Second Meeting with Kayleigh

 How to layout the written essay:

• 500 words for the introduction - Introduce and explain what it with be talking about
• 500 words for the conclusion
• 3000 words for the main body of text
• Do the main body of text first
• Try doing 500 words a week - or 100 a day
• Should finish two days before the deadline
• Have three themes - theoretical
• Freedom - Photography and the relationship between the two
• Journals are important
• Article quotes to support theories and also against 
• Pos + Neg and Neg + Pos
• Find others that explain freedom 
• Focus on three main themes and try not to overlap too much
• Freedom - Photography - Compare
• Important to state the theory
• Paraphrase for each paragraph
• Walker Art Gallery (Look into)

All photography session notes

 Photography and why it is important within art.

Photography presentation:

• This session was about thinking
• Fine Art Photography - what defines it (something we have to discover for ourselves)
• It is based on our own research
• From an industry point of view (the mid 70s) (conceptualism)
• From the artists point of view
• Walter Benjamin
• Abstract to literal
• Edward Steichen (Moonlight: The Pond 1904)

• Alfred Stieglitz (Winter, Fifth Avenue 1892)

• Photographing what people did in the "everyday"
• Julia Margaret Cameron 1867

• Joseph Nicephore Niepce 

• Photographed the first image
• From romantic period to realism
• Truth
• Daguerre Boulevard du Temple 1828

• Humanity viewed in a different way when compared to traditional images
• Fine Art Photography is the understanding of how an image works
• Thinking and conceptual changed
• How the formal qualities underpin the picture 
• How it became the start of the artists language (start of aesthetics)
• The photograph becomes something new
• Roland Barths Camera Lucidia (Must read)

The things we say, believe and feel are important

• You can't plan the photograph
• The camera respond in that exact moment 

Ansel Adams - Technical and evenly framed

Robert Adams - Emotional response and not technically brilliant 

The "Studium"

“a kind of general interest, one that is even stirred sometimes, but in regard to them my emotion requires the rational intermediary of an ethical or political culture. What I feel about these photographs derives from an average affect, almost from certain training. I did not know a French word which might account for this kind of human interest, but I believe the word exists in Latin: it is studium, which doesn’t mean, at least not immediately, “study,” but application to a thing, taste for someone, a kind of general enthusiastic commitment, of course, but without special acuity. It is by studium that I am interested in so many photographs…” 

• The photographs we look at have a theme/reason
• Punctum

“it is this element which rises from the scene, shots out of it like an arrow, and pierces me” 

 “for punctum is also: sting, speck, cut, little hold–and also a cast of the dice. A photograph’s punctum is that accident which pricks me (but also bruises me, is poignant to me)” 

• Sting, speck, cut
• How the photograph makes you feel 

William Klein: Litile Italy

• Small boy with friends or family
• Gun aimed at his head by an adult
• The identity of the adult isn't revealed
• Social problems and politics

Diane Arbus: Child with toy grenade

• What humans are about
• The child with a grenade within a peaceful environment (Park)
• Less about the kid and more about the world he was brought into 

Henri Cartier - Bresson

• Boy carrying alcohol 
• Innocent
• Cheeky
• Relationship between what he is holding and who he is

Martin Parr

• Photographs the innocence of who we are
• Around the time of Thatcher
• Mines shut
• Humanity
• Strong woman starting straight into the camera (confronting)
• Boy staring at the woman - the start of his sexual identity 

The Last Resort

• How we live on the edge of things
• The "what if"
• Isn't a "beautiful" photograph
• Majority of the subjects are white (Is this important?)

It is important to read the whole photograph

• Super jets
• Mother and child
• Plane
• Fair ground
• Fire exit
• Old 
• Dark
• Washed out
• 70s feel
• Fun but not happy?
• Voyage of discovery

• These women aren't sure how to handle this new situation
• New life
• Shovel - red - bad
• Leaving the old ways of life behind (mining)
• Milkyway bar - future
• Water - wet - dirty
• Addicted to the "what if" and not "the now"

Robert Frank 

• Swiss - Lived in the States
• The Americans
• White Supremacy
• The technically defined picture

• Tall buildings 
• Men in suits walking past the working class man 
• This man seems almost invisible to them
• Two sides that are separated

"Photography asks us to see the world"

• Embrace being alive
• Get out and make photographs
• Photograph our culture
• New experiences
• Black and white tones
• Drop the concept of truth
• Context is absent
• Context is what we project onto the world

Include the Punctum concept within work

For next weeks photography session, watch the Vivian Maier documentary for the next photography session. 

Session 2 

RECAP on what the studium and punctum is.

The studium indicates historical, social or cultural meanings extracted via semiotic analysis.

The punctum always turns into the studium when expressed in language. 

