Assignment 8

Brief: Re-create a well-known image in any of the four genres you have explored. Consider the conventions, styles and themes specific to the genre and how the image you choose to re-create speaks [...]

Vanitas A still-life artwork which includes various symbolic objects designed toremind the viewer of their mortality and of the worthlessness of worldlygoods and pleasures. Artworks that remind [...]

Brief Find examples of 18th and 19th-century landscape paintings and list the commonalities. Find examples of landscape photographs from any era that conform and that break those conventions. [...]

Brief Read the introduction from David Bate, Photography: The Key Concepts. Note down your thoughts in response to this reading. Introduction I will offer my thoughts regarding Bate’s [...]

Featured image above: Carter Mull, ‘Connection’

Introduction The aim of the course is to discover how photography enables people to make sense of themselves and their environment. This final self-evaluation attempts to explain how, through [...]

Brief Produce work that represents a notion of identity and place that you are personally inspired by. Introduction The brief allows free rein but with one stipulation: the final outcome must [...]

Artist’s Statement Viewers are encouraged to stop the slideshow at any time to create their own version of Audrey’s portrait. A Portrait of Audrey Cocks (1923) 2020

Introduction In his Assignment 4 feedback, my Tutor suggested now would be a good moment to take stock and to explain to the assessors that I am not taking the Assignments one at a time but that [...]

Introduction On this occasion, and with a new Tutor, the feedback was by video link and a written Tutor report. I must thank the new Tutor for stepping in at the last moment. My reflections on [...]

Introduction Following submission of the grid-based Lockdown story for Assignment 4, my Tutor recommended I read Rosalind Krauss’ 1979 essay ‘Grid’ (1) published by MIT Press. [...]

During his feedback for Assignment 4, my tutor suggested that I look at the Polaroid work of David Hockney. WOW. Hockney explains being disinterested in photography because he felt that the [...]

Brief Photograph a journey that you go on regularly. The Journeys of Alice and Beth Reflection Once lockdown commenced I decided, for artistic and practical, reasons to shoot the whole of IAP [...]

Brief Create a series of work which in some way reflects upon the ideas surrounding identity and place that you’ve looked at so far in this course. Use the written word to play a part in [...]

54 Last Lunches Audrey’s isolation. Lockdown. 2020 Notes on the Final Version The Tutor raised two questions regarding my presentational choices for Assignment 4. He preferred the colour [...]

Brief Choose a viewpoint and write down everything you can see. No matter how boring it seems or how detailed, just write it down. Can you transform this into a photography version? Introduction [...]

54 Last Lunches Audrey’s isolation. Lockdown. 2020

Demonstration of technical and visual skills – Materials, technical, observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills. (40%) I’m beginning to sound like a [...]

Introduction Once again the feedback is purely in written form. My tutor will have taken a great deal of time to produce such a detailed response. Thank you. My reflections on his comments are [...]

Brief Create a set of still life pictures showing traces of life without using people. Introduction My mother Audrey stayed with me from mid-March 2020 for nearly three months. The decision to [...]

The Country Life series, curated by Val Williams, invited artists to respond to the George Garland Collection, archived at the West Sussex County Records Office. Garland made thousands of [...]

I have never considered myself a racist. But following the global outcry after the shocking police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis on 25 May 2020 I now understand that position is [...]

Brief Read chapter for something in Nothing in Cotton, C. (2014) the photograph as contemporary art. To what extent do you think the strategy of using objects or environments as metaphor is a [...]

Interview with Richard Wentworth with Gavin Morrison I find the best way to understand somebody’s art is to listen to them speaking, to try to discover what it is that causes them to make [...]

The American photographer William Eggleston (1939) is famed for his highly saturated images of everyday objects taken mostly in his hometown, Memphis. They feature such banal subjects as parking [...]

Brief Find words that have been written or spoken by someone else. Create five images that do justice to the essence of those words. Background As I have mentioned many times I decided in March [...]

