Level 3 Photography Nicola Hampshire

In February 2019, Hazel (fellow OCA Photography Student) and myself went to the Impressions Gallery in Bradford to see Helen Sear’s Exhibition Prospect Refugee Hazard (2019). Helen’s two films were on display (Company of trees, 2015) and (Wahaha biota, 2018) and several images from “Forest Operations.” I was interested in the process of Helen’s moving images. Themes included chanting popular relevant words and making soundscapes of the working forest which enhanced the film. On reflection, there were elements I would consider as initial ideas for my work, but I would have to research and experiment with my camera and see what it could do. I took several short moving images with my DSLR. It didn't matter how windy it was, the built in microphone was pretty rubbish!. When the trees were completely still, it picked up some birdsong.  Points to consider: To make sound an option, I will need to research and buy a microphone for the camera. Practice! My ideas could be set ...

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...