Monthly Archives: April 2020

Unit 2: Exercise 3: Poetry Interpretation

Posted on by
Reply

Choose a poem that resonates with you then interpret it through photographs.
Don’t attempt to describe the poem but instead give a sense of the feeling of the
poem and the essence it exudes. Start by reading the poem a few times (perhaps
aloud) and making a note of the feelings and ideas it promotes, how you respond
to it, what it means to you and the mental images it raises in your mind.
Next, think about how you’re going to interpret this visually and note down your
ideas in your learning log.
You may choose to develop this idea into creating a short series of images
reflecting your personal response to the poem (or another poem). Write some
reflective notes about how you would move the above exercise on. The number
of pictures you choose to produce for the exercises and assignments in this
course, including this one, is up to you.
Try to keep in mind the following tips for knowing when you have done
enough/not done enough:

  1. Are the images repeating themselves? Are there three versions of the
    same picture for example? Can you take two out?
  2. Does each image give a different point of view or emphasise a point you
    want to make?
  3. Do the images sit well together visually?
  4. Have you given the viewer enough information? Would another picture
    help?

Poem Choice

The poem I have chosen was written by Maya Angelou. The first time I heard this poem was when it accompanied an opening video clip to the Wimbledon woman’s singles final in 2017 and the focus was on Serena Williams and as a black woman how she has overcome the odds to achieve sporting greatness and achievement. The visual analogy really touched me, so the imagery with the text must have worked well for it to have resonated.

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

Notes of Feelings as I read the poem aloud

Hope and resilience sums up my feelings on the whole.

Motivated to never give up. A feeling of strength

I can relate to this, a feeling of familiarity that resonates at this time of Covid 19 lockdown restrictions placed on our freedom of movement

“Oil wells pumping in my living room, gold mines in my back yard” signifies wealth that is beyond material objects, these could be instead health, happiness, love, peace and respect. These statements in the poem I also interpret as self pride and self esteem, these descriptions of wealth, although described as in the home and yard can also be synonymous with things that are within the boundaries of the individual that no one else has the ability to alter of affect if the individual chooses this.

Ideas About How am I going to interpret this visually?

Image 1 The Certainty of Nature

Maya Angelou talks of the certainty of the sun, moon and tides, which is the certainty of nature’s cycles. I observe the certainty of nature on my daily walks, blossoming trees where petals will certainly fall, muddy paths that certainly dry as the warm weather arrives. The certainty of nature in my garden where rose bushes come back to life and bloom every year, where grass grows more vigorously in the spring, where birds nest every year. This certainty in a time of unprecedented uncertainty brings an enormous sense of well being and stability.

Image 2 & 3 We all have choices at a time of struggle ( Fork in a path and also joyful positive attitude of people in my family)

“Do you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes?” The poet asks the question but knowing that is exactly what they want to see and she defys this with a choice of positive attitude. We have a choice to be positive or negative about a situation beyond our control. We are in control of what attitude we choose. In the face of adversity we can choose to do what the poet has done, to be sexy and sassy and walk like you have all the wealth in the world.

Image 4 Hope – where there is hope there is a reason to continue

Light at the end of a tunnel or light shining through the trees – the rainbows drawn in windows are a symbol of hope.

Image 5 ( Opposites : Good and Bad, Old and New )

The poem is about good and evil and different social groups and opposites in attitudes and behaviours. An image that has dichotomy or opposites in a juxtaposition would be an interesting interpretation to the overarching theme of the poem

Image 6 (Resilience – strong, protective shield, gate, wall that stands the test of time)

This could also be ruins that are still standing or even a small plant growing through a crack in the pavement or through a brick wall or a very old three that has stood the test of time

Contact Sheets

unit-2-poem-exercise-contact-sheet-candnDownload

Image Selection

I have annotated the contact sheet to show the different images that relate to the categories or main themes of the poem : certainty, choices, hope, resilience

With the choices category I have chosen images of people with a joyous attitude, showing that we can choose our attitude in any situation.

Final Outcome

I have taken text from the poem that resonates with each image.

Top Left Image : Does my sassiness upset you? This image shows “choices” where a positive attitude has been chosen through the lockdown period, making the most of what we have, our daily exercise walks and beautiful surroundings to walk in are positives to choose to embrace. The blue sky and sunlight give a positive upbeat feel to the image and the green ties in with the other images, the outdoors theme runs through each image to tie them together. In the poem, for Maya Angelou who wrote the poem, she chose a positive attitude and self pride during times of racism and oppression, and this is what this verse describes.

