ASSIGNMENT 3 – Martyn Rainbird

Assignment 3 Rework

The main aim of the rework as identified by my tutor’s feedback was to improve the narrative as it was unclear what the viewer should be looking at. It was felt than an objective viewer would not understand the aim of my series. A combination of my convoluted narrative and the layout hindered the submission.

A strong recommendation from my tutor was to give the assignment a title. I thought I had chosen ‘My Media Diary’ but this must have been so bland that my tutor did not recognise it as a title. I gave this feedback some thought and after reflecting on it chose to pick a song title ‘21st Century Man‘ that captured the modernity of media consumption. This title would reinforce the narrative and I felt that this change was a good idea.

My tutor had also identified that I had not followed up on his artist recommendations from previous assignments. This was a fair point so I decided to research Peter Fraser [15], one of my tutor’s suggestions. Fraser is a photographer using the mundane and everyday. His subjects carefully chosen and straightforward but include examples of nostalgia and use of colour. His work gave me confidence to amend some of the tighter close up images from my original set, including more in the frame. Interestingly his work also helped me go slightly tighter on some images to clarify the subject.

I took on board the feedback to use a text device to improve the narrative by using diary entries from a single day. The narrative would be one day, from waking up to bedtime. I initially thought I would need to reshoot some scenes but found I already had enough images to fulfil the story. The ‘CD’ story needed to be clearer so I replaced a wider table shot with a tighter Bluetooth headphones shot. For the ‘Book’ story I chose a wider bookshelf image to make it more about books.

I re-cropped and changed orientation to landscape for all of the images. Some of the images I felt where cropped too tightly such as the DVDs in the cabinet. By making it a wider angle I included the other DVD boxes which showed a collection rather than the viewer thinking it was all about ‘Shawshank Redemption’. I tightened up on the Amazon Alexa device to give less distractions.

As it was now a ‘day in the life’ series the five stories/chapters would be sequential. I over-complicated the original series by overlapping them. This was hindered even more by variations in orientation. I decided to keep the aspect ratio relating to the old media format but the narrative would be clearer by having a consistent orientation.

My final challenge was the layout in the eBook. I had already identified this as being a difficult process for me in the original submission. My decision for my reworked book was to keep all four images in each set the same size. I started and ended with two images on a page to give a consistent beginning and end – a days cycle.

There were other parings I wanted to keep on a double page spread, particulary the ‘TV’ story images with the Amazon remote control and ‘Sneaky Pete’. These I felt could be full bleed as was suggested by my tutor.

As I had started and ended with two images on a page I needed at least one other page containing two images. The result was to put a full ‘LP’ story on a two page spread.

Text positioning was also difficult as I had no rules or idea other than to not have text associated with every image. This added variety and also offered the viewer some space to read the images.

Here are my text and image selection for the reworked submission.

Diary entry 13/12/17

Overslept! Radio reception playing up so didn’t hear it.

“Alexa! Play Radio 5 Live.”

“Alexa! Set alarm for 7.30am tomorrow.”

Snowing, so working from home today. Everybody’s out so can play my music a bit louder.

The kids will be back later. They won’t want to listen to my stuff!

I wonder if the CD they bought me last year for Father’s Day is available to stream?

Finished work. Kids home now.

What was I listening to?

Ah yes that was it. This library has everything. Happy to get rid of DVDs, CDs and books, but my LPs…

Kids have finished with the telly.

Someone at work recommended a new TV series…

Maybe time to send some DVDs to charity.

Where did I put my tablet?

Need to catch up with football news.

I need some new bedtime reading. I wonder if Kindle have a Jeremy Corbyn biography?

Reworked Submission – 21st Century Man

My assignment submission, 21st Century Man, is presented as an eBook and can be viewed by clicking this link.

This submission is the culmination of ‘Putting yourself in the picture’. which covered self-portraits and self-absented portraiture. The assignment raised challenges whichever route I took as discussed in my Early Ideas post [1].

I was keen to understand the mundane Washing-up series by Nigel Shafran [2], as I was dismissive of his work in my coursework post [10]. It raised questions as to why I liked Wolfgang Tillmans’ desk in Studio Still Life [8] and not Shafran’s sink. They are both showing us something about their daily life and the places where they spend a lot of their time. I started taking Shafran a little more seriously after reading an interview [3] he’d had with Charlotte Cotton where he described his process. As a result I decided to take this opportunity to produce a self-absented portraiture project inspired by Shafran’s work.