• Something we control
• How we read a picture
• Rationalise how we see things
• It's more about you than the picture

Barthe (look into)

• Majority of our interactions are pointless

Vivian Myier

• Her work was about looking
• She recognises the humanity of the world

The clown picture

• This photograph shows is a sad clown which is the opposite to what a clown is meant to be portraying.
• He is almost wearing a mask
• Hiding his emotions
• The picture makes us feel sad without telling us to

Henri Cartier Bresson

• Son of a linen factory owner
• Started by painting and drawing
• Not interested in documenting
• Surrealism (private business)
• Photojournalism 
• Accidental
• Geometry, joy, pleasure, structure
• Millimeters can make a good or bad photograph
• Whole world is an image

Portrait is difficult

• Animal within his habitat
• It's about trust
• Wrinkles are like a finger print
• Impulsive
• No new ideas, only situations
• Death is present everywhere
• Keep on, and on, and on
• Camera is a weapon

Masters of photography (look at website)

Be subjective

• Look around us

Session 3 

Watch how photography joined the art world

Where it became a constructive part of art

What constitutes a photograph

• Fine art

Look beyond the photograph

• Transcends the craft

When art becomes more subtle

Gregory Crudson

• Disconnected to photography
• The camera is just a tool
• Cinematic effects
• Artificial

The pond moonlight 

• Is the most expensive photograph ever sold

Henri Cartier Bresson :The eyes of the Century

• The man and his reflection
• The man looking at the other man from behind the fence
• Railway
• The ladder which the man is running away from 
• The ballerina 
• The clock
• Everything is a reflection 
• Mirror like image 
• Walking 
• Looks depressed
• He is static
• Doom and gloom

Ballerina punctum

• Carefree
• 1931 Paris
• Life was crap
• The socialites
• Post World War 1
• Rebuilding itself
• Dada and Surrealism 
• Very poor
• Its a reflection of the time 
• Two sides
• Its a performance (stage)

"I'm like a hunter"

- Bresson

• Politic of representation
• Cropped the image 
• The camera is a tool

What is my practice about?

• What is my reference 
• What about other photographers

 Session 4 

During this session we were asked to start thinking about how we display our photographs. We ere tasked with taking five photographs of our current space which we were sat in. Once these were taken we were asked to send them into the teams chat for us to examine. Fir next weeks session we were asked to choose 3 sets of images and re arrange them  in a way which we thought made sense.

Session 5 

In this session we went through our arrangements and discussed why we arranged them the way we did. For my arrangements I like to have a lot of control. I arrange my images in a way where the backgrounds match, or create a story in which I arrange them how I would see these individual sections when I walk into a space. I also like to arrange them in a way where the sizes match up and I isolate the one that is a different size. 

Meeting with Kayleigh

 These notes were taken when I went to a meeting with my fellow student Kayleigh. This year we had decided that we wanted to take advantage of the current situation which is affecting us and our everyday practice, and go travel around the North of the Uk, specifically Scotland (this will be explained separately on my blog).

Words that come to mind when I think of Scotland:

• Tranquil
• Untouched / Untampered 
• Rural
• Pure
• Spiritual
• Fantasy
• Mystical
• Dramatic
• Home of magic
• Old
• Lush
• Vast
• Green space
• Fertile
• Celtic

Interesting ares of Scotland to explore:

• Inverness
• North Coast 500 (Needs a map)
• Falkirk
• Isle of Sky
• Isle of Lewis
• South Bridge Vaults

First day back at University notes

 First day back university

• Academic writing - body of work - exhibition (possible changes to assessment)
• Week of the 26th is reading week
• Finnish in 28 weeks 
• Free Range (London Exhibition) 
• We intend on exhibiting here for our end of year show
• Will have to spend a week in London if we choose to take part
• Accounts with Adobe and 365 Office continues
• Download Microsoft Outlook and link my student email
• Remember to read the learning outcomes
• Look into photographer Robert Frank 
• Share exhibitions and articles onto teams
• Read the course handbook

Module 5 is the most important module this year.

• Make, make, make 

Every week we will be going through the academic writing and how to frame our piece of writing. To make it easier link it to what we are looking at within Module 5.

