Hart Island - Melinda Hunt and Joel Sternfeld

A segment of drone footage shows the harrowing scenes of mass graves in New York State. The place is Hart Island, a place few had heard of.

“Hart Island is a place outside the vision and minds of most New Yorkers, even those who have family buried there. It represents the ultimate melting pot, a place where individual lives are blended beyond recognition.”

MELINDA HUNT





First published in 1998, the book by Melinda Hunt and Joe Sternfeld is a documentary investigation into Hart Island. New York is alone as a US city in maintaining a separate public burial ground for strangers, known as a potter’s field. The term ‘potter’s field’ is taken from a passage in Matthew 27:5-7:

“So Judas flung the money into the temple and left. He went off and hanged himself. The chief priests picked up the silver, observing, ‘It is not right to deposit this in the temple treasury since it is blood money.’ After consultation, they used it to buy the potter’s field as a cemetery for foreigners.”

Writing this post on Good Friday, gives an added poignancy with the insertion of the Easter story into the narrative.

Located in Long Island Sound, 16 miles from the city, Hart Island was first used for burial during the American Civil War (1861-5). The island was purchased by the state in 1869 and went through of period of being used for workhouses, and penal reform initiatives. Inmates could be quarantined on Hart Island for substance abuse, mental illness, homelessness, and infectious diseases including tuberculosis. When the prison on Riker’s Island was built in 1927, there was no further expansion on Hart’s Island.

In World War II, Hart Island became a disciplinary camp for military troops as well as the first staging post for German soldiers arrested off the coast of Long Island. From the 1960’s, there was a drive to de-institutionalise reformatory programmes and the residents were decamped from the island. The last attempt for a residential programme was in 1982 for low level offences.

The remnants of the buildings can be seen in the video clip.

From the 1860s, the inmates were used to provide the labour for the burials. When no more inmates were left living on the island, short-term prisoners from nearby Riker’s Island would be used and travel to the island by boart to prepare the graves.

Between November 1991 - December 1993, Hunt and Sternfeld were able to visit the island once or twice a month. Travelling with the morgue truck and prisoners from City Island. Hunt describes it, “Each time it seemed like we were crossing the river Styx.”

Exploring the island and gaining permission to photograph the prisoners during the burials, the series of images and supporting text builds up layer upon layer.

Sternfeld’s images can be seen on his website here: https://www.joelsternfeld.net/hart-island

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As a viewer, you can feel the stillness of place, partly gained from Sternfeld’s technique using a large format camera but also in part from his consideration to the place. There is a preciseness to the frame. These are not ‘shot from the hip’ documentary images but considered views. The amount of images over a time period, allows for rich tapestry of the island to be formed. From the close up details, to wide vista views to portraits with the prisoners and guards. This is an intimate exploration of a place. A place with a forgotten history and its only residents having no voice.

Hunt was able to interview the prisoners and engaged them on a writing project. The quote below is from this work.

“I sometimes get curious about Hart Island. How long has it been here? How long have they been burying bodies here and what will this island be like in the years to come? I sometimes wish I was here at night when everything is still just to see what it’s like, to get the feel of the island and maybe discover something new. To me, this island is like a huge monument surrounded by water. I call it the Land of the Unknown, because only God knows the full history of this island.”

ALBERT CARRASQUILLO, PITO [PRISONER STATEMENT]

Bibliography

Hunt, M. and Sternfeld, J. (1998) Hart Island, Germany:Scalo.

Sternfeld, J (s.d.) Hart Island. At: https://www.joelsternfeld.net/hart-island (Accessed 10/04/20)

The Guardian (2020) ‘Aerial Video Shows mass grave on New York’s Hart Island amid Coronavirus surge’, In The Guardian, 10/04/20. At: https://www.theguardian.com/global/video/2020/apr/10/aerial-video-shows-mass-grave-on-new-york-citys-hart-island-amid-coronavirus-surge-video (Accessed 10/04/20).

What if ....

What if … I can’t go outside to photograph

Below are some tips and suggestions of some aspects to explore and photographers to look at.  The list is by no means exhaustive, so please do add and share.

Some courses/assignments are more dramatically impacted than others, so do talk to your tutor.  Use the forums to share and connect with other students. 

Above all, please do not put yourself at risk to complete work.

You should be able to access work by the suggested photographers online, and some links have been provided.

Views From

Two examples of photographers who have shot view from windows:

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Family/Friends

Many photographers have photographed their family and/or friends.

  • Nick Waplington – ‘Living Room’

  • J A Mortram ‘Small Town Inertia’.  There is a WeAreOCA blog post on Jim’s work here: https://www.oca.ac.uk/weareoca/education/small-town-inertia-2/

  • Nan Goldin – ‘The Ballard of Sexual Dependency’ – this was presented originally as an audio-visual slideshow.  A great example of a project where the sum is greater than the individual parts. 

  • Projects that have been built over a long time period – Nicholas Nixon – ‘The Brown Sisters’ and Matthew Finn – ‘Mother’.

You may not have years to build a project but think about how you could incorporate material from the family album to build a project.

  • Richard Billingham – Ray’s A Laugh – biographical project of his family life, which he has since turned into the film “Ray and Liz’. This is available to watch on various online platforms.

Photographing the Self

Maybe not Instagram style.

  • Lee Friedlander – a master of using his own shadow or reflection. Can you document your life in this way?

  • Cindy Sherman – a lifetimes work using costumes, maybe get family involved?

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Domestic Space

  • Anna Fox – good starting points for projects – ‘My Mother’s Cupboards and My Father’s Words’ and ‘Notes from Home’

  • Keith Arnatt – most of his work, but ‘Notes from Jo’ and ‘German Toys’ are good starting points.

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Creating Another World

By using everyday items, you can construct another reality.  

  • Olivia Parker

  • John Blakemore -Tulips – from a simple tulip in a vase to richly detailed tableaux made by multi-exposure.

  • David Levinthal – use of children’s toys in a close up using small depth of field.

  • Andy Hughes – Dominant Wave Theory – we hope to follow up with Andy’s work in a future post.

Abstraction

There are so many examples here, but if you are new to this work here are some starting points:

Black and White

  • Edward Weston – pepper, shell, toilet bowl, tree roots.