On her website, I viewed the series ‘If you get married again, will you still love me?’   What a powerful set of images. They take you into the mind of the child – depressing to see.  [...]

I found this work difficult to access.  Favrod says that mystery is important to him.  When he exhibits he presents an artist statement at the entrance of the [...]

Brief Change captions to bend the image to different and conflicting points of view. Image 1 Original caption: UK’s rating of its Covid-19 response lowest of 14 countries in poll Revised [...]

The Story – Ayia Napa 1990 The first holiday Sharon and I had was at the Cypriot resort Ayia Napa. I believe that was in 1990. Memories fade, but I have three recollections. I remember [...]

Brief In this short essay, I will explain Barthes’ description of linguistic messages and, looking at the work of Lange, Evans, Frank, and Freed, discuss the use of captioning within [...]

Brief Review a few advertising image/text combinations. Does the text allow for personal interpretation or does it close the image down? What was the intention of the creator?

Introduction I recently bought a photo book, ‘Before Winter’, by the Croatian photographer Olga Karlovac and to gain a better insight into her work I listened to an interview with [...]

Introduction First published in 1966, the book ‘The Photographer’s Eye’ is based upon the 1964 MoMA exhibition, curated by John Szarkowski (Director of MoMA’s Department [...]

Introduction The Age of the Image (1) is a four-part BBC documentary series in which art historian Dr James Fox explores how the power of images have transformed the modern world. This blog post [...]

Andy Warhol I visited the Tate Modern on 12 August primarily to see the Andy Warhol exhibition. The work that most appealed to me is shown below – in particular, the red Lenin. I love the [...]

Dawn Woolley’s essay features the above image but in a cropped format – she removes all product references thereby inviting us to guess what is being advertised. I have chosen to show and [...]

Brief Choose a community that you are already part of and create a photographic response to how this group informs who you are as a person. Introduction My initial ideas for Assignment 3, which [...]

Chris’ Birthday Quiz

Demonstration of technical and visual skills – Materials, technical, observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills. (40%) When the lockdown occurred in March I [...]

Introduction Once again the Tutorial/Feedback received is purely in written form. My Tutor will have taken a great deal of time to produce such a detailed response. Thank you. My reflections on [...]

Since lockdown began my two daughters’ opportunities to meet have, like so many families and friends, been severely limited. But as lockdown finally begins to ease they can at last meet in [...]

Brief How might being an insider help combat the bad or unhelpful portrayal of marginalised or underrepresented groups? Introduction The disgraceful killing of George Floyd and the resulting [...]

Dr Esther Teichmann is a German artist whose practice includes photography, film-making and writing. She is Head of Programme for the MRes and Critical and Historical Studies Coordinator at the [...]

The Andy Warhol (1928-1987) exhibition at Tate modern closed shortly after opening – a casualty of the coronavirus lockdown. As part of the BBC series ‘Museums in Quarantine’ Alistair [...]

Introduction The Age of the Image (1) is a four-part BBC documentary series in which art historian Dr James Fox explores how the power of images have transformed the modern world. This blog post [...]

Brief Visually express aspects of your personality that make you unique. Me Gosh. It’s difficult to think this through. I guess after living with yourself for >60 years you take yourself [...]

I watched a video of the talk given by Elina Brotherus to a group of OCA students in 2014. It includes some interesting insights into her work and some practical tips regarding style and [...]

Brief In the press release for the MOMA exhibition ‘Mirrors and Windows:American Photography since 1960′ John Szarkowski, comparing the work of Alfred Steiglitz and Eugène, wrote: The [...]

Brief You need to develop a series of five final images to present to the viewer as a themed body of work. Pay close attention to the look and feel of each image and think how they will work [...]

Lockdown

Demonstration of technical and visual skills – Materials, technical, observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills. (40%) Having established the framing and [...]

Introduction Once again the Tutorial/Feedback received is purely in written form. My Tutor will have taken a great deal of time to produce such a detailed response. Thank you. My reflections on [...]