A second lockdown is still possible. If this happens everything will:

• Shift to online learning
• It won't affect our hand in days 
• To help get ready for this possibility we were asked to get some kind of space ready at home
• Support will be available at anytime 
• I will need to get a rick assessment made up for my project

Timetable

• Crits are going to be held each Tuesday 
• We will be split into two groups in order to abide by the new rules due to covid 19
• We are being asked to join a different specialism to expand our project and work
• Video editing will become available after Christmas 
• In order to be inside the university building we have to book out the room we wish to be in each week
• Mondays are when the majority of students will be in the building so try to avoid going in on that day.
• Wednesday, Thursday, and Fridays are when most students aren't in so this is something that should be taken advantage by us 

Extended Critical Review

• What I want to talk about
• (Aesthetics) This is important to talk about within my writing 
• Formal qualities (line, shape, materials, techniques)

Aesthetics of the east and wests photographic works (Evans example)

• Start Module 1 as soon as possible to make it easier for staff to look through 
• (4500 - 5500)
• Illustrate the written piece 
• Relationship between abstract photography and freedom?
• Why does photography allow me to express my thoughts?
• Why does abstraction in photography express my intentions better that any other medium?
• What is the relationship between my abstract photography and freedom?

Module 2 

My practical work is the most important this year

• Think less and make more

Check Barnsley college website for support with the academic writing 

• Athens - Journals and Articles

Project Proposal

Module 5

 

Interdisciplinary Art Practice 4

 

Project Proposal

 

Section 1: Review

 

The use of abstraction within my photographic work is what I have been exploring and developing using South Yorkshire's landscapes and highstreets. I explored the energy of those environments in which public transport became an essential tool for me when it came to photographing the highstreets. Abstraction for me became based on the idea of chance. I would never be able to replicate my works and I was never sure if I had a strong photograph until I got back to my computer and searched through my collection. After looking back on my past years I have found a pattern within my way of working which I can now say is my weakness. I often lose confidence in myself and my work which then causes the amount of work I produce to slow down. This is something I will need to combat within this project because I don’t want to be the reason I won't progress enough.

 

Section 2: Chosen Pathway

 

Due to my current and past experiences within photography I have chosen to pursue this further in the last year of my BA course. Photography provides me the tool to express myself through abstract imagery. Using the abstract images I capture in these environments, I will be using post processing tools to explore the relationship of the abstract and literal qualities of the photographs utilising layout, scale and other methods of composition. I will be exploring post editing using the Adobe Creative Suite. Using this selection of software will allow me to abstract my images further in order to make juxtaposing imagery which reflect my project concept.

In a previous project I have explored photomontage in which photoshop became the most important tool for my photographs to come to life. Forest Kingdom was a project where I explored escapism and why nature becomes a sanctuary for a large population including myself. When creating this series of photomontage I wanted to have a few subjects become physically immersed by natural landscapes. To achieve this I focused on using layers and masks to abstract my images. 

 

Section 3: Project Concept and Aims

 

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”

-        Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

 

As a young woman from a small area within Yorkshire and from a family where I am the first person to study at University I have learned to embrace my background and begin to explore it within my work. Within this project I aim to show my audience my world and what beauty I see. This project is heavily inspired with the idea of freedom and isolation within that. I was also inspired by different forms of literature which also explores this subject matter such as The Secret Garden, The Wind in the Willows, and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. The idea of escaping a negative situation and immersing yourself within natural, imaginative and dreamlike landscapes is something that relates to me especially due to the current global situation. I have never wanted to be out amongst the grass in the hot sun more than right now, when we are advised against it in order to keep the overall population safe. This need to be free had been something which I wanted to explore for a while but now seems like the best time for me to create imaginative photographs of my ideal freedom. Alongside making my photographs I also want to explore editing my images further through the Adobe Suite to abstract them further. I want my images to speak for themselves. The project will focus on abstract, imagined landscapes.

 

Within this project I aim to examine other abstract photographers/artists' works and ways of working in order to inspire my own ways of practicing my techniques. These photographers are Andreas Gursky, Andrew S. Gray, Richard Long, Jonny Briggs, Ola Kolehmainen, and Jackie Ranken. As well as viewing works and techniques of these abstract photographers I will also be researching  how certain photographers display their work in exhibitions and what materials they use and why. I will also revisit past photographers that inspired my previous project.

 

Andreas Gursky and Jonny Briggs are abstract photographers that use different techniques in order to make their photographs. Gursky’s photographs are abstract in a sense, he looks for lines, and patterns within a landscape or urban environment. This photographic style results in wide angled intricate photographs which feel alive and makes me as a viewer want to explore and know what else is within the landscape. Briggs photographs are a photomontage of a series of images which create a different form of abstraction within photography. He believes that anyone can make photographs; though taking photographs doesn't make someone a photographer, but it does create an opportunity to become a photographer. Cameras are more accessible now more than ever because the majority of the public have smartphones. This allows us to make our own photographs without hiring a photographer or having an expensive camera, but these images don't have any meaning behind them other than aesthetic or sentimental themes. I can relate to this because even though I can take aesthetically pleasing landscape photograph, it doesn't have any message within it. Using digital tools I can shape the image to represent what I want my viewers to see. It allows me to let the image speak for itself.