MoMA has this book available online with extracts from his daybooks:

http://www.moma.org/d/c/exhibition_catalogues/W1siZiIsIjMwMDI5ODMyMCJdLFsicCIsImVuY292ZXIiLCJ3d3cubW9tYS5vcmcvY2FsZW5kYXIvZXhoaWJpdGlvbnMvMjUwMiIsImh0dHA6Ly93d3cubW9tYS5vcmcvY2FsZW5kYXIvZXhoaWJpdGlvbnMvMjUwMj9sb2NhbGU9ZXMiLCJpIl1d.pdf?sha=db091f85ce0bff5f

  • Paul Strand – architectural details – look at the use of shadows.

  • Minor White, Aaron Siskind, Harry Callahan  – from peeling paint, textured surfaces to plant details.

  • Alfred Stieglitz and the notion of equivalents.

Colour

  • Ernst Hass

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Collaborations

There are lots of ways of working with other artists.

  • Jo Spence, Rosy Martin – use of photo as therapy.

There is an excellent documentary on the work of Jo Spence here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-4s93Oj9mM 

  • Stop Here: This is the Place – Susan Conley and Winky Lewis 

A conversation between a photographer and a writer

https://stopherethisistheplace.com/index.php

  • Consider working with other students, swapping images.

Or work with artists/writers/musicians to reinterpret the work.

Use of other media

  • Draw

  • Paint

  • Write

  • Audio

  • Use archive material and curate this

  • Collage/montage using your own and other work – could be your using analogue and/or digital techniques – think Hannah Hoch, John Heartfield, Peter Kennard for analogue methods.

Take an idea

“Learning to deviate innovatively requires you to embrace the glorious mess of trial and error, and much of this engagement grows out of the obstacles of your surroundings. Every great artistic movement is precisely that … a movement, meaning a highly stimulating context replete with escalating challenges and uninhibited experimentation that pushes things ’forward’.” 

BEAU LOTTO from ‘Deviate’

Whatever you choose to photograph, work around the subject, push the ideas as far as you can.

If you go too far, then pull it back and explore the boundaries of what is possible.

Do what you can, when you can.  No pressure. 

Can you help?

There is a second blog post in the pipeline with examples from OCA students.   

If you have work from any OCA course that you have completed, that could be used as inspiration for other students, please do get in touch with me. 

NB: This was written on Wednesday 25 March.  The world is changing at a fast-paced rate with no clear definitive answer on how long restrictions may be in place. It is adapted from a Zoom presentation delivered on 18 March.

All images by author.

Bibliography

Lotto, B. (2017) Deviate: The Creative Power of Transforming Your Perception. London: Orion. 

This post first appeared on the WeAreOCA blog.

The Making of Books: Part 2

Planning your Photobook

Whether you are going to make your own book from scratch or order via an online service the following tips apply:

1. Study plenty of books.

Look at layout, typeface/fonts, use of blank pages
It’s really good to photocopy some pages of different books and annotate them. 
Make notes on key themes and don’t be afraid of blank space.
Book designers will create a template for books to ensure parity across the pages.

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Examples of photobooks by John Blakemore (above and below)

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2. Make a mock book

Layout for ‘A Dialogue with Solitude’ by Dave Heath. Exhibited at The Photographers Gallery.

Layout for ‘A Dialogue with Solitude’ by Dave Heath. Exhibited at The Photographers Gallery.

Close up of one page, note the use of white space.

Close up of one page, note the use of white space.

The example images above from Dave Heath’s ‘A Dialogue with Solitude’ allows us to see the planning of the book. You probably don’t have wall space to take your book proof to this extreme but making individual page layouts is an essential part of the book planning process
Play around with the sequencing of images. This stage can take longer than you imagine. It is good to spend time with various versions of your book before completing it.

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Pages from mock book by OCA Photography Student, Veronica Worrall. Reproduced with kind permission.

3. Get someone else to proof read

Never underestimated the importance of checking through the book multiple times.
There was a book submitted for assessment where the students own name was spelt wrong!
Check it, check it again and get someone else to check it for you.

Sequencing your book

Whether you are making your own book or ordering online, producing a proof book is well worth the effort.  
Take time to make a version – if ordering online always print out a PDF version. This will allow you to make layout changes and to proof read.
If you are making your own book, consider making a mini version. Use small prints to help organise the content and plan how your book will be folded.
In terms of sequencing your own content for a photobook, John Blakemore is highly recommended as a tutor.

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John occasionally tutors bookmaking at The Photo Parlour, a community based darkroom in Nottingham.  http://www.photo-parlour.com/
Although his book, John Blakemore’s Black and White Photography Workshop centres around black and white photographic printing. ‘Chapter 2 Thinking Photography: The Tulip Journey’ and ‘Chapter 5 Developing the Subject’ are well worth reading. Chapter 2 is an in depth discussion on the development of a project and Chapter 5 covers how to sequence images to bring a project to fruition.

Where you can you research photo books?

Your local library may only have a limited range of photography books and is unlikely to have a wide range of monographs.
Some books will be available via interlibrary loan but this is not always a viable option.
Galleries normally have a selection of books by artists/photographers in exhibitions.  
Sometimes these are behind glass cases but it is possible to take photographs of layouts or sketches. It is also common to have copies of artists books available to browse within a gallery and this gives a valuable opportunity to study books. Again, take photographs or sketches of layouts that strike you as effective.
All the major art/photography galleries have extensive bookshops.  Staff are often amenable for you to browse for periods of time, just take care handling the books!
If you want validation for extended browsing in a bookshop – Martin Parr explains how he undertakes research into photobooks here:

Photo fairs also provide opportunities to see a wide variety of photography books and there is a special festival dedicated to photo books at the Kassel FotoBook Festival.

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There are also some dedicated photography book libraries available for access around the country. Some do charge a membership fee for viewing so do check the website.
The undisputed collector of photobooks is Martin Parr. With Gerry Badger he has produced three volumes of ‘The Photobook’, documenting the history of the photobook.
Each page features a photobook by an artist with a few sample pages from each book. Volume III features more contemporary books. The video below is a Tate Talk on the launch of Volume III.

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To read Part One click here.

Note about author:

Andrea Norrington has been making books since a child, and currently makes handmade books using waste materials.  John Blakemore taught her to make her first photo book in the Spring of 1994. There was a vase of tulips on his kitchen table. She is a self-confessed addict of photography books.

This post was originally published on WeAreOCA.

