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
I have already written much about Minor White, so here is a synopsis of the areas of his practice which influence my Body of Work.
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).
“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:
Green, J. (1972) ‘Back cover’ In: Hayden Gallery (ed.) Octave of Prayer: an exhibition on a theme at M.I.T. 27th Oct-26th Nov. 1972,. New York: Aperture.
Adams, R. (1989) Beauty in Photography: Essays in Defense of Traditional Values. New York: Aperture.
John Blakemore – A summary of my reading for CS that I have taken into my body of work
Like Minor White, John Blakemore’s (1936-2022) landscape photography also signifies the “felt and the unseen as well as the seen” (Badger, 1977:7), he uses subjects for metaphor as well as for the literal. He often explores a theme over time, using series and motifs, working with intimacy with one subject (Parkin, 2021), returning to the same subject over time. He shows intense awareness of his subject and his photography is “a process of exploring and defining ones relationship to the world”. (The Photographer’s Gallery, 1980).
He sometimes uses hid landscape photography as a metaphor for his own emotions. His work ‘Wounds of trees (1971) is seen as a metaphor for his precarious emotional state, following the breakup of his marriage.
(Blakemore, 2023)
In this work Badger suggests that Blakemore tries to quantify and communicate experience through photographic meaning, saying that his images are “the result of a long process of coming to terms with himself and the places he choose to photograph” (Badger, 1977:8).
Blakemore’s equivalence operates at the factual level of a subject, on the formal and spatial level, as well as the personal, spiritual and emotional level (Badger, 1977). Describing his photography Blakemore says it represents aspects of the real “The photograph is the result of an interaction between the photographer and an aspect of the real” (Blakemore, 2005:12). He also uses White’s term ‘previsualisation’ when discussing his techniques for photographing (Blakemore, 2005:12). The Lila and Wind series is more akin to Edward Weston’s work, than White’s – abstract framing of realism.
In my work in the ancient woodlands, I can identify with Blakemore when he says:
“My work in the landscape was based upon a ritual of intimacy, the intense exploration of small areas of the landscape, an are of woodland, a length of river, a confined stretch of beach. Areas which in some way spoke to me, which I could visit again and again, to learn to see, to allow the possibility of communion, of understanding”. (Blakemore, 2005:14).
References
Blakemore, J. (2005) John Blakemore’s Black and White Photography Workshop. (Newton Abbot): David & Charles.
ON LANDSCAPE – ONLINE LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY MAGAZINE
I have gained a wider range of knowledge, especially from contemporary landscape practitioners, who write in the online photography magazine On Landscape. Below are some examples of those who influenced my photography during BOW A5.
ON FLOW STATE VS LEAKY ATTENTION (GUY TAL: ON LANDSCAPE ISSUE 268)
He asks the question, does creativity require de-focused attention, allowing new ideas to emerge and new associations to be made, or does creativity require intensely focused attention on specific tasks? He concludes both, at different times. The most successful creators are those who excel in maintaining both types of attention and switching between them at will to facilitate both the generation of new ideas and the discipline to reclaim attention and to focus it intensely on the detail-oriented tasks needed to carry a chosen idea to fruition (Tal,2022).
He explains that ‘consciously assigned attention’ is known as “top-down attention.” This is where attention may be hijacked and diverted without conscious choice by external events: loud noises, flashes of light or colour, chatter, the chirping or vibration of gadgets. Attention assigned by the brain without conscious choice in response to external stimuli is known as “bottom-up attention.”
Tal notes that Edward Weston described what we now refer to as the process of visualization, where he previsualized before shooting. Tal explains that by visualizing our photographs in advance, before being inspired by actual experiences, we bypass the “leaky attention”. divergent thinking and focus attention on the specifics and technical considerations of achieving a preconceived idea—convergent thinking. This he says prevents us from being open to novel, creative ideas (Tal, 2022).
(Tal, 2022)
Mindfulness he says is when we are able to quickly see when interfering thoughts and emotions intercept our consciousness; If these are detected, with conscious control
We can set them aside and stay focused on the task at hand.
