PHO702: Week 2 Reflection

Posted on 5th Feb 2021 Posted in Informing Contexts, PHO702: Critical Research JournalTagged reflectionLeave a comment

What sort of truth does the photograph offer?

The ubiquitous nature of the photograph in todays social media based society place it above other forms of representation, including that of written and other visual media. The modern mechanics of the photograph means that an image can be taken and shared world wide quick than it takes to type this sentence. Further more the photograph has bridged the socioeconomic divide created by other means of artistic representation. Owning or creating a work of art, pre-photography, was often limited to those with enough wealth to commission, buy or study artistic practices. Advances in photographic technology has enabled people from across the socioeconomic spectrum.

The public perception of the photograph is often met with scepticism, born from the knowledge of the photographers ability to edit an image “Photoshopped”. The photograph’s indexical ability to prompt the spectator to look through the image, towards the meaning, goes in some way to elevate this learned scepticism. Our natural preference towards looking over reading, the photograph is often, at first glance, taken at face value, only later do we return to question the validity or truth of the image. Snyder & Allen make reference to the cameras ability to capture the ‘truth’ in the book “Photography, vision & representation” stating:

“a photograph may not show us a scene as we ourselves would have seen it, but it is a reliable index of what was.” [Snyder & Allen 1975:149]

In so much as the photograph is a mechanical extension of the photographer and as such a means to capture an image in a very specific way. The photography is not reality as we see and and cannot be but:

“It can be asserted, of course, that while photographs do not always show us a scene as we would have seen it, they are, because of their mechanical origin, an accurate record of the scene as it actually was.” [Snyder & Allen 1975: 157]

When defining the photograph Barthes too holds the view that the photograph is a way of seeing, not the thing itself, but rather the thing as the photographer has seen it at that moment and under those conditions:

“In the daily flood of photographs, in the thousand forms of interest they seem to provoke, ·it may be that the noeme “That-has-been” is not repressed (a noeme cannot be repressed) but experienced with indifference, as a fea ture which goes without saying.” [Barthes 1980:77]

As a way of defining the photograph, Snyder & Allen go on to discuss the many ways in which the photograph differs from view with the naked eye. How the photographer will have chosen a number variables in which to capture the final image, shutter speed, vantage point, depth of field.

“The camera position will determine whether one of two objects within the camera’s field of view will be to the right or the left, in front of or behind, another object.” [Snyder & Allen 1975: 151]

Fig.1 The subtly of changing the focal point will shift emphasis from the bricks in the foreground to the window in the background

This illustrates the way in which despite the photograph looking very different to how we actually see we are conditioned to accept this representation as truth. The analogy of a moving horse is used to illustrate this difference and acceptance:

“We can keep the camera stationary and use a slow shutter speed: the horses will appear as blurs against a stationary background. We can “pan” the cam- era with the horses and use a somewhat faster shutter speed: the horses will be somewhat sharper and the background blurred. We can use an extremely fast shutter speed and “freeze” the horses against a stationary background. All these methods are commonly used and accepted ways of photographing moving things.” [Snyder & Allen 1975:156]

Within my own practice the human choices I make in terms of depth of field, shutter speed, lens type etc is a very conscious process based on perceived outcomes. In the tutor forum I talked about my recent images of alleyways:

“Through self reflection I have set out to create a series of images that represent the places where I grew up. In some instances I have been able to re-visit my childhood haunts back in the midlands, however much of the urban landscape from my earliest memories have since been demolished.
Most recently I have looked to my current home city of Bath as the backdrop to these earlier memories. My earliest memories, was as a child, running and playing in the alleyways that separated the houses in our streets. Being aware of the limitations of the means to turn three dimensional reality into a flat image is crucial for any artist, writer or photographer. Photography can be as creative or “artistic” as any other art form, in as much as it can manipulate what the views sees. For example my use of Bath’s alley ways to portray, those in the Midlands (some 120 miles away), it matter not that the buildings are made of a different material. It’s the essence. In terms of the written narrative I would write:

“I recall as a grubby faced boy of about five, using alleyways as a main method of getting from point a to point b. The alleyway was our adventure playground, labyrinth and our domain. Bath then (late 70s/ early 80s) we didn’t use front doors, we were told ‘come ‘round back’ and ‘take your muddy shoes off at the backdoor’. The front door was used for special guests.”

