Assignment 4, Walking in Woods. Video and text.

I am conscious of the fact that for Assignment 4 we should "Pay particular attention to how you will use words alongside your images (captions, titles, or additional 'relay' type text) and re-frame your images accordingly."

I do have a title for my work, but didn't feel that captions were appropriate, instead I have written a short 'artists statement' to introduce the work.  I felt that this could be used as relay type text and to this end I have experimented with producing a video of the work incorporating the text into it.  It can be found by clicking the link below.

Walking in Woodland video.

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?

Indefinite Paths and Holes in the Image. More thoughts on Assignment 4.

Since my last post on Assignment 4, I have consulted with my tutor and he has also suggested images from this project that he feels work the best.  As I develop this work the images begin to sort themselves into three categories:-

• The obvious paths.  Some of these may be 'single track', or broader paths/forest tracks down which vehicles have travelled.  These images always show the path disappearing around a corner so the viewer has to make up their own mind as to where they lead, if anywhere.
• The indefinite paths.  These are much less pronounced and, in some cases, may hardly be paths at all.  I refer to them as ephemeral paths.
• Paths that lead to a hole in the vegetation, which looks like it could even be a hole in the image.

I am inclining towards the second and third categories of path.  The more obvious paths are perhaps less interesting as they are too obvious.  It has been suggested that in these paths it is difficult to get around all the associations that a path ahead of us holds.  The indefinite paths, on the other hand, are interesting because of their lack of definition, their ephemeral nature;  how faint can it become and still be a path?  The viewer is engaged and being taken to the edge of meaning and is forced to question the image and form their own opinion.  The photographer is playing a visual game with the viewer; there is also an element of abstraction.  Holes in the vegetation/photograph are interesting because we know that a photograph is two dimensional and there is nothing behind it, yet the hole appears to be there.  This is also a way of playing a game and teasing the viewer, making them question the image and the photographer's intent.  The viewer is encouraged to consider some other kind of imaginary solution.

Working on my footpath idea has also led me to thoughts of landscape and memory.  Perhaps they hold memories of those who have walked those tracks.  Perhaps the more definite a path is, the more memories it holds.  Rebecca Solnit tells us in A Field Guide to Getting Lost (Solnit, 2005, P.51) that 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."

As I walk through my woodlands looking for paths I am continually reminded of the meditational and therapeutic aspects of walking, especially in woodland.  Finnish forestry researchers have discovered that just a daily 20 minute trip into the wild can boost mental and physical health by lowering blood pressure and increasing feelings of vitality.  Research emphasises the regenerative effects of forests on the mind.  Even seeing woodlands from a window can improve one's mood.  As little as 5 minutes in the forest strengthens our coping ability.  In Japan, there is research into the essential oils secreted by trees, which are thought to have beneficial attributes.  The aromas, relaxing sounds, landscapes and flavours of the forest all reduce stress. (Uutiset, 2015)

During the last couple of weeks have walked in the woods and made new work which fits categories 2 and 3 above.  They are shown below.  One thing that I notice about these new images is that the falling Autumn leaves tends to collect in the faint paths, thus emphasising them.  It also enhances their ephemeral nature.  As the leaves rot the paths become more indefinite once again.  I now need to look back at my previous choice of images from my earlier blog post (link here), my tutors select of my images and the new images below and make a final edit to submit for assignment 4.

Reference
Solnit, R. (2006) A Field Guide to Getting Lost, Edinburgh, Canongate Books
UUTISET (2015) Even a Short Walk in the Woods is Good For You, Researchers Claim [online] available from: http://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/even_a_short_walk_in_the_woods_is_good_for_you_researchers_claim/7746324 [Accessed 11.10.16]

A Reflection on Captions and Text.

Having enjoyed a whirlwind few weeks of exhibition visits I have been reflecting on the effectiveness of text and captions accompanying work.  This can range from nothing to minimal information such as a simple title or date through to extensive written text sometimes including full camera and exposure details such as in the EPOTY and TPOTY shows in Cumbria and Hull. When captions are present they can be place next to an image , to one side as in Stan Dickinson's New Photographic Chemistry in Sheffield or even round the corner.  If there is more lengthy text it is occasionally placed with the image as in Ian MacDonald's Smith's Dock in Hull's HIP festival, on an available (if the viewer wishes to read it) information sheet such as in Arrivals in Sheffield, or even in a video installation such as in Dana Ariel's and Bharat Sikka's exhibitions in Brighton.

