Assignment 2Leave a comment

Assignement 2 – Photographing the unseen

517401 OCA Photography

Having emailed my tutor about the two themes I was thinking of developing, and having had a response that they both met the brief, I have decided to progress with electricity and I am hoping to get a major part of it shot over the bank holiday weekend. In a change to how I usually work I have complied a shot list and am now working through where I can find locations for some of the pictures I want to take e.g. solar farms, wind turbines and sub-stations. Having prevaricated for so long I am keen to get started and … Continue reading Assignement 2 – Photographing the unseen

Assignment 2Leave a comment

Assignment 2 – Photographing the Unseen – hiatus

517401 OCA Photography

It has been about a month and half since started thinking about possible subjects to photograph for this assignment and in that time I’ve made no progress. Instead I’ve been working through exercises and taking photographs not related to the course but much of this has been displacement activity. After much toing and froing I have decided to look at two options, electricity and faith. My reason for looking at two options is purely practical, given the length of time I have spent prevaricating I wanted a subject that I could complete relatively quickly which is one of the main … Continue reading Assignment 2 – Photographing the Unseen – hiatus

Learning log1 Comment

Cindy Sherman

517401 OCA Photography

For over 40 years Cindy Sherman has been turning the camera on herself to produce work which Sherman describes as ‘most definitely not self-portraits’ but are instead a vehicle to comment on issues of the modern world including the role or women and the role of artists. Sherman was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey in 1954 and attended State University College Buffalo where she initially studied painting. Sherman gave up painting stating ” . . .there was nothing more to say [through painting]. I was meticulously copying other art and then I realized I could just use a camera … Continue reading Cindy Sherman

Part 3Leave a comment

Exercise 3.3 – Masquerades (P.82) – updated

517401 OCA Photography

I was looking at some of the images I initially discarded, because they were under exposed, and decided that I liked the simplicity and ambiguity of the layout. Like the other images I shot, to fully understand the narrative there needs to be some text to provide context, however, what I like about this image is that it is obviously not a lifestyle shot. The absence of the glass of orange squash, the exposure and the angle from which the photograph is taken simplify the image leaving the viewer to contemplate the relationship between the bowl of custard and the … Continue reading Exercise 3.3 – Masquerades (P.82) – updated

Part 3Leave a comment

Exercise 3.3 – Masquerades (P.82)

517401 OCA Photography

Recreate a childhood memory in a photograph. Think carefully about the memory you choose and how you’ll recreate it. You’re free to approach this task in any way you wish. My memory is real, not imagined or metaphorical. I have tried to recreate it as well as I can, although it was from a long time ago! My brother liked tomato sauce, never ketchup in our house, which is strange as he didn’t, and to the best of my knowledge still does not, like tomatoes. My brother also liked custard, a staple pudding sometimes served on its own, or sometimes … Continue reading Exercise 3.3 – Masquerades (P.82)

Learning logLeave a comment

Is it ever possible to capture one’s essence in a photograph? (P.79)

517401 OCA Photography

This question is posed at the end of a section examining Nikki S Lee’s Projects, a series where she assumed different personas and took a photographs of herself with other members of her ‘adpoted’ sub-culture. The question is relevant especially as several of the photographers featured in this section chose to adopt new identities within their self-portraits e.g. Trish Morrissey, Gillian Wearing and Nikki S Lee, but it is also true of more conventional self-portraits, what does the viewer see and is this the essence of the individual? At this stage before starting work on assignment three my view is … Continue reading Is it ever possible to capture one’s essence in a photograph? (P.79)

Learning logLeave a comment

Tracey Moffatt – Under the Signs of Scorpio

517401 OCA Photography

I found details about this work online on the website of the Rosyln Oxley 9 gallery and as well as the images there was a press release by Moffatt from 2005 which went into some detail about the collection. Whilst I recognise the concept behind the work and the committment of Moffatt in reproducing the women she was representing, ultimately I found the series disappointing. The main reason for this is the premise that the women featured all share similar personality traits due to the time in the year they were born. I’m not a believer in astrology and so … Continue reading Tracey Moffatt – Under the Signs of Scorpio

Part 3Leave a comment

Exercise 3.2 – Masquerades – (P.80)

517401 OCA Photography

Is there any sense in which Lee’s work could be considered voyeuristic or even exploitative? Is she commenting on her own identity, the group identity of the people she photographs, or both? In her Projects series Lee decided to explore identity by transforming herself into different characters and then photographing herself in character with people whose appearance she was replicating. I do not think that Lee’s work is exploitative or voyeuristic as by putting herself in the image she is not photographing groups from the outside but is instead engaging with the other subjects in the images. In the photographs … Continue reading Exercise 3.2 – Masquerades – (P.80)

Learning logLeave a comment

Francesca Woodman

517401 OCA Photography

It is difficult not to read Woodman’s many self-portraits – she produced over five hundred during her short lifetime – as alluding to a troubled state of mind. She committed suicide at the age of twenty-two. Bright, 2010, p.25 Look up Francesca Woodman’s images online. What evidence can you find for Bright’s analysis? I think this image can be read as one that alludes to death and so could be interpreted as pointing to Woodman’s suicide. The work was produced some time in 1979 – 80 and Woodman made her first attempt to take her own life in the autumn … Continue reading Francesca Woodman

Part 3Leave a comment

Exercise 3.1 – Autobiographical self-portraiture (P.78)

517401 OCA Photography

Reflect on the pieces of work discussed in this project in your learning log and do some further research of your own. Here are a few questions you might ask yourself: • How do these images make you feel? The works presented in this project are self-portraits by three female photographers; Francesca Woodman, Elina Brotherus and Gillian Wearing. I found myself reacting to them in different ways. I was aware of Frencesca Woodman’s work and her suicide at the age of 22. My reaction to her work was to question what she was trying to communicate? Were her self-portraits trying … Continue reading Exercise 3.1 – Autobiographical self-portraiture (P.78)