Pre-course experiment - square images January 2019

-
During my final tutorial at level 2, my tutor and I discussed experimenting with ideas before starting level 3. I took this opportunity to visit the local colliery to see if it would work as a space / place for level 3. During the archive assignment (Digital Image and Culture, Photography 2), I found several strands of possible ideas using the colliery land (buildings were dismantled in 1994-5). Having previously explored archived photographs in today's landscape, I started to document the area with my camera. I was aware that Format Festival in Derby was close (March 2019) and needed to take some images so that I could formulate some ideas for a direction for my Body of Work to discuss at the OCA critique session. 


Square photographs are common in landscape exhibitions and I have a bridge camera that can take them. It was something I had considered in a previous course. I went for a weekday walk across the colliery. This experiment looked at what happens if I use this format.



Notes
  • Colours between RAW and JPEG were quite different

  • The photo appears stretched. My shadow goes from tall and thin to short and wide on the monitor when opened. Great for body image!

  • Quality of “view” images is much less although close-ups are acceptable. DSLR better. 

  • Do I like the square images? Too much going on and not enough space? Is it just that some of my images suit a square crop and others don’t? How do I want the viewers to look at the image?

  • Lighter to carry by bike and with me. Can mount it to the handlebars as it is lighter than DSLR.

  • No tripod required.

On reflection, I will use my DSLR, tripod, a default 3:2 rectangle and crop if necessary.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

OCA Tutor led hangout 24th October 2019

-
Tutor Led Group Work HE6  Contextual Studies and Body of Work This session was presented by Ariadne Xenou through a slide show with questions and a discussion following the presentation. I pulled out a number of points from the presentation which I think will be useful personally and to give a flavour of the presentation to the OCA student hangout group I belong to. Don't separate the approach - BOW and CS Be analytical - show the big picture through micro details. Microstories and methodology are important Eloquence is key Grand narrative (the overarching theme of your project) Look at what interests you and break it down into why it interests you. Then put those components under the microscope. A grand narrative can be changeable. Is there a grader narrative than the grand narrative? Need to understand the context. Have a statement to test - what is your issue and why do you want to talk about it? A micro narrative stops you making the work too big. Research ques...
Read more

Body of Work 2 8 and 11th November 2019

-
Image
Weather - intermittent showers to torrential rain  Plan to start walking around the perimeter of the pit  over a period of days  tracking my route on an app. Collect 15 pieces of rubbish, photograph insitu, then photograph together in the environment. Today is a hard surface walk using ex-colliery railway line. How long do I need to walk to find 15 pieces? Will it always be the same distance? I left rubbish on the way there so I could record it on the way back and collect in a bag. I will creatively photograph on a drier day. (This map shows the distance required to find 30 pieces of rubbish and return journey so 1.75 miles for 30 pieces. Does the distance increase as the walk leaves the populated area?) Research question Do you see more litter in one direction than the other? I'm not working with the turnip or the numerous dog poo bags. This can be presented as typology. Personally I don't think it is creative enough for me but will be useful to...
Read more

Body of work 2 17th October 2019

-
Image
Whilst having a quick walk (a break from reading), I came across this poster in the local dog walking area (a former pit tip). Unfortunately I couldn't make the date, but it tied in with my current CS  reading. It was advertised on the local council website, together with advice on how to litter pick and a risk assessment.  There are a few litter picking groups in the area. I also found a government publication which supported litter picking by community groups and individuals. I will be referring to this in my critical writing so don't want to say too much here. I'm still thinking about rubbish in the environment. Social / civic pride and responsibility. Trail fairies are male and female. Mother earth - gender? I'm bored with negative images in the news of waste. Have we got to saturation point? I need to create something different for my images and perhaps "create" or performance art is the way to go. Key words to think about: waste, commodifica...
Read more