After sleeping on the provisional completion of Project 2 and wanted to take a little time to reflect on the process and outcome of this in relation to Project 1. However as soon as I began to consider the images I had to stop and create a colour version of the set. This can bee seen here. As with the two monochrome versions the selection and order is a little different – this time to take account of the light and colour values. Rhiannon Evans, a fellow student, also commented that the images work well on their own and so I have configured the way they are seen on my website to reflect on this.
Why versions
One of the reasons I have ended up creating three versions is because just now, in these early days of the MA, I am exploring the subject matter visually and do not have any end product in mind. I don’t know how I will use these images and it will only be when I determine that fact that I will know which images I will use in what order what specific productions values will apply.
A second reason for not addressing that question yet is to do with association values and the nature of the MA exhibition. Until I have generated a body of work I can’t know how things will work together in relation to one another and until I know that and am closer to the exhibition I won’t know what I will show and how I will show it. So for now I must make myself stop working on this set and move on otherwise I will get too bogged down too early on in this exploration.
Comparison between Project 1 and 2
This project was more satisfying than the first one. Project one was born directly out of my final year’s exploration and imagery for my photography BA. Project 2 was not. It arose out of Project 1 because I can now see the weakness with the work in that project – it just isn’t personal enough. The territory here in the latest project was more personal – my home – and so somehow more personally satisfying whereas project 1 was about addressing a rather technical problem of how to evoke awareness.
I think that by moving the focus of attention from the general environment to my home I have increased the works’ intimacy and relationship to me. In addition Project 2’s straight formal approach is clearer and less busy that the double exposures of Project 1 and this makes them have a clearer impact while still requiring the viewer to decipher them because of the unusual points of view, framing and subject matter I have chosen to show.
However as Project 2 progressed it is clear that I have moved even further away from a realist stance first by removing colour and then by injecting a harsher monochrome and light values treatment to the set that presents them in a faux documentary style. Then, just at the end of the project I moved back to colour and it is that set that I prefer just now because it is so straight.
Lastly there is a difference is in the context I am working in. I have already made contact with a number of students on the course and am following their blogs. There are animators, people specialising in line drawing, performance artists, printers and graphic artists and so the context I am working in is beginning to broaden out from a primarily photography based group to one with a wider artistic interest. I can’t say this has had any direct effect yet but it does change my working context.
Next steps
As this more domestic environment works better for me I think I will continue to explore here for now.
anomiepete 