Photography 1
Context & Narrative
Assignment 2
Photographing The Unseen
Photography is a visual medium. It is all about something that is light reflecting. How can I portray something that does not reflect light?
A concept, a feeling, a sensation, an impression, an idea, an opinion, a mind status, a point of view, an emotion, pain, taste, fear, smell. Or some "expressions" of the nature, like sound or wind.
No subject, nothing just reflecting the light can merely and visually describe, for instance, a mind status.
However I could exploit the evocative power of images using composition, symbolism and all that can transmit messages or stimulate imagination.
I have to get out of my comfort-zone and avoid using the camera just like a descriptive instrument of this, here and now. I have to put in images what I feel and not what I see. I do not need to imagine something, I just need to catch what I feel or inject imagination in images.
After all, imagination and image both have the same root, from Latin "imago-imaginis", which means ".... the image of something or somebody that continues to have an influence on our mind....." (translated from garzantilinguistica.it, research on "imago", accessed on 12/7/2017, 22.20).
During these days I have been thinking about some ideas, especially while I was driving back and forth from home to office. During this one hour car-trip I usually listen to audiobooks, but these times I switched off and tried to do some reflecting and isolate some ideas.
I ended up with a group of mixed ideas, most of them with a negative tone. Why that? Maybe because my emotions and imagination are stimulated more by fear and/or worries? Maybe because how way of life always put us on alert status. Maybe.
Or maybe because we fear mostly the unseen?
I thought about anguish for the future, getting old, loosing somebody I love, sleepless nights, earthquake (sometimes we experience it...).
I even thought about something quite trivial, like "...something nice will happen today....", or going out for an ice cream.
At the end I selected an idea about something that I was suffering until some years ago. It is not completely gone, but I can handle it: insomnia.
MY INSOMNIA
First of all I googled for insomnia and got a huge number of images and graphics:
Most, if not all of them, are quite explicit and drive the viewer directly to the meaning, leaving no space for imagination.
I tried the same research in a stock-site (it.fotolia.com, accessed on 17/7/2017, 19:10):
Given that the content of this site is specifically addressed to advertising and marketing, I got again a huge number of images technically perfect and explicit, all in colour.
A deeper research drove me to the site of Michael Massaia, a photographer from New Jersey (michaelmassaia.com, accessed on 17/7/2017, 21:35). Between 2008 and 2014 he was suffering insomnia, so he decided be positive about this problem and produced some works about walking by night. One of these works is about Central Park, NY.
"I started documenting Central Park back in 2007 as way of coping with severe insomnia. I would commonly take long walks at night, and the park always seemed to be calling me in. I set out to document the park at its most vacant, isolating, and at times, haunting moments. The park appears to go through a period of metamorphosis during those late night/early morning hours, and I was determined to capture it."
(Michael Massaia, from michaelmassaia.com, DEEP IN A DREAM - CENTRAL PARK - 2008 - 2017, accessed 17/7/2017, 21:35)
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| Michael Massaia, Late Fall - 2012 |
Images by Massaia are black and white urban landscapes, by night: this is the meaning if the viewer simply looks to Massaia's work. In order to understand what is "behind", the narrative of the author is essential, and so why he did this work (that is related to my research).
Massaia manages his insomnia in this way. What about photographing insomnia?
How do I live insomnia?
I do not have insomnia, I live it.
I live it in the dark.
I live it in black and white.
So I decided to shoot in black and white.
When I decided to select this idea, I thought I could photographically develop it in two ways: shooting what I see/feel when I am sleepless (put myself on the side of the viewfinder) or self-portraying the sleepless-me (put myself in front of the lens).
If I put myself on the side of the viewfinder, I believe there is the possibility to build images with more evocative and symbolic power.
If I self-portrait the sleepless-me, I take back the role of photographer, so the one who will portrait a sleepless-somebody.
In this way the message sent is more explicit and gives to the viewer less freedom to give his/her own meaning.
However the following two images, if shown with no caption text, could be associated to other meanings, like depression, pain or anguish, among others.
Contact Sheet
Formative feedback
Student name Giorgio Colonna Student number 5 14841
Course/Unit Context & Narrative Assignment number 2
Type of tutorial Written
Overall Comments
Giorgio, there are some strong images here in your second assignment. This represents good progress from your first assignment and I sense the development here of a more creative approach. The assignment series itself could be improved with some alterations and more contextual research, to inform your idea, which I will outline below.
The learning log, though functioning well enough, needs some work on the front page (think of it as a kind of book-cover) and also much more in the way of research and reflection.
Let me have in advance, please, your outline proposal for assignment 3 so that I can recommend references for you to research/analyse/critique.
I recommend reading ahead assignment 4 soon, so that you can start thinking about an image to discuss for your essay. It makes sense for the image to relate somehow to your own area of practice. For example, interior/domestic/private life has so far featured in both of your assignments.
Assessment potential
I understand your aim is to go for the Photography/Creative Arts* Degree and that you plan to submit your work for assessment at the end of this course. From the work you have shown in this assignment, providing you commit yourself to the course, I believe you have the potential to pass at assessment. In order to meet all the assessment criteria, there are certain areas you will need to focus on, which I will outline in my feedback.
Feedback on assignment
Demonstration of Technical and Visual Skills
• Overall the images are of a consistently good quality and well-composed.
• You make reference to your choice of black and white, in your written reflection, and I agree that in this instance, B&W suits the subject matter very much and is perfectly appropriate. (I would however like to see a set of the final images in colour, for comparision.)
