Overall I am very pleased with the feedback I have received and for which I am mightily relieved. Some suggestions about further editing on the set - which I will fully take on board. Some other suggestions about how I might have approached this assignment, which I found interesting and illuminating.
The most surprising was my tutors reaction to what I felt were the least interesting set i.e. the Alice Marshall Hall in that it was felt that they were the most interesting. Maybe this is because I "know" the AMH better than the other buildings and this speaks to a current conversation on the OCA Flickr site about "knowing" the subject you set out to photograph. Interesting things to think about.....
I was given encouraging comments about my writing - which I will continue to develop and I have had an article accepted for publication later this year.
More photographers to study, more things to consider, as I move to assignment four very encouraged and optimistic.
Glad you got good feedback and are feeling encouraged John. The AM Hall pictures are among my personal favourites form the set, in addition to the first three from the theatre group.
ReplyDeleteThanks Eileen. Interesting what you say about your favourites, my tutor also thought the theatre set worked well together as well. However it was with the AMH set that "the assignment really got going".... I'm troubled, but in a positive way and will try to distill where I've got to into the next assignment.
ReplyDeleteHi John. You've been busy. I'm very pleased your feedback was positive. Your approach is very thorough and thoughtful and as you've highlighted here you have made a connection to what you are photographing. It's funny how general discussions on the forums can feel so relevant or pertinent to your own work sometimes. You're making good progress and I think I feel troubled as a permanent state these days...lol.
ReplyDeleteThanks Penny. Thorough and painstaking I would put it! My overriding concern was to fulfil the brief, anything above that was a bonus; however I do feel there was a bonus, but it's a bit unsubstantiated yet as to precisely what that dividend might be! Troubling isn't it!
Deletehttp://www.aphotoeditor.com/2012/06/25/making-images-based-on-what-you-experience/
Deleteis an interesting quote which is basically saying not to 'over-research' before arriving somewhere, so as not to 'represent' aspects of the place rather than what he might experience. Makes some sort of sense to me that.
This is interesting Penny! When I responded to Dewald's question I'm fairly sure I didn't express myself clearly, but this quote you provide seems to me to echo a part of what I was trying to say, which is that any faithful reaction to a subject is a "truth" inasmuch as it is a perception that has been informed/coloured by knowledge gained to the point of reaction. This truth will likely be modified - assuming an open mind - as experience is gained. So Webb's motto is true (for me, I have to say) at any point in the process. I "knew" the AMH back story, I therefore spent less time researching it as I felt I had it covered, but my reaction to the images - that both my tutor and Eileen picked out - are still "troubling" me (there's that word again). And then when I look back at all the pictures I took, the ones in the Holywell of the entrance area also speak similarly - and I have spent a lot of time there also.
DeleteSo, I'm not sure I fully agree with Webb, but equally nor do I completely disagree. I think that for a full "journey" finding a reaction at any stage is worth the travel, though I do feel that over-researching can fill too many holes with preconceptions and leave the journeyman with a much lower prospect of potentially interesting peregrinations, which are likely to be the fountainhead in the development of a more colourful picture.