My diary [4] concentrated on my leisure activities around the home and it became obvious that I spent a lot of time wearing Bluetooth headphones, listening to mp3 music and watching You Tube and Netflix. I noted that I played a CD the other day which was probably the first time this year. This made me think about the analogue to digital media age, including photography. I had already noted the things I now take for granted around the home – books on shelves, DVD cabinet, CD Cabinet, Vinyl LPs tucked away.

I was also intrigued by the notion presented by psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos [11], that stress in the modern age is on the increase due to humans not keeping pace with technology and how quickly technology has moved on relative to mankind’s existence. We used to be ‘deep divers’, reading books, LP sleeve notes. Now we are ‘jet skiers’ skimming across readily available digital media.

I have attempted to produce a narrative of my daily interaction with analogue and digital media which will tell the viewer a lot about me without me being present. I don’t want the images to be too staged as I want to make it like a wander around my home. The older media will be shown in cabinets fairly well organised and unused. The modern media will be shown in current use.

My research [5] involved looking at Abelardo Morell’s Childhood [6] series of objects from around the home from a child’s perspective. I also decided to use a technique that Paul Graham had used in Shimmer of Possibility [7] where he produced a series of small stories and combined it with the process of looking and glancing at the subject and surroundings.

Peter Fraser [15] was recommended in my tutor feedback as a photographer who uses the mundane and everyday. His work gave me confidence to amend some of the tighter close up images from my original set, including more in the frame. Interestingly his work also helped me go slightly tighter on some images to clarify the subject.

After a number of presentation iterations [12] and tutor feedback [13], I have presented my diary in the form of an eBook that shows my interaction with media and provides an insight to my home life. There are 5 ‘stories’, each made up of 4 images. The five stories represent one day, from morning through to evening.

The development of the images and my creative choices are described in my Contact Sheets and Edits [8] post. In addition, my rework post [14] details the reasons behind the changes I made to the original submission.

The images and text are available to view in the rework post [14] in case there are problems viewing the pubHTML5 eBook. Note: Image quality on a Windows platform is improved by increasing the magnification. Refer to Late Changes post 12] for discussion of variability across platforms.

Although I have embraced new technology, as this assignment demonstrates, I am still left with a feeling of nostalgia where I reminisce about simpler times.

References:

M. Rainbird, Early Ideas post, 2017
Nigel Shafran Washing-up [accessed 24/11/2017]
Nigel Shafran and Charlotte Cotton interview 2004 [accessed 27/11/2017]
M. Rainbird, Diary Ideas post, 2017
M. Rainbird, Research post, 2017
Abellardo Morell, Childhood, 1986-1991
Paul Graham, Shimmer of Possibility, 2007
Wolfgang Tillmans, Studio Still Life, 2014
M. Rainbird, Contact Sheets and Edit post, 2017
M. Rainbird, Self-absented Portraiture post, 2017
Dr Linda Papadopoulos , Psychologist [accessed 15/12/2017]
M. Rainbird, Late Changes post, 2017
12a. Graham. P, Whiteness of the Whale, MACK, 2015
12b. Paul Graham, Shimmer of Possibility, 2007 [accessed 24/11/2017]
12c. Designing an Exhibition Wall [accessed 16/12/2017]
12d. Image [&] Narrative Vol 16, No 3 (2015), B. Lockemann essay [accessed 16/12/2017]
12e. Beyond the Decisive Moment: Temporality and Montage in Paul Graham’s A Shimmer of Possibility, Bettina Lockeman, 2015,[PDF]
12f. Blas Gonzales- Putting Yourself in the picture, OCA post, Rob Bloomfield [accessed 16/12/2017]
M.Rainbird, Response to Tutor Feedback post 2018
M.Rainbird, Assignment 3 Rework post, 2018
M.Rainbird, Peter Fraser post, 2018

Reflection on Tutor Feedback

There are a lot of positives within the report particularly the use of the eBook and the comment ‘You have evidenced your ability and enthusiasm to be open minded about non-traditional approaches’. Another positive is the comment ‘The images are straightforward and competently shot’…well I’ve taken it in a positive manner even if it may not be the most glowing of praise.

My attention is drawn to the comments regarding the effectiveness of the narrative within the eBook and whether an objective viewer would understand what they are supposed to be looking at. Changes to my edit and the layout will help with this, although I have had no feedback on individual images successful or otherwise. Looking at my submission again, and a brief view of Peter Fraser’s work, I think the tighter cropped images can be reworked to offer a clearer idea of my subject.