On the suggested reading list provided by my tutor in his Formative Feedback for IAP Assignment 1 was ‘Place’ by Tacita Dean and Jeremy Millar. I can’t say that this subject is [...]

Brief Make portraits of three different subjects keeping the background consistent. R0 ≈ 0 Introduction There has been much talk recently of the mystical R0 (pronounced R nought). So, what [...]

Brief Select a subject for a series of five portraits, varying the locations and backgrounds. Reflection Like most of humanity, I have been in lockdown for the last few weeks. In my case [...]

Having stalled with my photography/creativity in the last few days I decided to stop beating myself up and take a break from photographing. I decided to thoroughly read the fascinating book by [...]

Introduction In his summing up of my work for Assignment 1, my Tutor mentions the ‘diverse responses’ of the five subjects. He asks the question whether the diversity was deliberate [...]

Brief Make a series of five portraits of subjects who are unaware of the fact they are being photographed. The Covert Assassin Reflection With the COVID-19 lockdown in full force, the [...]

Brief Make three different portraits using three different subjects. The objective is to create a link between the two components of the image, i.e. the subject and their surroundings. The [...]

I recently came across the work of Togo-born photographer Hélène Amouzou. It appealed to me for several reasons. Firstly, the black and white (sometimes) ghostly self-portraits remind me of the [...]

Introduction The Age of the Image (1) is a four-part BBC documentary series in which art historian Dr James Fox explores how the power of images have transformed the modern world. This blog post [...]

I watched the 1981 interview of Callahan by Barbaralee Diamonstein in the series ‘Visions and Images’ (1). From the interview, I got the following information. Whilst working at [...]

‘Heads’ series Described by art historian, Andrew Graham-Dixon (1) as the modern-day equivalent of Edward Hopper, Philip Lorca diCorcia is an American photographer based in New York. [...]

Brief Look at the work of these three photographers and understand why they favour the ‘unaware’ method of taking photographs. Weegee (1899-1968) Born in Ukraine, Weegee (formerly [...]

Since the COVID-19 lockdown, I have been thinking how to progress with the IAP module which is heavily based around portraiture. Obviously it would have been easier/more interesting (perhaps) had [...]

I recently attended a Photoshop course at West Dean College. While sat at the bar I struck up a conversation with a course tutor by the name of Richard Sweeney. What a fascinating man. His [...]

Brief Look through your own family archive and try to discover a series of portraits that have existed within this archive, but have never been placed together before. As part of the U.K.’s [...]

Brief Make five portraits of five different people from your local area who were previously unknown to you. Creative process Initially, I had intended to base Assignment 1 on the ideas gleaned [...]

Reflection pre-tutor feedback Demonstration of technical and visual skills – Materials, technical, observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills. (40%) Assignment 1 [...]

Introduction This is the first time I have received written only feedback. Whilst chatting to one’s tutor is informative and fun, it seems the absence of time on a call allows the tutor to [...]

Brief In response to the work of the artists you’ve read about so far, try to create a photographic portraiture typology which attempts to bring together a collection of types. Think carefully [...]

On that indelible night in the basement of our home, my father hummed in the face of the unsayability of words (1:4). Fascinated by the notion of listening to images I decided to read Tina [...]

Introduction Between 1923 and 1963 the Irish photographer Edward Chambre Hardman (1898–1988) operated a commercial portrait studio in Liverpool. Over those 40 years, he meticulously stored and [...]

Introduction  During my research into August Sander, I read that he had been influenced by the Cologne Progressive Artists Group who themselves were proponents of Neue Sachlichkeit – [...]

No language on earth speaks as comprehensively as photography, always providing that we follow the chemical and optic and physical path to demonstrable truth, and understand physiognomy. (1) [...]

Introduction Using the analytical model developed by Jo Spence and Rosy Martin (see here for more detail on the model itself) I will consider the famous image produced by Dorothea Lange in 1936. [...]

In the latest issue of foam magazine (#55) which I received recently, I noticed an advert for an exhibition being held at Osservatorio Fondazionbe Prada gallery in Milan. Called ‘Training [...]

