A confusing set of notes this time with more questions than answers. There is certainly concern that the photographs (well some of them) are manipulated in an abstract sense. A concern that had never crossed my mind but one that my tutor asks is "..... an attempt to make something interesting which is basically not very interesting". I was never aware that photography as art had to have as it subject something that is intrinsically interesting, and if so what is the criteria to measure that.
"Is it form over content", is another valid question but how much of art does that apply to, or is it just my photography.
There are some positive parts to the feedback relating to presentation, print quality and my "outside of the box" approach, which gives me some comfort. My general feeling is that I pushed the limits of the Level 2 envelope and just about got away with it, and its not somewhere I will go again. The remaining assignments in this module do not require that amount of risk so in the future I will be applying myself to "content and interesting".
I think it's good to ask questions about one's work sometimes. Even if you can't immediately answer them, over time those ideas and questions can result in a deepening of understanding and more interesting work.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there are any absolute rights or wrongs in the work we do. If the pictures are more interesting at the end of processing than at the start, or even if they are all about form and with little or no interest in content, then those are perfectly valid ways of working. Perhaps your tutor was encouraging you to think more about what you are doing and why, rather than suggesting that this work has gone wrong in some way, as your comments seem to suggest?
In any event, I look forward to your next assignments.
My tutor’s intentions are only good and as he says, my technical and artistic content is to be applauded. His message was whether the images could stand alone, without the text (which I am not making available on here, but am willing to share with you if you email me) and that is a valid comment. Photographs are however seldom seen without having some text. An exhibition will at least have a name, maybe have a catalogue and some images may have a small note adjacent to them. I contradict myself here a little because I am not one for tiles so I will think a little more about this for future work.
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