Assignment 4. Submission

Reflection on the Development of the Body of Work to the Current Time

Assignment 4 has evolved somewhat since its birth pangs back in June when I defaulted to my ‘Eliot Porter’ mode where I portrayed nature as beautiful and perfect.  Having shared the work with my peer-led hangout group and my tutor and reflected on their forthright feedback, I realised that I had strayed away from the emphasis on walking that I had pursued in Assignment 3 and needed to get back on track.  On reviewing all of the images that I had taken during this project I was amazed at how many images of footpaths disappearing into the distance I had accumulated.  This, I decided, was where my work should focus.  After further editing and sharing once more with my tutor, hangout group and the portfolio review group at the Brighton study weekend and then making more work I felt that the work resolved itself into two groups: faint indefinite paths and paths that led to ‘holes’.  Both of these, I hope, engage the viewer and take them to the edge of meaning.  In both instances a game is being played with the viewer: a photograph is 2D so what can be ‘through the hole’; how indefinite can a path be and still remain a path?

I decided to use a square format for my images, initially to achieve uniformity as I had some that were horizontal format, while others were vertical. It also had the added advantage of distancing the work from the picturesque as it moves away from the 3:2 format and the golden ratio.

While I have been photographing this body of work I have chosen to make images in overcast conditions of subtle, muted lighting, where possible, in order to convey a feeling of quiet calm.

For further development towards Assignment 5 I envisage making more work along these lines.  I would like to make images taken in snow, frost and fog, as I feel that this could add a further dimension and sense of mystery to the work .  The time will come, however, when I need to stop photographing and reflect on the work to date, make final edits and prepare the work for final submission.

More thoughts can be found on this on my blog at this link.

Walking in Woods; Artist’s Statement

Walking allows me to slow down and fully experience and appreciate the landscape through which I travel.  When walking in woodland, it is easy to lose and find oneself again, to reflect, meditate and to reconnect with the world.  Footpaths disappearing into the distance are seductive, perhaps holding memories of many passings over the years.  Woods can be places of mystery and paths often wind and twist, seeming to have no purpose except to be followed.  The horizon is limited and paths disappear round corners or into a hole in the vegetation leaving the walker to speculate on where they might lead or who they might meet. Indefinite, ephemeral paths may be so faint as to be nearly not paths; what recent memories do these hold?