Materials, techniques, observational skills, visual awareness, design, and compositional skills.
I used Canon 80 D with two different lens, initially a prime lens and then a macro-1:1 lens. The location is extremely dark and consequently I used a tripod for each shot.
Slow and sharp observation was key to finding my subjects. I spent several hours each shoot immersing into the woodlands whilst tapping into the narrative in my mind.
Once I found a subject, I spent a long time composing the image so that it would say what I wanted it to, to me.
Visual language, different ways of seeing and representation are central to this project. But perhaps will become more obvious as my work develops.
I felt it was important to begin by presenting the landscape in colour as I was seeing it. However, going forward, I will represent it in black and white as I think this will provide more space for viewers to interpret as they wish; subjects will become less obvious and more interpretable.
Quality of outcome
Content, application of knowledge, presentation of work in a coherent manner, discernment, conceptualisation of thoughts, communication of ideas.
The images represent the woodlands as they present in colour, but as I’ve said above, I will present in black and white next time, which means that I will need to look differently when photographing.
I have presented my work here simplistically, showing my progression from different methods as I experimented moving from psychogeography, to landscape, to abstracts, to close-ups as this assignment was presented as an opportunity to experiment with genre and style.
I am aware that these images are reasonably “straight” and obvious, which is not necessarily a problem, but I do intend from now on to use increasingly use perspective to increase ambiguity. This I think will echo my intention well, as this reflection on community, is in a large part affected by perspective.
I have considered other conceptual strategies but am reserving further experimentation for later assignments.
Imagination, experimentation, invention, development of a personal voice.
My intention to use the ancient woodland community as a visual metaphor for my local community is, I think, inventive.
I have experimented whist shooting these initial images and explored genre. This is shown in the development of my initial psychogeographical shoots and resulting images.
My photography developed as I moved from psychogeography at the beginning, to general landscape representation, then abstract and lastly to the close-up representation of community.
It is early days in this body of work, but I already hope that in my choice of subject for each photograph I am showing imagination and some personal voice.
It is the just the beginning of drawing parallels with the woodland and human community.
As usual I have reflected throughout this process, particularly on how I would represent my narrative. This journey is described in my learning log.
I read widely about woodlands, in particular, before I prepared for photographing, to get a general background on how these community’s work. See my bibliography on Trees and woodlands in my A1 learning log.
I have used and added to previous research on photographers I have studied previously who have stimulated this work such as, Minor White and Alfred Stieglitz.
These images are first explorations of my subject ancient woodlands as a visual metaphor for my theme of community.
I began shooting with the genre of psychogeography, photographing my longer/wider viewpoint unfocused whilst moving, and stopping to shoot still and with clarity and in detail subjects that caught my eye. In this way I emulated my external and internal passage through the place. I photographed as I saw, in colour. My later shoots continued with a psychogeography backbone but certainly with an increasing less objective sight as I worked into my topic, and I began to genre hop. I was aware that I was also thinking conceptually as I looked.
I was influenced in my way of seeing by practitioners such as Minor White and Stieglitz who used the landscape to express ideas and emotions in a representational way. Contemporary landscape photographers such as Rob Hudson, Stephen Segasby, Guy Dickenson, Tom Wilkinson and JM Golding of the Inside Out collective gave me further inspiration to explore space as an internal and external passage. As I shot, I increasingly found ways to enhance the aspect of community that the subject before me spoke to me of and shot as much what was in my sight as what was in my head.
The images I share here can fall into 3 groups (there are some that overlap):
Psychogeography/drifting
General landscape representation
Abstract representation
Close up representation
From these I can reflect further about my next steps, but at this moment I feel it is towards a mixture of landscape, abstract and close up. I may dabble with constructivism and conceptualism which I will do more research into, but I’m not convinced that I need to go down these routes to say what I want to in my work. I feel I need to work more into photographic styles that I have begun to develop so far in particular, landscape in abstract and close up, and use my absorption and new perspectives to share what I am seeing and feeling.
CONCEPT: Ancient woodlands as a visual representation of community
My interest is in community. I have been part of the local community here both as an insider and outsider, observed it keenly and photographed aspects of it before in my work. My perspective is that there are positives and negatives and many wounds and divisions that it would be good to heal.
CONTEXT:
As a walker and photographer, I appreciate the ancient woodlands local to here, not only for their aesthetic appeal but for their example of thriving communities. As a terrain these small temperate rainforests envelop your senses, encourage you to slowly absorb what you see and feel, wake your subconscious, and inspire reflection. Ancient woodlands are complex communities, with trees at their heart. I am most interested in aspects of their community where parallels can be drawn to human communities; features such as communication, language, cooperation, support, diversity, resilience, networking, adaptation, mutual exchange and adaptation.
APPROACH:
I intend to use the ancient woodland community as a visual metaphor for local community, using a personal, expressive, reflective, visual approach as a visual metaphor for visual community.
