The nature and intent of my own practice:
- I want to challenge the way people see things, explore if they can still identify something if it is photographed in a more abstract way.
- I take my images using a square format, on an iPhone, using macro photography using an olloclip, I apply black and white/silvered filter.
- I am in some ways struggling with my narrative, I know I want to look at perceptions of how people see, but am still looking at the means in which I do this.
Where am I now?:
- The place I am right now is pulling together my style and deciding where my work belongs. I want to find a theme to my work to provide continuity perhaps the various different items I have previously used is not what I need for my project.
- I am still also trying to narrow down my audience and then this in turn should help me with everything else.
What contexts your work could be consumed in:
- My work would probably be consumed as fine art/abstract. In a photobook or perhaps a small exhibition.
- The idea of a small exhibition really excites me and I am looking at hosting a small event at Newcastle City Library.
- I do however enjoy blogging and perhaps to keep on building my website is still a good way to go.
Your practice in the context of other visual practices and critical ideas:
- You could look at it along the lines of abstract or surrealist art.
- Perhaps some aspects could be related to Frida Kahlo’s still life work in the way that I look for textures in my work. https://www.fridakahlo.org/still-life-round.jsp
- Or maybe the hyperrealism art of Giacchino Passini like his flower image in the following link: http://www.gioacchinopassini.com/picts/new10.jpg This painting shows so much detail and gives me ideas and inspiration of how to present my objects to the viewer.
- Or the work of Dennis J Wojtkiewicz – http://www.wojtkiewiczart.com
- The abstracts gallery of Wojtkiewicz is of particular interest to me and I can relate to it so much http://www.wojtkiewiczart.com/work/#/new-gallery-2/ . Although I have all of my work in black and white and much closer I can really relate to these pieces of art. Wojtkiewicz’s work in particular appeals to me stylistically, although it is a painting the up-close textures and angles show what it is possible to achieve, but also how I could start setting up images in terms of composition.
This weeks Presentation:
During this weeks presentation the work of Uta Barth really drew me in utabarth.net
I particularly enjoyed the project Field 1995 – 1998 especially Field#9 and Field#6. In these images I like the bokeh, this is something that I have captured in a couple of pieces of my own work and I like the aesthetic that it gives. I have found that I am being drawn to a more abstract style of photography in a sense that I am enjoying creating images where there is absolutely no way of telling what the image is.
They above is an images that I have created this week and I think this can be shown as similarities of Barth’s work where focus or lack of focus is not necessarily on the area it would have been conventionally in a photograph. This is something that really intrigues me and I would like to explore further.
With the work from this week I applied some of the readings/presentations to my practice – I agree that photography is an art form of its own, I also agree with the statement that “the human eyes sees differently from the camera lens” – Uta Barth. There is a perceptual relationship which goes hand in hand with what/how we see.
A point that really got me thinking was regarding constructed reality. In my practice whilst the items I photograph are real – they are not always in their natural setting, therefore it is a constructed reality but I am not necessarily capture reality as in events etc.
With Shore’s visual grammar – Flatness, Frame, Time & Focus. I understand that an image is 2D but this does not necessarily mean flat. I try to create depth and texture within my images to make them more interesting to the viewer and excite them with what they are seeing. I did agree with the point that the image creates its own world.
With my practice I relate most to Szarkowski – the thing itself being key to my work as it is of ‘things’. In some ways it is like a record keeping process of an item. The detail is also relevant especially when described as fragmented/discreet details. This is exactly what I am doing when capturing the world with my macro viewpoint. In my work the frame is also important as I want to have a limit to what the viewer sees to make them more inquisitive. Being involved in still life the time part of the analysis is possibly the least relevant, although when attempting to use natural light time is also of the essence. Vantage point to others may well have a different meaning to what it does for my practice I look for a different vantage point of a small object rather than a large vista for instance.
My favourite quote from this weeks work was from Alec Sloth
“The best photographs inspire curiosity”
This is something that I strive to achieve within all of my images.
References:
John Szarkowski (1966) The Photographers Eye, New York: Museum of Modern Art
Stephen Shore (1998) The Nature of Photographs, Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press
Aaron Schuman (2004) ‘The Mississippi: An Interview with Alec Soth’ In Seesaw Magazine – http://seesawmagazine.com/soth_pages/soth_interview.html
https://www.fridakahlo.org/still-life-round.jsp
http://www.wojtkiewiczart.com/work/#/new-gallery-2/
http://www.gioacchinopassini.com/news.htm
Kirsty Logan Photography 
