Category: Self Reflection

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End of Course Evaluation

Course Evaluation

Context and Narrative has really helped change my approach to creating and taking images.  Through looking at and researching photographers and their images in context, it brings to life the image in much greater depth. I have started to look at images and wonder what the photographer had intended to convey and to question whether there is a story or is it just a decorative wall hanging.

My biggest take away from this course is that everything in an image matters.  For you to truly convey your intended meaning you need to carefully consider what you include, what is implied and what elements may symbolise or denote to the viewer.  Critically reflecting on others’ work is very enlightening for your own. I have also really enjoyed and benefited from the audiovisual conversation with my tutor. Getting feedback that helps develop an idea and see it through another’s eyes is really powerful.  We have had some great debates about elements, particularly in Assignment 4. He has also been able to assess the direction of my work and point me to other photographers and texts that have helped me develop my work even further.

In each of the assignments, I have experimented with new ideas and pushed myself to personalise the images. I have taken my time with each of them and have been pleased with the results.  I feel that Assignment 5 really is a culmination of the work done in course because I have built on the themes I have used for the other assignments, the truth portrayed in images. presenting visually unseen thoughts and emotions, self-absented portraiture and using surrogates and constructing an image to tell a story.
In fact, I have discovered that I like constructing images and really connected with the work of Noemie Goudal, Leah Schrager and Elinor Carruci.

During the course of the study, I have also learned some great writing techniques, such as the PEEL method of essay writing and the Cornell method of note taking.  These have both helped me greatly with presenting my work. I also found a great website that formats Harvard citations for referencing. That has been a great help!

Reflecting on what I need to develop further, my tutor has encouraged me in each of my assignments to reference influences, such as other photographers work, theory and also to say why have discarded an idea, just as much as why I’ve picked one.  In assignment 5 he suggested I look up historical use of flowers in art and their meanings. This is something I hadn’t considered, but when I did it added depth to the image and the story and also made me think about when I make an image, how do I want it to be displayed?  I have tried to incorporate thinking about presentation in each of the Assignments, such as in Assignment 3 which is designed to be viewed on the Instagram platform. However, these are the things I want to work on in the next course.

Overall I have really enjoyed this course and I believe I have developed significantly in making more personal and contextual images.

I have used my blog as my repository for all of my course work, assignments and learning log – Debra Flynn Context and Narrative Blog

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Assignment 5 – Post Tutor Feedback reflections

Tutor Feedback – Read here

Tutor Audio Visual Conversation 13.01.2020

Notes from tutor conversation 13.01.2020 – using the Cornell note taking method

Assignment 5 – feedback

As always I had a very good conversation with Les about my Assignment 5 image and some of the things I need to complete ready for my submission for assignment.

Flowers – Les suggested that I research the use of flowers in art and photography and consider expanding on my reasons for choosing them, referenced against historical use and meanings associated with flowers. It is ok to do this retrospectively.

Print – Experiment with different sizes of print and make a case for the choice made. A smaller image, may give the viewer the opportunity to look at the image more closely, whilst a larger image, on a wall might allow the viewer more immersive in the space and emphasise the quality.

Meaning – Think about what the elements and symbols included a constructed image might mean to a viewer, particularly in the days of fine art / still life when a lot viewers couldn’t read.

Feedback – Having shown the image to some of my friends and colleagues, Les suggested I consider including a reflection on their reactions. What did they see or not see? What did they think I was trying to communicate? Did it have the impact I had intended?

Audience – consider what I am producing this for. i.e. social media, a gallery, a book. ‘Imagine it in it’s context’. Am I making something pretty for the wall or do I want it have such an impact that is spurs other people into action?

Assignment 4 – Essay – still need to rewrite – flag up what I’ve changed, show that I have listened and evaluated the feedback, flag up what I’m changed and why.

Assessment

Finish up the blog, write a conclusion / note to the assessor, guide them to the important parts of the blog, assure them that I am learning and progressing.