Some 40 years later and 120 miles south I have found an affinity with Bath’s alleyways as something akin to my childhood playground. In some ways its like I’ve changed the vantage point, however rather than moving a step to the left or right, I’ve moved in time.” [Beale 2021:forum text]

Fig.2 TIm Beale, Alleyways contact sheet 2021

Feedback from my fellow cohort in the tutor webinar affirmed that my intention, of creating the essence of alleyways in the Midlands, was achieved.

“I grew up in Leicester and these images really reminded me of the alleyways I played in as a child too.” [Layla 2021:webinar]

Over the next tow weeks I will be continuing to photograph the suburban landscape around me, rephotographing many of the areas during different weather and lighting conditions. I will also be carrying out further research into urban landscapes, psychogeography and photographers working in a similar way.

References

Barthes. Roland 1980. Camera lucida; reflections on photography. Hill & Wang

Snyder. Joel & Allen. Neil Walsh 1975. Photography, Vision and Representation. The University of Chicago Press

Beale. Tim 3rd Feb 2021. Informing contexts tutor forum. Falmouth University

Perchal Neal. Layal 4th Feb 2021. Informing contexts tutor webinar. Falmouth University

PHO702: Week 1 Reflection – Photography Characteristics & Human Choices

Posted on 1st Feb 2021 Posted in Informing Contexts, PHO702: Critical Research JournalTagged Contextual Research, Critical review, practice, reflectionLeave a comment

When considering the various characteristics within photography and in particular my own practice. It becomes clear that I adopt a few distinct characteristics when approaching an idea or out shooting and these characteristics drive my own human choices.

The Frame

When considering the idea of an image I will first consider what will fill the frame, not unlike a blank page ready to be written upon. Then I consider what will be outside the frame, what will the view not see, what will they fill in by using their imagination. These two factors are key before even picking up the camera as often this will have a direct bearing on the location of a shoot.

Framing a shot is then a process of working with the environment and the subject. For example, in this image of vernacular garages, the key was to work with the background to juxtapose the garages against the view of the Royal Crescent and Bath countryside. As such we see the use of vantage point to achieve this result.

Fig.1 Tim Beale 2021, ‘Untitled’ Garages & the Royal Crescent, Bath.

“The central act of photography, the act of choose and eliminating, forces a concentration on the picture edge- the line that separates in from out-and on the shapes that are created by it” [Szarkowski 1966:9]

“The Frame ‘isolates’ unexpected juxtapositions, creates relationships between ‘facts’ that have been framed, cuts through familiar forms revealing unusual fragments”. [Szarkowski 1966:70]

Focus

I tend to spend time walking without a camera, a kind of psychogeographic exercise in mentally mapping a woodland, city or suburb. Often noting the areas that will work best during particular lighting, time of year, time of day/night or weather.

By focus I refer to both the focus of attention (the subject) and focus in a more mechanical sense. Once a shot is in the frame and at the right vantage point, my next consideration is the focus. How to best achieve the impact I desire, what will the viewer need to see and how will they see it, are all questions I have in mind whilst working. There are the obvious traditional methods of setting up a shot using the rile of thirds, depth of field and point of focus. But often it is when choosing to go against this tradition you can unsettle the view, who is conditioned to see in this way. Something akin (for westerners) righting right to left, the reader will still be able to read the text but will have to retrain their brain to do so.

As with Todd Hido’s images shot through ‘rain’ covered car windows, the focus is ephemeral, on the idea of the thing rather than the thing itself.

