When
I began my Level 3 work, way back in February, I was inspired and totally
smitten by the work of Eliot Porter and decided that this was where I wanted to
go with my Body of Work. Two things have
made me adjust my thinking on this. When
my tutor for Body of Work looked at my early blog posts and suggestions, he
felt that I was narrowing myself down too early. These early beginnings were also made before
much of my later reading and research.
In June I attended the Level 3 Study Weekend at Barnsley (see blog post)
and my eyes were well and truly opened, especially about my own work which was
felt to be too much within my comfort zone, lacking challenge and risk and not
leaving any room for development. It was
also an excellent opportunity to see the sort of thing that other students were
involved in. I came away from this
weekend feeling that I was floundering somewhat, but gave myself time to
reflect and carried on with my reading.
I have been fascinated by Psychogeography and the work that I have seen
in that genre. Looking up the subject on
the internet, I discovered that not only is Will Self (as his book on the
subject was recommended in the course notes I have since bought it and finding
it entertaining) a noted psychogeographer, but so is Robert MacFarlane whose
work I am very familiar with, especially his two books The Wild Places and The Old
Ways and used them for inspiration for PWDP Assignment 3. In
view of this I decided to explore two avenues based on psychogeography, one of
which could also fit the genre of Personal Journeys.
Work Inspired by Eliot
Porter
Having
said all of the above, I have not abandoned my Eliot Porter work entirely and
include some images in this assignment as well as more in my earlier blog
posts.
I have chosen as an area to work a relatively small wood surrounding a house built in the 1700s. This is somewhere that I have been going for around 30 years to pursue my interest in wildlife photography. It also has another personal aspect to it as the owner attended the small, nearby village primary school of which I was head before retirement, although, I have to say, many years before I was there. Although I have many images of wildlife from here (birds, insects, flowers and, hopefully, this summer, badgers), I have concentrated for this assignment on 'intimate landscapes'. These do, however, form part of a project to photograph 'A Year in the Life of a Wood'.
This
work would be developed by building up a
collection of images to show the wood and surroundings throughout the
year. It could include more specific
wild life images. I feel that they could
fit into the genre of Personal Journeys or even Psychogeography.
Flowers in an Industrial
Setting
Usually
my wild flower photography features close-up images of flowers with a
surrounding which is plain and out of focus to avoid distracting detail. Whilst engaged in the above work, I began to
think about where plants grow: not always in picturesque rural setting. Consequently I decided to take some wide
angle shots of flowers in a less than picturesque setting.
The
images above are all wide angle flower shots taken on the Humber Bank.
The first image below is a wide angle shot of Herb Robert taken in the local cemetery. Below are 'more conventional
picturesque' shots of the same plant.
I
This
work could be developed by using a greater variety of locations and mixing wide
angle shots to show the plant in situ and close-up portraits of the same plant.
As
these plants would be encountered whilst out walking they could well fit into
the genre of psychogeography. Another
approach using this genre as inspiration would be to photograph those plants
found on a random walk rather than seeking out specific examples.
Industry within the
Landscape
Whilst
reading Land Matters: Landscape
Photography, Culture and Identity by Liz Wells, I came across the work of
John Davies. I was reminded of this when
taking the above flower photographs amidst the local Humber Bank
Industries. Unlike Davies, who made
industry the landscape, I wanted the industry to be a part of the wider landscape. I experimented with some black and white
conversions for these shots.
Interestingly I was to meet John Davies at the Level 3 Study Weekend.
There
are plenty of opportunities for developing this work along the Humber Bank. Night shots of the oil refineries would make
an excellent subject. I could see myself
combining this work with that in the previous section and perhaps looking at
other wildlife in industrial settings.
Which
genre this sits in I am not entirely sure.
A Walk with
Psychogeography.
I
am fascinated by psychogeography and, as well as having read Robert MacFarlane
and Roger Deakin, I am enjoying Will Self's book on the subject and finding it
very entertaining. I am a great fan of
Robert MacFarlane and his nature writing.
( Please see my blog on Psychogeography for more research related toRobert MacFarlane)
Rather
than photograph his walks, however, MacFarlane writes evocatively about the things
that he sees. Also he is an avid
collector of 'objets trouve' and he aims to take home something from every walk,
which is later displayed in his house.
My wife and I are collectors in the same vein and our house, my study
and my wife's studio are a treasure trove of objects we have brought back from
our walks and travels whether it be sea glass, feathers, rocks and pebbles or
pieces of driftwood. This reminded my of
my work for Assignment 3 in PWDP (Blog address: http://mikespwdplearninglog.blogspot.co.uk/ )
where I photographed items of flotsam and jetsam both in situ on local
beaches and back at home out of context in the studio. Consequently I decided to embark on a local
coastal walk, photograph it and also 'objet trouve' that I came across. I brought these found objects home and again
photographed them out of context as single items and assemblages.