In preparation for next course Identity and Place, look at some study visits, good opportunity to discuss course with other students, tutors and others with academic and professional knowledge

Reflection

The audio visual conversations with Les have been the real highlight of the course, it is so good to be able to discuss and debate the thinking behind your work. He has been so good in guiding me to experience other photographers and read and research areas, I wouldn’t have found on my own. He also seems to have a knack of knowing what would interest me. This has helped we push myself and try different things.

I am really pleased with my final image and I really do feel that it reflects a culmination of the course. I feel like the feedback I’ve been given reflects the little extra bits that can I do to make the assignment really good and has helped me think about how to look deeper into the reasons behind what I’ve produced and the message I want give.

Note:

I have recently started using the the Cornell note taking method, which I found really useful to make notes during my conversation with Les . The picture above shows the results. I will definitely keep using this, as it really helped organise my notes and made it easier to write them up for this blog

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Assignment No 4 – Post Tutor Feedback Reflection

To read tutor feedback click here

The conversation with Les about this essay was both long and animated. He was really concerned about one of the elements in the image which I had not mentioned, but really was a ‘punctum’ for him.

It relates to the fact that the model is posed in way that she is pulling her dress up revealing her leg, which is bent. The model is dressed in a what Victorian style dress which makes her look like a young girl rather than an adult woman. which I believe was the photographer’s intention. for Les however, because the girl is posed in this way he said it had sexual connotations which really disturbed him. It did not have these connotations for myself.

What was interesting is that before submitting my essay, I had asked my husband and a male work colleague to look at the image and my essay to gain some feedback, both of them also raised the issue of the raised dress showing the bare leg.

Following the conversation with Les, I asked a female work colleague to read the essay and found that she also did not pick up on this as something that she found uncomfortable.

On further discussion with the two men who had previously read the essay, they reflected that although the model is probably over 18, the way she is dressed makes her appear much younger and seeing her posed in what they saw as sexual pose made them feel very uncomfortable. Therefore, I can only conclude that I did not see this as a problem because I did not see the sexual connotations with the model. As a mother of girls who would stand like that, I suppose I saw it quite innocently.

  • extract of ‘pieces of me’ by Meg Bitton

So the question here really, is did the photographer direct the model to stand in this way because she did understand the reaction a man would have to this pose? Did she deliberately pose her to illicit that reaction in male viewers?

This is something I can’t directly answer, but I am aware that she has used this pose for other images as well.

I also know that in most of her portrait photography teaching, she advocates ‘if it bends, bend it’. Therefore, she may merely feel it was a more flattering pose. The truth is I don’t know.

What I have learned though, is that in a completely constructed image such as this one, one should question every element as to why the photographer has chosen to pose the model in this way

Alice, by Les Monaghan

and also that Les’s experience with his own image ‘Alice’ and the subsequent ethical dilemma it left with the publishers and himself have really impacted on the way he now views photos.

This can been seen here, where he took a photo of a young girl dressing up in pink shoes was seen in a totally different light by the commissioners of the photos who saw connotations to child prostitution and exploitation.

Bates says ” these meanings change, according to the frame of thoughts and culture that the viewer brings to the picture” . . .

Les also comments in his feedback; that I should include a ‘punctum’. This I have actually done in my comments about the red light. I think he missed it because his own punctum wasn’t the same as mine.

I think it would be simpler to “say what you see”, then ask what each detail and the whole makes you think of. David Bate’s Key Concepts is good for this

I thought I’d done this so, I guess that’s not how it read, maybe using the PEEL tool, wasn’t quite right for this, my understanding from Les here is that it would be better to first describe the image and then try to link that to the connotations and intentions.

I have now downloaded Key Concepts by David Bates so will see what insight this can give to structuring my writing.

Review of David Bates

Assignment 4 – “A picture is worth a thousand words” – Reflections/Assessment

Brief:
Write an essay of 1,000 words on an image of your choice. The image can be anything you like, from a famous art photograph to a family snapshot, but please make sure that your chosen image has scope for you to make a rigorous and critical analysis.

