After working on Draft 3 for assignment 5 I shared my work yet again with my Hangout colleagues. The overall opinion was that, although the whole was cohesive and the text and images went well together, there was a linearity to both. In both the images and text I had led the viewer on a pathway through a wood until it came to an end and therefore allowed a safe way back. It was felt that this was too 'safe' and removed some of the enigma and intrigue that the images had. It was also felt that the final image didn't fit the series as the patch of light was too alluring. I had wondered about this myself. I have since been out to make some new work and have selected a new final image from those. I have rewritten the text and included a new introductory paragraph in line with suggestions in the course notes. I have also reordered the images slightly.
I include my fourth draft of this assignment below.
Woodland Paths
This work focuses on
woodland paths. My formative years were
spent roaming the woods close to my home, developing a love for nature that was
to last a lifetime. Walking allows me to slow down, to fully experience and
appreciate the landscape through which I travel. Like artists and photographer Hamish Fulton,
Richard Long and Paul Gaffney I have long found walking to be a meditative
experience. Roger Deakin writes ‘To enter a wood is to pass into a
different world in which we ourselves are transformed. It is where you
travel to find yourself, often, paradoxically, by getting lost.’ (Deakin, 2007,
P. X). The Tibetan word for a
track is shul which
means "a mark that remains after that which made it has passed by - a
footprint, for example. A path is a shul because it is the impression in
the ground left by the regular tread of feet, which has kept it clear of
obstructions and maintained it for the use of others." (Solnit, 2005, P.51).
Following a woodland path
is not straightforward. The horizon is limited. Woods muffle
external sounds leaving only birdsong, the rustling of leaves or the creaking
of trees in the wind. Choices have to be
made. The path may be broad and
well-defined; boundaries may be clear with wild and tangled undergrowth beyond . Other paths are less definite, ephemeral, a
trace of a path. Perhaps there will only
be a bent blade of grass or scuffed leaves that indicate that something has
passed this way. Is the decision made to
remain on the wider track, safer, more secure where many have travelled before;
or is it to follow the less sure route and, if so, what is to be found at its furthest
extremity? Nothing - just the wood? Or is there a way forward by making one’s own
path and forging a new route?
Bibliography
Fulton, H. http://www.hamish-fulton.com/
Gaffney, P. http://www.paulgaffneyphotography.com/
Long, R. http://www.richardlong.org/
Rohrauer. C http://www.claudiarohrauer.info/?/work/photo-trekking/
Solnit, R. (2014) Wanderlust, A
History of Walking, London, Granta
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Hi Mike,
ReplyDeletePlease bear in mind my random comments where I know not your criteria bar walking in woods :)
Your images intrigue me and lead us to 'know-not-where' (unless we have been on the same path!)
I understand that some images may indicate more obvious ways, but I would, as a regular traveller in the wild, suggest that the well-trodden route is not always the safest meta / physically. It may well be different for the photographer.
Can a patch of light be too alluring? How subtle would you wish to be? Must all your images sing the same song?
Obvious paths are just that, and common understanding suggests a path exists due to continual treading.
Must a path lead to an obvious 'place'?
Anywhere has a view, and may give one a purpose for being there.
It is rare within our country that an area has had no foot / spoor-fall, and exploration by humankind and/or animals have led to many ‘undiscovered’ paths.
Cheers,
Stephen