Throughout draft assignment five I have refined my writing to:
Make it less dense.
Linked short paragraphs to increase the flow e.g., page 8 paragraph 2, page 9 Paragraph 2, and page 14 paragraph 2.
Revised to read for a reader coming it cold.
Ensured that critical terms are defined at least once for each one.
I have used the academic phrasebook but could revisit.
I have added description, denotation to most images, e.g. page 10 and page 13.
Write in the third person.
Added in suggested extra reading.
Where I have refined I have particularly concentrated on ‘reverse engineering’, which I think I took to quite well and to change it from more of a literature review style using quotes to support a point, rather than quoting and then explaining the quote. For example:
Page 7, 2nd and third paragraphs
Page 15, 2nd paragraph
Page 16, last paragraph
I have tried to increase my use of PEEL, Point, Evidence/Example, Explanation, Link, but more work may be needed on this.
I am unsure whether I have included sufficient on context as determinant of meaning.
Specifically, I have :
Added Hall’s description of representation.
Some modern examples e.g. Page 5 paragraph 1
Referenced Benjamin’s reference to Brecht – p6.
Added images to support my mention of Alfred Stieglitz’s equivalents – p7.
Taken out the leading questions on page 11.
I have not found the place to dovetail some realist documentary ideas as a contrast to White, but I may return to this with a fresh eye. The same stands for including a reference to Shore’s categories. I refreshed my research on both but haven’t so far found where to use them.
I have reordered my writing in some places; the conclusion is probably the most revised in terms of ordering and rationalisation, and next chapter three.
Reflections and actions on Formative feedback for final submission
This was written feedback form my tutor followed by some email exchanges for clarification on points from myself
My reflections:
Reviewing the whole document and considered reordering and amalgamating, gave me the extra insight I needed to cut down repetition, preamble and see where I needed to get to the point quicker.
This is the first feedback where my Tutor hasn’t reminded me generally about using ‘PEEL’ using quotes to support points rather than vice versa (just in one place), I am now understanding and putting it into practice. He has also noted that my use of the ‘reverse engineering’ has worked well.
Conversely it is a balance and there are still one or two areas where I should expand a little to explain complex arguments.
Covering note: Rename ‘Critical Reflective Summary’- this will be good for showing response to feedback.
Abstract: Rework to:
Integrate to introduce the theme instead of introduce theories I’m talking about. Overview of research question to tease but not give topic away.
Reduce the number of words, although the allowance is 500, my tutor suggests that less is more.
Essay: Comments given:
Flows much better,
Good studentship incorporating feedback points successfully.
Suggestions for linking learning points
Reverse engineering has worked well
Good studentship
Answers question well, which my Tutor suggests is: Does a photograph show reality, or a photographer’s emotions
General:
Use my ‘voice’ sometimes instead of academic phrases
Have mostly explained philosophical terms to general audience but check again
Be careful I’ve not got too much preamble before making a point (ref reverse engineering)
Don’t try to pack too many ideas in one paragraph
Expand out writing in some areas and maybe cut some less relevant sections
Filter in realism comments as I go along.
Try to get below the 5,000 word count (currently 5080)
Intro:
Make less dense
Check critical terms are defined mostly in the intro paragraphs
Expand out some points in key paragraphs.
Show my knowledge of the theme, representation of reality.
Stylistic codes need to be less densely packed,
Mainbody:
Check that I’ve explained White’s relationship to Stieglitz equivalents clearly.
Similarly reread my content on representation and ensure that it clear – expand.
Conclusion:
Take out subheadings – reviewing it I don’t know why I left them in!
Cut down some dense text references, don’t need as much as only summing up from earlier
Review the last paragraph which reads a little bit awkward
Actions completed since feedback:
Abstract: reworked and reduced the word count
Covering note – renamed critical review
Dissertation: Reviewed, expanded some parts, reduced others (reduced preambles) , reduced word count, checked that critical terms are in the introduction.
Sadly, without a subscription to Artdoc I am unable to access the whole article, but the parts that I can access give a good overview of metaphor in the work of Minor White.
The author sets out that White considered Equivalence as ‘the backbone of photography as a medium of expression creation’ (Artdoc2023) and explains why. Taking the image below, they explain that it both abstract and concrete and as such a basic form of visual language.
This is a contrast to the traditional idea that a photograph represents reality. However, it suggests that this may only be starting point, as they must start with something visual, but that this may develop into something more perceptual. Sying that a photograph like this can be a bridge between matter and mind, external and internal.
