Tuesday 1 August 2017

Assignment 5 - Self Directed Project - With Tutor Feedback

Introduction
My learning log can be found here: http://warrenjonesphotographylandscape.blogspot.co.uk/
This document details:
a) my original project proposal and latest version
b) my approach to assignment 5
c) my artist statement
d) my assignment images
e) my evaluation & key learning’s


My photography practice website can be found here: http://www.warrenjonesphotography.com/


Assignment 5 – Self-Directed Project
Assignment 5 tasks us with producing a body of work that explores a particular place, type of space or theme relating to landscape practice.We are free to choose the subject for this assignment, although you should be able to contextualise the project in relation to contemporary landscape practice.

 a) my original project proposal and latest version

The brief is to photograph “Man’s Influence on the Landscape” selecting areas around my local area in the Forest of Dean where they are impacted in either a positive or a negative by the actions of individuals or groups.

On an individual scale we each contribute both positively and negatively in our own small ways and influence our local landscapes - a lot of a little can soon add up.
It is recorded in my blog here:

I have edited the proposal and displayed this in green text

The Project Brief
The brief is to photograph “Man’s Influence on the Landscape” selecting areas around my local area in the Forest of Dean where they are impacted in either a positive or a negative by the actions of individuals or groups.

On an individual scale we each contribute both positively and negatively in our own small ways and influence our local landscapes - a lot of a little can soon add up.

I decided to slightly amend this to “Man’s Negative Influence on the Landscape” as it was more aligned to my critical essay for Assignment 4 and I thought I would progress the essay into photographic observations of my local area where man’s negative impact is visible

Influence and Research
Man’s influence on the Landscape can viewed as both positive and negative and the work of practitioners such as Salgado highlight that a decision by man to take no action can have a positive effect on the Landscape. I particularly enjoy the emotion that I find in his black and white images.

Much of what we see has been so ingrained in our lives that we take it as normal yet David Maisel using a viewpoint that is beyond most people can bring home the truth of man’s impact on a wider scale. Alex MacLean also demonstrated areas of Wales impacted by Man also on an aerial scale.

Sometimes things are right in front of our eyes yet we fail to notice them and a simple different perspective can bring them to light.

The work of Andrew McConnell I have found very interesting including his sets named Fukishima Fall-Out and Rubbish dump. This Chris Packham also produced a set of images depicting waste. In one respect the work of these photographers and the quality of images highlights my aspirations in terms but also identifies the obvious gap in my work and the quality of theirs. However I think the desire to create images about elements you have a passion for is the more important element. I currently lack the ability to produce what my heart feels and mind visualises. However since Photography is a practice there lies my answer – practice and evolve. Exposure to images and photographers producing the work I aspire to match will help me contextualise my work and always remind me of the level I need to aim for.

This set of images was taken within my local area which is very rural. With the exception of 2 images all were accessed on foot and at most within a 50 minute walk from my house. Those accessed by car are within a 5 minute drive of my house

Likely treatment:

I would like to work in black and white, I enjoy the contrast and shades of colours between black and white plus the simplicity of mono. I will give this some thought. I enjoyed my experimentation for Assignment 2 in trying to replicate / develop a type of emotion within an image. I will need to read up on black and white photography and technique and consider using high dynamic range treatment within my images

In processing some early images I felt their conversion to mono did not express the emotion within me and as an image did not convey how out of place with the landscape the negative aspects were; in mono they were allowed to hide hence I chose to produce my work in their original colour.

Potential outcome:

I want to create a set of individual images but bound by the local of my local area and I want to demonstrate both the negative and positive impact of man on my local landscape

I decided to exclude positive images and focus on the negative with a view, if the images were published, that they would remind people of how they can reduce or possibly some of their own negative impact on the landscape. I do submit some images which get published in the local paper, my blog reflects this. However the desired outcome would be as part of a gallery exhibition with other artists to help encourage everyone to understand their personal impact and consider how they can help with their own small change

Budget Resources
I will need access to specific areas perhaps some achieved at a small cost and some through a simple request


Estimated Schedule

Given my current position regarding work and being away from home mid week I estimate around the end of February 2017 / Mid March

Well I completely missed this by a long way. In my work I have to accept being in different parts of the country away from home on sometimes very difficult projects. The project I have just completed was probably the toughest for a number of reasons during my 18 years working for my employer. I love photography but my work life for many reasons must always take priority

 b) my approach to assignment 5

For assignment 4, critical essay, I examined the case for the beautification v non-beautification of images that portrayed man’s negative impact on the landscape. I summarised that there is a place for both.