RESEARCH
I completed the coursework part one Genres before shooting and did some research on landscape photographers that haven’t looked at before that might inspire my work. My starting point for new research were some of the inside outside landscape photography collective who negotiate the liminal space between the world before us and within. This was an initial scan, below are the main inspirations to me I took away:
Rob Hudson: is a conceptual landscape photographer using metaphor and narrative. In his work the Secret language of trees, he gives clues to community, connectivity, and nurturing. He uses “Landscape as representation in photographic form” where he inhabits“two worlds, the one before us and the one within us” (Hudson, 2018). He believes we should illustrate the land by telling stories that interest us not just aesthetic presentations.
Stephen Segasby: Uses space and place as a human response to environment and culture, and a metaphoric base for personal narrative, and “making sense” (Seagaby, 2021).
Guy Dickenson: He explores place as internal and external passage. He describes how he shifts his eyes from foreground to background with “the passage of thoughts and of the body” (Dickinson,and Griffith, 2018); in the process, losing the horizon, using depth of field and perspective for texture tone and surface.
Tom Wilkinson: In his narrative about his workNothing Remains, he says “landscape is composed not only of what lies before our eyes but what lies within our heads” (Wilkinson,,2021) and talks of place and self?
JM Golding: “explores the transition from outer landscapes into inner through the experience of the soft fascination of place”, (Hudson,2018).
Hudson, R (2018) Introduction in: Inside the outside Collective (2018) Out of the woods of thought. An exhibition of photography. JosephWright.co.uk. limited edition of 200.
Photographs can illuminate personal philosophies (Szarkowski, 1970)
landscape photography expressing his ideas and emotions rather than presenting pure visual facts.
Minor White research revisited:
He had an amazing eye for observation of the natural landscape and used seeing and feeling in his work “to register a sense of things beyond the visible world” (Green, 1972).
He opens up the act of seeing, “Although their meaning seems to at first to be wrapped in metaphor, we see finally that they are frank and open records of discovery” (Szarkowski, 1970:174).
His final form was less important that the meaning it evoked, photography had the ability to be metaphorical and photographic representation must be symbolic (Grunberg, 1989).
White’s 1963 paper on the concept of Equivalence (1963), described it operating at three levels, the graphic, the mental processes of the viewer and the memories and feelings that remain afterwards (White, 1963).
“Great pictures cannot be just about particular landscapes; they have to direct us to more, even eventually to the whole of life” (Adams, 2009:92).
References:
Adams, R. (2009). Beauty in photography. New York, NY: Aperture.
Green, J (1972) in White, M. (1972). Octave of Prayer. New York, NY. p. Back cover.
Pultz, J. (1980) ‘Equivalence, symbolism, and Minor White’s way into the language of photography’ In: John Pultz Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University Vol. 39, No. 1/2 (1980), pp.28–39 [Online] At: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774627?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents (Accessed on 22nd August 2019)
THE RESEARCH AND COURSEWORK GAVE ME SOME IDEAS HOW I COULD REPRESENT MY CONCEPT THROUGH THE LANDSCAPE:
Represent the world within me with the world around me
Search for my narrative within the landscape
As a flaneur I can’t be objective
Using a combination of blurred distant views with clarity in close up views.
Disregard the horizon and play with perspective.
Take viewers into my field of vision
Show relationships within the woodlands
Infuse images with the feelings I absorb in a place
Create a platform for a story to be told
SHOOTING:
I began with Psychogeography as a genre is a good starting point .
I set out to shoot using a combination of drifting and responding emotionally through place but with my theme of community on my mind. As walked, I recorded where my eyes rested. Then as I worked into the project I decided to replicate the scanning ahead that I did as I walked, by just capturing where my gaze went quickly – this resulted in lop sided views, blurred or out of focus images.
When I saw a detail that interested me, at first I shot with good depth of field for good clarity, as that’s what happens when I stop and closely observe something. My first shoot I predominantly used my prime lens, but on subsequent shoots I primarily used my 1:1 macro lens, for both the close up and scanning shots, which gave me the results I wanted. I also experimented with a shallow depth of field.
Once I had settled on my methodology, scanning versus detailed vision represented by uncontrolled photographing versus detailed close ups, I spent more time immersing myself in the place, just photographing whilst walking.
I didn’t set out to photograph in either colour or black and white, I felt that I had to see what transpired and then choose; I knew that this might make either less strong than if I deliberately sought subjects and compositions for one or other reasons, but that it was more important to go with the flow if I were to adopt the activity of drifting.
I did find it difficult to take completely ordinary shots of detail and subjects close up – I felt the need for there to be some aesthetics in my image, but in composing them I increasingly sought to enhance the aspect of the subject that spoke to me of community, through using different ways of seeing.
EDITING:
The images were taken over 2 shoots. After reviewing the images from the first shoot I returned to use only my 1:1 Macro lens which brought the results I wanted so that I could concentrate on immersing myself. I then had the blurred distant images that I wanted to represent my journey through the wood and plenty of detailed images. Whilst editing I tried to choose images that spoke the most to me about community. I thought about presenting different subjects to represent different aspects of community such as diversity, networking support and how I might present this, but then decided this might be something for the future. I returned for a final shoot to feel and capture the essence of community and relationship in the woodlands in different detailed ways, rather than to seek images to form a series.
I have chosen images that offer me different ways to continue this work:
General landscape representation, abstract representation and close up representation which could become abstract representations. Of course it maybe that I mix these styles in my work going forwards.
NIKI SOUTH 