What an interesting and educational unit CAN has proved to be.  As I worked through the exercises, research and assignments, they seemed to tease out threads of insight, understanding and [...]

Introduction During two recent calls, my tutor suggested that I listen to the BBC Radio 4 Front Row programme, originally aired on 29 November last year, during which the four Turner Prize [...]

I recently stayed at the Boho hotel in Prague. As usual, I had done little preparation so I was delighted to discover that it had a strong art connection; a ‘bohemian and artistic [...]

Introduction  Studying the Context and Narrative unit has proved to be an enjoyable and inspirational experience for me. The three most significant lessons learned are the notion that, in a [...]

If I am mad, be patient with me. Note to Assessors: Unfortunately, the typological presentation of these images doesn’t work on screen. But when hung, light inevitably reflects differently [...]

Reflection pre-tutor feedback Demonstration of technical and visual skills – Materials, technical, observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills. (40%) I initially [...]

My Tutor thought the idea was interesting. However, he felt that notes were insufficient and didn’t adequately reflect the research and thinking that I had done. I have therefore completely [...]

Introduction I live on Portsdown Hill overlooking Portsmouth Harbour. The elevation of my house is probably 400 feet above sea level. One of the consequences of that is when I look out of my [...]

Nicky Bird purchased unwanted photographs from sellers on eBay. Her only rule was that there were no other bids; thereby genuinely classifying them as unwanted. Bird asked each seller where they [...]

The scene suggests that the man is impatient, powerful, influential, arrogant, wealthy and corrupt. The single-shot scene shows a young man entering a night club with a female acquaintance to the [...]

Introduction Gregory Crewdson (1962) is an American photographer specialising in large-scale cinematic tableau style photographs. He describes himself as a Teller of elliptical stories (Crewdson, [...]

The initial version of my essay is set out below followed by my tutor’s feedback. Why didn’t the FCKing chicken cross the road? A tale of redemption.    [...]

Brief Write an essay of 1000 words on an image of your choice. An effective apology: Does tone matter?  Introduction   The image in question is the 2018 KFC advert [...]

What an interesting assignment! It is so long since I wrote anything like this. I am accustomed to business writing but academic writing is very different. I learned so much. My Tutor was [...]

Brief Rip out an advertising image from a newspaper supplement. Comment on what it is, what it says about the product and why are you think it’s there. Commentary On 14 February 2018, the [...]

Introduction These are thoughts on Liz Jobey’s essay on the Diane Arbus photograph entitled ‘A young Brooklyn family going for a Sunday outing, NYC. 1966’.  I purchased the book [...]

Much to the amusement of my Tutor, David Wyatt, I saw the Pink Floyd tribute band (three times!). I did try to explain that they were playing main venues and not pubs but he wouldn’t have [...]

Introduction John Darwell (1955) is a British photographer specialising in long term projects on social and industrial change, the environment and the depiction of mental health issues. His PhD [...]

Other than as a language for expression or communication, the indexical nature photography lends itself readily to the act of recording. Historically photography enabled the recording of images [...]

I first became aware of Rebecca’s work when I attended her BA Grad Show at Oxford Brookes University in 2018. Rebecca’s art is inspired by music. The painting below, which [...]

Brief Look carefully at Erwitt’s image and write some notes about how the subject matter is placed within the frame. How has Erwitt structured this image? What do you think the image is ‘saying’? [...]

Brief Using a diary I recorded thoughts and experiences. Then for this assignment, I selected one idea to interpret into a photographic project. Introduction I recently became aware of the word [...]

Viewing synopsis The title for this conceptually based series ‘DSM-5 308.81’ refers to the section within the psychologist’s ‘Bible’ which sets out the nine criteria for the diagnosis [...]

Reflection pre-tutor feedback Demonstration of technical and visual skills – Materials, technical, observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills. (40%) Apart from [...]

My Tutor was satisfied with this assignment, in particular, the research on Notan, Narcissism and Francesca Woodman – which is great because this was certainly a weakness in the EYV unit. [...]