“Most importantly, I really love dramatic weather. I enjoy outings in those conditions. I feel so good when I’m driving, poking around for pictures, and it’s raining or snowing outside…. Diffused light is has always been the kind of light I’m after. I’m also drawn to backlit scenes, and I often like to shoot straight into the light. Shooting through a foggy dirty, or wet windshield really helps cut the brightness. It also makes for a painterly image.” [Hido 2004:online]

“it’s not just a photograph of the landscape but it is a photograph from my personal perspective. I’m somehow in the picture in a way. That is my breath fogging up the window! It has more of an intimacy I think. It has a subjective, diaristic quality and now that I really think about it—it’s the opposite of something like an ‘authorless’ objective view, which is most often seen from a higher, uncommon viewpoint.” [Hido 2012:online]

“Hido keeps at least three water bottles with him in his car. One time, I watch him spray his windshield before taking a landscape photograph. ‘I’ve learned from sheer disappointment that sometimes I need to take pictures, but it isn’t raining outside,’ he says.

Fig 3. Todd Hido 2010 #9197. From the ‘Roaming’ photo book

Sometimes the artist sprays glycerin on the windshield, for a different kind of effect. It’s a technique he compares to changing paintbrushes. The size, direction and position of drops of water on the car window inform the photograph that results, and within these fictitious raindrops, Hido says he can ‘compose’ the real picture that he wants to see. Ultimately, each photograph is a composition. It is a way of giving shape to a mental state, as opposed to capturing an actual setting.” [Tylevich.K undated:online]

The use of focus/unfocus within an image as in Fig.2 are like our memories, sometimes hazy or unclear and other times pin sharp and crystal clear. This is something that Hido manages to capture with his ‘Roaming’ images, landscapes both in and out off focus.

One of the final considerations is the end result, who the audience is and how the final images will be viewed. This to me have been something of a new choice, having only exhibited in joint exhibitions and one small solo exhibition, my experience is limited. However, in my current practice I have begun to these make choices. If we look to fig 1 again, for the viewer to understand the image they need to see the juxtaposition between the mid ground (garages) and background (landscape) as such the final print will need to be large, perhaps 160x100cm or larger. As my practice and personal project develop so too will the choices I make.

References

Hidio.T ‘Roaming’ Interview with Shuman.A, 2004, SeeSaw Magazine. [Accessed 01.02.2021] http://www.aaronschuman.com/roaming_pages/roaming_interview.html

Hido.T Rose Gallery interview with Augschoell.D and Jasbar.J, 2012, ahorn magazine. [Accessed 01.02.2021] http://www.rosegallery.net/blogarchive/2012/06/29/interview-with-todd-hido

Tylevich.K ‘Roaming’ text from the Todd Hido website [accessed 01.02.2021] http://www.toddhido.com/roaming.html

Szarkowski.J 1966. The Photographer’s eye. London: Secker & Warburg

Images

Fig.1 Beale.T ‘Untitled’ 2021

Fig.2 Beale.T ‘Untitled’ 2021

Fig.3 Hido.T ‘Roaming: #9197’, 2010. [Accessed 01.02.2021] http://www.toddhido.com/landscapes.html

PHO702: The social photo: On Photography and Social Media. Nathan Jurgensen 2019

Posted on 27th Jan 2021 Posted in Informing Contexts, PHO702: Critical Research JournalTagged Book review, Critical review, Reading, Social PhotoLeave a comment

Nathan Jurgenson’s book The Social Photo first sets out to define and place the social photo as a separate entity to the more traditional form of photography. The distinction between the two forms of photography is then simplified into two forms the ‘Object’ and the ‘Experience’ with social photography concerning itself with the experience over the object. As Jurgenson says:

“Traditional analysis of photography fixate on the photo object….the what and how of a social photo is less important than the why.” [Jurgenson 2019:15].

