CONTEXTUAL STUDIES: RELEVANT NOTES FROM STUDY MEETINGS AND HANGOUTS

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CS NOTES from hangouts and prep ass 23.3.22

WHERE I AM AT WITH MY BOW:

Intentions:

  • to share the effect of the landscape on me.
  • To communicate the harmony and mutual relationships in the ancient woodlands
  • To express my feeling about community through the landscape of the ancient woodlands
  • To represent something of myself in the landscape

CS ACTIONS:

  1. Understand what is required in the lit review
  2. Decide what the key points are that I want to review in the contextual literature (feedback notes) – a core premise or theme and a visual methodology to analyse.
  3. Send Garry a summary of the key points I want to review in the contextual literature

USEFUL POINTS FROM CS STUDY SESSIONS:

29.7.21 L2 to 3:

How to Write Better Essays by Bryan Greetham

https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ucreative-ebooks/detail.action?docID=296364

Critical Thinking Skills by Stella Cottrell

https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ucreative-ebooks/detail.action?docID=6234915

https://libguides.uta.edu/researchprocess/articles

Critical lens section 2: Skillset Resource https://learn.oca.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=257#section-2

Good Writing Practice  and Research Methods resource

29.11.21 L3

  • Research helps you to work out where your works fits into the photographic world
  • Talk about your ideas, challenges, methodology (approach) We articulate better visually when we articulate in writing and vice versa, the two aid each other. Articulation is needed to open the next door.
  • Consider-redefine-reconsider-redefine
  • Diary key words and how one leads to another
  • Document your journey done prep, do journey, then reflect
  • Pinpoint academic areas that I need help with and vocalise on forums

31.1.22 L3

In the Lit review and dissertation proposal, what is the normal number of photographers to use?

Ariadne: Less is more, with analysis, we are not here to provide lists but contextual analysis, ask how many do you need to contextualise your work? Think why are they there, and why have you chosen them, use 4-5 maximum. The Lit review should be a clear, in-depth review of my literature, to contextualise my thoughts; you will read more than you’ll summarise in your lit review. The lit review should be the backbone of my contextual framework, texts that my argument can’t do without, interrelationship, extrapolation – be brutal to get depth.

  • No problem with moving away from your Lit review with your works, it shows development, but explain why you moved away from it.
  • Don’t assume your narrative is evident in the evidence you share.

28.2.22 L3

Consider why what I’m working on/researching fascinates me

Follow tracks before they grow cold

28.3.22

Discussions on literature reviews

  • It’s an abstract concept which should not be rigid, it should allow you to change direction, it’s just a step in the research
  • Though it might not seem immediately relevant it is about the journey rather than the output
  • Treat it as a theoretical framework to return to
  • It is relevant to everything we do including BOW – could theoretically do one for BOW
  • Helps you to synthesis things that are relevant and not so relevant and to synthesis them
  • Helps you to find and make links in your own work

Q to those who’ve finished it: How has the lit review developed in your dissertation drafts?

  • It gives a structure
  • Keeps you on track

Q: How can you work out what is relevant in your research?

  • Tutor guidance – so I should seek this now
  • Look at potential sources
  • Abstracts, summaries, tables of contents, introductions

Best if the literature review has some uniformity:

  • Relate the sources to each other
  • Firstly, discuss them source by source but then connect them together to make a theoretical framework

25.4.22

Q: How to decide what to cut out from your work to meet a word count.

  • Be concise- eradicate the imprecise
  • Take out repetition
  • Move some info to footnotes
  • Be especially precise in introductions and conclusions, Only 5-6 sentences each. The first and the  last sentences are particularly important and should echo each other

Remember the literature review can morph, as long as you explain your reasoning. Later Q: so how would I rewrite? Completely? Or as a comment on?

My question: How do I stop researching and write my literature review?

A: The literature review is the framework to form my argument – to form the context. In order to avoid self plagurism need to reformulate later.