DO YOU REALLY NEED A PHILOSOPHY FOR YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY? THE QUEST FOR A PRAGMATIC REALISM (KEITH BEVEN ON LANDSCAPE ISSUE 268)
Bevan says that the problem of realism is that what we see may not be what is the actuality. When we view a rock in the landscape, we can experience that rock through our senses, but these feelings may show the true nature of the rock, and how we see the rock will be subjective. He suggests there are two philosophical aspects of realism, ontological and aesthetic. The first is the deeper levels of understanding that might be associated with that rock, these he calls ontological mysteries (or potential possibility). We should be open to these possibilities and allow that there could be some deeper levels of understanding about the nature of a rock for instance.
The 2nd mystery is the aesthetic impact of an image, the mystery is that the responses to an image aesthetics and emotional can be personal and can be different for the photographer and the viewer. This he calls this pragmatic realism, where it is accepted that the experience of a landscape is that the impression conveyed cannot be completely real. It is dependent on our experience and personal understanding of the landscape and the technical choices we choose.
Currently I can align with this idea of pragmatic realism- personal expression with little manipulation, just perspective and scale.
PORTRAIT OF A PHOTOGRAPHER EQUIVALENCE IN NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY JASON PETTIT (ON LANDSCAPE ISSUE 270)
Pettit shares his thoughts that Nature and landscape photography can be an outlet for personal expression, and an outlet from everyday tensions. He uses photography as metaphors and mirrors himself. He notes that this meaning beyond literal representation in our photographs, was first conceived of by Alfred Stieglitz in the 1920s through the concept of “Equivalence”, which he says has become the backbone of photography as a medium for personal expression.
He describes equivalence in a simple way, saying that any photograph might function as an Equivalent to someone, sometime, someplace, “When a photographer presents us with what to them is an Equivalent, they are telling us, “I had a feeling about something and here is my metaphor of that feeling.”” (Payne, 2022). Equivalence opens opportunities for conveying/evoking feelings, which could otherwise not be photographed. Payne suggests that Pettit uses shapes, colors, forms, and patterns for expression to arouse specific ideas and emotions.
END FRAME GILLY WALKER COMMENTS (ON LANDSCAPE ISSUE 269)
When photography becomes art, it works as a conversation between the viewer and the artist. The artist creates the work and shares it to the viewer; the viewer responds, completes the dialogue when he responds, “They will fill in the blanks in their own way, and for this to happen there need to be blanks to fill” (Walker, 2022).
RICHARD MARTIN FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER (ON LANDSCAPE ISSUE 270)
Richard Martin’s work “is a celebration of the visual world. It originates straight from the heart, honest and direct. Inspired by colour, texture and light, I take photographs to express feelings surrounding my experiences, searching for visual equivalents to those feelings.” (Martin, 2022). He says that there is always a subjective aspect to a photograph, that tells us as much about who is behind the camera as about what is in front of it, “Our perceptions and biases, which are determined by our background, character, self-awareness, and sensitivity, will determine both what we will choose to photograph and how we will photograph it” (Martin, 2022).
I should explore these photographers who he says have inspired him:
Ernst Hass, Paul Strand, Edward Weston, René Burri, Franco Fontana, Aaron Siskind, Freeman Patterson, Jay Maisel, Saul Leiter, Peter Turner, Shinzo Maeda, William Neill, and Stephen Patterson. Harry Callahan, and Joel Meyerowitz I am already aware of their work.
Martin says to always choose your emotions over intellect. Trust your inner voice and your intuitive eye.
(Martin, 2022)
Of his image above he describes how he discovered this image and explored the bog’s surface from the edge of the path. It was made with a moderately wide-angle lens, and excluded any reference of scale, to allows the viewer to interpret it on their own terms. He mentions that retaining a child’s view of the world is something he holds on to. Similarly, he says that he undertakes the process of discovery and selection in a meditative and contemplative fashion. He likes to approach subject matter without preconceived ideas, and to keep free from all formulas and rules, which are in no way part of the creative process. Martin considers himself a ‘gatherer’ photographer, with a receptive mood, gazing aimlessly, paying attention to their feelings and moods, who prefers to be surprised than aiming to surprise.
“The greatest breakthroughs in my photography have been achieved during times of playfulness. It is the perfect tool for allowing experimentation and change. Play is fundamental to creativity and an excellent means to stimulate our minds” (Martin, 2022). Asked how he keeps an open mind he says to believe in your work, regardless of what others may think, and be honest and realistic in your assessment.
