General thoughts

I am about to go out and find the photographs for Assignment 2 so I thought it would be useful to think back over what I have learnt so far.

I am fortunate in so far as I am retired and can devote a great deal of time to the Course. I believe this is helpful because it is possible to tackle a large block of the learning within a relatively short period of time. I recall from the time I was studying with the Open University and was working full-time that if there was a significant gap between one session and the next there was a need to revise the earlier learning. It is also possible for me to spend a whole day finding the photographs to take, assessing them for relevance and re-inforcing the lessons learnt.

I also adopted the practice of reading through the whole of the relevant Part of the Course and noting the required work and its aims so that when I went on a shoot I did not miss the opportunity to get the photographs I would need. Whilst fully understanding the reasons for where the exercises were placed in the Project,  if followed strictly I felt that there would be a lot of down time travelling to and from locations. For example there was an exercise where we were encouraged to take a portrait and landscape photograph of the same place but for some reason the recommendation was to take one set of 20 photographs in one format and then return to take the same shot in the other format.  I cannot see why they could not have been taken at the same time simply by turning the camera.

This exercise was in Part one: The Frame. I enjoyed this Part a great deal as it made me think more about the basics of photography and thus slowed me down when out taking photographs. I was a 'machine gun' photographer snapping in all directions simply because once the initial expenditure has been met digital photography costs very little. The more thoughtful approach and thinking about what I wanted to achieve and how best to achieve it has meant that I now get a higher percentage of acceptable images from those taken. (Still lots of room for improvement).

Part two: Elements of Design was a less happy journey although I have learnt a great deal and hopefully absorbed the learning so that it has become a natural part of my approach.

Too often I found myself thinking that the examples shown were contrived. In particular the picture of the Virgin Mary on page 63 where her eyes are not pointing in the direction arrowed and the picture on page 70 where the imposition of the triangle is in conflict with the message being conveyed by the image. The man on the left appears separate from the group not only because of the physical gap between him and the others but also because of his body language where he is attempting to isolate himself. He is also looking to his right and not at the other two people.

In part my reaction has been coloured by my underlying philosophy. Whilst design has a part to play in photography it is most obviously there in the professional world where the image is required to give a specific message. I am not sure that this ever works because the one thing that the photographer cannot control is the person viewing the photograph. We all bring our own personal baggage when viewing a photograph and can only interpret it in accordance with our experience and set of beliefs.

Presumably as I undertake the assignment my understanding will become greater.