MA Photography – Page 10 – Kirsty Logan Photography

Reflection W/C 8th September

This week I am on holiday – I took the decision not to bring my camera to see if it would reinvigorate me creatively.

I did have my camera-phone with me just in case I was inspired, which was lucky as I was although not project related way. I think I got a little bit of love back for the craft and I am now really looking forward to the start of the next module, and the grades have now been confirmed so I have passed and can move on.

I also heard back from the photographer who offers mentoring services – I responded with examples of my work and a brief description of what I would be looking for, and I have put in the diary to chase this up in another couple of weeks to see if I hear anything back.

So far it doesn’t feel like I am being very successful on the gaining experience/knowledge front. I think I may need to try a different approach and see what happens from there.

Reflection W/C 1st September

This week has been a little discombobulated! Due to illness I have not been able to focus on my work.

The preliminary results for the Positions and Practice module came through which was a relief in many ways. Although they still need to be externally verified, it means that I have cleared the first hurdle of the journey.

I have begun to question the choice of major project subject. Although the feedback received has been really useful and I should perhaps give this all time to sink in before making any major decisions.

I am looking to do a journey covering food to see what kind of macro shots I can get from this it will also give me the opportunity to work with some of the new equipment that I have purchased to see what effects can be achieved.

I am also feeling a little creatively lost at the moment. I have also planned to increase my academic basis particularly in terms of Critical Thinking before getting to the Informing Contexts module – I have an introductory book to read and hope this will assist me in bringing more academic grounding to my work. This should also help me in my major project work.

I read an article on the Craftsy website by a photographer called Ashley Rodriguez called “Get Up Close with Food with Macro Food Photography Tips” I think this is a good start to the beginning of the Food photography journey. The photographs that Ashley used captured some really nice colours and textures. My favourite was of some garlic cloves where it was not immediately identifiable as such – which makes sense when thinking about my project subject matter.

References:

https://www.craftsy.com/blog/2015/05/macro-food-photography/

Reflection W/C 25th August

This week has been an interesting week and an enjoyable one at the same time.

I attended my local nature reserve and spent a few hours with a group of very experienced Wildlife Photographers. This was a really interesting exercise and more importantly very beneficial. Not only was I able to shadow and watch what they were doing and how they did it, but it was really helpful talking through techniques and tips and listening to the advice that they were giving me.

Whilst this is not the genre of what I am preparing to do for my major project it was really great to get out of my comfort zone and have an experience different to what i have been so heavily focused on in the last few months. It also reminded me that not every shot is going to be the shot and it may take some time to assimilate all of the images that I deem of a high enough standard.

I did take a couple of images staying true to my photographic style.

I have been carrying out google searches as I’d like to include some images of the natural world in one of my journeys, bearing in mind it was made clear to me on the last module to make sure there is a meaning and a thread tying my images together. With this I tried to keep in mind the type of images that could be made into collections.

This week I have also caught up with the reading from Week 12 – Professional Photography; the global landscape explained (The Power of the Personal Project) by Grant Scott.

This was a really great read and I took so much from it, things that I have never considered before, particularly on the section regarding publishing and exhibiting as the areas covered were what i had in mind for my project.

Positions and Practice Week 13 Reflection W/C 18th August

Lens Reflection

Welcome to Sustainable Prospects!

So close to handing in the assignment the welcome to the next module was both exciting and nerve-wracking.

I worked through the pieces from this week and was even more excited by watching the video.

This week I contacted a photographer I have been following for a while (19/08/2017) who has inspired me for a number of years. He is also a teacher holding workshops and offers a mentoring service. I thought that this would be a really good route, I am waiting to hear back, but hope to have an update in the coming weeks.

I have also brainstormed some other photographers that I have contact with on Instagram and will consider contacting them for assistant work and using the social media route to see if it is any more effective. I find Instagram to be a useful tool for looking at the photographs of other people. Not only do I find it inspiring but I also makes you feel like you are part of a community through the use of hashtags

This week I have also been considering the journeys that I have been wanting to try out for my final major project:

My Office – My Work Day
Inside the Flowers
Chris’s Day.

I was considering looking at food, as we all eat! I thought the textures of different food might be interesting to explore. Perhaps as this is the case food should be included as part of my say and shouldn’t just be limited to my work day.

Positions and Practice Week 12 Reflection: w/c 11th Aug

This week has been consumed with my Research Project Proposal.