Nigel Shafran’s series ‘Washing up’ features images of kitchen sinks after washing up. Coupled with captions, we learn from the photos about the dietary habits of Shafran and [...]

Brief Recreate a childhood memory in a photograph. Image Being asked to recreate a childhood memory photographically involves much soul-searching. There are hundreds available. Some good some [...]

Brief Could Lee’s work be considered voyeuristic or even exploitative? Is she commenting on her own identity, the group identity of the people she photographs, or both? Would you agree to [...]

Brief The brief presented three artists known for using themselves in their image-making; Francesca Woodman, Elina Brotherus and Gillian Wearing. We were asked to reflect on their work and [...]

Born in Denver, Colorado in 1958 Francesca Woodman was the second child of the American “artists” Betty and George Woodman. To gain a better understanding of the life of Francesca, I [...]

Introduction In January 2019 I came across the term Notan in an article on 1X.com written by the Dutch photographer Wicher Bos (Bos, 2019) called ‘Notan – Why would you want to know [...]

I visited the Edvard Much exhibition at the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein- Westfalen, Düsseldorf on 7 November 2019. I walked around the building admiring 140 works exhibited in a series of large [...]

Introduction Maria Falconer describes walking into her surprise 50th birthday party to be confronted by images of her former self. Some of the images recorded an earlier time when she was [...]

Reflection pre-tutor feedback Demonstration of technical and visual skills – Materials, technical, observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills. (40%) The [...]

We were offered three case studies showing work of Level 3 OCA students. All pieces use metaphor to portray ideas. Peter Mansell Dewald Botha – Ring Road Jodie Taylor – Memories of [...]

Brief Choose a poem that resonates with you then interpreted it through photographs. Don’t attempt to describe the poem but instead give a sense of the feeling of the poem and the essence [...]

Photographing the unseen: Introduction In this assignment, I have begun to explore the idea of expressing emotions using visual metaphors. Creative process – first emotion As suggested by [...]

Duane Michals is a photographer born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. He is known for his photographic sequences and for annotating images with handwritten text allowing the viewer to better [...]

Kaylynn Deveney is an American photographer born in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1967. Aged 32 she moved to Newport to undertake a master’s degree in documentary photography at the University [...]

Brief Examples of relay in contemporary photographic practice include Sophie Calle ‘Take care of yourself’ and Sophy Ricketts ‘Objects in the Field’ where clashes of [...]

I recently attended a ‘Slow Photography’ course at West Dean College, West Sussex run by Tracey Calder. If any description could be applied to me ‘Slow’ isn’t one of [...]

I saw Macbeth at Chichester Festival Theatre on 15 October 2019. It featured John Simm as Macbeth and Dervla Kirman as Lady Macbeth. The play was enjoyable but for me, the star of the show was [...]

Brief Cut out some pictures from a newspaper and write your own captions. How do the words you put next to the image contextualise/recontextualise it? How many meanings can you give it to the [...]

Brief How does Briony Campbell’s The Dad Project compare with The Country Doctor? What do you think she means by ‘an ending without unending’? Make some notes in your learning [...]

Brief Create at least two sets of photographs telling different versions of the same story. The aim of the assignment is to help you explore the convincing nature of documentary, even though what [...]

Reflection pre-tutor feedback Demonstration of technical and visual skills – Materials, technical, observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills. (40%) Given the [...]

Brief Read the section entitled ‘The real and the digital’ in Wells, Liz (2009) Photography: A Critical Introduction (4th edition). Does Digital technology change how we see [...]

Brief Use digital software such as Photoshop to create a composite image which visually appears to be a documentary photograph which never actually be.

Brief Look at some more images from the series and the artist’s website. How do Pickering’s images make you feel? Is Public Order an effective use of documentary or is it misleading? [...]

Brief Look online at Paul Seawright’s work, Sectarian Murders. How does this work challenge the boundaries between documentary and art? Listen to Paul Seawright talk about his work at [...]