When asked about his practice often of including some writing, or a quote with his images he comments that an image should stand alone in terms of its poetry, visual fluency, or expressiveness, without a caption or quote to make it better. However, that text may reinforce the photographer’s feelings or philosophy surrounding the image.
Interestingly he mentions that research suggests that being around trees is good for our mental and social well-being, as they help us feel less stressed and more restored; I must keep up my wanderings with a camera in the woods after my major project. He like myself also enjoys quiet time spent exploring a small area. He uses a quote from Freelance journalist Jill Suttie, Staff Writer and Contributing Editor at the Greater Good Science Center:
“While being in nature leads to better health, creativity, and even kindness, there may be something special about being among trees. Probably the most well-researched benefit of nature exposure is that it seems to help decrease our stress, rumination, and anxiety. And much of that research has been conducted in forests.”
Martin’s methods and photographic attitude espouses mindfulness, with creativity as an attitude, a habit of mind, and creativity as fun.
CAMELS, LIONS, AND CHILDREN THE PURSUIT OF FREEDOM GUY TAL (ON LANDSCAPE ISSUE 270)
Tal, explains Nietzsche’s three described “metamorphoses of the spirit”, these being stages of personal development that people may take. Nietzsche described the three stages as analogous to adopting the attitudes of a camel, a lion, or a child.
One stage is as a lion who must fight to gain the freedom to live according to its own values. Its attitude is confrontational, subversive, aggressive, defiant, and sometimes offensive to others.
Another stage is as a Camel, who does conform for the sake of public approval and avoids conflict or rebels at the risk of antagonising others.
He also describes how a lion may, after asserting himself over to many established norms and living by its own values, a lion may by transforming itself into a child. The child stage is innocence, forgiving, forgetting, as a new beginning. Nietzsche meant is that a child by nature doesn’t feel itself laden by traditions and norms and is free to pursue whatever feels “right.” A child may also invent new values for itself, whilst a lion resists values imposed on it by others.
Tal suggest that the best testament he knows of such transformation from lion to the child in photography is this passage by Minor White:
“Most adults have to regain the ability to experience pictures directly and deeply. Contrary to their convictions that they understand everything, most people have to reestablish the ability to let a photograph speak for itself. And paradoxes abound, one has to earn the innocence of vision—by hard effort, by serious and deliberate search for meanings in photographs.” (Minor White cited in Tal, 2022).
Rene Algesheimer featured photographer (On Landscape issue 271 2023
Talks about top down conceptual, or bottom up, intuitive photography that develop ‘on the ground’. The later are usually stimulated from a specific in the landscape. The more she thinks about it, the more it develops into a project.
I’m interested in her statement “I am interested in interconnections and the importance of social grouping for the well being of the individual”. In her work Togetherness, she conveys how togetherness between the individual and a group can have enriching, positive, as well as negative aspects that need to be balanced. In her project ‘Together’ she noticed a series of trees in the Swiss Jura that only grow in groups, and form families, probably to protect themselves together from the harsh climate. She connected this with her scientific studies on social structures. Here, the trees became metaphors for us humans. With this series, she created mirrored diptychs of trees, resented so that each diptych represents different dimensions of Togetherness, e.g. belongingness, attachment, support or conflict, and pressure.
Togetherness (Algesheimer, 2019-20)
Algesheimer explains that she no longer photographs objects, but I uses heart as an expression of what she feels and wants to say. Going back to the top down and bottom-up methods, she tries to give space to both these. The analytical side flows into her conceptual projects, where she has pre thought about the intention, stories, and emotions of the story. Whilst she gives space to her emotional side by immersion in nature, engaging with what she sees.
BEARING WITNESS: EXPERIENCING MOMENTS WITHOUT THE CAMERA. CHRIS MURRAY (ON LANDSCAPE ISSUE 271)
Murray suggests that seeing and feeling something fully is when we really experience something, only then can we feel intensely enough that we can fully express it. He says, “The best photos are the perfect confluence of eyes, mind, and heart” (Murray, 2023), if he’s not moved by something, or it has nothing to say he won’t photograph it. He believes that a camera can be an obstacle that compromises our experiences. He warns to be aware ‘shooting’ too much for as Sontag described souvenirs. Murray Argues that if we want more meaningful and rewarding experiences to make photos that are creative and self-expressive, there are times when the camera should not come out of the bag.- he calls this liberating.
