Although I was happy with the 20 images I had selected I felt that the presentation of five A3 pages containing 4 equally sized images was not right. They did not convey any aspect of the ‘diary’, which was a key feature of the original brief and the device that led to the choice of subject for this assignment.
I referred back to Paul Graham’s ‘The Whiteness of the Whale’ [1] book that includes a selection of the Shimmer of possibility [2] series. The layout of the images in the book and on the gallery wall raised questions about the choices taken on sizing and positioning. I knew about the notion of multiple glances which I had attempted to use but I wanted to understand sizing and placement as I could only foresee producing a random mess.
A Google search led me to a very informative article [2] by Joseph Daniel Valencia, an intern at the Getty museum who was working on a Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition in 2015. He outlined ‘three considerations that show that even minor design choices can have an impact on how visitors enjoy and understand an artist’s work’. Planning the wall space, Orienting the frames, Contextualising the subject.
By using digital tools to design the wall layouts they could see early on what worked and what wasn’t quite right resulting in decisions to place smaller images either side of a doorway on a small wall to make it less crowded. A simple swap of two images can change an awkward layout to a balanced one. A decision they took for one of Mapplethorpe’s more contentious series was to place them in a case and not on the wall. This meant that it wasn’t on full display and was placed in the final room so that the viewer would have an understanding of the artist’s career and would be able to judge it with that knowledge.
My next find was an essay [5] by artist and theoretician Bettina Lockemann, published in the Image [&] Narrative online magazine[4]. This was a detailed discussion of the sequence of the shots and what they conveyed to the viewer. One of the key elements I learnt was ‘cadence’ and how a book allows you to control what is viewed and how it is viewed. Techniques of starting and stopping the flow, even offering the ability to go back to check a detail in a before and after scene.
‘…time and movement in the photobook are threefold: there is the photographs’ time, the pacing provided in the arrangement of the photographs, and the viewer’s time. The [Shimmer…] Louisiana sequence clearly demonstrates the three elements of temporality in the photobook. The photographs show movement or standstill. The arrangement makes the viewer turn the pages in a specific way, and each viewer will find her own timing in the perception of the book.’-B. Lockemann
My final place of research was from a post on the OCA website by tutor Rob Bloomfield relating to a student submission for this assignment [6]. This really highlighted that it was the overall product that was successful not just the images. In fact, the images were subsidiary to the video, the interaction, the music and the diary text and layout. In addition the creator was also in the video by way of his hands turning the pages.
I decided to produce a document, specifically an electronic document to be in-keeping with the my story. I wanted it to be more that just a Word document or pdf and investigated page turning features (flip-book) which required some additional tools and understanding. After a few unsuccessful trials I found PubHTML5 allowed me to put a link in to my blog and provided the user an eBook page turning experience.
This product had the advantage of being free and not placing a watermark across the centre of the pages. The downside is the variable nature of the image quality of the finished product. The highest quality images were produced when viewing on a Mac OS platform and Android tablet. Windows 10 web browsers ranged from being ok on MS-Edge and MS-Internet Explorer to totally unacceptable on Chrome (PC and Android). After trialling a number of export and import settings I think the final eBook is acceptable across all the platforms that I have tested it on.
I have decided to submit the pubHTML5 version for this assignment and then make a decision, after tutor feedback, on the assessment submission format. In fact this is apposite to my experience of software applications and the multitude of devices and platforms available. A paperback book could be read in most places but now you have an Amazon Kindle version, a proprietary Android version and an iTunes version. Compatibility has become more troublesome than in the days of knowing whether your record player could play 78s, LPs or 7″ singles.
Although I have embraced new technology, as this assignment demonstrates, I am still left with a feeling of nostalgia and reminiscing about simpler times.
References:
- Graham. P, Whiteness of the Whale, MACK, 2015
- Paul Graham, Shimmer of Possibility, 2007 [accessed 24/11/2017]
- Designing an Exhibition Wall [accessed 16/12/2017]
- Image [&] Narrative Vol 16, No 3 (2015) , Lockemann [accessed 16/12/2017]
- Beyond the Decisive Moment: Temporality and Montage in Paul Graham’s A Shimmer of Possibility, Bettina Lockeman, 2015,[PDF]
- Blas Gonzales- Putting Yourself in the picture, OCA post, Rob Bloomfield [accessed 16/12/2017]
Martyn Rainbird 