Brief Do some research into contemporary street photography. Helen Levitt, Joel Meyerowitz, Paul Graham, Joel Sterfeld and Martin Parr are some good names to start with, but you may be able to [...]

Each month ‘Black+White Photography’ magazine features a discussion of a Magnum photograph.  The January 2019 issue contained an excellent piece by Elizabeth Roberts (magazine editor) on a [...]

Brief Find a street that particularly interests you. Shoot 30 colour images and 30 black and white images in a street photography style. In your learning log, comment on the differences between [...]

Brief Find examples of news stories where ‘citizen journalism’ has exposed or highlighted abuses of power.  How do these pictures affect the story, if at all? Are these pictures [...]

Following my tutor’s initial feedback I reshot the entire assignment.  This is the feedback on the revised work: Overall the set of image reveal a whole new story and approach to the [...]

Notes Tutor feedback on my original Assignment 5 submission said that it did not show a ‘clear sense of development through the sequence.’  I agree and therefore decided to completely reshoot the [...]

Elina Brotherus is a Finnish photographer with degrees in analytical chemistry and photography.  She uses a medium format camera and shoots ‘straight’ (Pulver, 2011). In 2015 she [...]

Reflection pre-tutor feedback Demonstration of technical and visual skills – Materials, technical, observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills. (40%) This assignment [...]

assignment-5-contact-sheets

Reflection pre-tutor feedback Demonstration of technical and visual skills – Materials, technical, observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills. (40%) Technically this [...]

Davies is a British landscape photographer. Much of his work is large format black and white images of industrial and urban British landscapes. In 2008 he completed a colour series entitled Fuji [...]

Reflection pre-tutor feedback Demonstration of technical and visual skills – Materials, technical, observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills. (40%) Technically these [...]

Brief Take a series of 10 photographs of any subject of your own choosing. Each photograph must be a unique view of the same subject; in other words, it must contain some ‘new information’ rather [...]

Brief Look again at Henri Cartier-Bresson’s photograph Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare in Part Three.  Is there a single element in the image that you could say is the pivotal ‘point’ to which the [...]

Brief Select an image by any photographer of your choice and take a photograph in response to it.  You can respond in any way you like to the whole image or to just a part of it, but you must [...]

In his essay entitled ‘Photographs and context’ Terry Barrett discusses category displacement in connection with one particular image and goes on to propose a framework for contextualising [...]

Brief Use your camera as a measuring device. This doesn’t refer to the distance scale on the focus ring (!). Rather, find a subject that you have an empathy with and take a sequence of shots to [...]

Lime eyv-assignment-4-contact-sheets Lemon eyv-4-contact-sheet-lemon Yellow melon eyv-a4-contact-sheets-y-melon Red melon eyv-a4-contact-sheets-r-melon Grapefruit eyv-a4-contact-sheets-gf [...]

Brief Revisit one of the exercises on daylight, artificial light or studio light from Part Four (4.2, 4.3 or 4.4) and prepare it for formal assignment submission: • Create a set of between six [...]

Brief Capture ‘the beauty of artificial light’ in a short sequence of shots (‘beauty’ is, of course, a subjective term). The correct white balance setting will be important; this can get tricky [...]

Brief In manual mode take a sequence of shots of a subject of your choosing at different times on a single day. You might decide to fix your viewpoint or you might prefer to ‘work into’ your [...]

Brief Make a Google Images search for ‘landscape’, ‘portrait’, or any ordinary subject such as ‘apple’ or ‘sunset’. Add a screengrab of a representative page to your learning log and note down [...]

I recently listened to a TEDTalk by Tim Harford entitled ‘How frustration can make us more creative’ (Ted Talk, 2015). He discussed how difficulties encountered during creative activities can [...]

When introducing the EYV Project 4 Ex nihilo, the OCA manual states ‘ Studio work is highly technical and you really need to know your equipment inside out…’. How very true this proved to be. [...]