I take on board the suggestion of using a text device, especially in light of it being a diary, so there are a number of ways forward on this. Captions and text have become a confusing area for me based on previous feedback from my current and previous tutors. For this assignment I didn’t really give this much thought as I had feedback from my previous submission still fresh in my ears.

I will rework the assignment with a view to modifying the edit and adding some text. My first thought is to add a diary entry for each of my 5 ‘stories’, possibly covering a single day. ie. Woke up and asked Alexa to “play Radio 5 Live”. Possibly the whole diary entry will be a single day. Woke up and listened to news on Alexa; Logged in to work on Laptop and listened to music on Bluetooth speaker and then headphones.;Logged off laptop and sat down to listen to Amazon Music on headphones; Decided to watch TV/ movie on streaming device; Caught up on my social media world before going to bed.

I will hopefully be able to use existing shots for my re-edit by changing tight crops and orientations. I would like to stick with the same aspect ratio idea for the ‘old’ media size format. My main area of concern is amending the book layout and decision making on full bleed pages and how many images per page. I am up for the challenge on this as I have enjoyed putting the eBook together and I will hopefully gain in my knowledge in this area.

Assignment 3 – Tutor Feedback

I have received feedback from my tutor: Assignment 3 Tutor Feedback

My Media Diary – Self Evaluation

Demonstration of technical and visual skills

I continued to try out various techniques throughout this assignment. I started out using hand held with zoom lenses, playing around with compositions, moving on to on-board flash trying out different moods.

Although I wanted to capture everyday scenes around my home I needed to ensure that I removed any distractions that may have impacted the reading of the image.As a result the scenes were staged to a certain extent but there was no major re-arrangement of rooms. An additional issue arose due to it being December, resulting in decorations going up at a surprising rate around the house.

My major influence for the wider room scenes was Nigel Shafran’s Washing -Up series. He had stated in an interview that the things around the edges added interest so I was comfortable with some of the miscellaneous items being in the frame.

This was my first proper ‘indoor’ assignment and I struggled with some of the shots, in particular the twitter tablet shot. This room was fairly dark in the corner where I required the bookshelf in the background. The brightness of the transmitted light from the device contrasting against the subdued natural light of the background made this a challenge. I had several attempts at setting this up, including bringing in a fill light, but I am still not happy with the result.

Quality of outcome

I have a concern with the final production quality of the eBook and the variations across platforms meaning the viewing experience is out of my control. However, I feel this highlights the nature of new technology where the rate of change in technology leads to incompatibility between hardware and software…and user!

This was my first experience of producing an eBook which has been frustrating at times especially when trying to use free and open-source tools. It has still been worth doing and I am confident that it was the right presentation choice for this assignment.

Once again I have spent a lot of time reflecting on my decisions and given the idea a chance to develop. Once I was happy with the individual images I spent a week on the final presentation and engrossed myself in the options and settings of the eBook. One example being the background, where I have settled on a wood grain effect to represent the diary sitting on a table or desk. The wood grain also complements a lot of the furniture around my home. I feel that this level of thought and detail adds a level of quality to the final submission.

Demonstration of creativity

The eBook offers an interactive experience allowing the viewer to flip back and forth studying aspects of the images not seen initially. Obviously a printed book would offer higher production values and a full control of the final image but would not be in-keeping with my narrative of analogue to digital.

The layout and aspect ratios of the images was a stumbling block as I wasn’t sure I had the experience and good judgement to make these decisions. Paul Graham’s layouts for Shimmer of possibility were well considered but I was concerned mine would end up looking a little haphazard. By choosing aspect ratios matching the old media gave me confidence that I had the basis for a decision making process. The orientation decisions were consistent across each set where the wider angle (first and last images of each set) were landscape, the close-up images were portrait. Obviously this does not impact the 1×1 image set.

The ordering was important to the ‘cadence’ of the series: three from the same story; introduce a new a story; add the ‘end’ image of the previous story to the middle of the current story; The final image of the series leaves the story unresolved and is positioned on a double page spread next to a blank page ready for the next diary entry.

Sizing of the images was the next creative choice and I chose sizes that gave the page layout a scrap-book informal feel which relates to the look of a diary. My tendency was to align things consistently so it was a struggle to get the balance right.

One of my earlier versions moved the whole series forward 1 page so that the double page spreads showed images from 3 stories rather than 2. This version became too confused and the stories became muddled. The images lost their impact and were stronger with 3 together across a 2 page spread. I thought placing a single image on one page to introduce a new story worked well with regard to representing the start of a new day in the diary.