Top Right Image : Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave I chose a very old, large tall tree to describe “resilience” and strength above all odds. There is a smaller, less significant man made steel mast in the background that signifies the oppressors and how much weaker and of a temporary nature this represents. The text “I rise, I rise, I rise” at the end of the verse signifies the tree rising into the sky as it continues to grow. This image I feel represents the situation we find ourselves in, the small steel structure represents COVID 19 which is smaller, and of a temporary nature compared to the tree which represents resilience and strength.

The brown shape of the tree that dominates the image ties in with the ground in the first image (top left) and also the other two images where this brown tone exists in the image of the sheep with bush in the background and the brown colour of the entrance of the tunnel.

Bottom Left Image: Into a Daybreak That’s Wondrously Clear The light at the end of the tunnel in this image signifies “hope” This image has the brown and green tones that ties it visually with the others in the series. This is the disruptor image in the series since it has a large amount of concrete that dominates the image which is different to the others, it also is more abstract than the others in the set. The outdoor element to this image ties it to the others too. The Poem signifies light at daybreak which also signifies hope, the line “leaving behind nights of terror and fear” relates to someone who walks through this dark tunnel and then comes out the other side into the light. Covid 19 lockdown and the situation the virus has created is synonymous with dark unpleasant tunnel but at the end there is normality and light again.

Bottom Right Image: “With the certainty of the tides” – this image is about certainty, every year baby sheep are born and the cycle of nature continues despite the turmoil that is happening in the world – the present turmoil is presently Covid 19 but Maya Angelou’s poem relates to the racism and oppression she endured – despite this she continued her routines despite what has happening.

This image visually connects with the top left image where there are lines running through them, this image has the line where the grass and the bush meet, the top left has a horizon line and a line on the dirt road that are distinctive and visually connect the two. The green and brown tones also connect the images

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

Unit 2: Exercise 2: Research Task: Relay

Posted on by
Reply


Examples of relay in contemporary photographic practice include Sophie Calle’s
Take Care of Yourself​ and Sophy Rickett’s ​Objects in the Field​ (see interview in the
Appendix to this course guide) where clashes of understanding or interpretation
work together to create a perhaps incomplete but nonetheless enriching
dialogue between artist and viewer.
Look these pieces up online. Investigate the rationale behind the pieces and see
if you can find any critical responses to them. Write down your own responses in
your learning log.
● How do these two pieces of work reflect postmodern approaches to
narrative?

Post modern approaches to narrative mean that the traditional structure of a story that has a beginning, middle and end is challenged. The notion of authorship control too.

Examples of post modern approaches are

Including fragments of other texts – ambiguous, open ended plots, unresolved endings, reduced, disruptive language.

This approach allows the reader to put themselves into the story, there is a call to the reader to become less passive, for endless possibilities of interpretation for a more enriching experience.

Sophie Calle’s rationale is to use a negative life event and turn it into a positive one through artistic expression using the postmodern narrative approach. The text that is the break up email she received from her boyfriend becomes the work of art, where one of the 109 women who have analysed the email have highlighted certain parts of it to point out grammar errors for example.

Parts of the email text are copied and used on photographic portraits, this is a good example of using a most modern narrative approach (see images below as an example of this)

There is no conclusion to the work, the narrative is open ended for the viewer to interpret. The answers are less important than the forms of engagement of the 109 women from different professions who were asked to review and critique the email message, invited to construct meaning. These forms of engagement are a key creative part of the final body of work since each one approached the critique in their own unique way, depending on their line of work.

Another way to incorporate text into an image-based project is to include
interviews or audio.
The New York Times has a simple but effective project online called One in 8
Million about the inhabitants of New York. It includes images of people from
different walks of life and professions with audio clips overlaid to give a voice to
the subject. It is a clever way of celebrating the richness and diversity of a city
with such cultural and social variety. Some photographers use interviews and
diaries to incorporate text with their images.
You can research the following examples by searching on the weareoca
website:

Kaylyn Deveney – ​The Day-to-Day Life of Alfred Hastings

Who is KayLynn Deveney? From USA, she moved to the south of Wales to study documentary photography and earned a masters and PHD in University of Wales Newport. The Day-To-Day life of Alfred Hastings was her first photography book produced in 2007. In 2008 it was nominated by several institutions across the world for “best photobook”

Deveney’s work focusses on addressing the myths of domesticity. She lived near an elderly gentleman called Alfred Hastings and became friends with him and asked if she could work with him to make this work. This module has been focused on the use of text that works alongside an image and how this adds context and meaning and enriches the work. The text in this work has been added by the subject who is not an artist, Alfred Hastings. This work is in collaboration with him and gives him a voice about the way he sees himself and an important visual contribution to the work. The fact that the text is his own handwriting makes it feel to me as more authentic and emotionally draws me in to this work. Alfred Hasting’s description of the photographs gives him a voice and a real sense of his own home surroundings and routines. The text is integral to the work and without it the work would not be as good.

