A3—Reflection

Demonstration of technical and visual skills

• I am satisfied with the results I achieved for A3.
• The technical and visual skills required to realise these images were a little different from what I have done with other exercises and assignments. Most important, I was the subject, so I had to work to ensure that I would remain in focus while moving around in front of the camera. I accomplished this in a few ways:
  • by setting the camera on a two-second timer to give me enough time to get in front of the lens;
  • by setting the aperture on the lens (f/8) to give sufficient depth of field;
  • by using a gel-coloured flash, remotely-triggered and fired into a reflective umbrella to freeze motion; and
  • by ensuring that there was no ambient light in the room, which meant that the flash was the only source of light.

Quality of outcome

• I am pleased with the results I achieved, in that they represent well what I had in mind once I landed on my concept / approach.
• The images are sharp; I had enough exposures to give me a good selection of photographs for the series; and the colours from the gel-covered flash gave some extra dynamism to the images.
• The four images I chose for the final set also compliment each other well in terms of movement, position of the subject, and the colours chosen for each.
• If I were to do this again, though, I might look at letting a little ambient light into the frame and dragging the shutter. This would introduce more movement into the frame, but it might take away from the over all effect.

Demonstration of creativity

• The creativity for me in this assignment does not lie in the techniques required to produce the images. Taking pictures with a flash in an umbrella is not that complicated, once you get a feel for what you are doing.
• Instead, I believe that the creativity lies mostly in the desire to use the assignment to support some personal growth. I realise that a fear of dancing—coupled with a real dislike of pictures of myself—may seem trivial to some people, but it is significant for me. (I am guessing that many of those same people might run from speaking opportunities, while I have little difficulty addressing hundreds of people.)

Context

• The reflection I did for this assignment continues the direction in some sense from A2 (which I will almost certainly rework in light of the feedback I received from my tutor), where I looked at issues of personal identity through a collection of artefacts.
• In A3 I have again turned to personal exploration, although this time the imagery involves me directly rather than a series of proxies.
• At the beginning of the feedback I received from my tutor in response to A2, he included the following quotation:

‘If I throw a stick in one direction in a field it does not mean that I am obliged to
retrieve it like a dog. If I throw a stick it is to eliminate or exclude this direction, to
feel free to research what is not indicated yet.’

Tomasz Wendland (2008)

• I interpreted that as encouragement to resist following my initial leanings for A3 and to open up a new range of possible directions by deliberately turning from familiar things. Looking at my self as the subject of my photographs is something that I have never done, so being pushed was good for my growth as a photographer (and perhaps as a person). Rather than taking on a self-portrait in a relatively distant or even impersonal way, I decided to tackle a discomfort and a fear head-on.
• I have also been glad of the opportunity to explore more personal topics in what I hope has been a positive way. Everyone faces challenges in the course of life—some much more so than others—but it has bothered me that so many personal artistic explorations seem to be negative in nature. I think I would have real difficulty sustaining a personal project that focused on the negative and I would also be reluctant to share it with others. I want to grow and I am usually better fed turning outward and forward, rather than focusing inward and down.
• This does not mean that I cannot learn from and appreciate the work of artists whose work is darker—it just means that I may not want to follow their examples.

Reference

Wendland, T. (2008) ‘THE UNKNOWN: That what I say is not what I mean’ [Ph.D. Dissertation] Dartington College of Arts, University of Plymouth. At: https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/handle/10026.1/2796 (Accessed 24/11/2019).