Part 1 - Assignment 1

ASSIGNMENT 1 - TWO SIDES OF THE STORY

Candid & Staged Domestic

For this assignment I had three tries, but I was not satisfied because, even if the outcome was a two set of photos each, I did not feel I had done a good job. 

The fourth one, the one I selected, is the development of an idea I had when reading the study book: it is about the Tate's fourth exhibition dedicated to photography, Street and Studio, in 2008. This exhibition "... amongst other things questioned perceived notions of candid moments ...... and staged moments or made-up events ...." (Study Book, page 35).

I worked around this theme and decided to get out of the " two sides = two points of view" schema. Then I strictly kept the same point of view and worked on "two sides = candid + staged" or "two sides = real + non real" schemas.

I chose a corridor in my house as an observation place before and as a stage then, and placed the camera on a tripod, with a 16 mm, f 10, iso 100 and a bit less than a second exposition in ambient light. I put the camera in a place so that I could include a mirror and complete the composition.

I did two shooting sessions.

The point of view is the same, but the resulting situations are totally different.

The first session is candid/real: I just wait for my wife appearing in doing some homework and shoot. 

The ambient light is soft and diffused, so that there are not hard shadows. There is a sense of calm and protection proposed by the day by day life at home.

The second session is staged: I arranged a "micro-thriller" story about an assault by an obscure person, in the same place that we perceived safe in the previous session.

There is no change in the point of view, but there is a change in illumination: the end of the corridor is totally dark and gives a sense of unknown, unsafe. The woman feels uncomfortable when she is going out of the illuminated room.

However the menace is not coming from the dark room: is coming from behind.

I arranged a strong light coming from the side room, so that I could obtain hard shadows in the composition: shadows play a major role in the composition and in the story as well.

In conclusion, even if I did not feel comfortable about this assignment, I honestly believe I finally reached the goal and I was not afraid to be experimental and tip over the original concept at the base of "Two sides of the story". This is why I did not change the point of view, but changed the view (stage).

In order to add more "drama" to the second set of photos, I could push further and do some post-production, like to overemphasize contrast. However this action could end in a clearly manipulated reality.

Formative feedback

Student name	Giorgio Colonna	Student number	514841
Course/Unit	Context & Narrative	Assignment number	1
Type of tutorial	Written

Overall Comments

This is a positive start to the course, Giorgio.

I’m very pleased to see that you’ve created an entirely new learning log for this module. Try to use the learning log (or accompanying notebook) for your thoughts and ideas as you go along, and bear in mind that the LL has the potential to be so much more than a receptacle for coursework and assignments.

Your assignment is well-conceived, to a point, but could benefited from more initial experimentation and also more research into how other practitioners have dealt with the kind of mood(s) you wish to convey – visual tropes, construction of mise en scene. Nevertheless this is a difficult assignment brief and your idea certainly has the potential to be developed further – perhaps along the lines of how the domestic space can become transformed at night through the eyes and mind of a child who is afraid of the dark (for example)?

I look forward to seeing your second assignment. Please provide a representative contact sheet with assignment 2, if possible.

Assessment potential

You may want to get credit for your hard work and achievements with the OCA by formally submitting your work for assessment at the end of the module. More and more people are taking the idea of lifelong learning seriously by submitting their work for assessment but it is entirely up to you. We are just as keen to support you whether you study for pleasure or to gain qualifications. Please consider whether you want to put your work forward for assessment and let me know your decision when you submit Assignment 2. I can then give you feedback on how well your work meets the assessment requirements.

Feedback on assignment

Demonstration of Technical and Visual Skills

·       A good decision to use a tripod and maintain the same position throughout, lending a kind of stop-frame effect to the way the narrative unfolds.

·       You’ve made careful use of the mirror and internal frames within the scene, and this works very well in some of the images. However, I wonder if this is at the expense of the main subject, who some how feels a little remote in most of these images? (As I viewer, I feel rather distant from the ‘action’.)

·       On a technical point, the visual emphasis on the subject could be (/could have been) improved through the use of flash (balanced with the ambient light) softened with either a shoot-through brolly or softbox.

Quality of Outcome

·       There’s a clear narrative throughout both series, so in this respect you’ve conveyed your idea quite well.