Murray says that through photography, he has discovered that everything is already present in us, that we do not need anything, we don’t need to follow others, and we don’t need to learn techniques – it is most important to take our time:
“Time to get to know ourselves. Time to deal with our feelings and thoughts and to express them in pictures. And ultimately, the courage and authenticity to make ourselves vulnerable and share those thoughts and feelings with others”.
This reading has also led me to the book https://voiceoftheeyes.com/ Rene Algesheimer -this is a collection of interviews with exceptional landscape photographers collected and edited by René Algesheimer.
Book : The Mindful Photographer Sophie Howarth (2022)
This book focuses on slowing down, paying attention, and becoming attuned to your world when photographing working through various concepts such as, playfulness, compassion, and gratitude.
Howarth says “mindful photography is about prising open the tiny gap between what is happening and how we understand or respond to it, allowing ourselves to linger for a few brief moments in the fullness and freeness of direct perception.”(Howarth, 2022:9). She likens this to a simple curiosity known in Zen Buddhism as beginners mind.
Stephen Batchelor Buddhist teacher describes how the practices of photography are intertwined for him. He says photography is concerned with making images of reality, whilst meditation is about seeing reality as it is. The mindful photographer mixes curiosity and an open heart and mind, known in Zen Buddhism as ‘shoshin’. This “keeps all creative possibilities open” (Howarth, 2022:21).
On ‘devotion’ Thomas Merton a 20th century trappiest monk suggested that
“If one reaches the point where understanding fails, this is not a tragedy; it is simply a reminder to stop thinking and start looking. Perhaps there is nothing to figure out after all: perhaps we only need to wake up” (Howarth, 2022,:29).
Howarth suggests that a mindful photographer should connect with the world with confidence, and switch from an acquisitive to a receptive mindset; Minor White epitomised receptive mindset, sort of blank but active. Howarth also advises that ambiguity is essential for breaking away from learned perception. She quotes Uta Barth who says ”The question for me is how can I make you aware of your own looking, instead of losing your attention to thoughts about what it is that you are looking at” (Howarth, 2022:72). This is an action that I could experiment with.
The book also features the works and quotations from various photographers, these ones I find particularly inspiring:
Robert Adams: “A photographer can describe a better world only by better seeing the world as it is in front of him” (Adams, 1989).
Minor White: “When gifts are given to me through my camera, I accept them graciously” (White, 1977)
Marc Riboud: “Taking pictures is savouring life intensely, every hundredth of a second” (Riboud, nd).
Lee Friedlander: “You don’t have to go looking for pictures. The material is generous. You go out and the pictures are staring at you” (Friedlander 1975).p63
Henri Cartier-Bresson: “ You can’t go looking for it; you can’t want it or you won’t get it, first you must lose yourself. Then it happens” (Cartier-Bresson, 2010).
Susan Derges “There are things that live through us, or want to express themselves through us and if we could just get out of the way, we would do exactly what we are meant to be doing” (Derges, 2016).
The ideas presented in this book, around achieving free flowing photography, sit well with my recent personally expressive ‘bottom up photography’.
References
Adams, R. (1989) Beauty in Photography: Essays in Defense of Traditional Values. New York: Aperture.
Cartier-Bresson, H (2010) Display quote in the decisive moment. Simon and Schuster, New York, 1952).
Derges, S (2016) Display quote “Tide and pools”, Photomonitor, March 2016. Susan Derges and Purdy Hicks Gallery London.
Friedlander, L (1975) Display quote in documentary photography -LIFE library of photography (Time-life books, New York, 1975).
Howarth, S. (2022) The Mindful Photographer. London: Thames and Hudson.
Riboud, M. (nd) Cited in Howarth, 2022:55)
White, M. (1977) In Interviews Master Photographers. Cited in Howarth, 2022:65.
Finding this interview with Gregor Radonjic led me to an exploration of his work as his motivation for photographing resonates with my own at this time, he says that he is “deeply interested in photography which moves our spirits closer to the silent places beyond what is meant by ‘real” (Wesche, 2022), and that he relies on Alfred Stieglitz’s concept of “equivalency”, where images were intended to be interpreted as metaphors for emotional states. Radonjič comments on the work of Minor White, where symbols in images forms a metaphor for something beyond the subject being photographed, as he also believes that an image can be a transformation as well as a document, and that they should be open to individual interpretations.