  • Ask what do I really need for this?
  • What would I need to include if explaining to someone else
  • Keep to the essentials – it is important to analysis to the full potential
  • Analyse the most important blocks I need – 4-5 sources only

My question: If the literature review is to form the theoretical framework for my argument do I only use theorists/philosophers?  Ie; not those who critique the work of my chosen photographers? A:

  • Ask how important is their work to the topic?
  • Do they argue about the photographers work or the central arguments?
  • If semiology is important it would be daft not to include Barthes

Next Post: https://nkssite6.photo.blog/2022/06/05/contextual-studies-assignment-2-research-round-up/

CONTEXTUAL STUDIES: UPDATE

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31.3.22

So it been a while, I’ve been working on my BOW assignment 2 which is now submitted. I probably should have been working on my literature review at the same time, however I have needed to get a direction in my head for that before I could move on. Now I’ve got that direction, I’ve the confidence to start on my dissertation proposal and literature review.

Preparations

  • I have pulled together much of the advice and information that I have gathered on writing a literature review into one document. This has helped to focus my mind on what is required and how to be effective,
  • I have collated ideas, that I’ve gained from various peer groups that I engage with.
  • I have revisited the feedback given by my Tutor form CS assignment 2 and noted suggestions made for CS part 2. Stimulated by this I have begun research in some of those areas.
  • I have collected together research that I’ve not yet used, which will feed into my literature review and my dissertation proposal, some may also inform my BOW.

Reflection

I now feel in a good position to begin putting together my ideas so that I might in turn send as my tutor suggested key points that I want to review in my contextual literature and move myself towards ta core premise or theme and a visual methodology to analyse in my work.

21.4.22

Back again and ready to re-immerse. I have been reading and researching, both paths I have found and texts suggested by my CS Tutor, who I contacted a few weeks ago with a summary of key points that I want to review in my contextual literature.

I have expanded my reading and investigated my area of interest further, made notes as I have gone along. Whilst reading I reflected on:

•       Documentary and artistic expression in Landscape photography

•       Landscape genre as a genre

  • Tension between effect- express, and affect -emotional responses

•       Possible title: Mirrors & windows in the Landscape photography of Minor White and John Blakemore. However I think I need to reform this as a question.

My reading covered:

  • Practitioners who express or inspire emotional responses in their work:  John Blakemore and Minor White.
  • Methodology: Semiotics (Rose, Saussure, Pierce- most relevant to images)
  • Rose “The good eye”- how contemporary image makers work against that interpretation

Rose: Discourse analysis but I don’t see the relevance to my work at the moment

I have decided to exclude the more contemporary work of the Inside the Outside collective, to narrow down my focus, however this means that I can use these inspirations in my BOW work.

From this I have organised my research notes and made links. I now have enough research to begin writing my literature review and have narrowed down the focus of my proposed dissertation yet have still to completely define my question foor enquiry/title. This is where I am currently on key issues and debates:

  • The tension between effect (social/cultural) and affect (emotional/personal responses) in landscape photography
  • Mirrors (reflection of the artist/expression) and windows (knowing the world better/reality).

I recapped on my research on White and Blakemore to define my premise and form a title with a question and read dissertation advice especially on defining titles.

To form my tentative dissertation title, I then created a mind map to help brainstorm ideas and keywords and make related ideas, focus on the Key issues and debates and to find the main questions I intend to talk to.

Mind map:

The tentative title that I will work to at this stage is:

Does the camera have a good capacity to express an artist’s own thoughts, and emotional response to the landscape; Discuss with reference to the work of Minor White and John Blakemore.

My primary visual methodology is semiology, supplemented by compositional analylsis; I have yet to decide whether to also use Rose’s discourse analysis 1, more research is required.

25.4.22

Advice that I’ll use:

My Tutor:

  • Paragraph on each piece of major literature and how it links to my premise/title:
  • Relate the sources to each other and connect to make a theoretical framework

Ariadne at L3 study session:

I asked: How do I stop researching and write my literature review?

A: The literature review is the framework to form my argument – to form the context. In order to avoid self plagiarism need to reformulate later.

  • Ask what do I really need for this?
  • What would I need to include if explaining to someone else
  • Keep to the essentials – it is important to analysis to the full potential
  • Analyse the most important blocks I need – 4-5 sources only
  • That the writers should be significant theorists that argue about the photographers work I Other advice:
  • am using in CS, or my central arguments.