For this assignment I’ve chosen to take non-beautified images portraying negative elements man has caused impact on my local landscape. I’ve aimed to perform a reportage style observation of this impact.

Electricity transport (Assignment 1) machinery, irrigation, chemical (fertiliser / pesticide), house building, Power are all negative impacts caused by man on rural landscapes (Assignment 4). To some degree these are toward the end of the scale where individuals may have limited impact in changing this but in groups stand a better chance. My focus for assignment 5 is where as individuals we do have a choice of how much we negatively impact our landscape

Not only is the landscape around us changing, but so is each generation, its values and awareness and care of what changes can be made and how they can impact our landscapes. Personally I believe I was brought with manners, accepting and very grateful for second hand clothes / toys / bikes etc. I probably had the cane, rarely answered back and always ensured lights in rooms etc were switched off when not on use, litter was never left on the floor and if something broke you tried to fix.

The current generation appear to have more of a disconnect with their environment. We live in a disposable world where we replace elements like clothes, footwear, electronics, cars at far more frequent intervals than in the past. Perhaps we have become more material than we were in the past and we think more about ourselves than the landscape around us.

Perhaps I never looked for it when younger but there seems more of an inclination to discard waste inappropriately but then these days we have more outlets providing instant goods.

I have confronted a number of individuals who I have seen being directly responsible for causing a negative impact on the environment. In the main these people have reacted positively.

In this assignment I’ve looked at the negative impact of others on my local landscape and also touched briefly on my own impact.

c) my artist statement


“ I have been intrigued by the methods used by photographic artists in the presentation of the negative impact man has on his surroundings. I have undertaken a small and simple personal observation of man's negative impact within my own local area”

Tutor Feedback
Warren's response to Tutor feedback
Firstly I would like to thank my tutor for what turned out to be lengthy 1-2-1 conversation on skype which I found to be extremely helpful and interesting and of course very relevant to my development. The ability to ask questions and for advice in this dynamic environments was extremely valuable and I am very grateful for this

I have amended my personal statement. I think I was being too honest and clearly as my Tutor confirms appear to be confident and professional and of course inspire confidence in viewers / visitors to my practice

My Images were printed but I had not converted them to the sRGB color space. I had a discussion with the printers and resolved the issue. My assignment prints were re-printed and I believe a big improvement on those I issued to my tutor direct from the printers. 

I do use the Facebook "OCA" forums and whilst there is knowledge to be found there there is less likely to be the constructive and helpful critique and advice that would be found in the true OCA forums. I have been a more frequent visitor there and as I start my next L2 module I would be there more often. 

I have now amended the narrative with each image

d) Assignment Images - reprocessed following tutor feedback

Image 1


Man's and nature's discarded objects


Image 2

Cardboard clothing


Image 3


The mask of the litterbug?


Image 4

No holding back nature


Image 5


The seasoning of nature?

Image 6


The over-seasoning of nature


Image 7


Identification Parade


Image 8


Saplings on the march

Image 9

Personal rubbish

Image 10

Communal Rubbish


Image 11

Fruits of the planet

Image 12


The Hangman's scaffold 

Evaluation of my work for Assignment 5
I do find myself falling short of my aspirations for each assignment and do seem to fail to capture the missing element of narrative or sufficient narrative within most of images. That said my drive and desire remain strong and it pushes me on to try to take more considered risks and expose myself more to the photographers work that inspires me and I find interesting

I was initially tempted to produce a set only of top down images as my set starts but I wondered that as viewer one would become immune to this type of image and so having started like this I then changed my approach and expanded the frame to include the more obvious elements of a landscape both rural and urban. I wasn’t sure if this was the right thing to do but in the end trusted my initial judgement. A small set of say 6 images I think could work for the top down view but not set greater than this, in my humble opinion. I felt it important to include aspects of my own impact on my local landscape rather than sit in an ivory tower and judge others as I am innocent.

I would hope that a local audience to my images would at least raise recognition of people’s own actions and a reflective thought first might turn a potential negative impact to a positive one.

A challenging assignment but of course it was set by me. I think these challenges of my assignments to date push me further and I no longer worry about falling short but look instead to what I have gained by going forwards.

Tutor Feedback
I amended and added some extra images and these are used as pairings in a blurb book I have produced for Assignment 5 as per my Tutor's kind suggestion










No comments:

Post a Comment