Like myself Radonjič is interested in tree-related photography, believing that photographing trees and forests is a serious artwork.One of hisprojects is dedicated to trees and is published as a book ‘Drevesa’ (trees in Slovenian). In the introduction he refers to trees as social beings, as well as individual characters and to the ancient connection that humans have with them. I was interested that Radonjič says that photographs of trees can add to this hidden connection between humans and trees. He describes the liberating feeling of being in a forest where you are all alone without any distractions as well as being attracted to the “visually intertwined living space” (Wesche, 2022); this is something that I feel strongly. He also describes forests as very visually chaotic and complex as place. His photo book combines poetry and images which he considers synergetic.
(Radonjič, Trees 2016)
His work Metascapes is about transformation and representing what is in our subconscious. He explains it as transforming places into personal ‘mindscapes’ which reflect his intimate inner relationship with those places. Radonjič describes his images as a mental projection of how we perceive our surroundings, that they “function as “distorted” mirror of the reality we see. They are not pure documentations, but rather artworks somewhere between fiction and abstraction, metaphors of an outlook on the world and beyond”(Radonjič, 2016).On landscapes he quotes the anthropologist Orvar Lofgren“The real landscape is in your head.” Radonjič describeslandscapes as spatially based perceptual units, constructed in our minds as we view the world by means of “aesthetic categories that are socially mediated” (Radonjič, 2016).
You can see in his work Metascapes to achieve this he uses creative intervention in post-production.
(Radonjič, Metascapes,2016)
He considers colour a very important element in visual art and comments that he uses colours to communicate his vision to the viewers. However, he doesn’t adhere to right or true colours, and this is evident in his work. He explains that he uses postproduction techniques to “transfer inner feelings and memory to photographs”, as he knows what he was experiencing at the moment he pressed the shutter, and using digital tools makes it easier and more effective for me to convey these inner feelings”. He does also point out that using analogue techniques is also a manipulation of reality and believes that using them is another part of a creative path.
My reflections:
His photographic style and final output, particularly his use of post-production work doesn’t particularly appeal to be, but his photographic philosophy does. I sympathise with his ideas on equivalence, metaphor for something beyond the subject being photographed, that there should be room for interpretation by viewers and note his idea that photography can be a transformation as well as a document. His description of place being transformed into personal ‘mindscapes’, that reflect his intimate relationship with those places is part of what I am trying to achieve, but I am also sharing something beyond the forest.
The fact that he enjoys working in forests undistracted and is attuned to Trees as connecting to humans aligns with my practice. His ideas on forests being visually chaotic, is exactly what I am seeking to show in my BOW assignment 3.
I will consider his comments on not using true colour and may see where that takes me sometime in the future.
Overall, I completely concur with his view that the real landscape is in one’s head.
This article interested me as I have recently made the decision to shoot in colour for the rest of this project. Tal outlines the history of colour in photography and I was interested to learn that in 1946 about a decade after releasing colour film Kodak commissioned photographers, including Paul Weston, to use colour for an advertising campaign. Apparently, Weston was surprised that he enjoyed shooting in colour and maybe only didn’t produce much more in colour, as he was at the end of his photographic career by that stage.
Tal explains that Edward Weston understood that black and white and colour were not interchangeable and a deliberate choice was needed depending on subject and form. Weston suggested colour is needed when it separates the objects in the composition more so than other elements like tone, shape, pattern, or texture; and believed the mistake was in not thinking of colour as form. I hadn’t realised that Weston’s son Cole was a pioneering colour photographer, who said “to see colour as form means looking at the image in a new way, trying to free oneself from absorption in subject matter” (Tal,2022:45).
Tal speaks of colour as a means of subjective expression, and interestingly for my work in Contextual Studies the importance of subjective expression over objective representation if artistic expression is an artist’s goal (Tal, 2022:47). He points out that unfortunately some think that the use of colour may attract viewers attention, instead of skillful composition.
