Evaluation of Body of Work
I began my Level 3 work having scored
consistently in the high 50s at summative assessment for my Level 1 and Level 2
modules with a desire to achieve marks at least in the 60s. It soon became apparent to me that reading
and research had been lacking in earlier work.
An important landmark was attending the Barnsley Residential Study
Weekend in June 2015. It was at Barnsley
that I realised that the work I was producing and the lack of academic research
backing it up was not up to a ‘good’ creative arts photography degree. Tutors and fellow students felt that the work
that I had taken was too scientific and too much within my comfort zone and
certainly not risk-taking enough. My blog link to the visit can be found
here. A huge benefit of this weekend was meeting
fellow students and seeing their work. I
was fortunate that, following the visit, I was able to join some of them in a
fortnightly Peer Led Google Hangout to discuss our work. This has been invaluable from the point of
view of receiving critiques of my own work, sometimes harsh and truthful, but
always constructive and also helping to critique the work of others. Since the Barnsley weekend I have attended
study visits at The Hepworth in Wakefield, Sheffield and particularly the
weekend residential for the Brighton Bienniel.
The work I submitted for Assignment 1 was
weak. I had already had thorough
feedback from the Barnsley Weekend, yet still I ploughed on with that
work. In retrospect I was no doubt
feeling some time pressure with a deadline looming, but I should have given
myself the time to go back, do some thorough research, think about what I
wanted to say and start again. However,
I felt that I was floundering after the weekend and was still absorbing all of
the criticisms and ways forward and felt that I would submit the work, revised
a little in the light of the weekend, and see what my tutor had to say. He felt that ‘floundering’ was an
uncomfortable position to be in, but it could be turned to my advantage,
although I should be careful not to slip back into safe and habitual patterns
of thinking. When working towards
Assignment 2 I hadn’t really taken this last point in. My tutor thought that some of the images did
work, there was plenty of investigation going on in my blog and suggested ways to
progress. He guided me away from the
images I had taken in woodland, inspired by Eliot Porter, as this would take me
too much down a scientific, non-creative line.
When considering where my Body of Work has finished, I feel it wasn’t
the wood that was the problem, just my approach to it. Having reflected on this first tutor
report I opted to
concentrate on two of my ideas from Assignment 1: flowers within an industrial
landscape and The Water Rail Way/ River Witham, deciding to focus on the second
of these options.
On rereading my reflections on
Assignment 1 and the tutor feedback I feel that I could have made more of the
industrial landscape aspect, although there was a danger of yet again straying
into the scientific and picturesque. The
River Witham provided a link with my childhood, the river and the old railway
line and there was scope for investigating landscape and memory. Regrettably, I defaulted to a picturesque
style when documenting the journey of the river from source to sea, compounded
by the fact that I quoted Tennyson’s poem The
Brook thereby unintentionally allying myself uncritically within the
Victorian World view. I had, by this
time, begun to play catch-up with my reading and research and had looked at the
work of Alec Soth, Jem Southam and Andreas Muellerpohle yet didn’t apply what I
had learned to my work. My reading and
research still continued to be divorced from my practice.
Another mistake I made in Assignment 2
was to provide too much information in my accompanying text, one of my Hangout
Group remarking that I had provided so much information that he no longer felt
he needed to see the pictures. I was
still straying into scientific/geographical descriptions. It was felt by the group that my thinking was
unclear and the confusion was evident in the images although, I did then
further edit before submitting Assignment
2. The group unsurprisingly
agreed with my tutor’s comments and, if anything, were even harsher in their
criticism, whilst remaining very supportive. However, my tutor felt that some
of the images did work, particularly the use of soft grey light which added to
the sensitive and tentative feeling, one in particular being taken from a high
viewpoint, which, with the soft light, helped separate it from the postcard
views that were so ubiquitous. He felt
that there was the start of a personal voice that was less evident in some of
the more literal sections of the series.
The use of soft, muted lighting was something I learned and have put to
good use in later work.
At the start of Assignment 3 I still
clung to the idea of the River Witham , its valley, and the large number of
Abbeys. In order to investigate these I
decided to walk from Lincoln along the Viking Way Long Distance Footpath to my
childhood home of Woodhall Spa visiting and documenting these abbeys and the
walk. I think that whist working on this
assignment, two things emerged which finally began to change me from a
landscape and a scientific wildlife photographer into a creative arts
photographer. Firstly while sharing the
early work to the Hangout Group the comment was made, “Why Walk?” It was only on reflection that I realised
that that was what I did and had done all of my life; I was a walker. This re-directed me and I spent much time
researching photographers, artists and writers who had used walking as an
inspiration for their work. The second
was when my tutor wondered why I was still including images of the abbeys in the
work. The focus now changed, for the
remainder of my body of work it has been about walking.