Other advice:

  • methodology: approach how I intend to go about my work
  • Objects of enquiry are elements I’ll examine to answer these question (texts, artists)
  • Content and conclusion of author
  • Relevance of text to my rationale
  • Critically compare approaches and conclusions of others, their consent and disagreement, how their work was received by critics
  • Indicate what I plan to explore further
  • How this relates to my BOW – reasons for choosing
  • Set my subject in the broad historical/social context with parameters

30.4.22

I need to stop researching now and write my literature review. I have determined my Core premise or theme and the main questions I want to address as well as the key points/theorists that I want to review in my contextual literature

One point I am unclear on is whether I include in the literature review commentary on the work of White and Blakemore whose landscape work I will use to contextualise the debate I the eventual dissertation.

22.5.22

The literature review and the dissertation proposal are now finished and just have to update my blog before posting to my tutor.

I only gave the briefest mention of Minor White and John Blakemore and commentators on their work in my Literature review, but have included them in my dissertation proposal. I hope that this was the right approach.

Next post: https://nkssite6.photo.blog/2022/06/05/contextual-studies-relevant-notes-from-study-meetings-and-hangouts/

CONTEXTUAL STUDIES: ASSIGNMENT ONE SUBMISSION

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VISUAL CULTURE IN PRACTICE

Assignment brief:

The purpose of this assignment is to enable you to explore and develop initial ideas and research as part of
a dissertation scoping and planning process. It is a key moment to reflect on possible relations between your ongoing research of visual culture with ideas relating to your photographic practice. The assignment
requires you to reflect on how visual culture research and practice can weave together and support each other. Write a 1000-word essay (+/- 10%) (or 5 minute equivalent presentation) that relates your Body of Work to an aspect of visual culture, discussed in Part One. (Alexander, 2020:37)

Alexander, J. et al. (2020) Contextual Studies. Barnsley: Open College of the Arts.

I have removed my essay as it will be made available to my assessors

Next Post: https://nkssite6.photo.blog/2022/06/05/contextual-studies-update/

CONTEXTUAL STUDIES ASSIGNMENT 1: REFLECTIONS ON FORMATIVE FEEDBACK

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This was by video and later written.

The overall feedback was that I’d tried to do too much too soon. The advice I was given below was really useful.

General advice given:

  • Write in the third person.
  • Only use italics for emphasis not quotations
  • Avoid redundant speculation/personal opinion
  • I should have explored a range of visual methodologies to begin with such as compositional analysis moving onto semiotics and discourse.
  • Use visual methods initially and then allow the context to make points and give evidence.
  • Weigh up the work being analysed, then use a visual method (poss semiotics) analysis and contextualise with different commentators.
  • Good semiotic analysis of my own work
  • I discussed my BOW images for the assignment as suggested but wont be discussing going forward, except possibly as my Tutor suggests I could do as preface to my essay

Actions from the feedback:

Look at the annotations and summarise the key points that I want to review in the contextual literature. Send to Tutor and he will review and revise/suggest others

1.Find a key premise or theme: Minor White expand on. Minor White and Szarkowski as a possible. enquiry. Realism representation or expression? Note: It’s the process of representation that that allows interpretation by the viewer.

2. Find a visual methodology to analyse, without going off on a tangent.

From part 2, for Lit review:

  • Use leading authors in the field as key resources to research and develop.
  • Summarise, demonstrate purpose and relevance of text to my rationale.
  • Critically compare and the approaches and conclusions of others
  • Indicate what I plan to explore further on my dissertation proposal

Other comments against learning outcomes:

LO1 undertaken research and study demonstrating comprehensive knowledge of your area of specialisation and built a theoretical framework for your creative practice

  • Keep writes up “tight”, no waffle!
  • Define terms for general readers. Use sites like the Tate to define key terms.

LO2 synthesised and articulated your critical, contextual and conceptual knowledge and understanding into a coherent critique of advanced academic standard

  • Think about outlining some of Minor White’s work with reference to Szarkowski – a possible focus for the essay?
  • In assignment 2 I could consider other visual methodologies that I might use to analyse work. Composition might be a useful methodology at the end of a work but it’s not very detailed.