Interestingly like Radonjič, he explains that photographer’s do not have to remain true to colour, just as black and white photographers don’t, as colour can be controlled just as tonality can “many photographers consider colour as something to reproduce rather than as something to control and to use expressively” and suggests that “A good way to think about artistic expression in photography is as the act of creating and using form consciously and expressively” (Tal, 2022:47).
Tal suggests form may be:
Rendering 3-d objects onto a 2-d surface using lines, tonality, tonality and colour to create the perception of depth.
Form as composition of the meaning inferred from an image, combining visual elements so they express the visual elements to express the artists meaning.
He ends with a quote from Ernst Haas, “The camera only facilitates the taking. The photographer must do the giving in order to transform and transcend ordinary reality. The problem is to transform without deforming.” (Tal, 2022:55).
(Tal, 2022)
My reflections:
It is interesting that like Radonjič doesn’t believe that it is important to retain true colour and that it can be used for subjective expression – I should definitely consider this. He also mentions transforming; I like his challenge to transform without distorting.
In this interview Giles Peress, he talks about text and images and the new meaning that forms beyond the two. It is a conversation between Peress and Gerhard Steidl publisher of his book Whatever you say, say nothing (2021). This book is a response to his time in Northern Ireland in the 1970s, images combined with much contextual material which he calls “documentary fiction”. Peress sees an enormous gap between language and reality. These are the points that I found most interesting:
Perez makes books to process possible traumas and relationship to everything, in the book for him “everything happens”.
He says he is suspicious of attempts to construct definitive documentary or “stable truths”.
He explains that the title is the essence of a book as it is the Gestalt of the idea (an organized whole that is perceived as more than the sum of its parts) and leads to what it can become- it gives you a clear vision of what you are doing. So, you should continually refer back to the title; I do this when writing, but do I do it always when shooting?
He describes how when he sees something that slows down the narrative in the book that he “kills” it. This is good advice.
He says that there are many voices in a book, primarily, reality, you and the interpreters, so there is a multiplicity of authors in a book.
Peress suggests that the actual process of making a book, is very important, as photography explores what happens between the moment of perception and the moment of the work, which brings a space in which different ideas take shape.
Reflection:His ideas give some good advice on book making and narrative.
Man Ray photographed the large glass sheet in Duchamp’s studio after a years’ worth of dust, using a two-hour exposure to capture the texture and variety of debris on the glass surface. Company tells us that Man Ray cropped the original image down, removing the detail from the contextual details in the background. Company describes it as bearing “little resemblance to the functional photography” and that it was first published in the French surrealist journal Literature, possibly making it the first surrealist photograph (Company, 2005:48).
Man Ray initially titled it “View from an aeroplane,” adding to its ambiguity. As the titles give us information, probably the later title “Dust Breeding” is more informative. Company points put that whether viewed as a macro or micro it looks like a wasteland and his later image Terrain Vague (1929), along with many other images. The subject was eventually set in varnish and sandwiched between glass plates as “The Large Glass.” Apparently, Duchamp wanted it to retain ambiguity with accompanying text as indefinite as possible.
Company sets out that dust is a trace of what was before the camera, and that the photograph can photograph our attention on such transient things. In semiotics this is an “index” a sign caused by its object. He also suggests that a photograph is an index as it is an indication of the presence of a camera.
Ultimately Company uses the image Dust Breeding as an example that photography has two roles in art, as an art form and as and functional way to document and publicise art forms.
I have always been fascinated by this photograph, so it was good to take the opportunity to study it more closely. Most interesting to me is Company pointing out that I can view an image as a macro or a micro, which I’d not thought of.
This is a landscape photography collective who mediate the liminal space between the world before us and within. The founding members are Al Brydon, Joseph Wright, Rob Hudson and Stephen Segasby, the members explore place making personal representations of landscape, expressing their inner selves and their relationship with the land. Their name was taken from a naturalist and founder of the American national parks’ movement John Muir, who said, “I found that going out was really going in.” (Hudson, 2016).
They use a combination of narrative, metaphor, and investigation, believing that “there’s a big difference between a photograph of something and a photograph about something” (Hudson, 2016).
They are both in the landscape and representing the landscape, so inhabiting two worlds, “the one before us and the one inside us. And when those two worlds collide and intermingle the result can often surprise” commenting on the transformative effect of this combination (ITO, 2016). Referring to a 2016 exhibition by the collective, Hudson says the intention of the photographs often is to make the abstract worlds of thoughts and feelings more concrete through the representation of the physical world around us.