After spending time in the Newcastle University Library – I felt much more prepared and focissed on what my actual goal is.

Following on from this my 1:1 tutorial with Gary really settled the nerves that I am actually heading in the right direction after being seemingly lost for quite some time.

This week has really given me the opportunity to plan where I see myself going on the course. The forums also for good and bad reasons – I think have pointed out my weakness in Critical Thinking. I have put a plan in place to try and rectify these issues and try and clarify what or where I am going wrong in my understanding.

During the production of my Work in Progress Portfolio, I felt that there were a couple of pieces missing, so I took the opportunity to take some more.

Gear Cogs

Guitar Fret Board

This week with handing in my work has felt quite a positive week overall.

Work In Progress Portfolio

Journey 1: My Work Day

Black and white Scissors

Black and white post it notes

Colour post it notes

Black and white elastic band ball

Colour elastic band ball

Stapler

Staples

Journey 2: Inside the Flowers

Black and White Orchid

Macro Orchid

Macro Black and white buttercup

Journey 3: Chris’s Day

Guitar Fret Board

Gear Cogs

Positions and Practice Week 11 Reflection: w/c 4th August

Looking at the proposals has been a good activity to carry out. It gave me a real insight into what is expected from me.

During my research I have seen many different formats from table layouts to long pieces of prose.

I think what is going to work for my is a simple layout with subheadings, this will make it straightforward to deal with and to read and also to edit throughout the stages of the writing/editing process.

I was able to identify audiences that I may have through my social media followers an also my family.

With regards to my personal progress I thought I had made a break through, but now I am maybe not so sure. I took my work to webinar, there had been previous concerns that I had been taking images of things rather than about things – which was addresses and I was really pleased to have put together the small collection of images that had a story behind them. This had led me to coming up with the idea of having a series of images of journeys in macro and these were ideas that I feel I could have actually taken forward and this felt really positive. I had finally taken some steps forward….there was progression. I felt a little deflated coming out of the webinar, the feedback is always constructive which I appreciate but now I’m just left a little confused! The progress I had made could be seen and suggestions were made to how I could move forward, the only problem is I haven’t figured out how it is possible to execute these!

Moving forward the plan is to figure this out! I am setting myself another mini project on the outcome of the feedback, I see this as the way I am able to achieve the objectives.

I also now have access to Newcastle University Libraries and have planned in a weekend to obtain research to add to my project proposal.

Positions and Practice Week 10 Reflection w/c 28th July

I’m continuing to struggle with the relevance of theory to my practice – if this is the case where am I going wrong?

I think 1 major aspect of this is my understanding and it is my plan to really work on this as I believe it is becoming very detrimental to my development on this course/module.

The most important aspects of communicating and contextualising photography is to be clear whether this in in spoken, visual and/or written forms. My feeling is that if you try to over complicate your language or the meanings of the work, your initial aims stand the threat of being lost in translation.

I was not able to attend the assessment peer review due to other commitments this week (and I am also running a little behind). Whilst I feel this is a set back I will try to get some feedback from the forums/webinar next week. After my results of the oral presentation (which left me a little disappointed) I feel I really need to find the time to add extra work in to allow me to continually develop and improve.

During this weeks work I came across a quote

“Photography for me is not looking, its feeling. If you can’t feel what you’re looking at, then you’re never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures”

– Don McCullin – British Photojournalist.

This quote resonated with me as we have been looking at the importance of looking but equally the feeling part of photography is essential if we want to stir up some form of emotion or reaction, I think this has somewhat be bypassed by some of the critical theorists we have covered. I like this more balanced approach it is something that I can relate to.

I think I have made a breakthrough with the aims of my work making them about my life. A series of images in macros of journeys through my daily comings and goings – I will still be able to show things from a different point of view but they will now be about something. I think previously this is the part I was missing – I will try this idea out on my peers or in my 1:1 tutorial is the coming week.

A little bit of a turbulent week but I feel a tiny bit of progress has been made.

Positions and Practice Week 9 Reflection w/c 21st July 2017

Making a Picture vs Taking a Picture
Taking an image of something vs Taking a picture about something
Finding out what you care about.

The webinar this week brought up a few issues for me. It turns out I do have some ability when reading images and applying what a message could be.

I was particularly happy this week with my analysis of the bird-cage. I feel this was my one success of the week.

This is a bird cage.