LO3 applied your own criteria of judgement, reviewed, criticised and taken responsibility for your own work with minimum guidance

  • Realism is a complex topic – could be interesting to explore representation- representing – revealing -expressing. There is a conflict between representation and expression.
  • Expand more on the notion of equivalents. The Rose quote on the expressive qualities of photographs? could form the central thrust of Lit review effect/affect– which part? P4?

LO4 selected and applied information management skills and used appropriate technology in the production of an accomplished critique with minimal supervision

Could have begun by defining as a genre – Alexander, Bate, Clarke good for this.

Next post: https://nkssite6.photo.blog/2022/06/05/contextual-studies-assignment-one-submission/

BODY OF WORK ASSIGNMENT TWO SUBMISSION: GENRE DEVELOPMENT

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Nicola South          Student number: 514516

GENRE DEVELOPMENT SHOOT

Brief: Spend some time reviewing your personal reflection and your tutor feedback. Develop a series of carefully considered images that moves your idea forward. Hand in this series to your tutor together with a new reflective commentary setting out where you plan to go from here.

These images follow on from my first genre shoot developing my exploration of my concept, the ancient woodlands, as a visual metaphor for my theme of community. I was encouraged after my last assignment, to get to the knub of my idea and form a working title; I have decided on “A harmonious community”. The how and why of sharing my concept is still developing.

I reread and found new material on woodland species I photographed, trees, lichen, moss, ferns, and fungi. This increased my respect for them as individual subjects and enhanced my understanding of how they work together to create this harmonious woodland community. Sheldrake’s quote about lichens being undividable “They flicker between “wholes and “collections of parts”” (Wildlife Trusts, 2021), could equally apply to all these woodland species. This time as I photographed, I shuttled between the perspectives of the whole and the parts, but increasingly focused on individual woodland species. When I reflected on my images it became obvious that it is almost impossible to separate these parts from the whole, as the woodlands are all about the collective working together.  

Photographing these species was a process I needed to go through to understand the parts that make the whole harmonious community. I tried different ways of looking and using unusual perspectives but returned to simply showing the close relationships the species have with each other. I considered various text to signpost my intention, settling on simply adding a border combined with a dictionary definition to add definition to the images. Interestingly these definitions of words that relating to a harmonious community, mostly refer to people or persons.  My concept is inspired by humans, they are not evident in my images, although they are the stimulus to my intention and observations, they do not need to be visually evident, I am sure of that.

Next steps

These images were not inspired by the photographers I researched, however returning to this research, when reflecting on my outcomes, helped me to consider on ways forward now.  Of those, I identify with the work of Ellie Davies, particularly her practice where she “walks, thinks, sits, listens then creates” (Davies, 2018). Although her outcomes are created by intervention and construction in the woodlands which I don’t lean towards, I share her desire to photograph to explain the landscape’s effect on the photographer; this is something I will focus on going forwards- an intention to communicate the woodland’s exceptional quality of harmony and mutual relationships. Can I put something of myself in the space as Davies does without intervening in the landscape?

After this close focus on interrelationships in the ancient woodlands, I now want to return to a wider view of the moss-covered landscape to express my feelings about this community. I may try like Thomas Struth’s work in forests and jungles to present so much information that viewers will surrender to just looking. I have a thought to try mixing into each image, both the “whole” and the “parts”.

References:

Wildlife Trusts (2021) Look at a lichen At: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/blog/guest/look-lichen (Accessed 07/03/2022).

Davies, E. (2016) Ellie Davies. At: https://elliedavies.co.uk/statement/ (Accessed 07/02/2022).

ASSIGNMENT TWO IMAGES

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Next post: https://nkssite6.photo.blog/2022/06/04/contextual-studies-assignment-1-reflections-on-formative-feedback/

BODY OF WORK ASSIGNMENT 2:

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REFLECTIONS ON FORMATIVE FEEDBACK

This was video Feedback

The narrative we shared:

I outlined my BOW ass 2, in particular my intention to use my thoughts and experiences of the local community as a stimulus only, not featuring humans in it, in my work on the woodland community.
Since assignment 1, I have honed the knub of my idea for my BOW to “a harmonious community”. I have stayed with my original intention of using the woodland as a visual metaphor for community, and a way of expressing my inner thoughts and emotions as well as my response to place.