Context

Capturing the mundane was a key device to conveying the day to day life of a mature, distance learning, art photography student. The artist I used to kick off the assignment was Nigel Shafran, not only his Washing-Up series, but some of his bookshelf and empty container series. I was quite critical of this work when I initially wrote about it in the coursework exercise. However, by trying this style out for my assignment I have learnt to understand and acknowledge other levels that can be conveyed by an artist.

Abellardo Morell provided more examples of taking photos from around the home, although his were in black and white as I feel he was attempting to have them accepted by the art world. There was obviously a lot of staging and careful consideration to lighting in the Childhood series and as a result I do not consider these to be mundane.

Paul Graham’s Shimmer of Possibility was another influence due to the use of multiple shots of the same scene. Although this series is a street photography/documentary piece it shows the use of photography in replicating the stages of a viewers gaze. It is also a good example of the use of ‘cadence’ and the way a book can control the way a series is viewed. I have attempted to use these ideas in the eBook that I have produced for this series.

My Media Diary – Contact Sheets and Edit

The initial idea was based on books and bookshelves (01-25) and the idea moved on to the change from analogue to digital media and the new devices I used to consume it. I started taking shots of my Vinyl LP’s, DVD’s, CD’s and books and paired them off against the smartphone, tablet, bluetooth headphones and streaming TV services.

My early images were fairly close up but my aim was to include lots of everyday items within the frame and around the edges to create viewing interest. I varied the shots using straight on viewpoints and angles. Although I liked the formal aspect of the straight on images (15, 39, 43, 46, 48, 56) these did not convey the informal and mundane that I required. I decided I needed a combination of wider angle and close up as I was struggling to capture everything I needed in single images.

The idea of mini stories came from Paul Graham’s Shimmer of Possibility and gave me confidence to mix up depths of field, wide angles and close ups. I wrote down some scenarios and potential shots that would create the stories:

-Walking past the old to get to the new
Passing glance at the old
Close up of the old
Move to the new
Close up of the new
Concentrate on the new

-Seated at/with the new, glance at the old, come back to the new
Concentrate on the new
Close up of the new
Glance at the old
Close up of the old
Move back to the new

-Seeing the new in the distance and passing by the old to get to the new
Long distance view of the new
Passing glance at the old
Close up of the old
Concentrate on the new
Close up of the new

I printed out some contact sheets and made selections and hand written notes prior to my final shoot with the tripod. My five stories were decided:

TV Streaming device / DVD / Living room
Reading Twitter on tablet device / Books / Study
Playing music from laptop via Bluetooth speaker / CDs / Dining room
Amazon Alexa / AM-FM Radio / Bedroom
Music from smartphone to Bluetooth headphones / LPs / Dining room

Having selected 6 images per story I found that the images all looked similar and were dominated by wooden furniture (65-110). Although I wanted the domestic aspect to be present the media side of the idea wasn’t coming across.

The final shots used for submission (111-150) were taken with a 40mm lens using a tripod so that I could achieve a clean ISO 100 and full control of exposure. The prime lens meant that I had to be physically closer for the pack-shots. All images except the bedroom radio scenes were taken in natural light. The bedroom radio shots were taken with the room light switched on to give a night time feel.

All previous test shots were hand held mostly using ‘Auto’ ISO and various zoom lenses. I used a combination of natural light and a flash gun with a mini soft box. White balance and exposure was off in most cases but this wasn’t an issue as the main aim of these shots was to work through ideas with different angles and depths of field.

My final edit of 5 sets of 4 images was chosen from images 111-150. This resulted in me selecting the following 4 styles for each of the 5 stories:
– setting the scene, wider room shot
– close up of the old
– close up of the new
– the new in situ

My subject of interest in each image is central on the horizontal plane. In most cases, but not all, it is central vertically too. My viewing angle was usually standing and in some cases sitting to convey the feeling of me being there and moving around looking at the item in my eye line.

My final decision was how to present them. I considered varying the aspect ratio and frame size but I was not confident I had clarity on how I would make such choices. I then moved to a horizontal strip with and without spacing which looked interesting as they blended together well.

My next presentation idea was on a landscape orientation using the original aspect ratio out of camera on a 2×2 grid. This way the 4 images making up each of the 5 stories can be viewed together so the eye can move around picking out items from one image and looking for them on another adding a sense of movement around the house. By printing the set of 4 images on a single A3 the individual images will be large enough to see titles of LPs and books.