The Making of Books: Part 1

There are as many ways of making a book as you can fold a piece of paper.  YouTube is full of tutorials of ways to make a book, although be wary of the scrapbooking style which tends not to suit the photobook.
If you are new to bookmaking, then experimenting with making artist style books is a fantastic learning experience.  They are a great way to understand the basic structure of books, play around with different materials and methods of production.
They are also a key way of understanding how to approach the content of your book, how to consider your page layout and the attention needed in page sequencing.
Getting hands on with a few simple books will pay dividends whether you decide to make your own book or order one via an online service.

Artist Books

Below are a few starting points for you to investigate artist books.
Based in Edinburgh, Rachel Hazell is a good person to start with.
Her book “Bound” is a good introduction to a making simple books from a few sheets of paper.  With minimal equipment, you can create artist style books with her step by step guides.

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On her website, The Travelling Bookbinder Rachel also offers workshops and e-courses.  In the e-courses she takes a range of simple book forms and encourages you to be creative with making your own content.
Guy Begbie comes highly recommend as a book creator.  He also runs workshops on bookmaking. His website shows the possibility with the book as a sculptural form.

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Image Credit: Guy Begbie

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The London Centre of Book Arts (LCBA) is a well-resourced studio space.  They run courses on various styles of bookmaking and letterpress. Their website details the courses:
https://londonbookarts.org/
LCBA also published Making Books as a guide to bookmaking.  This has a wider range of book forms (including hardback) and again is well illustrated with step by step guides.

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In the South West of England, University of West England has a book arts website.  Run by Sarah Bodman who is Senior Research Fellow for Artist’s Books at the Centre for Fine Print Research (CFPR)
The website has details of artists book fairs and a comprehensive list of starting points to research artist’s books.  It is well worth signing up to the newsletter for which is very comprehensive listing of all things book related.
http://www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/

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All the above are very much centred around artists books, which can be easily adapted to photo books.  The key decision is whether you will stick in the images or produce pages with the images already printed on.

Making Books

If you want to make your own books, then you only need a few simple materials and tools to get started.  The following should allow you to make most basic styles of books.

  • Cover materials

  • Paper for the content pages

  • Cutting mat

  • Scapel/Stanley knife (with a sharp blade!)

  • Scissors

  • Ruler

  • Pencil

  • Something to make holes if you are sewing – an awl or similar is perfect.  You can just use a needle if you are not making too many holes

  • Glue

  • Brush to apply glue

  • Sewing needle and thread

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Online PhotoBooks

An alternative option to making your own book, is to use a photo book printing facility online.  Many of the digital print ordering services have the facility to do this. Lightroom currently allows you to produce a book and order via Blurb.
Quality and service from providers can vary, so it is well worth using the OCA student forums to see what current students are recommending.
In part two, we will explore how to approach the planning and sequencing of images within your book.   

To read part two, click here.
 
Note about author:
Andrea Norrington has been making books since a child, and currently makes handmade books using waste materials. John Blakemore taught her to make her first photo book in the Spring of 1994. There was a vase of tulips on his kitchen table. She is a self-confessed addict of photography books.
All images by author unless otherwise stated.

This post was originally published on WeAreOCA.

New Year, New Intentions Part 4

Part 4: You Are Not Alone

Forming good work habits takes time. Many of us focus on using willpower but when the willpower goes, we find ourselves reverting to our old routines.


To make improvements it is much better to build on our habits, that way when and how you study becomes part of an established routine.


When you think about your morning routine, getting up and dressed and then making breakfast has (hopefully) for most of us, become automated. We go through the motions without much thought. Something can throw us though, maybe the person before you used up all the shower gel, or the milk has been put in a different place in the fridge (or even more frustratingly not even back in the fridge!!!) It is these moments which can cause our brains to have to kick back in and think.


Want to establish a new habit, then the best thing to do is attach it to a previously strong established habit. Want to do press ups every day, then start by doing 1 press up after you clean your teeth, then increase the number.   


However, sometimes our lives can get hit by a wave that throws everything off balance. It may be that you feel overwhelmed by the amount to do in a certain timeframe or you have a crisis of confidence in your own work.
DON’T PANIC – there are some simple strategies that you can adopt.

PROCESS NOT PRODUCT

Breaking down work into discrete tasks can make your workload seem more manageable.  
If you have a ‘to do list’ that has: Complete assignment 2; or Finish Part 4. These are large undefined goals and won’t be completed in one day.


Try breaking that down the tasks further into the actual steps that you need to do to complete the work. Seeing what tasks you have ahead can provide a range of activities that you can swap between if necessary. This can really help if you get a mental/creative block.  


In all of the creative arts, most projects will be completed over a period of time. Good scheduling can allow for revisions as necessary.


Small, possibly tiny steps that you take forward one day at a time are proven to make much more long term sustained changes to our behaviour.

CREATING BRAIN VS EDITING BRAIN

This is a great tip that I have picked up from a fellow tutor. When you are creating (whichever medium you are in), just work. If you are a writer, write.  If you are a photographer, take photographs. If you are drawing/sketching/making 3D just go with the process of making. Try not to stop too much and look at what you have done. If the urge is to screw up the paper, delete the document or image files or undo your making – STOP!


Take a break and then come back to your work. If we try to switch our thinking between creating and editing, backwards and forwards in the same work session, we can get frustrated with our work and want to delete/start again.   


When we take a break and then come back to review the work, we often discover that what we thought wasn’t that good, actually has some merit.  


Rather than alternating between create and review in the same session. Use the next session to switch into review mode and make the edits or refinements. Use your learning log to make notes of this process if appropriate. This can help focus the mind next time you sit down to work on the creating process.

TALK TO OTHERS

If you haven’t yet been in contact with another OCA student, then make that a New Year resolution.  
Sharing work and ideas, discussing issues or stumbling blocks can really help you find a way forward with your work. There is such a wealth of experience and creativity within the OCA community that it will be a real bonus to your work, if you can tap into it.  


For UK based students there are numerous study groups, spread geographically across the country. They meet up, share ideas, sometimes organise gallery visits or a facilitator or demonstrator is booked for the group.  


There is a dedicated space on the student discuss forum for Regional groups and guidance for study events can be found on the discuss forum also.


Together with OCASA (the student association), OCA organises regular study visits to exhibitions around the country. Sometimes these are course specific, and others are suitable for a mix of students from all disciplines.


You can find details under the ‘Study Events’ tab on #weareoca.


Overseas study groups are forming as well, so do keep your eyes posted in you are based outside of the UK
If dates/locations are not feasible for you, or if travelling is just not an option, there are also regular online meets, either via a Forum Live or Google Meets/Hangouts. Details of these are found on the student forum, accessed via https://discuss.oca-student.com/login  Use your OCA email and password to login.