 

Richard Long and Hamish Faulton are artist who inspire me because their works are more than just photographs which are displayed in galleries. The majority of the work come from how they went about making them. Going for long walks and mapping their routes are also part of the work and should be celebrated. Fulton argues that:

                                      “Walking is an art form in its own right”.

I agree with this statement especially after seeing how he translates his walks within his work using photography, illustrations and wall texts. This is something I want to experiment with within my project especially if I make illustrative patterns and overlay them onto my abstract photography through Photoshop. 

My final pieces will be displayed both digitally and physically in a gallery. I aim for my images to be spray mounted onto board rather than in frames because I find reflections obstruct my audience from being able to see the detail within my work. I prefer the matte effect that I can get by not exhibiting my work in frames. When I come to display my work digitally I will be using more than one platform to get my work out there. These platforms are my photography facebook page, my photography instagram page, website and artsteps. 

Exhibitions I intend to see

Don McCullen, Tate Liverpool (5th June - 27th September 2020) 

Hope. Struggle. Change. Photographing Britain and the World 1945 - 79, Tate Britain (30th June - 27th September 2020)

Soviet Photobooks, Tate Modern, Room Six

Portraits and Community, Tate Modern, Room 11

Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirror Rooms, Tate Modern (11th May 2020 - 9th May 2021)

Section 4: Evaluation

 

Constantly evaluating and analysing my work in my reflecting diary will ensure that I am critiquing my work and development alongside any artist research and critical analysis throughout my whole project. Alongside this I will be managing my time through diary entries or time management sheets. I will keep a log of what I have achieved and will add to it after each day. I also intend to ask others for their opinions on my works and progression through critiques and feedback forms.

Inspiration Images

Andreas Gursky                                                

Andrew S.Gray

Jonny Briggs

Ola Kolehmainen

Sarah French (Example of current work)

 

 

Bibliography

 

Books

FARTHING, S. (2010) Art the Whole Story. London: Thames & Hudsen

GANIS, William. V. (2004) Andy Warhol’s Serial Photography. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

GURSKY, Andreas. (2018) Andreas Gursky: London: Hayward Gallery Publishing

REYNAUD, F. (2010) The tree in Photographs. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum

SHORE, Robert. (2014) Post Photography: London: Laurence King Publishing Ltd

STEPAN, Peter. (1999) Icons of Photography The 20th Century. London: Prestel Publishing Ltd

STEPAN, Peter. (1999) Icons of Photography The 20th Century. London: Prestel Publishings Ltd

Websites

Andreas Gursky. (2020) Works. Available Online:https://www.andreasgursky.com/en/works [Accessed 16/4/2020]

Andrew S. Gray. (2020) Galleries. Available Online:https://andrewsgray.photography/galleries/abstract-landscapes-part-ii/ [Accessed 16/4/2020]

Artnet. (2019) Thomas Joshua Cooper. Available online: http://www.artnet.com/artists/thomas-joshua-cooper/ [Accessed 16/4/2020]

Britannica. (2020) Walker Evans [Online] https://www.britannica.com/biography/Walker-Evans [Accessed 16/4/2020]

Galerie Forsblom. (2020) Ola Kolegmainen. Available Online:http://www.galerieforsblom.com/artists/ola-kolehmainen [Accessed 16/4/2020]

Jackie Ranken. (2020) Photographs. Available Online:https://jackieranken.co.nz/ [Accessed 16/4/2020]

John Szarkowski. (2019) Walker Evans. Available online: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Walker-Evans [Accessed 16/4/2020

Jonny Briggs. (2020) Works. Available Online:https://www.jonnybriggs.com/ [Accessed 16/4/2020]

Ken Lum. (2020) About. Available Online:http://kenlumart.com/about/biography/ [Accessed 15/4/2020]

Michael Wolf. (2020) Michael Wolf. Available Online:http://photomichaelwolf.com/ [Accessed 16/4/2020]

Nick Turpin. (2020) Nick Turpin. Available Online:https://nickturpin.com/ [Accessed 16/4/2020]

Olga Chernysheva. (2020) Olga Chernysheva. Available Online:http://olgachernysheva.ru/ [Accessed 15/4/2020]

Paul Hill. (2018) Paul Hill on Photography [Online] http://www.hillonphotography.co.uk/ [Accessed 16/4/2020]

Video’s

Andy Gray. (2018) An Introduction to my abstract ICM landscape photography [Video] Available Online:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWPdZuLzPfA [Accessed 15/4/2020]

Sean Tucker. (2020) Does Every Photograph have to Tell a Story [Video] Available Online:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIDVoB9_zww [Accessed 15/4/2020]

The Art of Photography. (2013) Abstraction in Photography [Video] Available Online:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CODdp5UPfMA&t=494s [Accessed 15/4/2020]

 Project Action Plan and Timetable