The final selection of the 4 images per story was modified a few times once I had printed the 2 x 2 grids. Below is the penultimate version that I decided to rework as a result of my self evaluation.

Whilst writing up the submission and during the writing of this post I decided on the title of the piece – My Media Diary. Having settled on this for a few days and having my five A3 prints sitting on the dining room table I felt that it wasn’t quite right. The sets looked quite strong photographically and the analogue to digital media aspect came across. However, the diary concept was not on show at all and as that was the key part of the brief I decided to look at presentation ideas on the internet. See my ‘Late changes to assignment’ post.

My final submission is an eBook of 21 images consisting of my 20 selected images plus an image of the notebook I used to write my diary entries. This enhances the idea of the move from analogue to digital media consumption. The five stories are in an overlapping sequence with a single image on one page when a new media story is introduced. These signify the start of a new day and the subsequent images make reference back to a previous day.

I have cropped the images using an aspect ratio equivalent to the old media ie. 1×1 for LPs, 2.1×2.97 for DVDs, 1.4 x 1.2 for CDs. I have used nominal ratio of 1.2 x 1.9 for Books and 6×4 for AM/FM radio. The variations in sizes provide an informal feel of jotting down thoughts and notes throughout the day.

Due to issues with the eBook image quality on some browser platforms I have included the images separately in addition to the eBook. I will continue to investigate other eBook products as the course progresses but have chosen a free tool called PubHTML5 for this submission.

Early 2×2 grid layout

Contact Sheets

My Media Diary – Submission

After a number of presentation iterations [12], I have presented my diary in the form of an eBook that shows my interaction with media and provides an insight to my home life. There are 5 ‘stories’ intertwined, made up of 4 images. The five stories are in an overlapping sequence with a single image on one page at the point a new media story is introduced. These signify the start of a new day and the subsequent images make reference back to a previous day.

The development of the images and my creative choices are described in my Contact Sheets and Edits [8] post.

Click this link: My Media Diary to view the eBook. (Note: Image quality on a Windows platform is improved by increasing the magnification. Refer to Late Changes post 12] for discussion of variability across platforms).

The eBook page layout and all the stand-alone images (cropped and uncropped) are available to view in case there are problems viewing the pubHTML5 eBook.

Although I have embraced new technology, as this assignment demonstrates, I am still left with a feeling of nostalgia where I reminisce about simpler times.

References:

M. Rainbird, Early Ideas post, 2017
Nigel Shafran Washing-up [accessed 24/11/2017]
Nigel Shafran and Charlotte Cotton interview 2004 [accessed 27/11/2017]
M. Rainbird, Diary Ideas post, 2017
M. Rainbird, Research post, 2017
Abellardo Morell, Childhood, 1986-1991
Paul Graham, Shimmer of Possibility, 2007
Wolfgang Tillmans, Studio Still Life, 2014
M. Rainbird, Contact Sheets and Edit post, 2017
M. Rainbird, Self-absented Portraiture post, 2017
Dr Linda Papadopoulos , Psychologist [accessed 15/12/2017]
M. Rainbird, Late Changes post, 2017
12a. Graham. P, Whiteness of the Whale, MACK, 2015
12b. Paul Graham, Shimmer of Possibility, 2007 [accessed 24/11/2017]
12c. Designing an Exhibition Wall [accessed 16/12/2017]
12d. Image [&] Narrative Vol 16, No 3 (2015), B. Lockemann essay [accessed 16/12/2017]
12e. Beyond the Decisive Moment: Temporality and Montage in Paul Graham’s A Shimmer of Possibility, Bettina Lockeman, 2015,[PDF]
12f. Blas Gonzales- Putting Yourself in the picture, OCA post, Rob Bloomfield [accessed 16/12/2017]

My Media Diary – Late changes to assignment

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]

Research and Inspiration

My influences for Assignment 3 were still-life pieces (Nigel Shafran (b.1964) and Abellardo Morell (b. 1948)) that initially look mundane but gives an insight to the photographer. Obviously the context of such series is that we know that these are scenes from their own lives. The reading of the images would be different if we found that these were scenes of an unknown person. As a result these are examples of self-absented portraiture rather than just still-life.

Although I say ‘just still-life’, I now find that I’m agreeing with David Bate [1], that this genre is ‘one of the most neglected‘. Bate goes on to identify similarities between portraiture and still-life which combine features of subject/object and background/expression, all achieved through lighting, camera angle, lenses and props to give context.

