Overall Comments
Well done Samantha, the planning and thought that has gone into this assignment has resulted in a good set of images. Some of the images blend location, activity and the personality of the individual to create a striking portrait but in others the individual is lost or overpowered by the activity and the objects they are surrounded by. Because of this the series feel more ‘documentary’ than ‘portrait’, and could be improved by engaging with the subjects a bit more. Your annotation is very good, mixing practical information with your aims and intentions, demonstrating that you are thinking about how the images communicate to the audience. I particularly like your reading of the Seamstress image – the blurred hand is an important component of the image as it emphasizes the ‘manual’ nature of the tools she is using. Very good! You could further develop and strengthen your visual language skills by researching methods for interpreting images (such as semiotics) as it will help you to understand how objects are given meaning and how interpretation can vary depending on who the viewer is.
Assessment potential (after Assignment 1)
I understand your aim is to go for the Photography/Creative Arts* Degree and that you plan to submit your work for assessment at the end of this course. From the work you have shown in this assignment, and providing you commit yourself to the course, I suggest that you are likely to be successful in the assessment.
Feedback on assignment
You have chosen an interesting subject matter for this assignment, and although you are quite critical of the signs of contemporary life such as the ‘no smoking’ sign in the chip shop portrait, I think the things that provide clues about the ‘real time’ of the image make them interesting. It makes it clear that the photographs are contemporary, so I am able to interpret the people in the photographs as actors and actresses, and I add layers of meaning about reenactment and museums / historical tourism.
In some instances (The Steam Engineer, The Swing Operator and the Horse Wash) I felt the images were leaning too far towards documentary. Although this assignment is about people and activity, it is very difficult to view the individuals and glean information from their gestures, poses and expressions. Some of the photographs work very well, I particularly like the cobbler as he is nicely framed by the tools of his trade and the muted colour pallet of the browns and blacks of the leather compliment the muted tones of the figure (black, white and skin tone).
This series could be stronger if it emphasized the individual personalities more. None of your subjects engage with the camera, they are all totally engrossed in the activity taking place. Although the assignment is about activity, it would have been nice if a few of the subjects were looking into the lens. This would make the series of photographs more about the people who work at the museum – rather than ‘what activities the Victorian’s undertook’ – which I think is the real subject of the photographs. If the viewer wanted to find out about Victorian life they could look at photographs from that time. the interest of the public in that time period and our desire to experience it through reenactment museums is far more interesting! (I think those Victorian photo studios you find at seaside resorts are really interesting too – this could be a subject matter for future projects?)
Perhaps you could have positioned yourself as a customer in some of the shots?
Having looked at the exercises you have undertaken, I think there are a few good examples of what I mean in the ‘An Organised Event’ section of your blog – particularly the child on the woman’s back (the location tells me a lot about the event but I engage with the child as an individual subject making it a portrait of that child) and final one of the concentrating girl (although she doesn’t look directly at the camera she is isolated from the rest of the activity so I know that she is the main focus of the image).
I wonder if you could revisit the subject matter of the Victorian museum with a ‘looser’ approach to taking the images? I think you were so intent on capturing ‘activity’ that the compositions of your images became a little repetitive and the individual in the photograph was sometimes overwhelmed by the activity and the objects around them. (Although I know you were also limited by the size of the location and barriers etc. in a number of the shots).
Although you say in your annotation that you are interested in all things Victorian, I think the real interest in this subject lies in the ‘reenactment’. It would be really interesting to document the people in contemporary clothes, or in the process of transforming themselves into Victorians. This way you could blend activity and more classic ‘portrait’ shots while still giving the viewer information about the subject matter. Alternatively you could think about the activity of visiting a Victorian museum – what is the appeal for the audience?
Learning Logs or Blogs/Critical essays
Your blog is up to date and your annotation continues to be reflective and informative. The only technical issue I found was in the ‘organised event’ section when I click on the images to enlarge them the wrong image loads!
I would like to see more research on your blog – particularly the photographers you are looking at (and whether you like their work / why?) and the photography theory / portraiture theory research you are doing.
Also you should refer to the assessment criteria in your annotation – what are your strengths and weaknesses? Which areas do you intend to improve upon and how? This will be really beneficial for future assignments.
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. You are very good at looking at all the separate objects / actions in your images and thinking about how they build up to create meaning for the viewer – reading up on semiotics, and ‘how to interpret photographs’ will really strengthen your understanding of how images communicate and this will further inform how you take your images.
Have a look at the photographs of Martin Parr and Daniel Meadows, in particular a series called ‘June Street’. In these portraits Meadows and Parr documented all the inhabitants of the street in their homes. There is a great blend of portrait and objects (which act as further signifiers of personality) – they might give you some ideas for this work http://www.magnumphotos.com/Catalogue/Martin-Parr/1972/GB-ENGLAND-June-Street-1972-NN162445.html
You could also look at Anna Fox, as her work blends documentary and portraiture in order to inform the viewer of the people and the activities they are involved in, although I think they are less successful aesthetically and sometimes appear to present the individual in quite a mocking way. (Workspaces)
Pointers for the next assignment
The assignment suggests that you submit prints – I would recommend that you send assignment 3 as hardcopy. It is good experience to view images as prints because you will see things that are not obvious on screen. It is also very important to gain experience of colour management specifically for print.
Your planning for this assignment is good– you are clearly thinking about what should be included in each shot and how you will achieve it. For future assignments I would recommend that you write a ‘shot list’ for each location or individual so you have a record of all of the activities you want to capture and also distances / camera angles etc. This way you can ‘tick off’ the shots you know you definitely want to capture, allowing you to play around and experiment once the must-haves are done.
Spend time looking at the work of other photographers with the help of my suggestions and also the photographers featured in the module handbook. This will give you ideas for compositions and will help you to develop an understanding of your own likes / dislikes which will help you to build your own visual style.
Sam Bennett 