·       However, for me the second series is problematic because it has a slightly comical feel. This could be because the light coming from inside the side room appears to be sunlight? Try converting the second set to black & white and see what effect that has.

·       Think about the connotations of black & white in terms of film noir, surreality, imagination… etc.

·       A project like this would ideally evolve over a number of shoots, I would suggest, with careful editing and development of the ideas between shoots. Story-boarding can also be a very useful technique to help visualize ideas.

Demonstration of Creativity

(Imagination, experimentation, invention, development of a personal voice)

·       This is an imaginative response to the brief and you’ve shown creativity and playfulness in setting up some of the shots (e.g. showing the shadow of the pair of hands).

·       The development of your “personal voice” really does hinge on choosing subjects, experiences or ideas that have real meaning and interest for you.

Coursework

·       You’ve engaged well with the coursework and produced some well-observed street-photography for exercise 2. The first two images are especially interesting in the way they highlight the contemporary & increasingly ubiquitous posture adopted by users interaction of mobile devices (most of us!)

·       . As a further exercise, think about the possible narratives suggested by each image, and record your thoughts for each one

·       You’ve made some critical analysis of the images chosen for exercise 1. Is it possible credit the photographers? Are you able to conduct further research into your feeling that the second picture is staged? You rightly point out that whether or not the image is staged, the explicit message (and effect) remains the same (partly because of traditional assumptions around the photography’s “truth”).

Research

Context, reflective thinking, critical thinking, analysis  

(Reflective thinking, research, critical thinking, analysis)

·       The FSA makes a for a rich and fascinating case study in the history of photography. You might be interested to know the Smithsonian Institute has made available recordings of spoken accounts by Roy Stryker and many of the photographers involved in the project. (By the way – what a good find of yours ‘In This Proud Land’.)

·       With regard to your question about Helen Levitt and the ‘reportage’ label, I’d suggest the point here is that the photographs have the potential to be viewed within a wide range of contexts, e.g. historical; political; aesthetic, etc. Whereas the reception is to some extent dependent on the context, it does not alter the photographer’s original vision or intent.

·       I would stress the importance of reading widely for your personal interests – be curious about the things that interest you, as this will feed your enthusiasm and scope for expression in your own work.

Learning Log

Context, reflective thinking, critical thinking, analysis  

·       This is off to a good start. I’d like to recommend improved filtering as the blog grows – now is a good time to set up quick and clear access to assignments, coursework, research (visual & theoretical).

·       Utilising the horizontal menu bar - adding drop-down menus – can work very well indeed for navigation, especially as more and more material is added to the LL.

·       The log should also function as a blog or notebook for your thoughts and ideas as they develop; including tests, experiments, independent research, self-reflection.

Suggested reading/viewing

·       The Blues – Mitra Tabrizian – note the psychological effect of the blue colour cast and its contribution to the general mise en scene.

·       In Through the Out Door – artwork by Storm Thorgeson for a Led Zeppelin album cover: “Six viewpoints of the same man in the bar, seen by the six other characters. Six different versions of the same image.”

·       Ray’s a Laugh – Richard Billingham – think about the different perspectives in the production vs reception of this work, raising questions of representation.

·       Theatres of the Real – Nigel Shafran, with essay by David Green, Constructing the Real: Staged Photography and the Documentary Tradition

Pointers for the next assignment / assessment

·       Document the various stages of project development in your learning log, including tests, successes and failures.

·       Experiment, explore, take risks – the results may surprise you.

·       Shoot what genuinely interest you.

·       If you would like to send me a brief outline of your idea for the next assignment, when you’re ready, I will try to suggest some references for your research.

Please let me know how you would like your feedback for the next assignment: written/video/phone.

Reflection on Tutor Report and Rework

According to Tutor's feedback:

"However, for me the second series is problematic because it has a slightly comical feel. This could be because the light coming from inside the side room appears to be sunlight? Try converting the second set to black & white and see what effect that has."

I reworked the second series in black & white, highly contrasted, and reframed all shots.

I agree with the Tutor that b&w gave a bit more suggestion to the series, however I believe that reframing and zooming-in helped the composition to involve more deeply the viewer in the scene.