I explained that I am inspired by the photographers of the Inside the Outside, landscape photography collective, as well as the work of Minor White and John Blakemore. Also that I want to put myself in the landscape without intervening in it like conceptual photographers such as Ellie Davies. In discussion we drew out that this work is about close up scrutiny of parts of a community, though moving on I will be sharing both the macro and the micro. We talked about looking at the patterns and relationships that emerge from this, as well as considering possible poetic elements to the work.

Tutor comments on my Assignment 2 submission

• She liked my approach using dictionary definitions juxtaposed by images of close-up parts of the woodland, which communicates my inferred reflection of the woodland community to human communities.

• The type face I used is effective, though it was suggested that I could make the definitions more authentic by ensuring that they consistently using verb or nouns and by using the same respected source such as the Oxford English Dictionary. This is not something I need to do now, but that I could do before my final submission.
• She suggested that I continue to dig down into my theme of harmonious community that is at the centre of my work
• In the future I could use the separate parts of the woodland community that I’ve photographed this time, somewhere in my final work- possibly in an appendix, inserts or overlays.
• To experiment with my idea to represent the macro and the micro, we talked about using digital or physical overlays.
• My tutor suggested that I might think about patterns and settlements also to combine with my woodland images.
• I should check out the writings of Edward Weston.
• Ensure my images are of the correct quality to stand enlarged printing if required.

My tutor was encouraging about the work and the developing concept, saying that I am showing that I am open to development and open to inspiration. I should not be afraid to present aesthetically pleasing images, and not look for an alternative way of presenting just to show a point of difference; just to find one that communicates my message. She described my work as slightly poetic, and that I should continue with my photographing, whilst experimenting with methods of communicating the parallels of the woodland community to the human community.
She suggested I should look at:
• Man Ray’s Dust Breeding. David company essay on: https://davidcampany.com/dust-breeding-man-ray-1920/
• Giles Perez conversation with Gerhard Steidl where he talks about text and images and the new meaning that forms beyond the two: https://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/dbpfp22-gilles-peress

Next post: https://nkssite6.photo.blog/2022/06/04/body-of-work-assignment-two-submission-genre-development/

BODY OF WORK ASSIGNMENT TWO DRAFT: REFLECTIONS AGAINST LEARNING OUTCOMES

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Nicola South          Student number: 514516

LEARNING OUTCOMES

  1. LO1 produce convincing visual products that communicate your intentions, using accomplished techniques in complex and unfamiliar environments, with minimal supervision from your tutor.

  • I began the process with reconsidering the knub of my idea, this enabled me to focus on harmony in the community
  • I realise that this work is fairly straightforward on the surface however I had to break down the context, woodlands, into smaller “parts” to understand their relationships, so that I can later work with the “whole” and communicate more fully about the community.
  • The signposting using a border with a dictionary definition is to aid the communication of this notion and to tenuously draw a parallel to human communities.
  1. LO2 demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of your area of specialisation and be able to situate your own work within a larger context of practice in your field.

  • To aid my work I researched the species, photographers who photograph these subjects. and photographers who use text to signpost their concepts.
  1. LO3 transform abstract concepts and ideas into rich narratives and integrate them in your images.

  • I used dictionary definitions pertaining to community adjacent to my images to narrate and integrate my images with my concept.
  1. LO4 critically review your own work and evaluate it against desired outcomes.