GET HELP

Whatever the issue, do seek help if are having any issues with your study.
You can contact your tutor with course issues or OCA directly on the email addresses below:
Course Support for answers to course content or subject specific questions:
coursesupport@oca.ac.uk
Student Services for queries on study resources, time frames, finance or funding:
studentadvice@oca.ac.uk
Learner Support if there any personal circumstances or disabilities that being to impact on your ability to study:
learnersupport@oca.ac.uk
Have a great 2019 studying and remember that progress comes from small steps and lots of repetition.

“The first time we do an exercise, we learn technique.

  The second, we practice.

  The third, we refine.”

Andy Puddicombe

 

This was originally posted at WeAreOCA.

New Year, New Intentions Part 3

Part 3: Just Do It!

Having undertaken a review on current status on the course and thought about how and where you work best in the last two weeks, hopefully you have been able to schedule some time to get work done. But this isn’t always the case.


There are lots of reasons for why we don’t just do it.

  
If you are about to sit down but get that nagging feeling that something else could be done … this is procrastination.   


A temptation can be to revise plans, maybe draw up elaborate study timetables which take up more and more time. You can get caught in the never ending spiral of spending so much time planning that you never get any work done, and then need to revise plans which use up more time … and end up repeating this process ad infinitum.


Another default response is, ‘there is always tomorrow’. Bumping sessions to another future day is easy to do, but before you know it days turn into weeks and even months go by without doing any work.
It is also too easy to get distracted by other seemingly straightforward tasks. The ‘it will just take a minute to …. empty the dishwasher, check social media, make a drink, rearrange the furniture … “, whatever task seems more appealing than what you should actually concentrating on for your course.


There is something going on in the brain when we procrastinate. Sometimes it can be a good thing, we need to look and think before we leap. Time taken to revise ideas, to reflect and ruminate, can be positive for the outcomes. However, at other times we are just avoiding the ‘thing we need to do’. The more we ignore it of course, the larger ‘the thing’ will loom in our minds.


When we think about the tasks we need to do, if they are hard or challenging it can trigger responses in the same area of the brain that we feel pain. The desire to procrastinate relieves this feeling and for a short time period we feel better. Once we fall into this cycle, it can be hard to break from it, deadlines can then loom ever closer, causing that unpleasant sensation to intensify, we then procrastinate more to avoid the sensation.
There are some simple (and not too time consuming) strategies that you can adopt to help you focus and sit down to work.  

SET TIMERS

The use of timers was explored in “The Pomodoro Technique” by Francesco Cirillo. The idea is very simple, that you set a timer for a designated short burst – 25 minutes is the common amount of time. Just work for that time period. Don’t worry about quality or editing your work. It is better to just get into the work.  Many writers use a variation of this either working to a specified word count every day or working for a set time period.


Take a break after the session and get up and move around. If you have time for another session after the break, just sit down and set the timer again. Don’t think about getting a task finished, focus on the process of working instead.


Sometimes the session will not produce work of any quality, but you will have achieved something. It might be that you know what doesn’t work for this piece of work.
If you are really struggling with a creative block or complete lack of motivation, try working for just 5 minutes.
Then when the 5 minutes are up, stop if you want, take a break then try another 5 minute session later that day.


It’s amazing what you can do in 5 minutes.


Start a page in a sketchbook, read some research, practice some music, draft a learning log entry.

EAT THAT FROG!

This is from consultant Brian Tracy’s book of the same name. The idea is that you tackle the task that is looming as the very first thing you do that day. It may be that you only work on it for 5 minutes when you first get up, but that first few minutes can help break down the barrier to then working on it further.


In the previous post, I discussed scheduling the evening before. Combine ‘eating the frog’ with scheduling the night before, and you will have primed your mind to work on the task for when you wake up.

SET UP FOR THE NEXT SESSION

If you are lucky to be able to have a dedicated space to work, try setting up for the next session as part of the close of a session.


Leaving the book ready for the next chapter to be read for research. If it’s practical work then making notes on what you should focus on, for the next creative session and leave these in clear view. This helps to prime the brain for when you start work again. It can also help prevent the blank mind syndrome, where you don’t know what you should be doing or which task is the greatest priority.


The prompt of seeing the work laid out can really help you sit down and start. People starting fitness routines who leave their exercise clothes out the night before are more likely to go for run or to the gym when they get up in the morning.


Do share any tips you have for overcoming procrastination.

This was originally posted on WeAreOCA.

New Year, New Intentions Part 2

Part 2: Set the Scene

One of the biggest issues with distance learning is finding the motivation to study. Without a regular place and time for a class to attend, finding a routine or a pattern for work sessions is one of the key components to making progress on your course.

TIMETABLING / SCHEDULING

If you can try to plan out your week, put in regular commitments that can’t be moved. Then add in your study sessions. Treat them like any other appointment where you block out dedicated time.
Be realistic on how much you can achieve. Be flexible if you need to cancel a study session, try to rebook it just like you would with another appointment.
Having a regular time slot to work really helps fix the body into a pattern. Try and approach your work in the same way. Simple things like making a drink and choosing your favourite music can establish a routine where the next stage in the routine is to sit down and work.

SPACE TO WORK

One of the key motivators to complete work, is having a dedicated space where you can concentrate uninterrupted. This may not be possible. It may be that when you are writing or researching rather than producing creative work, getting out of the home can be an option. Local libraries, coffee shops, are all spaces where you can set up with a notebook and/or laptop. Some people work best with quiet hum of background noise.


There are several writers who plan long journeys by plane or train to work uninterrupted. *
Creating space away from domestic chores and other demands can really help focus the mind and increase productivity.


Creative work can be a bit harder with the need for materials but having one space where you can keep everything together helps rather than having to locate items in different rooms.  

SETTING YOUR SCHEDULE

Research has shown that taking five minutes to plan the day ahead just before you go to bed focuses the mind. Your brain becomes primed to the tasks ahead. Planning a timetable for the day can help you focus to work on specific tasks that should be completed. Be realistic about how much you can complete in a given time slot.

TAKING BREAKS

Rest breaks are essential. Give yourself time to process information, review and reflect on work.  It may be that you work on a couple of tasks alongside each other. That way if you have a decent length of time to complete work, you can switch activities if you find the brain stagnating.  

READING AHEAD

Do read ahead in the course material. This works in a similar way to scheduling the night before, as it will prime the brain for what is coming.