I was encouraged when I read the
opening statement on my tutor’s report: “A sense of focus is beginning to
emerge as you reach deeper for your personal voice”. I had sent some sample prints with the work
which were received positively.
As my walk for Assignment 3 had passed
through some of the ancient Lincolnshire Limewoods, I began to centre my
explorations on woodland, concentrating on photographing the paths along which
I walked. I also made the decision to
crop the images to square, initially to maintain uniformity of format, but
later I realised it helped to distance my work from the picturesque. I had now begun to eliminate the horizon. Colleagues
and tutors at Brighton and in the Hangout Group felt that this reduces the
ability to resolve the images in the frame making the viewer enter into a
dialogue with them. As I worked towards
Assignment 4 comments about the work were becoming more positive. Several still felt that the text was too long
and Clive White at Brighton strongly recommended removing the more romantic
references.
Again the tutor feedback from
Assignment 4 was generally positive; I was sharing the work widely and
absorbing everything I could. Rob felt
that the images looked lovely on screen, although some of the prints lacked
clarity, perhaps because of the textured, heavyweight matte paper I had
used. I have since experimented with
printing on different papers and sent them for his observations. We both feel that those printed on Oyster
paper were preferable. He did still feel
that the text still contained too many ideas and I need to keep it
focused. This is perhaps where the
challenge lies as I work towards assessment.
Another suggestion made in the feedback was to go back to the woods to
the extremes of the pathways I had photographed and look there for the starting
point for the next exploration. I had
already been investigating this idea and had discovered paths that are not paths;
at least not human ones. When we think
of footpaths the tendency is to think of human paths, but the faintest most
ephemeral tracks, perhaps just a bent blade of grass or scuffed leaves are most
likely not human. And when these peter
out all that is left is wild wood.
As my work has progressed I feel that
I am beginning to discover my personal voice.
From my reading and discussions and, especially an OCA forum discussion
lead by Clive White and Peter Haveland, I feel that a personal voice is
difficult to grasp. Peter says that it
is not about style or technique. I have
latterly put aside my DSLR bodies, macro and long telephoto lenses, filters,
differential focussing and used my small mirrorless compact for much of my
work. The only technique I have tended
to stick to is using a tripod to make sure that everything is sharp and in
focus, although, in some situations this is not the most important
criterion. Peter says that it is to do
with making work that is recognisably yours and is about something you want to
say. Although my personal voice may be
beginning to develop, I feel that it may still be like a stuttering candle
flame. I keep in mind, though, that Body
of Work is not the end of my studies and my personal voice will continue to
develop during Sustaining Your Practice and beyond.
During my progress through BOW I have
had highs and lows. Lows were when I
thought I was beginning to get things right but hangouts and tutors thought
otherwise. I have found that these times
are when most learning takes place. I
have been tempted at times to give up, but after reflection, I feel that I have
always moved forward and improvement has taken place. My tutor has always been supportive but
challenging. I have valued this and it has helped me to progress. I have also to thank one of my peer group, in
particular, for supporting me through one particular low patch. We exchanged many emails until he had counselled
me through this phase. I have thoroughly
enjoyed my increasing levels of reading and research and this has brought me
into contact with photographers, artists, writers, students and tutors, all of
whom have influenced and inspired me.
There have been high points too, in particular when I first shared work
to the Hangout Group and received positive comments about my work. There was also the occasion when I received a
comment of “excellent” from my tutor on one section of his report and the times
when he has commented that he was beginning to see a personal voice emerging or
he felt that I had done enough research and needed to absorb it and finally the
excitement in his voice when he looked at a particular image.
Looking forward, I currently see my
work as a gallery exhibition, perhaps with an accompanying audiovisual
component. There are several venues
locally that I am in the process of exploring for this to happen. Helped by the fact that there is a highly
thought of fine art department at our local university department, there is a
thriving art and gallery scene in this area.
I have already begun a process of networking, talking to artists, a post
graduate art group, curators and photographers and I hope to become part of an
ArtSpeak ArtWork initiative led by Meridian Arts. Although I will be submitting my portfolio
for the final Body of Work assessment as a set of prints, I see scope for the
work developing further during the Sustaining Your Practice module.
