Intent
With my work I want to encourage people to think about my images. It is my goal that they would begin to use their imagination to try to make a response to tell me what it is they think they are seeing. This is why I capture my images in a macro style.
Strategies
To achieve my intent the strategies I have in place are my photographic style and the way that I edit my images. Through using black and white photography an extra layer of abstraction is added to the image. I then try to start conversations about my images to find out the thoughts of others. Through sharing on social media I want to get more people to see my images, the wider they are spread the more possibility of it being a conversation starter.
Are the strategies successful?
In some ways the photographic side is by far more successful than the discussion side. It is important that I do more work on defining who my audience actually is to make this more successful. I currently see my audience as people who enjoy abstract/black and white work – this could be art or photography. I understand that not everyone will be able to see what I am trying to do with my work.
Is photographic ambiguity an intent in its own right?
Ambiguity it has several definitions:
“Uncertainty of meaning” (wikipedia)
“The quality of being open to more than one interpretation; inexactness” (google)
“a fact of something having more than one possible meaning and therefore possible causing confusion” (Cambridge Dictionary)
If this can be seen as an intent it would work really well for me! I want individuals to feel at first a little confused but then to make their own conclusions/decisions. I openly encourage differing interpretations, so I would like to say yes it is an intent in its own right.
This week.
After coming away from the face to face event at Falmouth this weekend I was working on coming up with a narrative to help better explain my work. One comment that came from the weekend was to focus on one specific item rather than several and create a series. This led me to think of Life Cycles. Instead of using my iPhone I decided as has been referred to a few times to use my DSLR and I think in some ways I maybe preferred the outcome. Part of my still wants to stick to the iPhone to maintain the feeling of the everyday.
I presented this idea at our week 4 webinar and it received positive feedback. An idea that was brought up regarding some cultures believe that inanimate objects have spirits or souls. So for my research for the coming week I will be focussing my attention on the concepts of panpsychism and animism.
References
- https://www.google.co.uk/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB758GB758&q=Dictionary#dobs=ambiguity
- https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ambiguity
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambiguity
The Falmouth Face2Face Weekend
This week overall has been an amazing learning experience at the face2face event where I got to meet up with the other students on the course – the 9 and a bit hour journey from Newcastle to Falmouth was well worth it.
It has been commented on at assessment and tutorials that I should be experimenting with lights so on that Saturday I took the opportunity to do a full day of studio lighting. In these sessions I took my first portrait and it was also my first time in a studio. It was truly liberating the lessons I had already learned just seemed to make more sense when I could see what the light was actually doing on a larger scale.
Day 2 I completed the Here and Now workshop making pinhole cameras from drinks cans and capturing our here and now. I had never used a pinhole camera or even been in a darkroom before so to actually achieve an image I was absolutely over the moon about. The whole group then put their images together and made a book.
The afternoon was spent in portfolio clinics. It was nerve-wracking but highlighted my need for a narrative, this is something that has been discussed before but I really need to get to grips with this to enable to me to improve and develop.
The last thing on Sunday was the Print Swap Fair it was great seeing everyone’s work I even swapped one which I didn’t think I would.
Monday and Tuesday was the IOP Symposium, we had lectures in the morning I was so drawn in my Jenny Lewis, her story and work and enthusiasm was infectious and it left me buzzing. The afternoon I had 2 portfolio reviews, one more positive than the other but that is ok because it gives me something to think about and build upon.
Monday evening I participated in another lighting workshop which was led by Simon a fellow student. It was a great opportunity to learn more about what I can do with light it was really beneficial.
Tuesday was more lectures I really enjoyed John Spinks and it again highlighted how long it can take for a project to come to fruition.
The afternoon was my final portfolio review, it was great to finish with the feedback as it gave me some clear goals to go away with and work on.
Overall a great 4 days that will allow me to move forward with my project work.
Kirsty Logan Photography 