When I have been developing my Body of Work I have a tendency to give far too much information and I remember, when sharing my work for Assignment 3 with my peer-led hangout group, being told that I had provided so much information that one colleague felt that he didn't need to see the images.  I was reminded by another colleague that this is a creative arts photography course and not a creative writing course.  One of our tutor's Clive White made a pertinent remark in a recent OCA forum sting on personal voice when he stated that, "The most important thing is to make some interesting work, the research and writing is in aid of that."  My own tutor Rob Bloomfield has said similar when suggesting that I need some text to accompany the images (although no captions) and that it should be not to much - a few sentences - and quite subtle.

Reflecting on the exhibitions that I have seen of late I enjoyed those where there is less information - less is more - as the viewer  is allowed to form their own opinions of the narrative within the image or series (Death of the Author?).  Stan Dickinson's work in Sheffield comes to mind, where simple captions, which gave no real clue, were placed to one side rather than with the image and also Olivia Arthur's in Brighton where some captions were placed just round a corner from the image.  Occasionally it is interesting to read more information later, after one has had chance to form ideas about the work, and this has worked well with Bharat Sikka nd Dana Ariel in Brighton where there were video text presentations separate from the work or in Jeremy Abraham's work Arrivals, in Sheffield where information sheets accompanying each image were available to read separatly should the viewer wish.

Captioning and text which I though has worked less well was in HIP in Hull when Ian MacDonald's work Smith's Dock had lengthy detailed captions.  The images in this exhibition were superb, but a bit like my work from Assignment 3, nothing was left to the viewer's imagination.  The same can be said for TPOTY and EPOTY where, as well as lengthy detailed captions and information sheets, full camera and exposure details were provided, much as in photography magazines, which satisfy a need in many readers for such detail.  I like to decide on my own exposure setting to achieve the effect I desire, not ape someone else's.

Exhibition Visit. Mariele Neudecker, Faintly Falling on all the Living and the Dead.

I managed to see this exhibition at the same time as EPOTY as it was also at the Grizedale Visitor Centre in Cumbria.  The work of artist Marielle Neudecker is an ongoing exploration of the landscape tradition in art, and the changing representation and reception of nature and landscape.  She works in sculpture, installation, film and photography.In this show three life size trees are transported into the gallery space.  The allude to the stillness of a forest clearing withought the sound of wind or creaking boughs of the trees.  The closeness of the living forest serves to enhance the sense of the uncanny in these faithful reproductions, which have been cast from living trees.  In this exhibition Neudecker says that she wishes to explore our own perception of the world.  As can be seen from the photographs below, these sculptures are uncannily real.  It is only when they are touched that one realises that they are casts.  Looking out of the high windows the adjacent trees could be seen enhancing the feel of being in a living forest.

Exhibtion Visit. The Environmental Photographer of the Year Award; Grizedale Visitor Centre, Cumbria

EPOTY is an international showcase for the very best in environmental photography and film.  Exhibited were 60 images from an entry of 10.000 from photographers from over 70 countries.  These images reflect the urgent environmental and social concerns that affect the world today.  Topics include natural disasters triggered by the changing climate, the effects of population growth on the urban environment and the resourceful ways that the human race is preserving the earth's biodiversity.

All of the images were mounted on PVC or aluminium and there were detailed captions including camera make, model and settings.  I particularly enjoyed the central display of a series of nine images depicting the salt lake Urmia in Iran.  The photographer Pedram Yazdani travelled to Iran in 2015 to document the plight of the lake.  He spent 10 days cycling round it recording it photographically and hearing the stories of the people who live on its shores.  It is regarded with sadness by these people who regard it as a 'family member' disappearing before their eyes.  In the last 20 years its surface area has decreased by 80-90%.  Attributed in part to climate change the biggest factor in its decline has been its mismanagement as a resource, a scenario akin to that of the Aral Sea in central Asia.

Many images portray the world as it really is instead of how we would like to think it is.  One photograph of the Taj Mahal particularly struck me.  We are used to seeing this gleaming white icon from its front/tourist side.  This image shows it from the back and features a man searching among the squalid rubbish that abounds on this side.  It is also an example how genres are blurred in this day and age; it could fit into portrait, landscape, travel or documentary categories, although travel photography probable transcends all genres.