One interpretation is that it is ornamental, something to look upon, in the traditional sense of a birdcage, it would symbolise the beauty of looking at a bird, decoration, hopeful, whistful

On the otherhand – this symbolises a prison/entrapment to a point slavery. It would not be a symbol of hope.

In the webinar critical perspectives were described as trying to catch fog in box – I can completely identify with this analogy – I am really struggling with the theory.

With regards to my own work I think I struggle to apply the theory for a couple of reasons.

I don’t take images with the intent of making a statement
I don’t have an urge to be controversial with my work

This seems to be a trend in the people that we have come across in this weeks reading and subjects.

I want to make images that are beautiful – from the critical perspectives view this will likely be seen as vacuous.

I would like to perhaps cause debate with my work but not in a Political/Socio-economic or cultural sense. More in a…

What do you think this image is?
What can you see?
Can you see something in the image that you haven’t seen in a picture of this subject before?
Do you think it is effective?

We did discuss that my pictures put into the webinar this week were more of something than about something and I can completely see this. We did discuss some techniques that I am going to try – I want to get much closer to the subject and reverse lensing was suggested.

From this I have done some research and reading and ordered the parts required and we will see how this works for my practice.

I was also set a kind of mini project – sourcing inspiration from my administration background – I really enjoyed this and it did give me insight that my photographs were now about part of my story rather than just of something.

My work world

I felt quite frustrated whilst reading this weeks presentations Hodgson to me I did feel came across as a little elitist in the views displayed and this once again made me question my work, along with the worry that my work was vacuous as mentioned earlier.

There are many times that I don’t find it easy to take a photograph and my work would probably not be deemed as quality looking at Hodgson’s views. – Perhaps I should just have faith in my convictions that my work has merit.

I disagree that there should be discrimination in photography – I feel everyone should be able to express themselves without judgement an experience joy in the arts. I agree some will be of a better standard than others…but if you don’t like it don’t look at it!!

Perhaps I do fit in somewhere though in the critical perspectives, in the viewpoint that my photographs are dependant on the reader really looking at my images, or learning how to look at something. This is part of the perspectives wok

Positions and Practice Week 8 Reflection w/c 14/07/2017

The various different people that we have covered this week have been interesting. The article by John A Walker was particularly relevant to the work that I am planning to do with my Final Project piece.

Looking at the different types of curating images especially Atlas by Gerhard Richter (1962-2013) was particularly interesting, I think I learnt a great deal in terms of how I attempted to put together my gallery.

I looked at the work of Jo Spence and how she had presented or had her work curated by others. A great deal of it felt documentary/reportage to me and I think this was because she was trying to convey certain messages with her photographs perhaps more so in Work (Part II) and Part (III) “The History Lesson” and Beyond the Perfect Image.

The kinds of photography that I admire are the areas that cover nature and wildlife. I like when online galleries are unfussy. I like a gallery where you can look through images without having to click around too much or any thing that can cause confusion. I think that I admire this type of work because having tried it a little I know how difficult it really must have been to obtain the beautiful shots that have been achieved.

I also have a keen interest in Macro Photography and the photographers that carry out this type of work amaze me. It also means it is really important to keep your gallery uncluttered as the nature of the type of photography encapsulates so much details you want as little around the images as possible.

I have put some details of some photographers that have inspired me below:

http://www.heatherangel.co.uk

http://www.jackyparker.com/

http://macrophotography.com/

https://www.leonsavagephotography.co.uk/wildlife

This Week

I felt a little deflated this week overall and I feel in certain ways I had taken steps backward instead of forwards.

I pulled together my gallery in a way that I felt happy with but I think that perhaps my vision was a little way off what was wanted or was felt suitable.

I fully take on board all of the criticism and I took it and reproduced my whole gallery, hopefully getting somewhat closer to what is wanted. It is however weeks like this that make me heavily question my abilities, so many of my peers have worked as professionals and have a real insight to who they are as practitioners. I feel a little bit lost as I don’t really know who I am yet as a practitioner but it all certainly gives me something to work with and somewhere to take my photographic journey.

One disappointment of the week was my first foray into film photography! It failed! The film that I had taken was blank so this gives me another area to work on to 1) find out what went wrong and 2) find out if it was me and not the camera. I also need to discover whether the camera is able to take pictures, this means another learning curve.

There was the added stress with the oral presentation deadline looming, mine is very much still in development and having never done this type of work before I am finding it utterly terrifying .

This week has been a bit challenging for me personally. I did get to take a nice image this week and this gives me something to keep working on.