Assignment 6: Feedback

While I felt more at home with my camera in this assignment than I did in Assignment 5, I didn’t feel very confident about how well I’d done. I did enjoy this assignment more. It was less technical and I felt I could express myself more as an artist rather than a technician. I appreciate the fact that Assignment 5 was a good grounding in how to use different camera settings though, and perhaps it was because I had to some extent got to grips with the more technical aspects of photography in Assignment 5 that I was more able to enjoy my photography in Assignment 6. 

For many artists, drawing is an essential tool as it helps them to produce a better painting, embroidery or mixed media piece, whereas for me, drawing is an end in itself. Conversely, with photography, for many people the photographic image is the end product, and while that can be the case for me, more often photography for me is an investigative tool that I use as part of the process towards creating work in another medium. In my previous post I was rather unenthusiastic about my production of thumbnail drawings as a way of generating ideas. On reflection, I don’t think it’s the visual research that so underwhelmed me, but the method of research. I am much more at home with using photographs for visual research: ideally my own photos, but failing that, looking at images online. I use this process of looking at dozens of images as a way of thinking through my brief and possible approaches. Once I’ve formed my idea by visual research, then I will sketch it out and refine my drawings until I have a clearer direction for the final piece. However, I am preferring more and more not to over-plan. On occasions I’ve drawn out an image in my sketchbook in such detail that when I come to the final piece it has lost all sense of liveliness. There needs to be some room for ideas to develop on the page.

In this respect I am, perhaps, following more my processes as a fine artist rather than as a designer. One of the things I’m learning from this course is that I’m unhappy making art that never enters the physical realm. With digital photography published online there is nothing to hold or touch. I need to feel a physical connection with my work. This clarifies for me that I don’t want to pursue graphic design as a creative process as, again, it all exists in pixels alone.

This has all been a bit of a digression from my feedback, but has been helpful for me to think through.

In terms of my feedback, I was pleasantly surprised that it was so positive. The exercises with the stone and the small sea-themed bottles were the sort of photography that I particularly enjoy, as it helps me to see in new ways. The encouragement to experiment more with cyanotype paper, and tips on how to do this during my tutorial, are something that I will follow up when I get the combination of available time and sunny weather that I need in order to carry out some experiments. If I can get more reliable results using these manufactured papers I would like to buy the solutions and create cyanotype prints on fabric. 

Regarding the issues with the photomontage, again I would take a different approach if I could get the images onto cyanotype paper. Having run out of sunshine I had to work with what I had. What I had was electronically printed images, some on paper and some on transparencies. The latter didn’t dry well and smeared when handled for gluing. Also, my friend borrowed my Yes glue and hasn’t yet returned it, so I had to use other less suitable glue. Despite all of this, I did like the photomontage from afar, where the faults were less apparent. I’m not sure why but there was something very satisfying in the composition of it, and the rather odd choice to make art about tarmac! Perhaps it is akin to my love of drain covers, an art form that I get ridiculously excited about but which leaves others quite bemused! 

Despite not finding these electives easy, I feel that I’ve gained a lot from them, and it was really nice to be using my camera again for the ‘holiday’ exercise.