  • These images were a process that I needed to go through to be able to understand the relationships that exist in the ancient woodland. They are a step along the way to my intention to communicate the harmony in the community. As such the work develops my genre development, but importantly leads me to my next stage.
  • Peer reviews made me reflect on my outcomes along the way, but I have stuck to my intention of not using humans in my work, preferring to know they have stimulated my concept, but that I will find a way to show this without their inclusion visually.
  • Editing was a good reflection point, and where I realised the importance of what I’d shot, the parts, and relationships, so that I have a clearer understanding how to move on now and use this with more context.
  1. LO5 demonstrate management, leadership and communication skills and have deployed them during the negotiation and production of the final body of work with your tutor and third parties.

             n/a

Next Post: https://nkssite6.photo.blog/2022/06/04/body-of-work-assignment-2/

BODY OF WORK ASSIGNMENT TWO DRAFT: GENRE DEVELOPMENT

/ niki / Leave a comment

Nicola South          Student number: 514516

GENRE DEVELOPMENT SHOOT

Brief: Spend some time reviewing your personal reflection and your tutor feedback. Develop a series of carefully considered images that moves your idea forward. Hand in this series to your tutor together with a new reflective commentary setting out where you plan to go from here.

These images follow on from my first genre shoot developing my exploration of my concept, the ancient woodlands, as a visual metaphor for my theme of community. I was encouraged after my last assignment, to get to the knub of my idea and form a working title; I have decided on “A harmonious community”. The how and why of sharing my concept is still developing.

I reread and found new material on woodland species I photographed, trees, lichen, moss, ferns, and fungi. This increased my respect for them as individual subjects and enhanced my understanding of how they work together to create this harmonious woodland community. Sheldrake’s quote about lichens being undividable “They flicker between “wholes and “collections of parts”” (Wildlife Trusts, 2021), could equally apply to all these woodland species. This time as I photographed, I shuttled between the perspectives of the whole and the parts, but increasingly focused on individual woodland species. When I reflected on my images it became obvious that it is almost impossible to separate these parts from the whole, as the woodlands are all about the collective working together.  

Photographing these species was a process I needed to go through to understand the parts that make the whole harmonious community. I tried different ways of looking and using unusual perspectives but returned to simply showing the close relationships the species have with each other. I considered various text to signpost my intention, settling on simply adding a border combined with a dictionary definition to add definition to the images. Interestingly these definitions of words that relating to a harmonious community, mostly refer to people or persons.  My concept is inspired by humans, they are not evident in my images, although they are the stimulus to my intention and observations, they do not need to be visually evident, I am sure of that.

Next steps

These images were not inspired by the photographers I researched, however returning to this research, when reflecting on my outcomes, helped me to consider on ways forward now.  Of those, I identify with the work of Ellie Davies, particularly her practice where she “walks, thinks, sits, listens then creates” (Davies, 2018). Although her outcomes are created by intervention and construction in the woodlands which I don’t lean towards, I share her desire to photograph to explain the landscape’s effect on the photographer; this is something I will focus on going forwards- an intention to communicate the woodland’s exceptional quality of harmony and mutual relationships. Can I put something of myself in the space as Davies does without intervening in the landscape?

After this close focus on interrelationships in the ancient woodlands, I now want to return to a wider view of the moss-covered landscape to express my feelings about this community. I may try like Thomas Struth’s work in forests and jungles to present so much information that viewers will surrender to just looking. I have a thought to try mixing into each image, both the “whole” and the “parts”.

References:

Wildlife Trusts (2021) Look at a lichen At: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/blog/guest/look-lichen (Accessed 07/03/2022).

Davies, E. (2016) Ellie Davies. At: https://elliedavies.co.uk/statement/ (Accessed 07/02/2022).

ASSIGNMENT TWO IMAGES

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Next post: https://nkssite6.photo.blog/category/body-of-work/bow-assignments/assignment-2/bow-a2-reflections-againgst-learning-outcomes/

BODY OF WORK ASSIGNMENT TWO: GENRE DEVELOPMENT

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LEARNING LOG

Initial thoughts

Following my tutor feedback on assignment 2 I first focused on refining my project ideas.

I worked to clarify the how and why of my concept.

The why I am clear about already: my appreciation of the effectiveness of the woodland community, as a contrast and stimulated by my general disappointment in human communities. The how is more difficult and I am still working into.

I then focused on developing a working title, which was at first harmony in the woodland versus dissonance in the human community; as I worked into it this became, A harmonious community.

My key words were: Flourishing, harmony, cooperation, resilience, network, diversity, exchange, mutual, nurture, partnerships, mutuality, collective, co dependence.