Taking a few minutes to skim read headings, assignments, and research points can give you a feel for where the course is heading.  


This will also allow you to pick tasks to suit the time slots you have to work.  


There is nothing worse than scheduling a big study day and realising that the next task requires short bursts of work where you may need to reflect in between on your progress.


Taking some time to think how and when you study best and being realistic about how much you can achieve in a study session can improve the time you spend on your course.


Priming the brain really does help focus attention on what you need to achieve. If you are really struggling with something, looking at it before you go to bed can help. Keeping a notebook by the head helps in case you have that ‘eureka’ moment as soon as you wake up!
*http://greglevin.com/scrawl-space-blog/fiction-in-flight-why-i-love-writing-on-planes

This was originally posted at WeAreOCA.

New Year, New Intentions Part 1

Part 1: Review – Reflect – Refocus

This is the start in a series of posts for the New Year. Whether you have lost your routine over the break or finding it hard to focus on your studies now life is returning to its normal pattern, there will be guidance on how you can get back into your course.


For some students the festive break gives a break from the normal routine with plenty of time for study. As life returns to its normal pattern, you can lose momentum as other things keep getting in the way.
Conversely, it may be that over the last few weeks you have lost your regular routine, taken a break and are now finding it hard to get restarted back on your course.  
The start of a new year can be used to focus the mind as we start thinking about the promise of the next 12 months ahead.


It is tempting to wait until the New Year to make big, sweeping changes. We may plan a long list of resolutions for things we aim to give up or new regimes to start. However, there is much evidence that such large changes are doomed to fail within a few weeks of the resolutions being made. Look how many gyms are full of new members in early January to be nearly empty by the beginning of February!
Instead it is good to review progress prior to making the plans. Think about the highlights and lowlights of your study in 2018.


As adult learners managing the demands of study with work/family/other commitments, can be a juggling act. Taking time for honest reflection of where you are on your current course, can pay great dividends to your future planning. Put your studies into perspective by stepping back and examining your work and take an overview of where you are on the learning journey. This can help you to refocus energy on your studies.
It should only take a short session to undertake the review. There are some pointers below on what to cover, but of course do add and adapt with what works for you.

REVIEW

Using some sheets of paper, map out where you are on a timeline, you may be taking one course at a time but do think about the longer journey if you are planning on completing a full degree. Plot where you currently are, where you started and the end point if known.
Thinking of the past year:
What have been the highlights in your studies?
Are there any lowlights? Is there anything you could have done to mitigate them?

REFLECT

Time for some honest reflection of your studying.  
Where does it fit into your life?  
How do you study best – large chunks of time or shorter but more regular bursts?
Where do you work best – or does it not matter?
Do you need constant motivation?
Is creative block something you battle with? If you have, how have you overcome it?

REFOCUS

Goals for 2019 – be as wide reaching as you can.
Now back to the timeline, can you map out this journey in smaller steps. Breaking it down in stages to help you achieve this goal
What changes to do you need to make in how you approach your studies? This could be a change in how you manage your time or creating a better environment as a workspace.
If you have any good tips or techniques, do share them below. Or if there are things you are struggling with, maybe how to create/manage time to study or battle procrastination, do comment below. Future posts will be tackling these issues.

This was originally published on WeAreOCA.

Do Not Bend - The Photographic Life of Bill Jay

Who is Bill Jay? Some of you may know of the name, but he is probably one of the most unappreciated writers on photography.

I, for one, knew very little about him until this year. Anyone who has been tutored by me over the years has probably had the book, On Being A Photographer by Bill Jay and David Hurn recommended to them. Despite being the co-author of this much read title, I had never really comprehended who Jay was. David Hurn was the more well-known of the two authors, from being a Magnum photographer and his involvement with photographic teaching in the UK.

On Being a Photographer has been one of my go-to default recommendations to students, and a book that I have read many times over the years. For a long time, I gave David Hurn almost full credit for the book and had never appreciated the importance of the involvement of Bill Jay.

In March of this year, I was at the National Museum Cardiff and I spotted David Hurn in the photography gallery. Plucking up the courage to go and speak to him, I thanked him for writing On Being a Photographer and explained the impact it had on me both as a photographer and a teacher. He politely accepted my praise and then went to elucidate on his collaboration with Bill Jay, and how it was in fact Bill who should take the credit for the book.

He then took me over to a cabinet which had a selection of drawings/wood cuts by Bill Jay and explained how much he adored them and Bill Jay’s witty sense of cutting to the chase when writing about photography.

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In the case was the following caption written by David Hurn:

“I met Bill Jay in the late ‘60s. He edited Creative Camera magazine and later Album. What Bill managed to do was to start introducing another way of looking at pictures other than just being content in a magazine. They were the same pictures but he was simply saying “there is another way of looking at them.” I think that helped to develop a whole new way of shooting pictures, where photographers were more conscious of the aesthetic side of the photograph whilst not losing the content quality of the picture. Bill was the prime mover for that shift, and out of this movement people like Sue Davies set up The Photographers’ Gallery”

A month or so later, one of the photography twitter accounts I follow was promoting a film screening. The film was titled Do Not Bend – The Photographic Life of Bill Jay. Intrigued I clicked the link and read about the film.

Image by Grant Scott

Image by Grant Scott

On Tuesday 8 May I found myself at The Frontline Club in London for a screening of Do Not Bend.

The film is a joy to watch, and fulfils the requirement of being entertaining, informative and educating. There is wonderful use made of archive footage of Bill Jay talking and lecturing. His delivery is infectious, and you cannot help but be swept along for his enthusiasm for all things photographic.

Without wanting to give too much away, the film demonstrates the questioning approach that Bill Jay took to photography. His influence was felt on photographers such as Martin Parr and Paul Hill, who have then gone on to influence many other photographers.

Paul Hill being interviewed.Image by Tim Pellatt

Paul Hill being interviewed.

Image by Tim Pellatt

Alongside the film, there is an interesting backstory to the making . Grant Scott, one of the directors of the film has a background in art direction and magazine editing. In recent years he has moved to photography teaching and writing about photography. Unfamiliar with who Bill Jay was, it was a chance remark on how he wrote like Bill Jay that started his research. Intrigued by this, Scott followed up the reference and from that point an obsession developed. The resulting film was produced in partnership with Tim Pellatt.

Using a combination of interviews with people who knew Bill from his earliest days involved with photographers in London, to his final years teaching in the USA, plus conversations with family, a narrative of his life is established. By using archive footage and recordings of Jay talking, the directors have been able to use Jay’s own words to narrate the story of his life.