  • If you choose a well-known photograph, take time to research its context – the intentions of the photographer, why it was taken, whether it’s part of a series, etc. Add all this information into your essay to enable you to draw a conclusion from your own interpretation of the facts.
  • If you choose to use a found photograph, a picture from your own collection, or perhaps one from an old family archive, use it as an opportunity to find out something new. Avoid telling us about that particular holiday or memory – look directly to the photograph for the information. It may be interesting to compare and contrast your memory with the information you’re now seeing anew from ‘reading’ the picture so intensely.

It’s not enough to write an entirely descriptive or historical account of your chosen image. You must use the facts as a means to draw your own conclusions about what the picture means to you. You may wish to apply what you’ve learned in Part Four regarding translation, interpretation, connotation, signs, punctum, etc., but be sure you get the definitions correct.

There are many good examples of writing about single images (e.g. Sophie Howarth’s Singular Images), which you may find helpful to read before attempting your own. Take note of the level of critical analysis and aim for a similar approach in your own writing. You may write about personal connections but ensure you express yourself in a formally analytical and reflective manner.

Follow thought associations and other images that relate to the discussion, directly or indirectly. Look at the broader context of the image and its background and specific narrative as well as your personal interpretation of it and what thoughts it triggers for you. Follow these associations in a thoughtful and formal way. Allow yourself to enjoy the process!

Send your essay to your tutor, together with the relevant pages of your learning log or blog url.

Reflection

Don’t forget to check your work against the assessment criteria listed in the introduction to this course guide. Include your evaluation in your assignment submission.

Assignment

I decided to write my essay about the image ‘pieces of me’ by Meg Bitton. Having emailed the photographer for permission to publish her image on this blog, and not having had a full response, I have chosen to created a passworded page to display the essay.

Assignment 4 essay – ‘Pieces of Me’ can be read here (password protected, awaiting permission from photographer)

Approach

I started researching for this assignment by reading the recommended reading and also reading essays by other students to get a feel for the style and details required. read my research notes here

Whilst reading the feedback to one student’s essay, I came across a comment by his tutor that suggested he use the ‘PEEL’ method to organise his paragraphs.

I used this method to organise my paragraphs,

see a copy of template I designed and completed for this essay PEEL-template-MGDownload

I have organised the essay around the theoretical tools for reading photographs described by Derrida and Barthes

Once I had decided on the image I wanted to review, I did some research on the photographer, in order to be able to add some background and context to the essay.

As the photographer and this work is current, I emailed the photographer for her permission to publish the image in this blog. As I am still awaiting a response, I decided to go ahead with the essay, but have passworded the page so it is not publicly visible.

Pre-tutor feedback Reflections

When I first read that I had to write an essay, I have to admit, I thought it might be a bit boring. However, I have really enjoyed the process. Spending the time to really look at an image in detail was really interesting and it’s amazing how many extra things you see, when you actually spend time looking. I also found researching the photographer very helpful. Although I have been following her work for a while, researching her history and other work, really helped put the image in context and added to the level of understanding and possible meaning she was trying to convey.

Using the PEEL method to organise the paragraphs, really helped me focus on the points I wanted to make and stopped me going off at a tangent. Something that was really useful when you only have a limited number of words.

Assessment criteria points

Demonstration of technical and visual skills – Materials, techniques, observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills. (40%)

Visual skills were needed in this assignment in order to study the image and identify the signifiers and signs that help you read the image. Knowledge of composition skills also helped to give insight into the photographers intentions.

Quality of outcome – Content, application of knowledge, presentation of work in a coherent manner, discernment, conceptualisation of thoughts, communication of ideas. (20%)

In this assignment, I have displayed quality of outcome, by producing a coherent essay, where I have presented my analysis in a logical and reasoned manner. Drawing conclusions using the theoretical ways of seeing presented in the course.