The lined paper that he has written his notes on to describe each image gives an informal diaristic feel to the work, again, making feel more authentic.

Each image shows a very different aspect of his life, for me this kept my interest as I Iooked and read through the work. The images are also different in composition and colours used, but the wording in the same handwriting, by the same person, on the same paper (each containing the same number of lines) is what creates a cohesiveness in the series.

Karen Knorr – ​Gentlemen (1981 to 1983)

Knorr was born in Germany to American parents, grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico, studied in Paris, and moved to London in the summer of 1976. She wanted to understand the country she had chosen to live in and reflect on her position as a white upper-middle- class woman in it. “I was trying to figure out who I was and where I stood,” she says. The photographer moved into her parents’ Belgravia maisonette for six months, situating her at the centre of an unfamiliar world inhabited by the British elite.

A series of 26 black and white photographs taken in gentlemen’s clubs in St James in central London with short passages accompanying each image. They were images of gentleman’s clubs in the 1980s and they revealed hidden spaces and what went on in those spaces. The passages are fictitious and written by Knorr. They are based on contemporary news events and parliamentary speeches published in Hansard concerning race, the role of women, and the Falklands War. The photos are staged with actors, employees or friends, so modern contemporary people and text are combined with historical settings of the gentlemans club. It took the artist a year to take the images and make the work.

Karen Knorr – Gentleman
Karen Knorr – Gentleman


Karen Knorr – Gentleman

Bibliography

Haber, J., 2020. Haber’s Art Reviews: Sophie Calle. [online] Haberarts.com. Available at: <https://www.haberarts.com/scalle.htm&gt; [Accessed 21 April 2020].

KayLynn Deveney Photographer. 2020. The Day To Day Life Of Albert Hastings — Kaylynn Deveney Photographer. [online] Available at: <https://kaylynndeveney.com/the-day-to-day-life-of-albert-hastings&gt; [Accessed 25 April 2020].

Deveney, K., 2020. The Day-To-Day Life Of Albert Hastings. [online] Ulster University. Available at: <https://pure.ulster.ac.uk/en/publications/the-day-to-day-life-of-albert-hastings-3&gt; [Accessed 27 April 2020].

British Journal of Photography. 2020. Karen Knorr: Gentlemen. [online] Available at: <https://www.bjp-online.com/2020/02/karen-knorr-gentlemen/&gt; [Accessed 27 April 2020].

Unit 2 Ex. 2 : Newspaper Analysis

Posted on by
Reply

Cut out some pictures from a newspaper and write your own captions. 

1. How do the words you put next to the image contextualise/re-contextualise it?

2. How many meanings can you give to the same picture? 

Try the same exercise for both anchoring and relaying. Blog about it.

Anchoring Text for an image found in a newspaper
Relay text for an image found in a newspaper

Anchoring of words can drastically change the meaning of images as I showed in the first image in this blog where I created several different anchoring captions.

The lack of green space, early in the day when it’s quiet, lack of cleaning resource, Big Ben refurbishment and also the quality of maintenance in the capital are just a few ways the first image can be interpreted with the use of anchoring text. It is easy to see how the same image can be used in different contexts and can have several different meanings. Photographs are often used for political and environmental messages nowadays.

Relay words I found far more difficult to come up with since this involves more thought and deeper creative thinking than that for ways to anchor the image with text. I think relay words, if placed on or near the image in an eye catching font or a handwriting is far more powerful and impactful than anchoring and it could potentially influence political change more than the anchoring text used by newspapers to put across their particular political views, but the newspapers need to appear to be neutral so this would be frowned upon by the audience and alienate certain groups.

Relay text is a method of expression I plan to think about using in my own words. In future assignments I need to think more about the text that accompanies each image and what that image does to the meaning of the work.

Photobooks : J. Colberg

Posted on by
Reply

My tutor suggested further reading around editing and sequencing of images, this is an area I need practice and to develop an effective techniqe

Some notes I took from the book so far :

The book’s concept is very important

Elements of the story can be introduced at first without being related – the viewer trusts the author that the story will be revealed later on in the book and they can make sense of the photos – eventually things will start to relate to what has been seen before

Use double sided tape so can attach and remove images either from a wall or a dummy book

Dont put too many different layouts and image sizes for different spreads

Start edit and sequence and simple layout with a basic dummy – and then when happy refine other bits.

Simple decisions and ideas lead to a complex and truly immersive book – Mariela Sancan (Moises) – the book is unfolded to discover portraits of an old man in his 70’s – her dad died from suicide and this searching experience in the book reflects her pain.