I
can see this work being developed by photographing other walks and different
seasons. I could also include images of
the wildlife. Donna Nook, the location
for this particular walk, is the site of one of the UK's great wild life
spectaculars from October - December when thousands of Atlantic Grey Seals haul
themselves ashore for pupping and subsequent mating. It is also the site, in May, of a small
colony of rare green hairstreak butterflies as well as numerous more common
species. The area is rich in bird and
plant life, including rare orchids. I envisage
extending the range of the project to the whole of the Lincolnshire coast and
its holiday resorts and, perhaps, including some social and documentary
photography.
I
have specifically used the inspiration of the genre of psychogeography for this
project.
The Water Rail Way - A project inspired by
Psychgeography and Personal Journeys.
I
am really excited by this project as it takes me back to my childhood and
youth. I was born and brought up 40
miles from where I now live in the small Lincolnshire town of Woodhall Spa
close to Woodhall Junction on the Lincolnshire Loop railway line which followed
the line of the River Witham from Lincoln to Boston and on to the East Coast
main line at Peterborough. In my youth
it was possible to catch the train at Woodhall Junction and get off at Kings
Cross. As a young boy and teenager I
would often travel to Lincoln on the train and until the early 1960s it was
steam hauled. The line was affected by
the Beeching cuts, closed in 1971 and dismantled. It now has a new lease of life as a traffic
free cycle and walking route from Lincoln to Boston and forms part of Sustrans
Route 1. The line followed the course of
the River Witham which has long been well known for angling, especially match
fishing and special angling trains ran from Sheffield until 1969. At the weekends several trains would be
waiting in the sidings at Woodhall Junction to take them all home. In my younger years I was a keen angler and
a regular on the Witham. One of my
fondest childhood memories is being taken to the signal box at nearby Stixwould
Station to have my haircut and on one occasion my finger 'put back into joint'
by the signal man who doubled as barber and bone setter. Several of the old stations have recently
been converted to quirky homes.
For
this project I cycled with my wife from Woodhall Junction towards Lincoln and
photographed the journey along with the old stations and the black and white
photographs of days gone by on the many information boards along the line. The cycle route has been named the Water Rail
Way to encompass railway, river and wildlife.
Woodhall Junction today and as
I remember it. Although the black and
white image was taken in 1905, the station changed very little over the years.
Cycling along the route and a
pleasure boat at 'Black Horse Bend' a favourite match fishing stretch of the
Witham.
There are many sculptures along the trail, many
with connections to Tennyson the Lincolnshire Poet Laureate and the River
Witham with the farm in the distance where I worked during my college holidays.
Stixwould Junction as it is today and as it was.
Mr and Mrs Martin taken in 1964. Mr
Martin was the Stixwould signalman who cut my hair and 'set' my finger. "Just give me your hand and look the
other way!", he said!!!
A cyclist riding through Stixwould Station.
Above, retro style instagrams
of Stixwould Station and the signal box and station house that are now a
private house. I have actually stayed
here when it was a B&B; the view from the lounge in the old signal box is
expansive.
An
old railway building slowly being reclaimed by nature.
This project has been inspired by two genres:
that of psychogeography and also Personal Journeys. As mentioned above, I am very excited by this
and look forward to developing it.
I
see several ways of taking the project forward.
I have only covered a small section of the line (even so I have many
more images not shown here) and would look to covering the route at least to
Lincoln which is the section of the line with which I was most familiar in my
youth. The branch line from Woodhall Junction to Horncastle is also now a cycle and walking route and forms part of The Viking Way; it could well be included in the work. I envisage using the old
photographs in some way, either juxtaposing them with the modern photographs or
perhaps overlaying them on the modern ones as watermarks using photoshop. I have touched on the river being used for
fishing and would look into this in more detail and photograph people fishing
on the river today, although huge fishing matches are a thing of the past. I would also consider including some of the
wildlife that can be found along the route.
Looking somewhat wider, photographing a river from its source to the sea
is something that has always appealed and the Witham is a reasonably discrete
and not too long waterway. The history
of the Witham and the associated delphs is also fascinating. Lincoln is a beautiful city and would reward
an extension of the psychogeographical genre in much the same way as I did
during my recent visit to Lille in Northern France. (Please see my blog entry.)
Another
project that I am interested in but have not looked at yet is another one of a
river from source to sea and that would be to illustrate Tennyson's poem The Brook. Although the poem is actually an allegory of
life it describes the journey of the River Steeping from its source as a
babbling brook in the Lincolnshire Wolds to where it flows out to sea in The
Wash, as does the River Witham.
Yet another area of interest and one that would fit into the genre of psychogeography is to take photographs to illustrate the diaries of Colonel John Bing, later Fifth Viscount Torrington. Each summer between 1781 and 1794 Torrington embarked on horseback tours of England and in 1791 toured Lincolnshire staying in many hostelries that still exist. I have, in fact, cycled part of this tour with a friend who lectures on the subject and we stayed in three of Torrington's inns. I think it would make an interesting future project.
I
look forward to following up these projects in more detail and am minded to
continue with more than one for a while, to see where they go, possible the
Water Rail Way and the coastal walk and objet trouve.