Demonstration of creativity – Imagination, experimentation, invention. (20%)

For Assignment 4, the demonstration of creativity has been demonstrated in the reading of the image. Starting with imagining the meaning of the image, but then evidencing those thoughts in an rational and systematic way.

Context – Reflection, research, critical thinking. (20%)

In order to complete this assignment, critical thinking, research and reflection have been really important to interpret the ideas that the image has connoted and being able to present them in a formally analytical and reflective manner. I have used a recognised writing tool; PEEL, to focus the essay and reflected on the result.

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Assignment 3 – Shoes – Tutor Feedback and Reflection

Click here to read Tutor Feedback

Notes from tutorial with my tutor

This set presented me with quite a challenge and having made a conscious decision to try and get away from the ‘stock’ type of images I created in Assignment 2, I was actually worried, Les would thing they were a bit boring. (or maybe that was just because they were about me!)  

I was pleased that he thought they work as a set and were held together by the concept as well as the colour tones and light.  This is something I had thought about so was glad it was noticed.  I must remember to include these decisions in my write up of the assignments.

One thing that intrigued me, was that Les said that my photos actually gave viewers more of an insight into my spaces than they would ordinarily see.  However, by placing the legs in the image it formed a barrier to them seeing it all.  I found this a very interesting point of view and I had seen them as a lead into my life.  So the fact that he saw them as a barrier gave me pause for thought around how much I allow people into my life.

The other point that made me think was the point that I had obviously set up and posed the images in order to take them of myself.  However, as a viewer we accept them as a ‘real’ captures of my life.  I think that’s what his comment about smartphone images refers to in his feedback.  I had wanted to create a more ‘real’ type of image in this set as opposed to the last assignment, so I am satisfied that I achieved this. 

Les suggested I look up a photographer call Leah Schrager, as he felt that the image with me looking at the screen reminded him of her work. 

 

Infinity Selfie - Leah Schrager

In her series 'Infinity Selfie'; Schrager is places a picture within a picture which is reminiscent of my picture on the screen of the computer. In my case this was a happy accident, as I had been checking my first attempt at the image when I took that image. I didn't notice the screen until after I'd taken the picture. This is a learning point for me for Assignment 4 & 5 and remembering that everything in an image can have a meaning and impact for the viewer.

We discussed the image with the red boots and agreed that it didn’t need to text, so I have removed it and uploaded it to my Instagram feed. This has changed the order of the images, so I wondered if this will change the impact of the set?  Actually I think it works better with the placement of the boots as the first picture and the blue shoes in the last image it looks like bookends for the set.

orignal post
updated post

we discussed assignments 4 & 5.  He suggested that I pick an image for A4 that might link to something I’m interested in that will lead into A5.  Therefore, I have read both assignments to get a sense of what I might need to do next.

All in all I am relatively pleased with the outcome of this assignment.

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Assignment 3 – pre-feedback reflections

It has taken me a long time from making these images to finalising the assignment for submission. I’m not sure if I really don’t want to have to put myself in the picture, or I wasn’t happy with the concept. Eventually though, I came to the conclusion that if I don’t submit the assignment and get feedback from my tutor, I’ll never improve them and probably won’t finish the course!!

In actual fact, I do like the set, it’s new thinking for me and very different to the two pieces of work I’ve already submitted, so in that respect it is a success.

Demonstration of technical and visual skills

In this assignment, I have used a variety of technical and compositional skills to capture the images. I wanted to show the shoes in the context in which I use them, so this required me to plan the shots for each pair of shoes and consider how best to compose them.

  • Images 1, 3, 5 & 9 were taken using a camera on an tripod with a timer and / or a remote control.
  • Images 2, 4, 8 & 10, are taken from my point of view
  • Images 2 & 4 are taken with an apple iphone, whilst the remainder were taken with a Nikon D810 dslr camera. I have edited them in a way that means it’s not obvious.
  • The images were all taken in a 2×3 format and have been cropped to a square format in photoshop.
  • I created a 3 x4 template in photoshop to mock up how the images would look on Instagram and had to remember to post them in reverse order, to achieve the layout I wanted.
  • A new Instagram account was created in order to display this work.