From the outset the film had no structure and each interview led to further interviews which progressed the story further. No one person had a complete picture of Jay’s life and so the film is a piecing together of many elements. By using a technique more akin to planning a publication, Scott was able to use his skill from planning magazines to sequence the footage. The resulting film is a credit to this technique and the skills of the directors to create a final piece that has fluidity to the narrative.

Image by Grant Scott

Image by Grant Scott

There is further screening of the film in Scotland in September this year. If you are able to attend do go. At the end of each screening there is a Q&A with Grant and Tim and this is a great opportunity to ask questions and find out more about how the film was made.

It is eventually planned for the film to be made available via streaming services.

Image by Michael Pritchard

Image by Michael Pritchard

For more information on the film and details of further screenings this year:
http://www.donotbendfilm.com/

To read more of Grant Scott’s writing on photography:
https://unitednationsofphotography.com/

For an interview with Grant Scott (the film is discussed about half way into the interview):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljvaahI85AA&t=2s

With kind thanks to the photographers for permission to use images.

This post first appeared on the WeAreOCA blog.

Thou Shalt Not Age

‘Thou shalt not age’ by Nuala Mahon.

In part three of the Context and Narrative course, students explore the notion of self. Students are asked to produce work in response to a diary. Nuala Mahon explains in the introduction to her work, how the idea of invisibility with age intrigued her. She explains on her blog:

“But the idea of how or why women feel invisible interests me. Is it driven by consumerism that glorifies youth and perfection? Is it that, with age, we are less sexually attractive? Or is it that one really does become invisible with age? I wanted to try to represent this invisibility.”

Being of a certain indiscriminate age (46 if you must ask), and with several of my closest friends a few years older I wasn’t sure how to take being asked to write about this work.

Like the student, I turned grey many years ago. Recently I made a conscious decision to go with it and forgo the battle of hairdressers and dyes. What happened, I felt happier but there was a distinct change in how others approached me in social situations. This was mainly from people that I met for the first time, but I was being treated as old. In business meetings I was taken less seriously, good for making the coffee and baking cakes, my knowledge of technology was often disregarded.

At first, I didn’t realise this was happening. The image Inside I’m twenty from Nuala’s work accurately sums up how I feel as well.

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The issue of the aging women has been explored recently by Helen Walmsley-Johnson in her book The Invisible Woman, she writes:

“It’s tempting to align this whole business with the way older women feel they fit , or not, within society as they age, to look at it as a by-blow of the importance placed on female physical beauty, as we currently define it. To put it very simply and generally, with age men become wealthier, more powerful, dignified, and wiser while women growing older sense all of that slipping away as their faces and bodies age and they feel themselves becoming more and more irrelevant, apparently. It might not sound like much but the small stuff, such as not being taken seriously (as a consumer, as an employee …) grinds us down and the further down we go the less cortisol we produce to deal with the stress of being on the lower rungs of the social pecking order.”

Nuala’s work touches on many of these ideas. In the image below the use of the mask creates a barrier between the viewer and subject. The idea of masquerade is well explored within photography.

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The series of images is both arresting and interesting. There is a mix of styles and photographic technique, which could lead to the series appearing disparate. However, with the use of the overlaid text, the images are linked one to the next. At the same time, each image is able to stand on its own individual merit. The phrasing on all the images is not questioning but direct. The photographer it seems is instructing us on how we should question our views.

My own views on this work, are of course influenced by my feelings on the wider subject and part of the sharing of this work is to elicit responses from a wider audience.

What do other ages or genders feel about the aging process? Is it culturally specific as well? When I asked Nuala about the work, she cited her personal experience from being in France and Ireland as being very different. In France all ages seem to be happy to socialise together, whereas in Ireland she describes the younger generation as wishing to be totally separate from the older generations

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In the final image of the series, we are met by the gaze of the subject. The look is direct, straight at the viewer and the text references a very well know slogan from the beauty industry. The addition of “I told you” is both definite and defiant.

This quote from Helen Walmsley-Johnson seems to encapsulate this work:

“That we will all age is inevitable and inescapable but it doesn’t alter the person we are inside; our character, memories, strength, personality and intelligence are what make us us.”

With kind thanks to Nuala Mahon for use of images.

This post was first published on the WeAreOCA blog.

The Learning Log

The learning log is possibly the most essential part of the student experience, however at times it can be the least understood aspect as students embark on a course.
At its most simple, it is a log of the learning taking place. For photography students where a blog is a mandatory part of the course, there is a misconception that the blog is the learning log, and this is not the case.
The blog is the vessel, for want of a better term, the place to record all your work completed for the course. The work on the blog will be made up of:

  • Coursework – projects/exercises from the course handbook

  • Assignments – work produced in response to the assignment brief at the end of each part of the course

  • Learning log – the log is everything else

To expand on the log – it can feature:

  • your own independent research

  • reading around the wider subject of photography and visual/creative arts

  • thoughts on topical stories

  • write ups of exhibition visits or programmes/podcasts viewed or listened to

  • ideas for future projects

  • details of your own side projects

  • plans for pacing your work through the course

  • reflections on your progress

  • a pace to vent frustrations and celebrate successes

All the above, and more can be included. Finding a way to record this information is the key that will ultimately shape the way your work on the course.


For some students a disciplined approach of updating the log on a weekly basis works. Think about planning ahead and reflecting on the work done so far. If this is done regularly, it can help with time management and pacing of workload. Other students prefer a more ad hoc approach and write up as and when they are producing work.


Find the approach that works best for you. However, experience shows that writing little and often is better than long and sporadic posts. The log can become the key to keeping momentum on your studies.
Maybe you haven’t done much work for a while, then reflect on that. Look at the course material, it may be that life is preventing from you doing the very next page in the course. Could you be doing something else subject related instead?


Ultimately the hardest thing about the learning log, is starting it. We are often very self-conscious when we start writing, particularly when we are reflecting on our own work. It is much easier to write factually. However be brave, and start.


The more you practice this type of writing, the easier it becomes.

