Category: PHO710: Positions and Practice
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Thoughts on collages or using layers
Way back in week 3 I was experimenting with layers – something I got interested in after reading about Thomas Vanoost‘s work over on 52 Frames. Vanoost takes pictures of the same space from slightly different angles a short time apart, and uses these in layers to illustrate the chaos of the city. That wasn’t…
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Reading notes: sustainable practice
This was the topic of our week 9 tutorial. Projects do not have to be about sustainability but we should be aware of our impact. Regarding consumption think about:
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Reading notes: on self and place
Rass, R. (2011) ‘Introduction to Perspectives on the Self: conversations on identity and consciousness’, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1234, pp. 1–4. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06204.x. “the perdurable question, Who am I? appears to point to a deeply rooted metaphysical and moral urge within the human species. Notions and constructs of a self…
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Stammstrecke: the ever-evolving research project
Our next assignment is to submit an illustrated research project proposal. I published some first thoughts about a possible research project in my reflective presentation, which I submitted three weeks ago, and things have evolved considerably since then. The original concept arose partly out of necessity: I have a corporate job with long hours, so…
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Week 9: on catching up and how I’m working
It has been a while and time has been short. In fact, it’s week 9 of the course now and my last post was made in week 2. Here’s a summary of achievements: Things got really busy at work amd between that and the assignments there has not been as much time to read as…
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Notes on my derive experiment
Photos here Being inspired by reading on the concept of derive this week (wk2 of PHO710), I decided to pick up my old habit of going on a photowalk, but to set some conditions. Whereas the original idea of the derive is more or less to follow your gut and walk where inspiration takes you,…
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Method, methodology and my own practice
Yesterday I wrote about how “bad” technique can be part of a deliberate concept, and we’ve been looking at, well, the concept of concept in a little more detail with other examples. “Shoot first, ask questions later” Victor Burgin1 I was a little surprised to be encouraged to apply the term “concept” also retrospectively, having…
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“Bad” techniques producing good photographs
This week we have been looking at different methods and methodologies used in photography, starting at the beginning of the week by looking at the definitions of method, methodology and concept themselves. We then looked at some examples of “bad” technique producing “good” photographs and at how taking advantage of this could be a deliberate…
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Taking vs Making
A topic that came up “on the side” during this weeks reading and discussions, was the notion of “taking” a photograph. In the presentation that kicked off our first module, this is passed over briefly as a logical rejoinder to Susan Sontag’s idea of photography-as-violation. Put oversimply: if photographs are taken, then it’s logical that…
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Reflections on Windows and Mirrors
“In metaphorical terms, the photograph is seen either as a mirror — a romantic expression of the photographer’s sensibility as it projects itself on the things and sights of this world; or as a window — through which the exterior world is explored in all its presence and reality.” Szarkowski, 1978: 2 I find Szarowski’s…