The article also describes how a photographer’s consciousness, social and culture background and attitude infuses what he presents. Art historian Gombrich apparently calls this ‘mental sets.
They explain that to understand what a photograph is about we need to understand the ‘concealed layers’, and this by way of the sign and the relationship between the signifier and the signified – they call this learning to read the language.
This is how a photograph can be a metaphor, representing something that is visually absent, an individual concept of reality, that has been filtered by a photographer’s consciousness. It also connects the reality we know mentally with that we understand emotionally also.
These ideas resonate with the ideas that I have explored in my dissertation and expressed in my Body of Work photography.
Mcleod writes that the art world ‘dedicates’ itself to capturing emotions and feelings. I hadn’t realised That affect originates from the Latin ”affectus” meaning disposition, which she suggests that individuals are often unaware of themselves, unlike emotion which comes later in affect theory.
She emphasises that for affect to occur there must be an object of attention, something that a viewer engages with. She describes affect as part of an unintentional conversation that arises by just being with an artwork.
She returns to that which I’ve discussed elsewhere that affect as a ‘thing of the senses’ is beyond comprehension as its beyond rational thought.
Representation is one of the central concepts of media studies. Hall talks of the notion of representation and that visual representation especially is complex. He subverts the idea of representation suggesting that something that is depicted and something that stands in for something else are both contained in the term. In media he says that representation is about giving meaning to depicted objects – this could lead to work on measuring the gap between a true meaning and how it is presented.
Hall suggests representation as constitutive. Saying that meaning doesn’t exist until it has been represented, this representation can take different forms and therefore the meaning can change. Consequently, representation doesn’t occur until after an event and is constitutive of an event, the representation is part of an event.
Hall says that conceptual maps in our heads, that help us to understand the world are a system of representation. These concepts let us store and refer to objects that are no longer in our sight. These concept images are not mirror images, as they are constructed in our minds. We may have shared conceptual maps or not, so communication and language complete the circle of representation. When Hall talks of varieties of language, such as spoken, musical, gestures; anything that that can be a language. Hall asserts that we need a shared language for the circle of representation to be closed, that discourse is essential for meaning to be exchanged.
Hall also considers signification saying meaning is produced when a symbolic or signifying process has been involved, though he suggests this is often linked with having the power to assert this. Hall looks at how if meanings of representation are subjective how meaning might be fixed, but determines this can only be when power intervenes, and this power to fix a meaning may not be permanent. He concludes that it is important that subjectivity of meaning is never foreclosed by systems of power, that being able to contest meaning is vital.
This interview leads me towards further research on representation.
Reference: Hall, S. & Jhally, S (Dir.,) (1997). Stuart Hall: Representation & the Media [Video file].
Media Education Foundation. and the transcript of this is in the references.
My Tutor suggested I read this article, as an example of how the author uses his own voice to describe theories and terms. It was a very useful exemplar of useful for this.
Further notes on compositional interpretation, semiology and discourse analysis in Rose (2001) and Iverson (1986) on Saussure and Peirce theories:
Reference:
Iverson, M. (1986) ‘Saussure versus Peirce: Models for a semiotics of Visual Art’ In: Rees, A.L. and Borzello, F. (eds.) The New Art History. London: Camden Press. pp.82–94.
This paper explores art in the field of affect theory, asking what makes up experience and subjectivity. O’Sullivan questions how our materialist connection to the world by a review of representation and art historical narratives. He covers the opposition between idealism and materialism within philosophy, as he believes that aesthetics affects how we experience art. By asserting the value of experiencing art O’Sullivan says we can experience art differently as a portal for our subconscious sensations, which he thinks is essential to understand art and the world around it.
A very useful paper with sources on affect – will lead me to much further exploration on affect in Art.
Edwards:This paper is mostly about placing, materiality and context of photographic images, particularly the importance of cultural and social analysis. It discusses the placing, materiality and “haptic” effects of images.
Evidence of research notes and their use for Assignment 2
Some topic areas suggested by Tutor but most resources found or revisited myself. See scans of my notes at the end.
These gave me an overview on tensions between artistic expression and photography to document:
Benjamin, W. (1999) ‘Little History of Photography’ In: Jennings, M. et al. (eds.) Walter Benjamin | Selected Writings 1927 – 1934. Cambridge, MA and London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. pp.507–530.
Hacking, J. (2012) Photography: The Whole Story. London: Thames & Hudson.
hcp (2011) Interview: Richard Misrach with Peter Brown At:htttps://hcponline.org/spot/interview-richard-misrach-with-peter-brown/(Accessed 06/04/2022)
Mosse: Frieze (2013) Richard Mosse: The Impossible Image. At: https://vimeo.com/67115692 (Accessed 07/04/2022).