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Remember the learning log:

  • Is an important aspect of your course

  • This is a record of your experiences thoughts and feelings

  • A place to reflect on your learning activities such as courses you went on, exhibitions visited, books read, discussions had, internet sites browsed and tv programmes watched

When you write be:

  • questioning

  • tolerant

  • analytical

  • diplomatic

  • assertive

  • reflective

  • and self aware

For more information on learning logs look at the following guides. They can be accessed on www.oca-student.com using your OCA email and password.
Go to Resources > Resource Types > Getting Started Study Guides
An Introduction to Studying in HE – section 6 covers learning logs
Introduction to Learning Logs – an in-depth guide with lots of advice and guidance

This was originally posted on WeAreOCA.

What's your creative resolution?

For many, the New Year is a time to make resolutions. These often involve responding the excess of the Christmas holiday season to eat healthily or exercise more.

This may have been the time of year that you first thought about signing up for your course with OCA. A new year with new plans and goals.

We asked for some ideas for creative resolutions for 2018 to make it the most productive year.

1. Make time to work

Think what works for you in your day/week. Find slots of time and try to stick to them. If necessary book them in your diary like you would a meeting or appointment. Ensuring that family and friends understand that you are studying and respect your working time is important – after all they would understand if you were attending a college one evening a week.

2. Do first, think after

Start work, don’t analyse or reflect on what you are doing. Write that first sentence, take a photograph, draw a line in a sketchbook, play a musical note. Don’t hesitate and dive straight in.

3. Push out of your comfort zone

If you are visual arts student, go to a music concert or read literature/poetry that you wouldn’t normally access. If you are music or creative writing student, go to see some textiles or illustration. If you work in two dimensions, go and look at some three-dimensional work.

Cross the boundaries and see where that takes you (and remember to include the experiences in your learning log).

4. Get organised

Find a system that works for you to track your progress. Diaries, wall charts, whiteboards all can work. Set yourself deadlines to pace your workload. Be realistic and allow for busy times and setbacks.

Creating a good pace on your course is very motivational as you can create a rhythm to your work. Track what you have done – there is nothing like crossing ‘to dos’ off a list to make you feel a sense of accomplishment.

However, do avoid the trap of spending hours and hours creating beautiful time planners without actually doing any work …

5. Give all ideas equal consideration

Never reject an idea at first. Teachers often say there are no such things as stupid questions … the same principle applies to ideas. Sometimes the ideas that lurk around in the background become the most fruitful.

Use the time on the course to experiment, to play, to take risks with your work. Often students focus on the final outcome and describe a seemingly linear approach on to how they got there.

The creative journey is often anything but linear and will twist, turn and sometimes frustratingly you end up at a dead end. Remember to document this work journey. It is often the process of producing work that we gain the most from, rather than the outcome.

6. Backing up

If you don’t have a back-up system in place then start one NOW. Not tomorrow or the day after … It is one of those neglected tasks that gets relegated and neglected, with the thought it won’t happen to me … but if data failure does occur (and it does) you will be kicking yourself for not taking action.

There are many options – cloud based, external hard drive, NAS drives, USB sticks, DVD. Whatever you choose to do, the advice from IT professionals is to use two different sources to back up to. So, what are you waiting for, get your files on your computer organised and regularly back up images, word documents and other computer files.

Don’t forget about web based content – blogs/websites. If you are typing directly into the blog/website – a simple way is to copy and paste the information into a format you can save elsewhere.

7. If you fall off the wagon …

It happens, we make a resolution and we don’t stick to it. First of all, don’t beat yourself up about it. Second, dust yourself down and start again. Think why it didn’t work and make adjustments.

In the words of Samuel Beckett:

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”

Happy Creative 2018

This post originally appeared on the WeAreOCA blog.

A Green and Pleasant Land

Disclaimer: This is not an exhibition review!

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On recent trip to the south coast I visited A Green and Pleasant Land exhibition at the Towner Art Gallery in Eastbourne.

The exhibition sets out to show how the British landscape has been interpreted by artists since 1970. From the exhibition preamble, the show is described as:

“Considered as a whole, the exhibition shows that the British landscape is unpredictable, contested and interdependent. It also demonstrates the important role that artists play in articulating these concerns”

As you view the exhibition, the images are not shown in chronological order. Walk through the doors and straight ahead, the towers of Agecroft Power Station taken in 1983 by John Davies loom as a large-scale print. As you leave the exhibition there is an image by Fay Godwin from 1976. In between a varied selection of work and artists is shown.

Exhibitions from collections function on several levels. In the first instance, they are a great way to access the work of many different photographers. For the student, you can explore a variety of work to then follow up on any photographer/artist that you found particularly striking. We can view real prints on display, getting a feel for scale, presentation and use of captioning. The selection of artists allows for each photographer to appear within a context of contemporaries. As a viewer of the show, a narrative establishes of the progression and response of photography to the landscape.

Beyond this experience, we should take a more critical viewpoint and consider who is shaping the interpretation that we are being shown. If we take a further step backwards, travelling beyond the landscape we gain an insight into how photography in its widest sense is being viewed within the established gallery/museum sphere.

We should always consider how the curation of such shows leads to an established timeline and story of photographic history.

In this case the images are, in the main from Arts Councils own collection and the selection of material is in therefore constrained by what is held in this collection.

There are some notable inclusions. As you travel along the timeline, more women photographers are included. The work becomes more experimental.
Through the show, we see the introduction of digital technology, the growing proliferation of moving image, mixed media and installations as part of the photography art world.

As with all history, we should be critically aware of the sources used to formulate established histories. Over time a conformity of memory establishes, as each curator and historian references that which has become before. Works of art and artists become ingrained in the established historical cannon of photography.

In the essay “The Judgement Seat of Photography”, Christopher Phillips writes about the succession of Head of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Phillips describes how the various approaches to curation have ultimately shaped galleries/museums approaches to displaying photography.

For all of photography’s perceived democracy we are still establishing its history through the curator’s eye.

A Green and Pleasant Land
Towner Art Gallery
Eastbourne
Ends 21 January 2018
http://www.townereastbourne.org.uk/exhibition/a-green-and-pleasant-land/

This post originally appeared on the WeAreOCA blog.

Small Town Inertia

Photograph by J A Mortram

Photograph by J A Mortram

Some years ago, I came across a photographer on Twitter. He was based in Dereham in Norfolk, not a million miles away from me. The images he was posting stood out. Stark black and white documentary photographs that echo a tradition that starts in the slums of Manhattan with Jacob Riis. This work however, is not historical, this is now. These are images from my country, from a town that less than 70 miles away.

Jim Mortram is not a professional photographer, he is self-taught and a carer to his mother. The camera became a tool for him to reconnect both with himself and those around. For over the seven years, he has been photographing people in his town, his friends and telling their stories. This work has been recently published via a highly successful Kickstarter campaign in the book Small Town Inertia.

