This weeks MA Photography topic set the challenge to look at work, other than photography, that has been influential on the work we do photographically. This really started me thinking and I found myself revisiting a book and paintings that I became aware of when living in London.

Firstly I looked at the distopian novel “We” by Yevgeny Zamyatin. Written in 1921 (first translated and published in English in 1924) the book was the precursor for novels such as Brave New World and 1984 , the book was the first to banned in Russia due to its open criticism of the communist regime. Zamyantin, a naval engineer, moved to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne to supervise ship building. Whilst there he was struck by the lack of living space and how industrial Britain seemed faceless with it’s row upon row of terraced housing, this would become the inspiration for his “One state”. Having grown up in Derby, a city of terraced housing, I found this reaction very interesting .

I then looked back to the work of John Virtue, who’s work I first saw back in 2005 (around the same time I read “We”). Virtue’s work is stark, using harsh contrasting tones of black and white on huge, heavy canvasses. He creates these paintings using thick brushes, feet and hands. The work I found most profound was the paintings of London, how the buildings seem to emerge from the darkness.

During a webinar with my tutor Cemre we discussed how these works play a part in my current project. The project I discussed was “The space between” where I have been looking at how people are affected by the built environment and the ever reducing of space. After some discussion it became apparent that I should begin to look more closely with my own relationship to space and cities and how I feel. I also talked about how I felt there was something lacking in my imagery and was given some great advice and pointed in the direction of some imagery research.

I’ve learned from the course work this week is that I should broaden my approach to external influences, not just photography or pictorial but anything. Also to re-assess my work and look at different approaches to apply my work.

And, why do I lean towards monochrome images? Is it the aesthetic or simply a personal preference? Lots to think about over the coming months….