and control as equally important. The important thing is striking a balance between accepting life as it is and trying to influence it, an equilibrium that is extremely hard to maintain."
Tillmans is interested in the materiality of paper and the accident. I thought a couple of his images might be relevant to your environment and body/object projects. Tell me what you think of the following: http://mentorchrisvanbeck.blogspot.com/2011/11/wolfgang-tillmans.html
If Tillmans intrigues, you may find his lecture stimulating: http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/events/talks/wolfgang-tillmans,1554,EV.html
Best wishes
Chris