Brief Use a combination of quality, contrast, direction and colour to light an object in order to reveal its form. For this exercise we recommend that you choose a natural or organic object such [...]

4.1.1 Brief Set your camera to any of the auto or semi-auto modes. Photograph a dark tone, a mid-tone and a light tone. Add the shots to your learning log with quick sketches of the histograms [...]

In 1945, following a conversation with Peter Rose Pulham (1910 – 1956), Brandt purchased a 70 year old wooden Kodak camera from a secondhand shop in Covent Garden. The camera, used for its [...]

Born in Vienna, Haas was famed for his early use of coloured photography. Aged 25 he acquired his first camera (a Rolleiflex) in exchange for a block of butter on the black market. His rise to [...]

Born Gyula Halasz in 1899 in Brasso, Transylvania, Brassaï (meaning ‘of Brasso’) moved to Paris at the age of 24. He stayed there until his death 60 years later. He is best known for his book [...]

Luxemberg is a German photographer and Reader in Urban Aesthetics at the Royal College of Arts.  Her practice involves large format (often) long night exposures of urban London. (Blees Luxemberg, [...]

Mann is an American photographer born in Lexington, Virginia.  Her book entitled ‘Southern Landscapes’ features moody atmospheric pictorialist landscape shots. (Mann, 2013) I watched an interview [...]

Schmidt is a German documentary photographer whose work often features his home town of Berlin. He is quoted as saying ‘I could also make photos somewhere else; I just wouldn’t know why’ [...]

Atget, an ex-seaman, a failed actor and unsuccessful painter opened a photographic business in Paris aged 33. He spent the rest of his life accumulating some 10,000 negatives covering French [...]

When I began this degree course my photographic ambition was to take nice pictures. I had spent a great deal of time looking at the website 1X.com which is a global curated photography site. It [...]

These photographs were presented to my tutor as high quality prints.

Brief Send a set of between six and eight high-quality photographic prints on the theme of the ‘decisive moment’ to your tutor. Street photography is the traditional subject of the decisive [...]

In a 2015 video to support the The Whiteness of the Whale exhibition at Pier 24 Photography, San Francisco Graham he discusses how he hopes the photographs might be seen. He describes how the [...]

This is my personal response to the Henri Cartier Bresson (HCB) documentary ‘L’amour tout court’ (Cartier Bresson, 2015). When asked about his famous photograph ‘Footfall in flooded square’ HCB [...]

‘The concept of medium-specificity has had a profound impact on photography. In its early history, photography struggled to establish itself as a legitimate art form. Theorists devised a [...]

Brief Find a good viewpoint, perhaps fairly high up where you can see a wide view or panorama. Start by looking at the things closest to you in the foreground. Then pay attention to the details [...]

Brief Using slow shutter speeds, the multiple exposure function, or another technique, try to record the trace of movement within the frame. You can be as experimental as you like. Add a [...]

Brief Using fast shutter speeds, try to isolate a frozen moment of time in a moving subject. Add a selection of shots, together with relevant shooting data and a description of your process to [...]

Wesely is a German photographer specialising in ultra-long exposure photography. The image below was commissioned by MoMa to record the building’s reconstruction. In a series of images, some [...]

Woodman was an American photographer who used blurring by means of movement and long exposure times. Many images involved herself or models naked. Bibliography Woodman, F. (1978). Space 2. [...]

Sugimoto is a New York based Japanese photographer and architect. In his series entitled ‘Theatres’ he uses movie-length exposures (ie 2-3 hours) to explore his idea that too much information [...]

Frank was born in Switzerland in 1924 and emigrated to America in 1946. As a result of a Guggenheim Fellowship (the sponsorship application being mostly written by Walker Evans (Nga.Gov, 2009)) [...]

Capa was a Hungarian war photographer who died after stepping on a landmine whilst covering the First Indochina War for Life Magazine. His most famous work, sometimes known as ‘Magnificent [...]

Here are the final images for assignment two.

Deep joy! I just finished my second assignment. The photography is great fun.  Really enjoying it.  But (surprisingly) I’m enjoying the research even more.  Apparently stimulating your [...]