Design :

  • How a page works
  • How to pace information
  • How text can support an image and vice versa

Design is not what the photographer wants but what the work in question demands

Most photographers are not trained designers- approaching a professional designer early on in the process is a good idea – find graphic and physical manifestation of your photographic ideas

Tien Van Der Heijden – Dutch Designer

2 books on either side of the design spectrum : Walker Evans – American Photographs and Interrogations, Donald Weber

A designer that knows how to read the language of photography can have input on the editing too

Design helps telling the story in a physical form that adds to the intention of the story

Limited budget will force you to enhance the essentials and the basic elements – often making the work stronger as a result

The Dutch Photobook – Aperture 2012

The photobook, A History – Martin Parr

Kuipers 10 golden rules pdf

Physical aspects : the colour cast across a book especially if its a budget print

Choice of paper, type of printing and type of binding will all affect the outcome

Perfect Binding – a common cost effective binding, restricts opening – avoid detail close to the middle – there is no perfect binding option and with age a physical object will deteriorate no matter what the quality of binding used

Richard Benson describes the difference between a photobook and an exhibition :

“How naive are we to think that we can see it all at first glance when hung on a wall or on a computer monitor. The book solves this problem, we can look long and hard without distraction and return to it again and again. Photographs can become like old friends, and like the best of them they can reveal themselves endlessly as we come to know them better”

In my own work

I need to start to print out my work and get the editing and sequencing part of my work better – put images on the walls and live with them

Need to find a partner that can critically evaluate my work and I can work with going forward

Become familiar with a number of photo books to inform your own work – try to understand whether they work, how they work – how their different elements come together and how design helps to support the work

Bibliography

http://jmcolberg.com/weblog/extended/archives/how_to_make_a_photobook/

http://harveybenge.blogspot.com/2012/03/photobook-some-thoughts-on-editing-and.html

http://jmcolberg.com/weblog/2012/04/review_the_dutch_photobook_by_frits_gierstberg_and_rik_suermondt_eds/

A1: 2 Sides Of The Story: Reworked

Posted on by
Reply

Content :

Homelessness on the streets of the UK, how different people in society behave when confronted by a homeless person as they walk past. Also, images produced through the eyes of someone living on the street.

Form:

Strategy of POV shots – landscape / portrait dichotomy to demonstrate “two sides of the story”

The photographs are taken from the view point of a passer by on the street (landscape). The second set of images is from a the perspective of the homeless person (portrait). The images were taken from a lower perspective in an attempt to reflect their view of the world from a sitting or lying position. The images differ in colours, in the prefix name on the image entitled “The Public View” these are more colourful and more subjects are included in the image, a more positive, ordinary feel to these images. The set “The Other Side” shows more concrete pavement and people from a completely different point of view, hardly every seeing people’s faces as they look away or avoid eye contact. (See link in Bibliography for a full explanation of how the shots were taken)

Context : Documentary – ways of seeing – giving back power to the subject (photovoice) – challenging previously help assumptions of the genre

My work was inspired by the work of Julian Germain called “No Mundo Maravilhoso Do Futebol” and Anthony Luvera’s “Taking Place” exhibition that incorporates his work from a project called “Frequently Asked Questions”. The power is put in the hands of the subject as to the outcome. The subjects have produced the images that depict “the other side of the story” (See links in bibliography for more information on the works of Julian Germain and Anthony Luvera).

Images

The Public View JS001 The common situation when a passer by encounters a homeless person is to either ignore them or stare
The Other Side JS002 A common site at a sitting position on the street for a homeless person
The Public View JS003
High Street JS004
The Public View JS005 a common issue today is the mobile phone, people are no longer present and don’t notice the plight of the homeless at all
The Public View JS006 This man was opening a bottle of wine at 10am. A common site by the public is alcohol and drug misuse and therefore can be unfairly judged or looked down upon
The Other Side JS007 Grey concrete is the immediate environment for a homeless person, cold, hard and uncomfortable, a good analogy for the life they have to endure. There is also the view of life “on the other side” where a family can be seen entering a fast food restaurant.

Bibliography

Stork, J., 2020. A1: Two Sides Of The Story, Image Capture Technique. [online] Jenny Stork: Photography 1: Context & Narrative. Available at: <https://contextandnarrativewriting.poetry.blog/2020/03/30/a1-two-sides-of-the-story-image-capture-technique/&gt; [Accessed 30 March 2020].

Juliangermain.com. 2020. Julian Germain “No Mundo Maravilhoso Do Futebol”. [online] Available at: <http://www.juliangermain.com/projects/nomundo16.php&gt; [Accessed 1 April 2020].

Anthony Luvera. 2020. Anthony Luvera: Taking Place – Anthony Luvera. [online] Available at: <http://www.luvera.com/taking-place/&gt; [Accessed 1 April 2020].