Furthermore there is a need to discard the learned ‘art history’ approach to critically examine social photography, as we would with traditional photography. If we remove a social photo from the steam of social media we risk viewing is as banal [Jurgenson Verso 2019:11-16]. Much of Jurgenson’s views throughout this book can be referred to Susan Sontag’s ‘On Photography’, her views on what was then a newly established art form. On discussing proliferation of the photography she states:

‘The urge to take photographs is in principle an indiscriminate one, for the practice of photography is now identified with the idea that everything in the world could be made interesting through the camera’ [Sontag 1973:111]

The social photo takes the everyday experience of eating and makes it special by the act of posting images of food. As part of a stream of social photos the plate of food becomes a notable experience but an image that once taken out of the stream can bused as an example of the banal or over sharing. [Jurgenson 2019:15-16]. Sontag holds similar thoughts:

‘Nobody ever discovered ugliness through photography. But many, through photographs, have discovered beauty…. Nobody exclaims “Isn’t that ugly! I must take a photograph of it.” Even if someone did say that all it would mean is: “I find that ugly thing… beautiful.”’ [Sontag 1973:85] and ‘This very insatiability of the photographing eye changes the terms of confinement in the cave, our world. In teaching us a new visual code, photographs alter and enlarge our notions of what is worth looking at and what we have a right to observe.’ [Sontag 1973:3]

Sontag and Jurgenson illustrate the way in which photography has altered the way in which we view the world around us. Advances in technology increases the ease in which we create and share images. The mobile phone becomes less of a tool for verbal communication and one for visual, non-verbal communication. With each upgrade the mobile phone manufacturers improve upon the image capturing capabilities of each device. The big selling points are less about how well the device can allow you to talk to each other but the number of mega pixels and how quick you can upload an image. Jurgenson further discusses, early image sharing platforms and the introduction of the faux vintage filters, having a dual purpose, mask the low resolution of early camera phones and to pander to our need for nostalgia. [Jurgenson 2019:20-27]. The mimicking of fragile nature of the physical photo offers up a sense of the digital image being more valuable or precious. This physical nature of the photograph is talked about by Sontag:

‘Photographs, which fiddle with the scale of the world, themselves get reduced, blown up, cropped, retouched, doctored, tricked out. They age, plagued by the usual ills of paper objects; they disappear; they become valuable, and get bought and sold; they are reproduced. …photographs are fragile objects, easily torn or mislaid…’ [Sontag 1973:4]

The concept of the Social detox or Switching off away from devices or social media is one that runs through the book and more so in the second half. Jurgenson rejects these concepts as anything more than moral shaming the users [Jurgenson 2019:70-77]. It can be said we judge the use of social media based on our own nostalgic views of how we grew up. In particular when actively encouraging young people to switch off and go out into the real world like we did at their age. It seems almost ironic that the nostalgia used to entice us to share photos is also the basis on which we look to base the frequency of social media use. Jurgenson asks:

‘why do so many of us feel as though digital connection puts our integrity as human beings at risk?’ [Jurgenson 2019:74]

We can answer this question with a question. If I visit Prague and photograph the experience then return a year later, with a camera, will the city still be a beautiful? If the moment is not documented does it hold the same level of interest?

‘The worry is that the ubiquity of social photography threatens our ability to really live in the moment.’ [Jurgenson 2019:78]

We are now conditioned to see as if through an eye piece or screen and as such will often walk the city looking for the idea vantage point for a photo, even without a camera and as stated by Sontag:

‘The camera makes reality atomic, manageable, and opaque.’ ‘Photography implies that we know about the world if we accept it as the camera records it. But this is the opposite of understanding, which starts from not accepting the world as it looks.’ [Sontag 1974:23]

And as Jurgenson also says: ‘A crowd of raised phones at an event is like many outstretched eyes capable of sharing an experience in real time with almost anyone.’ [Jurgenson 2019:112]

This is the new way of seeing and sharing and the new norm however Jurgenson fails to see the simple defining difference between social photo reality and reality. The frame is the defining boundary. The photo, social media, mobile devices, cameras are all limited by the frame. Reality has no edges, no frame and is boundless. The frames edge defines real from unreal. In the photographer’s Eye, John Szarkowski states:

‘The central act of photography, the act of choose and eliminating, forces a concentration on the picture edge- the line that separates in from out-and on the shapes that are created by it’ [Szarkowski 1966:9]

Technical advances have shaped and defined photography more than any other medium of art and as we look to the future we can expect the boundary of reality, the frame expanding or disappearing altogether. As such the social photo will evolve and adapt to what will become the new reality.