Quality of outcome

As I always intended for this set of images to be presented in a digital format on social media, I used my knowledge of the Instagram App to present the work in a way that I felt best displayed them as a set. The composition of each image was considered as an individual as well as part of the set. I am very happy with the subtle toning of the images and feel they work well as a set.

Demonstration of Creativity

My aim was to create a set of images that said something about myself, without giving away the whole story. Having reviewed other student’s responses to the brief, I feel that I have found an innovative and creative response. I do think I could expand on this and may continue to add images to the thread, ready for the final assessment. I haven’t yet explored other times of the day or even other seasons, when I may well wear different shoes, so this could add more to the story.

I have also shown creativity in the composition of the images, making the shoes the main focus of the image in some and incidental in others. I have also tried to vary the viewpoint and ensure that each image adds something new to the story.

Context

I have researched a number of photographers for this work, with particular interest in Eva Strenham’s idea of hiding part of the person in the portrait in order to make the viewer have to look at in more detail to make out what is happening. My images do tell a story, but are not particularly intimate, in the way that Elinor Carruci’s are. This issomething I would like to consider emulating in the future.

In posting them on Instgram, I am putting a bit of myself out there and also giving others the opportunity to comment. A fact I am both reticent and excited about!!

Although I am now waiting for Les’s feedback, at this point I am happy with the outcome of this work overall and what I have learned in making it.

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Stephen Bull – Photography – review

Recommended by tutor to read P45, 67-70.

The first passages is in Chapter 3 – The meaning of Photographs:

Photography and Psychoanalysis: The unconscious, Fetishism and the Uncanny [P45]
This passage focuses on ‘mental context’ i.e. “the mind of the viewer as interpreter of photographs”. The author talks about this should be taken into account when creating photographs, but points out that this is very difficult as each person has different experiences.
Sigmund Freud, however argued that people share some common experienced, desires and anxieties, such as joy, fear, angler etc.  Thinking back to my Social Science course many years ago. I would say that this also depends greatly on the culture in which they were brought up.  Freud’s psychoanalysis central idea is that of the three states on consciousness, conscious, pre-conscious and unconscious.  In relation to the unconscious, Freud agued that people repress some desires and anxieties, mostly due to social constraints and feel that they should not be expressed, discussed or acted upon.
Relating this back to Assignment 2 and the point I think Les was making, is that the images I created from my mind in an attempt to photograph the unseen are in fact unconscious reactions to the stimuli.  I was aware of this but what I think is more interesting is the fact that the images were so like ‘stock photos’.  What does that say about what is in my subconscious?

The second passage is in Chapter 4 – Photography for Sale:

From Selling Products to creating atmospheres: advertising photography and image banks.
This section focuses on how our ideas of what is desireable has been shaped by advertising and the use of ‘stock’ images to portray ‘consumer happiness’. Christina Kotchemidova suggests that ‘the indexicality of the photograph’ helps create ‘ real fantasies’ and advertisers use this to consistently reinforce the message of what life should be like, that we subconsciously desire this, but as it bears no resemblance to our realities we repress them as unconscious desires.
Is this what I have created in my images? Certainly not consciously, but it does make me question them.  The fact that I have used substitutes for myself in the form of a wooden hand and not put myself in the images, even though I am trying to describe my feelings is telling me something, about myself.  

Image 7 is probably the most ‘stock’ image.  It certainly isn’t (or wasn’t) my reality as I in order to create this image, I bought all of the crockery new and the cereal which I don’t eat!  In my head this is what breakfast on a sunny morning should look like!  Actually I really love this image, because it fulfills my vision (perhaps this vision has been fed to me, by advertising I don’t know.  