As a backer of the Kickstarter I was familiar with Jim’s work and his approach. However, nothing quite prepared me for the resulting book.

The images switch between the various friends that he has photographed. Each image is accompanied by a small piece of text, normally in the subjects own words. As you progress through the book, the stories piece together to form a narrative on each of the people photographed.

Jim shoots medium format and 35mm black and white film, which are hand processed and printed by himself. The process of working in traditional black and white, builds in time for review and reflection on the work. Something that we can often loose when working with digital.

Mortram’s work functions on many levels. On social media platforms, he is vocal about politics and the policies that have resulted in changes to the welfare state provision. The book has essays which frame the context of the work. However, to view his work as just political is not in any way to do it justice. The student of photography and visual art will have much to gain on how to approach storytelling, and form a narrative from singular images.

To photograph family and friends is something that is rarely done with such accomplishment. The resulting images can often fall into sentimentality or veer towards the family album aesthetic. Mortram has instead produced images that are refined and considered. The photographs manage to combine being personal and empathetic and at the same time allow the subjects to have space within the frame to tell their story with dignity and as an equal.

The book is also a reminder that photography projects are all around us. To have something that is on your doorstep, that you can return to time and time again, allows for a photographer to refine their practice. To work and rework an idea allows for leaps in both technical and aesthetic skill development.

For an introduction to Jim discussing the book.

An early article discussing the project from The Guardian

BJP Interview from May 2017 with Jim Mortram

To follow Jim Mortram:

Twitter @JAMortram

Instagram @smalltowninertia

Image credit: Jim Mortram

This post originally appeared on the WeAreOCA blog.

Get Familiar With Your Local Gallery

Yesterday I was in my small town and passed the doorway of our local gallery and saw this poster.

 

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Karl Blossfeldt, really I thought, THE Karl Blossfeldt? With 20 minutes spare, I popped in. Inside were 40 wonderful original prints by Karl Blossfeldt. The printing process he used gives the images an exquisite tonal range this combined with his method of photographing allows many of the images to appear three dimensional. My spare 20 minutes quickly disappeared and another visit planned with more time allowed.

This exhibition is at the end of its tour, but a quick Google search reveals that it has been on a very varied journey around the country.

This made me think how it is quite easy when planning exhibition visits to focus on the major galleries and look for big shows. Many students plan a ‘big day out’ and try and capture as many galleries and shows as they can – sometimes dragging somewhat reluctant family members with them.

While this type of trip is a great way of experiencing a range of art forms, it can be overwhelming by trying to absorb so much information in one day.

There are hundreds of smaller galleries across the country showing a wide programme of work. They may feature local/regional artists or show touring exhibitions. It is well worth getting frequented with the galleries in your local area and subscribe to their mailing list to keep up to date.

Don’t forget to do the research to see what is on in an area prior to trips away (and of course there is always the joy of planning a trip to take in an exhibition that appeals further afield).

During the summer months, many areas of the country run Open Studios schemes. Visiting artists in their working environment can inspire many ideas. There is the added bonus of seeing process put into practice and having conversations with working artist. Read OCA tutor Jim’s post on Open Studios here.

Taking an hour or so to visit a smaller show can be really productive. By seeing less, you can spend more time absorbing the work and give yourself time to think it over.

Remember to be open and explore a variety of media, your ideas can come from anywhere. Visiting smaller shows can allow you to explore outside of your chosen area of study – be open to other creative disciplines and you will be surprised by what may inspire you.
If you are interested in the Karl Blossfeldt exhibition it is on at Broadway Gallery, Letchworth Garden City until 10 September 2017.
[https://www.broadway-letchworth.com/studio-gallery]

After that it travels to Art Gallery, Beverley from 23 September 2017.
[http://www.museums.eastriding.gov.uk/treasure-house-and-beverley-art-gallery/]

If you find a hidden gem of an exhibition please share it below.

This post originally appeared on the WeAreOCA blog.

HOW YOU SEE IT?

I have just finished speaking to a student as part of a telephone tutorial. He is at that mid point in a project and the conversation was about taking the next steps forward.

There were a few points that he made in his discussion that made me confident that he had achieved clarity and a sense of direction on the project that he was working on.

“It is how I see it” was his comment to me. This was a definite statement, not a proposition, not a question. “It is how I see it” – here was a moment of realisation at the point he is it currently at.

This got me thinking about the process of making work. The point of realisation when the work starts to become your own. That point where your personal voice starts to take over and mold and shape the images.

“It’s only after looking at lots of books and exhibitions that this happened” he went onto explain.

For students on any course, this process of research and reflecting on the work of others is pivotal to finding your own way forward. Art of any kind is not created in a vacuum but in response to a constant dialogue with the world at large.

If you are struggling with finding your own way with a topic, immerse yourself in research. Don’t get hung up on the biography of the artists but instead think about how you respond to the work. Ask yourself – why does this work have this effect on me?

This is the time to be specific, maybe only discuss one or two images. Avoid the sweeping generalisations about a style of working and really get into the detail of what has attracted (or conversely what you really don’t like) about an image. Sometimes this is easier to do by annotating an image: use arrows, bullet points, overlays as shortcuts to get yourself interacting with the work of others. Don’t be a passive observer but be active in your response.

This active engagement can feed directly into your creative process.

Too often we get hung up on the technicalities of image taking. Our decision making process is taken up with the equipment needed to shoot and then more decisions on technology needed for the post-processing. The creative process can easily be lost sight of. Again this is a time to get active in your reflection on your own work.

To get a project going we often have to shoot a lot of images. Then we need to reflect and edit our images. Take the time to sift through those early shoot images. Our brains need to distill them in terms of ideas and subjects as part of our creative thinking.

To aid this process, it is a really good idea to have small prints of your images. Lay them out and play around with the sequencing of the photographs and see how images relate to each other. Using annotation to record this process and include it as part of your learning log. If it is easier to work on paper, and you have an online learning log, simply photograph your notes to include them.

From these juxtapositions, connections can be made and this is when the leap forward can happen and you can experience your own “how I see it” moment.

Now think back to your research into the work of others and make links to the research and any planning that you have done. Your work may well have gone off on a tangent but that is not what this process is about. It is all about the journey, one connection leading to another, however disjointed.

This is the process that allowed my student to develop his personal voice – what has worked for you?

This post originally appeared on the WeAreOCA blog.