References

Jurgenson. N 2019. The Social Photo: On photography and social media. Verso books.

Sontag. S 1973. On Photography. Penguin Books

Szarkowski.J 1966. The Photographer’s eye. London: Secker & Warburg

PHO702: My Practice/My Project

Posted on 20th Jan 2021 Posted in Informing Contexts, PHO702: Critical Research JournalTagged Contextual Research, work in progressLeave a comment

“The space between” is a project born out of my exploration of how the natural and built environment has helped to shape the person I am. This project was born out of my fascination of the emotional bonds we have with our environment, how those bonds and links strengthen during the course of our lives. Often when we recall a memory of a key life event we will associate that memory with place, the house we grew up in, the school we went to, church we married or graveyard are parents are buried.

“Biophilia is idea that humans possess an innate tendency to seek connections with nature and other forms of life.” (Rogers 2019).

Within my images I set out on a personal journey to explore the places of nature that I have a subconscious bond. From an early age I would often spend much of my time escaping to nature, even skipping school so that I could go for long walks in the woods and planning imaginary journeys to Sherwood Forest. Jeff Wall’s tableau photography has been a source of inspiration for my practice so I looked to adopt a similar style to my own work for this project.

As one of the most prolific users of the tableau is Jeff Wall who’s images are created from scenes he has witnessed or memories, these he meticulously recreates. Wall’s exhibition ‘Tableau Pictures Photographs’ 1996-2013 we see images such as ‘Flooded Grave’ in which an open grave has been filled with water and sea life, such as star fish and sea urchins. This is typical of the way in which Wall plays with the tension between the real and the unreal. For Wall it is the way in which we fill voids with our daydreams, in our daydreams we see what isn’t there (Poel & Schweiger 2014). When exhibiting his work, Wall uses large light boxes to display his colour images, giving them a luminosity that adds a hyper real quality to them which is turn confronts the viewer with the drama in front of them. The images become more than a photo and more akin to a lit stage. Wall a post graduate in art history has a deep understanding of how space is full of relationships and how to construct a visual scene for the viewer.

“they [Wall’s images] are evidence of a detailed comprehension of how pictures should work and are constructed.” (Cotton 2004:51)

Fig 1. Flooded Grave, Jeff Wall 1998-200

In my own imagery I have attempted to engage the view, giving them a glimpse of a story, just enough to leave them to create their own story. The choice of clothing colour was made prior to the shoot so as to achieve two factors, 1) not to overly blend in with nature and 2) not to stand out so as to distract the viewer’s gaze. The following images were used in my last WIP portfolio as I felt the to be reflect what I’d set out to achieve.

Fig 2. I come from a broken home, Tim Beale. 2020

July 2020, shortly after the initial lockdown ended I took a trip back up to the midlands, Derby, to visit my Dad and step mum. This was also an opportunity to walk the streets, where I once played and visit some of the places that helped shape the person I am today. Then in September my dad died unexpectedly, this sudden loss has had a profound effect on me. My immediate response to the news was to try to escape and loose myself in the woods. I found this time spent, walking and thinking about my dad and my childhood has given me sense of clarity and focus.

I grew up in Derby, an industrial city made up of vernacular terraced housing and Victorian industrial buildings but surrounded by some of the most stunning landscapes in the country. The city was made for work and as such the people who live there are good practical, hard working people. Now some 20 years on after leaving Derby I find myself living in Bath, a city built for pleasure with grand Georgian houses. Two very different cities however each city has a communality (and like most UK towns and cities), the need to maintain something of nature. Walking the streets of our cities you can see nature given a space to flourish, gardens, parks or avenues of trees lining the roads. This notion of suburban nature is something I plan on exploring more during the next few months.

Fig. 6 George Shaw, Scenes from the Passion, 2002

I was recently introduced to the work of a painter who also comes from the midlands George Shawafter sharing a number of my recent photographic works with a friend as he felt their were a number of striking similarities between our practices. Shaw who produces realistic images using humbrol paint on board, a paint I am familiar with from hours spent building airfix models as a kid with my dad. This unconventional medium for painting fits well with Shaw’s unconventional subject matter of council estates in the midlands. Again another similarity with my own upbringing in the midlands.