Item 7 – Stan’s Object

I was given a bowl and was told the ‘object’ was within it. There were multiple objects, which were light, sticky and round. I ran it through my fingers many times and imagined a sunny morning breakfast.

My reflection is that in creating images I do need to make a decision about what I am trying to say, is it real fantasy or an attempt at honest portrayal of the facts, or indeed like my first assignment, somewhere in the middle?

Bull S., 2010, Photography, Rutledge, New York

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Assignment 2 – Feedback and Reflection

. . a thoughtful submission that fulfills brief . . .

Read Tutor Feedback report here

The first thing to say is that I again had a FaceTime conversation with Les, my tutor which I have come to really enjoy and find it so enthusing to be able to discuss and debate my ideas. Far from finding it daunting and worrying about any criticism I have learned that the conversation is really stimulating my thoughts and leading me to research places and people, I wouldn’t have found on my own. I so wish I’d started out doing this, because actually having those discussions really does help improve my work.

I also made the notes this time and submitted them for Les to amend and add references about photographers and artists we’d talked about. I’ll mention them later.

I think I ended up with more questions than answers from this assignment, but I don’t think that is a bad thing, quite the contrary. In all aspects of this assignment, I have had to discuss my objectives with people. From those that gave me items, to my husband who helped manage the process and to showing the final images to my tutor and others. If feels like a real collaboration and really helped me engage fully with the brief.

I am conscious that I mustn’t reflect and reminisce too much as I still have quite a bit of the course to complete.

I have set myself a goal to research each of the photographers, authors and artists that Les and Moira mentioned during the conversation and reflect on their link to my work for the final submission. I won’t however, attempt incorporate their ideas into Assignment 2. In stead, I think it will show better progression in my work if I incorporate it into subsequent areas of the course.

Research items:

http://lesmonaghan.blogspot.com/2016/12/who-would-want-to-be-face-of-poverty-in.html

Moira Lovell’s area of research

Stephen Bull’s – Photography p45, 67-70

Karen Barad’s On- touching – The Inhuman That therefore I Am (v1.1)

Phillyda Barlow, working with the idea of denial of touch.

Gillian Wearing’s – masks

Eva Stenram – Drapes

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Assignment 1 – Complete!

Having taken an age to get into this assignment, I actually got quite hooked by the concept in the end.

I am actually quite pleased with the set of images I’ve produced.  They have generated quite a lot of conversation between my family over Christmas and I had a room of about 10 people arguing about which were real and which not.

My biggest reflection comes from the fact that feedback and discussion helped my refine some of the images and think more about how to present them.  This is something I will utilise in future assignments.  I also reflect on how much I enjoy manipulating images and making something new from what is already there.

and finally, I opened the introduction of “on being a photographer’ by David Hurn and Bill Jay and came across this quote from Abraham Maslow:

The purpose of life is to become actually what we are potentially”

I love this quote and it will be my new year’s resolution!

To see Assignment 1 – Two sides of the Story – click here

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Project 1 – Learning Log

This has been an interesting start to the course work.  I really get the concept of ‘citizen journalism‘ and can definitely see the impact it has had on the way news is reported now. (i.e. there is more footage and stills used from ‘ordinary’ people involved in events), I did find it a struggle to find images / stories actually initiated by people.  In particular current and up to date stories.

I decided to ask on the course forum and got some help from some of my fellow students.  This had a few benefits:

a) I think rather than searching for ‘citizen journalism’ I realised I need to look at specific events

b) most of the students shared links to their blogs, which I found really  helpful, with some great examples.

c) one of the students actually pointed me in the direction of a social movement he was involved in, which was not only really interesting but also gave me the opportunity to ask him some direct questions about it.

Whilst I definitely don’t want to copy what others have or are doing, I do really find it helpful of see what others are doing and often find that this often triggers ideas of my own. I will continue to follow them as a source of inspiration during the course.

So now armed with this new focus I’m going to revisit the brief.