Paul Graham’s (b. 1956) Shimmer of possibility (2004-06) was an influence due to the style and sequence of shots that I wanted to take to convey a mini story. The difference with this series is that he is telling a story of a stranger that he has come across. In addition he has produced a piece that uses photography to convey the process of looking.

Nigel Shafran – Washing-up[ 2]

Nigel Shafran’s Washing-up series is really growing on me since I first saw it as part of the self-absented portraiture section of the coursework. I was dismissive of it but looking back it made reference to ‘gender’ which seemed to antagonise me. Even if there is a gender politics aspect to it I can now read as an insight in to the artist’s life and relate it to my routines and domestic chores.

Further reading of the images I start to see a staged Gregory Crewdson (b.1962) scene [6]. Add a slightly wider angle, a couple of steps back maybe, and a person standing at the sink contemplating life.

Abelardo Morell – Childhood [3]

Abelardo Morell has covered a range of subjects in his career including experiments with Camera Obscura (2004) and use of projection. His Childhood series came about from being at home following the birth of his son. All of his work at this time is black and white although I’m not sure of his reasoning but I feel they would be more accurate and interesting in colour. His main concept is the viewing angle from a child’s perspective but the suggestion is that a child cannot see in colour. Maybe it describes the simple world of a child’s mind and imagination. One aspect I take from this series is that he’s happy following the birth of his son but trapped creatively within the home.

Paul Graham – Shimmer of possibility [4]


Gallery image of A Shimmer of Possibility - Image by Pier24.org

A Shimmer of possibility (2004 – 2006) was originally brought to my attention on my EYV module by my tutor as a reference following my Square Mile assignment. Shimmer…is a series of stories made up of individual moments in time. He uses sequences to mirror the human ability to instantly study a scene – the man, his hands, what is behind him. Graham describes a single photograph as selecting ‘one piece out of the whole’ He calls that ‘spotlight consciousness’. Whereas Shimmer isn’t spotlight. Insteas he calls it ‘lantern’, where there are multiple frames of the same scene. He expresses it as ‘moment arriving, the moment, moment after’.

Paul Graham, Shimmer of possibility 2004-06, Google images

References:

Bate. D, Photography, Bloomsbury, 2016, pp137-160
Nigel Shafran Washing-up [accessed 24/11/2017]
Abellardo Morell, Childhood, 1986-1991 [accessed 24/11/2017]
Paul Graham, Shimmer of Possibility, 2007 [accessed 24/11/2017]
M. Rainbird, Paul Graham Whiteness of the Whale post, 2016
M. Rainbird, Gregory Crewdson – Cathedral of the Pines post, 2017

Diary ideas

The diary continues. The diary confirms I spend a lot of time with Bluetooth headphones on, listening to Amazon Music and watching You Tube and Netflix. These are part of my leisure routine in addition to this course which involves blogs and internet research. This course has also re-introduced me to good old fashioned books.

I noted that I played a CD the other day which was the probably first time this year. This made me think about the analogue to digital media age, including photography. I had already noted the things I now take for granted around the home – books on shelves, DVD cabinet, CD Cabinet, Vinyl LPs tucked away.

I had an idea that would be a continuation of Assignment 2 which was about the negative events in my life using nostalgia and ephemera. I thought I would develop a new idea which looked at the nostalgia relating to listening to vinyl and CDs reading books, watching DVDs (most of my VHS went to a charity shop many years ago). I would present these images as a narrative about who I am, what my interests were and are now. These collections of archives and currently used media are all on display or in cabinets around the living space, not stored in lofts or cellars.

It will be a ‘self absented portraiture’ piece, tackling the mundane, like Nigel Shafron’s Washing Up. I will attempt to produce a narrative of my interaction with analogue and digital media which will tell the viewer a lot about me without me being present. I don’t want the images to be too staged as I want to make it like a wander around my home. The older media will be shown in cabinets fairly well organised and unused. The modern media will be shown in current use.

I was also intrigued by the notion that stress in the modern age is on the increase due to humans not keeping pace with technology and how quickly technology has moved on relative to mankind’s existence. We used to be ‘deep divers’, reading books, LP sleeve notes. Now we are ‘jet skiers’ skimming across readily available digital media.

Lighting and composition are going to be key to the success of this assignment. I want mundane day to day but also ‘photographic’. I’ll try flash and soft boxes to see what effect this has. I want the viewer to be able to read the titles of the books and CDs but I don’t want to get in to close as it is about the mundane day to day and the movement of time – analogue to digital.

I will research Nigel Shafran and Abellardo Morell as a starting point.