On first viewing Shaw’s paintings of middle England, I was struck with how the image, which has a photographic quality to it, seemed so familiar. Looking through a batch of recent images of alleyways and side streets I can across my own, unwitting, interpretation. Shaw’s images brought back memories of growing up in the midlands and as such the realisation hit me that this is why I have this odd fascination with alleyways and back streets.

“The drizzly visions of an empty, every man England transcend their bleak settings, inviting viewers to project on to them their own childhood ennui. A rope dangling from a tree, a lock-up garage left open, a broken goalpost: each one suggests possible youthful adventures – or traumas.” Tim Jonze (Jonze 2019:online)

Fig 9. Self portrait behind Dad’s house. Tim Beale 2020

With a desire to explore city nature further,I took to the streets of Bath, not the grand Georgian city people are familiar with but the out of town suburban areas on the outskirts, my Bath.I want to remain true to the core concept of how nature influences our mental state, be it positive or negative, whilst documenting the use of nature in suburban places, such as those I grew up in.

More recently I’ve been inspired by Todd Hido’s – House hunting series of images and have begun shooting at night. I saw in Hido’s images of suburban housing, a sense of mystery, suspense and just a little threat. Hido drives along ‘anonymous’ American streets, most likely in his home of San Francisco Bay area in the US, at night using the light from street lamps to capture images homes devoid of inhabitants.

‘I take photographs of houses at night because I wonder about the families inside them,’ ‘I wonder about how people live, and the act of taking that photograph is a meditation.’ Todd Hido (Christie’s 2017:YouTube)

I chose to photograph at night as the quality and effect street lighting can give offers something quite unique. I could have chosen to introduce lighting with flesh or lamp but this seemed unnatural, forced and unnecessary. Trees take on a more central role not having to compete with houses, as these recede into the background. Initially I dismissed the out of focus, blurred images but the more I looked at these the more they spoke to me. The fact that they are blurred not unlike our memories of growing up, some are clear and sharp whereas others are hazy and unfocused.

References

1Rogers.K, Biophilia hypothesis. Encyclopedia Britanica, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/science/biophilia-hypothesis [accessed Jan 20 2021]

2 Poel.J & Schweiger.R, Commisioned, 2014. “Jeff Wall: Tableaux Pictures 1996-2013” (video interview) commissioned for the Education Department Stedelijk Museum. ARTube channel: YouTube https://youtu.be/tNWWrKXNeBA [accessed Jan 19 2021]

3Cotton. C, 2004. “ The photograph as contemporary art”: Thames & Hudson

4 Jonze.T “Interview Anarchy in Coventry: George Shaw’s greatest hits”, Guardian online https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/feb/13/rembrandt-british-housing-estate-george-shaw-coventry-tile-hill-greatest-hits [accessed Jan 6 2021]

5 Hido “.T 2017, Christies YouTube channel, “I use photography to express myself” video short https://youtu.be/vTnmO6UXFUc [Accessed Jan 6 2021]

Images

Fig 1. Wall. J ‘Flooded Grave’ 1998-2000. https://www.artic.edu/artworks/157160/the-flooded-grave [accessed 20 Jan 2021]

Figs 2-5 Beale.T work in progress 2020

Figs 6-8 Shaw. G ‘Scenes from the Passion’ 2002. http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/T07945 [accessed 20 Jan 2021]

Fig 9. Self portrait behind Dad’s house. Tim Beale 2020

Figs 10-11 Hido.T ‘House Hunting’ 1997. https://huxleyparlour.com/artists/todd-hido/ [accessed 20 Jan 2021]

Figs 12-13 Beale.T work in progress Jan 2021

The Space Between

Category: Informing Contexts

PHO702: Week 2 Reflection

PHO702: Week 1 Reflection – Photography Characteristics & Human Choices

PHO702: My Practice/My Project