Overall Comments
Samantha, well done for your first assignment! You have taken an interesting series of images of your subject, demonstrating your creativity and imagination. At times the technical quality of the image could be improved, in particular the focus point of the image, but your compositional skills are very good. This assignment asked you photograph single subject over a series of 5 to 7 shoots. Although you have chosen a variety of locations and varied your distance from the subject they are predominantly ‘action’ shots rather than posed static images. Perhaps you should try to include some full-length portraits and torso shots in a more controlled, static environment in the future?
Assessment potential (after Assignment 1)
You may want to get credit for your hard work and achievements with the OCA by formally submitting your work for assessment at the end of the module. More and more people are taking the idea of lifelong learning seriously by submitting their work for assessment but it is entirely up to you. We are just as keen to support you whether you study for pleasure or to gain qualifications. Please consider whether you want to put your work forward for assessment and let me know your decision when you submit Assignment 2. I can then give you feedback on how well your work meets the assessment requirements.”
Feedback on assignment
The portraits you have produced for this assignment are varied and demonstrate that you haveare developing your visual language. The camera angles and point of view, in particular are varied and purposefully chosen. In a few of the images I think there is too much post-production. For example, in the autumnal image the face of the subject is incredibly smooth and without shadow, to the point that the features are almost invisible. You might have decided to reduce the textures etc. of the face to make the eyes really stand out – and they do – but the face is surrounded by the crisp and detailed textures of the leaves making it seem strangely lacking in detail. Also the coat and trousers are covered in pattern and texture due to the mud so there is busyness to the whole image making the face seem more incongruous. Perhaps a bit of mud on the face would have emphasized the character of the boy more – giving the image a narrative relating to the pleasure of play outdoors in the autumn? In reference to your own comments about the image – I agree that the complimentary colours work extremely well, and I think the gesture, framing and eye contact have been selected and captured very well.
The puddle image is very good, it really shows your confidence in experimenting with different ways of taking portraits – I agree that it doesn’t matter if the subject’s face is partially obscured in this image – the camera is the point of focus because it explains his activity / interest in the puddle. Showing creativity and taking risks is an important element of the module and you have demonstrated that you are developing your own voice and understand how ideas are communicated photographically. Well done!
Nevertheless, I think the bookshop image is less successful. The idea is good and the location is interesting but the image seems a blurred and it feels more like a snapshot or documentary photograph than a portrait. Perhaps if you had asked the boy to look at some of the books on the shelf you could have slowed him down a bit and given yourself the opportunity to take a number of shots to capture his gestures and expressions. If the subject’s face is not visible in the image, it is important that their pose or gesture give the viewer an idea of their emotional state or interest in the activity they engaged in.
In the fourth and fifth images the focus seems a bit off – the superman isn’t sharp and the beech scene focuses on the feet rather than the face – is this intentional?
Your final image is really well composed but the point of focus still doesn’t seem purposefully chosen. I agree that you don’t always need the subject to look directly back at you, but this doesn’t mean that the eyes are not an important part of portraiture. It you had positioned yourself slightly further to the left you would have been able to see his eyes and focus on them – this would reinforce for the viewer that the subject is looking intently at the screen. His absorption is the message of the image and I think the eyes would have communicated it very effectively.
In the assignment brief you are asked to mark your work against the assessment criteria in the handout – I would recommend that you complete this task and put your thoughts on the blog. It is important for you to identify your strengths and weaknesses using the assessment criteria, so you can think about them as you work on assignment 2.
Learning Logs or Blogs/Critical essays
Your blog is well organized and your annotation is thorough. It is good to see that you are reflecting on what you have learned in each exercise and considering how you will use the skills in your own work. Your engagement with the exercises will demonstrate the development of your technical and analytical skills to the assessor (should you submit for assessment). In the poses exercise your research is thorough and you clearly put the knowledge you have gained into practice when taking photographs. My only comment about your work for the exercise is to remind you that poses are not universal, so they may seem very natural for adults but awkward when attempted by children. It is important to think about the differences as well as similarities between subjects.
When you submit an assignment via your blog, I would recommend that you separate the images by other photographers from your own series. Perhaps introduce the assignment, present your series of images with annotation / comments on each image and then have a reflection at the end that brings in other people work and compares them with your own. This will make it easier for the assessor to distinguish between your assignment and research should you decide to submit for assessment.
I would like to see some more critical thinking research on your blog. In Key Concepts of Photography by David Bate there is a great chapter on portraiture. He also writes introductory chapters on the history of photography / photographs as records of history, and reading photographs using critical theory. I think all these sections would give you ideas for critically analyzing your work and the work of other photographers.
Suggested reading/viewing
As previously mentioned, I would recommend that you read some overviews of the theories used to decipher different genres of photography such as, Key Concepts of Photography by David Bate. Photography by Stephen Bull is also very good as it outlines some of the key texts by other writers and theorists on the subject of photography.
Also, the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition is on show – have a look at the website as they contain a wide variety of subjects, types of staging and levels of formality. There are a variety of portraits of children in this years selection.
http://www.npg.org.uk/photoprize1/site14/
Try to analyse the decision making process of the photographer – why did they chose to frame the subject the way they did? Are there props or locations to suggest activity? Are they successful? This will give you ideas for future assignment work.
Pointers for the next assignment
Your eye for composition and timing is very good but the technical quality of the work is inconsistent – try photographing under different lighting conditions to develop these skills.
Take photographs and change the point of focus to different objects / parts of the image. Think about how this changed the meaning of the image and experience of the viewer then write it up on your blog.
Try to extend the variety of portraits you produce to mix formal / posed with spontaneous / active. They will produce very different outcomes and come with their own sets of challenges.
Sam Bennett 