I have been particularly inspired by the work of several of the members, which I now detail below.
Describes himself as a conceptual landscape photographer who uses metaphor and narrative and is often influenced by poetry. He says that landscapes are dependent on how they are imagined through our “intellect”. In photographing them we are representing a physical reality, what we knew before and what we know after being in the landscape and express something of our inner selves.
Hudson explains two ways that we experience the landscape “One is lived, illiterate and unconscious, the other learned, literate and conscious.” (Hudson, 2016).
Talking about his projects he says he has three premises; they are personal, “restrictive” maybe by subject, area, style and or theme and he is passionate about them. To work he develops a backstory to find what he’s trying to convey so he is not overwhelmed when in the landscape. He also shares that contrastingly images can be the start of informing your ideas, though he generally uses words to generate more clarity and more depth about how he feels and what he wants to represent in a project. His preparation method he outlines is similar to my own:
Make lists of keywords about my feelings, history, and my associations with the place.
Look at previous work by others
make a quick list of images to avoid- this I don’t do but it’s a good tip.
He says this means we produce work that is different, think creatively and look inside ourselves to find a way of expressing our ideas.
Hudson is keen on using series of images to strengthen what a photographer is as this allows viewers to make links and engage their minds. Interestingly he shares that he’s interested in John Berger’s ideas about seeing images in series, “how the force of multiples reinforces the potency of individual images…a series of refrains” (Hudson, 2016). I agree with this.
He also talks of trees saying that trees aren’t in competition with one another, but instead exist in a complex web of interconnecting roots and fungi, exactly as I have talked of. His work ‘The Secret Language of Trees‘ is his search for “visual clues to that connectivity and mutual nurturing” Hudson, 2022). He knows this is not documentary, it is subjective and has multiple layers of visual influences.
The Secret Language of Trees (Hudson, 2022)
His work Mametz Wood, not taken in that actual wood, but based on a poem about the WW1 of the Royal Welch Fusiliers in in the battle of Mametz Wood, a futile fight for just one square mile of woodland in northern France. This was his starting point to explore the effects of war on the mind, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in particular. Here he used double exposures to “both disturb reality and create a strange, surreal landscape that explores the experience of, or what was then known as shell shock”, saying that it is not obvious what is real and imagined, just as the victim’s experience (Hudson, 2022).
(Mametz Woods (Hudson, 2022)
Reflection:
Many aspects of Hudson’s work interest me: His preparation for photographing, photographic intention, his thoughts on working in series, his philosophy and of course his images.
Responds to the landscape on a physical, mental, and emotional level, using metaphor, impressionism, abstract expressionism, and his emotional response is important. He believes sequences are important and that too many questions that are left unanswered in a single image, where a group of images offers the viewer greater insight into the story or the photographer’s work.
In May 2015 he spent time alone in the Forest of Dean, describing this as the most important of his work, in developing a concept and outcome that was unexpected. When he developed his films, he found most images scattered with dark shadows creeping and oozing across the landscape. The more he looked the more he “began to ‘see’ the very essence of the forest as I had perceived it” (Fotofilmic, 2016). He then printed the images quite small, to draw the viewer in for a personal experience and felt it was most successful as a group of images whilst each one has a narrative of its own.
Malevolence (ITO, 2018)
His work ‘A Process of Reclamation’ was a long-term series developed around the feeling of walking in the footsteps of those who created the slate quarries. It shows the healing of scars in a post-industrial landscape and depicts a landscape’s journey through time and the change abandonment and natural decay bring to bear. However, it also hints at the healing of our inner scars (Hudson, 2016).
Reflection:
Like Hudson he talks of the importance of value of working in a series, uses metaphor in his work, but also shows how unintended outcomes can be used for a good outcome.
Tom Wilkinson’s work explores identities of place and of self. He finds he then discovers “something about the nature of how the photograph functions within them and about the nature of the moment of experience” and gains a sense of belonging (ITO, 2016). He says that in photographing landscape you are giving an opinion of it, and so it says as much about the photographer as it does the land.