Reflection pre-tutor feedback Demonstration of technical and visual skills – Materials, technical, observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills. (40%) Photographically [...]

Brief Create a series of between six and ten photographs from one of the following options, or a subject of your own choosing: Crowds Views Heads Use the exercises from Part Two as a starting [...]

Nan Goldin (1953) Nan Goldin is an influential American photographer who intimately explores the lives of her selected ‘family’ of friends and lovers (Cotton, 2015). (Goldin, 1982), (Goldin, [...]

Larry Clark (1943) The American photographer and film director Larry Clark recorded young adult drug culture and sex in his photography books Tulsa (1971), Teenage Lust (1983) and The Perfect [...]

Antoine d’Agata (1961) Antoine d’Agata (1961) is a French photographer who in 1990 studied at the International Centre of Photography, New York.  His teachers included Larry Clark and Nan Goldin, [...]

Research Do your own research into some of the photographers mentioned in this project. Ansel Adams (1902-1984) Adams was a west coast American photographer famed for his precise, detailed, [...]

Use a combination of small apertures and wide lens to take a number of photographs exploring deep depth of field. Because of the small apertures you’ll be working with slow shutter speeds and may [...]

Use a combination of wide apertures, long focal lengths and close viewpoints to take a number of photographs with shallow depth of field. Try to compose the out-of-focus parts of the picture [...]

Find a subject in front of a background with depth. Take a close viewpoint and zoom in; you’ll need to be aware of the minimum focusing distance of your lens. Focus on the subject and take a [...]

Find a location with good light for a portrait shot. Place your subject some distance in front of a simple background and select a wide aperture together with a moderately long focal length such [...]

Choose a subject in front of a background with depth. Select your shortest focal length and take a close low viewpoint, below your subject. Find a natural point of focus and take the shot.

Select your longest focal length and compose a portrait shot fairly tightly within the frame in front of a background with depth. Take one photograph. Then walk towards your subject while zooming [...]

Find a scene that has depth. From a fixed position, take a sequence of five or six shots at different focal lengths without changing your viewpoint. The image which feels closest to the angle of [...]

Reflection pre-tutor feedback Demonstration of technical and visual skills – Materials, technical, observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills. (40%) I would regard my [...]

Research László Molholy-Nagy (1895-1946) Molholy-Nagy was a Hungarian photographer. He taught at Bauhaus between 1923 and 1928. Bauhaus was a radical German art school from 1919 until it’s forced [...]

One month in and the first assignment is now done.  Mixed feelings.  I thoroughly enjoyed the Square Mile project.  Really thought provoking.  The feedback was ok but my technical and [...]

Take a good number of shots, composing each shot within a single section of the viewfinder grid. Don’t bother about the rest of the frame! Use any combination of grid section, subject and [...]

Exercise 1.3.1 Line Take a number of shots using lines to create a sense of depth. Shooting with a wideangle lens (zooming out) strengthens a diagonal line by giving it more length within the [...]

Research – Point I found this exercise difficult to understand. Not an auspicious start… To gain a better insight into the effect of a single point I read Michael Freeman’s book on photographic [...]

Exercise Take three or four exposures of the same scene. Don’t change anything on the camera and keep the framing the same. Preview the shots on the LCD screen. At first glance they look the [...]

Reflection pre-tutor feedback Demonstration of technical and visual skills – Materials, technical, observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills. (40%) I set out to [...]

Square Mile contact sheets

Brief Make a series of six to twelve photographs in response to the concept of ‘The Square Mile’. Use this as an opportunity to take a fresh and experimental look at your surroundings. You may [...]

So here goes… I would never have imagined that I’d be signed up to do a photography degree course or that I’d be blogging.  As a 60 year old (just!) accountant I thought both of [...]

Research: Thomas Ruff ‘jpegs’ Read the reviews by Campany and Colberg and, if you haven’t already done so, use them to begin the contextual section of your learning log. Try to pick out the key [...]