DPP Assignment 1

At last my tutor has received the relevant Course notes so that he and I are at least singing on the same hymn sheet even though we appear to have a different idea about what the song is about.

I had assumed, based on my reading of the assignment notes, that the primary purpose was to test if the student understood the concept of workflow. From his response it would appear that my tutor saw this as a secondary matter and that the photographs taken to test the Workflow were the key element. His logic cannot be faulted given that the Course is about photography but it might have been useful if the OCA had provided clearer guidance to us both.

He had told me in his response to my sending him my profile that he wanted to pursue the 'artistic' side of photography. As I had no clear idea what that actually meant ( it seems to mean different things to different people) I asked if he could clarify what it was he wanted. He used the opportunity of comments on my photographs to illustrate what he meant. I think I know now what he means but my guess is that it will be a concept that will develop over the period of the Course.

Unfortunately I feel that in the project I had chosen that they were largely irrelevant. I had chosen to take a number of shots of buildings in Bury St Edmunds where I live. My purpose was to compare the architecture of long established buildings with recent additions that have caused considerable controversy in the town. I made the decision to avoid as far as possible the inclusion of any other activity such as people as I wished to concentrate on 'form' rather than 'function'. I contend that when we see a building we respond to its form and have little interest in its function. For the majority of people the function is only relevant if they use the building and it is mainly concerned with the internal structure. My tutor had a different view suggesting that the photographs would be more 'artistic' and therefore have greater impact if their function was evident or show the environment in which they existed.

He suggested that one image would have been improved with a deeper blue sky. In another he suggested that it would have been better taken in the evening light. Other comments were of a similar nature. He also suggested that there should be some clue about the function of the building. For example one image was of a Victorian Law Courts so he suggested that the shot could have included a bewigged barrister. I don't necessarily disagree with the comments but still feel that they were not relevant to the project and in fact lessened the point that I was making.

One of my pet aversions in photospeak are the words "record shot". It is usually meant to suggest that the image is not up to standard and that whilst the image is technically o.k. it had no impact on the viewer. I would argue that apart from 'fine art' photographs all images are record shots. Whether they evoke an emotional response or not depends upon the viewer rather than the image. For example all wildlife shots leave me cold. I can fully appreciate the technical quality of the image and the effort made to get the shot but very rarely if ever go 'Wow'. Yet many others are 'bowled over'. Wildlife photographs to class as such, can have no enhancements made post capture. Therefore they are the ultimate 'record shot' but they are no less brilliant or for some awe inspiring.

I was prompted to place this blog because I had just listened to the video interview about photographers intent relating to photojournalism  in this week-ends OCA blog. The photographer has an almost impossible task getting this across unless he/she can add a narrative to place the images in context. There is a very real danger that we are all forced into the a style of photography that is in vogue at the present time. Perhaps the OCA Photography Course should be about offering a basic foundation of knowledge and encouraging the student to pursue his/her vision.