In this reflective commentary I will be going back through my project, talking about my process and what went well and what didn’t. The aim of this project was to get us to think about how digital technology can reinterpret local culture. This local culture that we had to explore was Barnsley. This year I have decided to specialise in digital media and photography.
From the very start of the project I knew that it was going to be challenging because even though I am from Barnsley, I didn’t really know anything about its history. This was something that I had gotten really frustrated and made me think about why schools don’t teach you about the places where you are from as well as world history. To get a better understanding about what Barnsley is I decided to speak to my family about the things that happened in its history. From what I had gathered I had discovered that it wasn’t just a mining town where people moved from all over to work in. It was known for its linen, glass and bricks. Barnsley is also home to its own successful market and football club. After hearing my family speak about the place they lived, filled with so much pride made me think about the negative reputation that the town has gathered over the years. This is where I had decided to conduct a small interview with my partner and his friend. I had chosen to do this because I wanted to see what an outsider’s perspective was on Barnsley. From the answers I had gotten the impression I got was that it’s racist, poor, and a rough place to live where the use of drugs is high. I agree that Barnsley doesn’t help itself when it comes to media presence, however not all of Barnsley is like this. In my option as someone who has lives here it is a beautiful unique place. This was where I began to think about the kind of photographs I was to create. I want to capture its beauty, be a voice for the community and change others opinions of my home.
With this new found inspiration I had began to start researching further into the towns background, collecting timelines, reading articles and creating a mind map with my findings. It was at this point where I had begun to think about what sort of object I should use as my artefact for module 1. This is where I had decided to go to the Barnsley Antiques center to search for an object that I could also take photographs with.
What attracted my attention the most here was the amount of glass bottle. The way the light reflected on the glass made them look like jewels. I thought that this could be the way to go because of the history Barnsley has with glass, however I couldn’t find any glass bottles that came directly from Barnsley. One thing that I did find was a glass paper weight.
When photographed through the subject is flipped and turns on its head. This is something I found interesting because it's almost like I am turning peoples perspectives on Barnsley and changing their ideas. I even had a photographers glass ball that I could use in order to make crisp images.
However when I had gone back to University with my new object and spoke to a tutor, we had discussed that even though this was a beautiful image its way to obvious and has been over done in the photography world. This was also where I discussed my object and brought up that my uncle was a miner and had a miners safety manual from when he worked. I wasn’t sure about using this object because most people had started off by looking into mining at the start of their projects, and I wanted mine to be different. I was also unsure how I could use this object as a starting point for my work. To get me thinking I was told to just go out and take photographs and start looking into different photographers, and their techniques.
To start off I began looking into photographers that give me inspiration whenever I am stuck. These artists/photographers were David Hockney, Walker Evans, Thomas Joshua Cooper and Fay Godwin. I had chosen to look into David Hockney and Walker Wvans because they shot their photography with their Polaroids which is what I had originally wanted to shoot with but had to stop because of how expensive the film was. The style of polaroid photography that caught my eye was Hockney’s because he collaged his images to create a larger image.
Here is an example of his work:
I chose to look into Fay Godwin and Thomas Jochua Cooper because of their landscape photography. It was Cooper’s work that caught my eye the most because I found his way of taking a picture whilst removing the context of the location from the image to be interesting.
Here is an example of his work:
With this new found inspiration myself and a classmate decided to go out to take some photos and start creating work. We had both decided that research into mining was a good place to start so we had planned a trip to the Nation Coal Mining Museum to collect research and experience what it was like to be in a mine. Once this was done we had decided to go to the Barnsley Maine Colliery to experiment with our photography.
After experimenting with these photographs I had a talk with one of my tutors and we agreed that these images were obvious and that I should simplify my ideas. This is where I began to get lost again and had to ask for help. It was discussed that I should go round these subareas of Barnsley and photograph these areas. To me the important places about Barnsley isn't just the town centre, town hall, and its libraries. It’s the small areas that help and contribute to its growth and this is something I was to highlight within my work. To get started on this I started off by visiting the Pit Field in Athersley South. I chose to visit this location because it used to be owned by the mines there, and there is this huge hill that when you reach the top gives you a beautiful view over Barnsley.
I had also visited the Silkstone Common mine memorial to experiment with my photography.
After reviewing my images I was unhappy with the result.I felt that it was again too literal and that I wasn’t going anywhere with this project. This caused me to grow uninterested and less motivated. This was when we had a talk with the Yellow Caravan artists that were currently visiting Wombwell, which is the subarea of Barnsley that I am from. In this talk they explained who were and what they do They travel the country visiting different places and photographing each places uniqueness. They have even been to Japan to display their works. All of their work is displayed in this Yellow Caravan which is a moving exhibition space. This is something that caught my interest and gave me motivation again. After this talk we were asked to visit their caravan in Wombwell to see the space and learn more about them. This was something that I enjoyed because I learned that what they are doing is something that I want to try within my own work. Whilst I was in Wombwell I decided that I would experiment with my photography and started to take pictures on the High Street.
What I had tried to do was capture the reflection of the high street through the shop windows. I chose to do this because I wanted to experiment with how to position my camera, and try abstract ways of photographing a location. I went back to this location again later on and captured more images ready for my critique. During my critique I had discussed my images from the High Street and what I had gotten as a response was positive, however the two images that stuck out to people were of a bus window as it drove past.
In these images I had managed to capture the other side of the street through the bus windows. I was just stood at one side of the street and waited for the bus to come past me. I did this because I wanted to see what the movement of the bus would do the the image. What I was left with is an abstract image that removes the content of the location, just like Walker Evans work.
It was here where I was told to look into the New York photography scene and I was suggested to look into artists such as Michael Wolf and Nick turpin. Both of these artists have photographed similar situations to me but in widely populated capitals of the world such as London and Tokyo.
These were the turning point for my project and this is what the rest of my project was inspired by. However I wanted to remove the location of the area and have the images speak for the whole of Barnsley. It is not about any particular High Street, it’s about the whole of Barnsley’s High Streets. Throughout my project I experimented with taking photos from inside and outside of the bus, the different times of day, and being in another vehicle capturing images as buses drive past.
Here are different examples:
Alongside working on my photography I was also making digital studies of them with my IPad. The aim was to not recreate them perfectly, but to create an abstract design to be taken forward to be used as merchandise designs.
Here are some examples:
All of my strongest chosen images with be presented in a book that I will send off to be printed.Doing this creates a connection to my object from module 1. As for my exhibition all of my work with be printed postcard size and exhibited as an interactive piece where people can arrange them, take away or trade with an image or Barnsley that they have taken. Overall I am happy with what I have managed to achieve. I have managed to do something that hasn't really been done before and I have finally managed to make a book of my work which has been something that I have wanted to do for a long time.
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