I briefly noted down some of my previous reading on ancient woodlands, trees, fungi, moss, and lichen. By noting down some of my reading I was able to check that nothing important in their nature or relationship had escaped me. I have noted down further material that I may return to. Reading the science and the ecology behind the species reinforced my feelings about the uniqueness of ancient woodlands.

Refining thoughts mind map:

Shooting

In assignment 1 I shot and shared a variety of aspects of the ancient woodlands that signify community to me, general landscapes, close up, and abstract studies. This time I set out to shoot to capture the various types of organisms that make up this ancient woodland community, trees, lichen, fungi, ferns, moss. Of course, it proved impossible to separate these species as they are interwoven together in many forms. This proved to be the point eventually, the harmonious coexistence of these various parts into a thriving community. For their success they depend on each other, they provide for each other, they exchange and nurture.

I had planned to experiment with scale, perspective, and distortion. However, when photographing I found I was keener to expose the details than disguise them. I shot closer and closer to expose these details, until I had accidentally collected almost a typology of the woodland community.

I returned to shoot many times, but within the same month. Each time I had reviewed previous images and sought to improve technically. Sometimes I returned to the same subject, though I learnt that this usually proved impossible as the landscape changes quickly in response to weather, even though many of these species are slow growing.

Fungi was naturally the most aesthetic, but other subjects gave a strong message of a harmonious community. Moss was always there in the background, and I only realised with hindsight that this is becoming of more interest to me.  

At the same time, I considered the methods that I would use to signpost my message and give an entry point to my viewers. I focused mainly on definitions of the keywords that apply to the ancient woodland community. I narrowed down those that I would use by checking actual dictionary terms, and decided that the most relevant were exchange, network, diversity, interdependent, nourish, harmony, reciprocal, and cooperation. I reviewed the images that I’d shot to check whether I had some of each species that would align with the definitions, which I had and then began to edit.

Editing

I reflected on the images and their meaning, for instance which of these two fern images I should use:

I considered what they each might be saying and decided that the fern emerging from the moss signalled harmony, whilst the ivy and the moss had less desired meaning.

I asked myself whether this image of the fungi said anything about community, so I substituted it for another image which I cropped tighter to show the relationship between the fungi, tree, and moss.

When I shared the images without text, some of my peers were underwhelmed and suggested that the needed more of an angle of some link. Also, I was concerned that the images were rather “straight”, and did think to reshoot in more artistic manner as portrayed below:

However, on sharing this possibility with peers again they like myself preferred the original images. I felt disillusioned when my peers I might add humans as comparisons to the images in some way, but I knew this was not where I wanted my work to go. I know that I will not be producing a documentary project, but that my work sits between the genres of landscape and expressionism. I do realise that I need to find a point of difference so to speak, however I do not want to do this to merely tick a box, or make my work look unusual. Therefore, I decided to stick to my own path. This work is in any case this is nowhere near the final product of the course, merely a steppingstone along the way.

My intention was strengthened when I referred to my tutors’ words that though dissonance in human community may have stimulated my work on the harmony in woodland communities, that doesn’t mean that they must be present in my work – this motivation may just underpin the work.

The images that I’m using depict coexisting/co-dependent ancient woodland plant species. Some are more ambiguous because of their scale of their unusualness, but I am not attempting to disguise them but photographing them in a way to make them and their relationships clearer. I have chosen images that emphasis relationships.

Editing mind map:

Presentation

I contemplated using the definitions that I had chosen as a border of underlying text. Eventually I decided that by simply adding definitions to a border on a print that the message was stronger.

The future

This work is already leading me forwards. I do not intend to develop te work in this style, studies of species that live harmoniously in the woodland community, but it was a process I had to go through, to move myself forwards. Seeing, studying and photographing them, has enabled me to appreciate more clearly and their interrelationships. At this point I feel my next springboard will be to use images of trees and moss to contextualise the success of this community and I might look at overlaying close up images of species onto these i some way.

Next post: https://nkssite6.photo.blog/category/body-of-work/bow-assignments/assignment-2/a2-contact-sheets/