Talking of his work Nothing remains, says the work suggests the presence of an absence, of something that has been before now only seen within the present, describing it as “both visual and a philosophical enquiry into the way memory and identity function with regard to a sense of place” (Wilkinson, 2022). He says we have a consciousness of the past within the present, and therefore that if the photograph is memory, a displaced moment in time, then our sense of being-in-the-world is also this way. The series is an attempt to connect this area to the landscapes of his past and to question his identity within it.
Nothing remains (Wilkinson, 2022)
Reflection:
I like his description of the past within the present and photograph as memory displaced in time.
She uses a variety of cameras and techniques, vintage film camera, pinhole, a plastic Holga or Diana, alternating between single and multiple exposures, to explore and transform her experiences with the world. Golding describes a flow state, an almost automatic, yet highly absorbed state of consciousness, and finds, alters, and creates metaphors to share her subjective experience. She says there is “something compelling about the ways photography can be used to transform “objective” reality” and talks of transcending the literal appearances of subjects to metaphors for internal experience, and share personal meaning (Golding, 2022).
Her images have transformed reality in ways that can be quite surprising to her conscious self. In her work Before there were words, is about proverbial experience that we retain, have in our unconscious minds, and might not share through words. The photographs speak of pure actuality, that moment before verbal labels rush in to change experience (Benbow, 2016).
(Golding, 2022)
My reflection:
I was interested in the way she describes the “flow state” that she works in when self-absorbed. I can align with Golding’s photographic philosophy, particularly her description of “transcending the literal appearances of subjects to metaphors for internal experience” (Golding, 2022). Also, her view that the world illuminates what’s in our subconscious and brings it to the fore.
Summary of research for assignment 2 Literature review and dissertation proposal
The breadth of my reading and some of the depth will be seen in my Literature review and dissertation proposal. I have made many notes whilst reading though I don’t intend to publish them here as I wrote them as working documents for myself with page and citation references.
I will give a brief overview of the items that I researched and made notes on for later use and to aid my general understanding.
On semiology
I began with Visual Methodologies (Rose, 2001), which was a revisit of chapter 2 “The Good Eye” (looking at pictures using compositional interpretation), and chapter 4 semiology: laying bare the prejudices beneath the smooth surface of the beautiful. I also read chapter 6 on discourse analysis i: text, intertextuality and context. I haven’t research Foucault which I know is a big area as I’m not convinced it is relevant to my area of enquiry. From here I read ‘Saussure versus Peirce: Models for a semiotics of Visual Art’ (Iverson, 1986) to begin my research on Peirce and them read more widely on Peirce and then continued on to expanding my previous reading of Barthes on semiotics.
Bate (2009) was useful for background and clarity on semiology and other areas of photographic theory and history on the language of photography. I used Chandler (2002) for some clarification on semiotics.
On documentary versus artistic expression in Landscape photography
I began with Benjamin (1931) and Clarkson (2019) recommended by my tutor which were useful on the tension between art and photography. Bull (2010) as well as giving me background on the meaning of photographs also gave good commentary on photography as art. I explored more on Szarkowski on expression on photography, beginning with Mirrors and Windows (1978) which led to more book purchases and have much more material to use.
The area that I read much on but haven’t included in my Literature review were photographers, Minor White and John Blakemore. Bunnell (Cronan, 2014) and Badger (1977) suggested by my tutor were good starting places, and led to more research and material for future use. This I will use in my dissertation to give context to emotional expression and plurality of meaning in photography, equivalence, and metaphor.
I revisited Berger’s texts for background on looking and seeing (Berger, 1980, 1972), personal interpretation and aesthetics for attention, but didn’t include in my work at this stage. Another area of research that I touched on but have left for now is the affect of audience on the meaning of photographs.
The full list of texts that I have read are listed in my literature review and my dissertation proposal.
References:
Badger, G. (1977) ‘Introduction’ In: British Image 3: John Blakemore: Exhibition. London: Arts Council. pp.7–10.
Bate, D. (2009) Photography: The Key Concepts. New York: Berg publishers.
Benjamin, W. (1931) in his Little History of Photography, Die literarische Welt, (Gesammelte Schriften, II), 368–385.
Berger, J. Blomberg, S, Fox, C, Dibb, M, Hollis, R (1972) Ways of Seeing. London: British Broadcasting Corporation.
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.
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.
NIKI SOUTH 