Clarke, G. (1997) The Photograph. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Then I researched White and Berger further:
Bunnell in: Cronan, T. (2014) ‘Aperture Magazine Anthology: The Minor White Years, 1952–1976, by Peter C. Bunnell’ In: History of Photography 38 (2) pp.204–206.
Jussim, E. and Lindquist-Cock, E. (1985) Landscape as Photograph. London: Yale University Press.
Hayden Gallery (1972) Octave of prayer: an exhibition on a theme at M.I.T. 27th Oct-26th Nov. 1972. New York: Aperture.
Berger, J. et al. (1972) Ways of Seeing. London: British Broadcasting Corporation.
Meinig, D, W. (1979) ‘The beholding eye: Ten versions of the same scene’ In: Interpretation of Ordinary landscapes. Oxford: Oxford university press. pp.32–47.
Jaskot-Gill, Sabina (2012) Subjective Photography in the USA. An essay included in Photography The Whole Story edited by Juliet Hacking. London: Thames and Hudson
The areas of interest that developed during my Level 2 Landscape and Documentary work brought me to the beginning of this work. I acquired a curiosity about layers of truth. I also had a desire to continue exploring landscape but in an immersive slow manner with attention to the ordinary, drawing on my subconscious. Having recently moved to a new location I chose to focus on two things in my then current experience, firstly the ancient woodlands that drew me in, and secondly the disharmony and animosity to ‘incomers’ in the local community.
My intention was to represent my feelings about community through equivalents in the unnoticed and ordinary within the woodland landscape. I began by exploring visual representations of elements of ancient woodland communities as metaphors for characteristics that could be beneficial in human communities.
Other Influences on my Body of Work
My research for Contextual Studies on ‘affect’ and ‘effect’, or ‘mirrors’ and ‘windows’ in landscape photography, particularly in the work of Minor White, opened further possibilities for my Body of Work photography. My work in both the courses was symbiotic – they developed and enriched each other. A broad range of photographers influenced my work from Alfred Steiglitz, John Blakemore, to contemporary photographers such as Rob Hudson. Guy Dickenson and Gregor Radonic. I have also been affected by critical feedback from my peers given in student hangouts I have shared my work, just as with my Tutor.
Experimentation
I experimented with a variety of visual strategies such as changes in scale and perspective, macro and micro, abstraction, blurring, and symbolism. As I worked into the project I became more concerned with being a ‘mirror’, than opening a window for others to a world of realism. To do this I developed a keener sense of seeing, slow looking, and immersion in my surroundings, and experimented with psychogeography and mindful photography. Eventually my looking became increasingly defocused, or ‘bottom up’, led by the landscape and my subconscious, rather than led by conscious intent. This to the point towards the end of the project where I was less keen to photograph and happier to pre- visualise; certainly, my image capturing decreased significantly.
Difficulties I encountered
Initially I struggled to get to the knub of my idea and to focus my intent. It took until assignment 3 to drill down into this enough to move forward more confidently. Another difficulty, which I am still working on, is how to signpost my subconscious ideas and messages for viewers. Also adapting to the dynamic natural environment that I was photographing was challenging, but I enjoyed finding ways to overcome the constant changes, turning them to my advantage and overcoming technical difficulties.
My critical positioning and personal voice
My work is a combination of landscape and conceptual photography. By representing my feelings through equivalents and metaphors in visual objects, I can transform abstract ideas in my head, my subconscious, into something concrete, via a physical representation of another subject. I can put something of myself in the landscape without intervening in it, and believe that my voice, my subconscious, is in my images. I edit purposefully, with stronger confidence, and combining instinct with intention. I have discovered and show how a photographer may use the landscape to form new relationships and meaning. This is my emerging voice.
What I will take forward
I am enjoying and will continue to use visual metaphors and put my subconscious in the images. This will be in tandem with going deeper visually and spiritually into ancient woodlands.
I am still developing methods for signposting my intentions or messages. I have tried various techniques to signpost images to increase access to their meaning, definitions as captions, poetry, poetography, and binary pointers. Looking forward I need to find ways to share the messages in my photography with an audience, whilst not excluding the opportunity for viewers to decide for themselves what meaning they take from the images.
My intention is to build on this body or work and refine my publishing ideas to create a photobook, or Zine to realise a publication for Sustaining Your Practice.
NIKI SOUTH 