Quality of Outcome
• A good approach to conduct a Google Image search. Next time, consider broadening your search: e.g. “insomnia art”, etc. (Remember that as an OCA student you now have access to the UCA online library, too.)
• At present the images are presented in small groups/pairs and so I’m not quite sure what your ‘final’ (at this stage) decisions are with regard to submission.
• You rightly consider the viewer’s perspective, so: Is this a self-portrait about your insomnia? Or a series about the universal experience of insomnia? There may of course be elements of both, but the position of the viewer must be considered in order to achieve a coherence in the work. (In one image I see a figure in a bed and I am removed from that figure; in the next I see an arm on a pillow and I am no longer removed…).
• Only one picture of tablets is necessary; likewise the (very effective) restless-figure
image. Resist doubling-up, as this actually weakens and disrupts the narrative.
• For me, images 1, 3, 4 are the most evocative; the head-in-hands image is strong; as
is the penultimate image on your contact sheets (from my limited view).
Demonstration of Creativity
• Your idea comes across well in your written reflection. Please do make more regular journal entries in your learning log to chart these creative ‘journeys’ as they unfold.
• As you say yourself, you stepped out side of your ‘comfort zone’ for this assignment, the result being that you have stretched yourself and explored more possibilities than previously – well done.
Coursework
• This is all feeding into your practice, as it is intended to. Use the coursework as a launch-pad to research more widely, and to flex your creative interpretation.
Research
Context (reflective thinking, critical thinking, analysis)
• Limited levels of reflection and research, here, and little evidence of analysis or synthesis of information.
• My feeling is that you are engaging with this side of your studies but that this is not being reflected in your Learning Log.
• Make sure your LL does justice to your work. Also, research more widely; follow you curiosity from one research-lead to another; enrich your original ideas this way.
Learning Log
Context (reflective thinking, critical thinking, analysis)
• Take a look at other student’s learning logs; use the log (and student forums) as a platform to engage with the work of other students – an exchange of feedback can be very motivating and helpful.
As mentioned previously, 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. Currently the LL is purely a receptacle for your coursework and assignment, and there needs to be much more of a sense of you personal Learning ‘journey’.
• A distinct lack of images in your learning log. This is, after all, a visual arts course and you are expected to engage in visual material (and reading) as well as with examples of your own practice through research and reflection.
• There needs to be dedicated space for reflection on your feedback for each assignment
– currently missing for Assignment 1.
Suggested Reading/Viewing
• Dr David Bate, Photography: The Key Concepts. Read the chapters most suited to your
current ideas and practice; recommended.
• Look for literary references to insomnia, to broaden your arc of context and to hone your skills in independent research; also (perhaps) to help articulate your idea through the use of some choice quotes. A famous example lies in the delirious insomnia of Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth.
• Jeff Wall, Insomnia
• Louise Bourgeios, Insomnia Drawings
• Plus… … … recommendations outstanding from previous feedback…
Summary
Strengths
• Good technical skills.
• Aesthetic effect very suited to the subject, particularly in terms of the Surrealist ideas around sleep and the warping of our usual experience of time (though you don’t explicitly mention this?)
• Overall a significant leap forward, creatively, from the work produced for Assignment 1.
Areas for development
• More contextual research needed: How have other practitioners approached related topics, and how will your work differ from, or be informed by, this?
• As before: document the various stages of project development in your Learning log, including inspirations, tests, successes and failures, research, reflection.
• Tutor reports are an important part of the learning journey – please reappraise assignment work in light of tutor feedback, before submitting next assignment.
Reflection on Tutor Report and Rework
According to Tutor's feedback, I have reworked the set of images.
"....At present the images are presented in small groups/pairs and so I’m not quite sure what your ‘final’ (at this stage) decisions are with regard to submission......"
"....You rightly consider the viewer’s perspective, so: Is this a self-portrait about your insomnia? Or a series about the universal experience of insomnia? There may of course be elements of both, but the position of the viewer must be considered in order to achieve a coherence in the work. (In one image I see a figure in a bed and I am removed from that figure; in the next I see an arm on a pillow and I am no longer removed…)."
"...Only one picture of tablets is necessary; likewise the (very effective) restless-figure
image. Resist doubling-up, as this actually weakens and disrupts the narrative...."
I reflected on this points and agree totally: I have underestimated the presentation and its influence on the narrative. Maybe I focused on the quality of the single image.
So I re-arranged it in two groups, and made a further selection of images.
...............
If I put myself on the side of the viewfinder, I believe there is the possibility to build images with more evocative and symbolic power.
If I put myself in front of the lens, the story is about me and my experience. I am emotionally involved in what I shoot, so the outcome is a group of images is less symbolic and more direct.
As I wrote in another part of the blog @ http://cen51841oca.blogspot.com/p/part-2-project-2_6.html
I even believe that the level of authorial control that each of us put in their work is proportional with the level of personal involvement of each author in the story. This is maybe the reason why have been more comfortable in producing imaging with myself as main character.
As I wrote in another part of the blog @ http://cen51841oca.blogspot.com/p/part-2-project-2_6.html
I even believe that the level of authorial control that each of us put in their work is proportional with the level of personal involvement of each author in the story. This is maybe the reason why have been more comfortable in producing imaging with myself as main character.
".....I would however like to see a set of the final images in colour, for comparision......"
