Assignment One...my first glimpse

I will be attending the Roger Ballen Masterclass this Sunday. And as part of this, there is the opportunity to share 5 -10 images from your portfolio for feedback and discussion. Sounds great doesn't it?  Well it did when I signed up. But I'm rapidly going off the idea.

In an ideal world I wanted to share the beginnings of my 'domestic sublime' series, mainly because it is my most recent project and the thought processes are still 'live' in my head.  However, the 5x4 contact sheets that arrived back today reflect more than a few errors which really undermines my confidence in them. The kind of errors include:

• double exposing: school boy error that was made firstly because of the time lag between the first and second round of exposures...easily done yet could be so easily avoided too if I get my systems sorted.
• forgetting to shift from f5.6 to f11 when I'm ready to shoot...I can't set the aperture straight to f11 as there is not enough light to compose the shot properly.  So I widen the hole to f5.6 initially, compose the shot and then set the aperture after...well on several it looks like I haven't remembered to do this. But despite this, the exposure is there or there-abouts with all the images. So either my light metering is awry or perhaps Peak have worked their magic a little! Or I was lucky! Without the benefit of meta data it is difficult to be sure...I know, that is my cue to write notes!! Thing is, when I'm working with people/kids/animals, I don't have the luxury of time. I always feel rushed...I will just have to become more deft at it.
• on some, there is a white haze over part of the image...I am assuming that at some point I must have let in some light as it is not the whole image or on the edges.

You know what...I find it so damn difficult. It really makes the process much much harder using this camera. It's not that I don't enjoy it, but I do think the sporadic use of the camera plus the need for haste means I'm not methodical.  And I do think a precise and orderly approach is fundamental.  As I've said before, I'll keep going with it for this course, but unless they're going to be exhibited at metre rather than centimetre dimensions in a gallery I am wondering if this is the right approach. I would certainly derive more consistent results on the digital.

All in all I probably can salvage 7 images from the 14 exposures...not sooo bad, but equally they're not sooo good either...and not necessarily how I imagined them (but that's a different issue for another day). The next stage will be to send the negs that I want scanned back to Peak and then when they return, I will work on them and submit what I have for assignment one. I feel myself willing them to be better.

Cost to date, for the record: £106. Sheet film £56. c41 processing £31. Contact Sheets £19. Costs still to come: scanning and printing. I wince as I write this...unless I miraculously find an income stream I probably need to shelve the aspiration for Epstein size prints.

So going back to the Roger Ballen talk, sadly I think showing any images from this series is premature. So what should I do? I think I may decline the offer and see what others produce...I could consider some of the soc doc work, but am not sure. I feel a little intimidated by the whole thing if I'm honest. But as I doubt myself, I hear that braver voice inside telling me the greatest learning is when you're booted out of that comfort zone. And that's where I would find myself...this I guess illustrates my fears addressed in the 'putting it out there' post. And shows my dithering on such matters...I will let you know what I decide.

Personalised landscape

Some questions for you...well, me...that are bobbing about aimlessly in the murky shallows of my head.

• How do you bring your own voice to a generic or shared landscape?  
• How do you take a picture of a scene and make it say something unique or individual? 
• How do you make it interesting to yourself but to others too?  
• And when you have something to communicate, how do you express it in a picture?

The motivations for my work to date have either been personal...or I choose topics that I find unusual, funny or that I am simply drawn to. However with the landscape I haven't yet been able to make the transition from taking spontaneous images, to one that reflects my relationship with it or a specific view of it. So far, I have got ideas but beyond the project work, I haven't got out and taken any images for the assignment work...I think I am guilty of not properly 'seeing' my surroundings...consigned to fleeting views out of the window whilst taxiing children to and fro...I'm sure I'll get there...just looking for inspiration right now.

Some interesting intepretations using the landscape as a canvas below:

• Almagul Menlibayeva: mythological narratives placed and staged in the her native Kazakhstan ravaged by 60 years of Soviet occupation. 

• Marc Baruth (full interview): sophisticated blending of images inspired by landscape painters. In his words:

'reality is always mere allegation, and in my works, I absolutely deny constructed reality, which may at best be found in the presentation of a tiny, actually photographed element'. From this accumulation of small, 'real' elements comes something which presents itself as reality or at least something clearly defined, like a landscape painting.'

• Polixeni Papapetrou: makes images with identity and contemporary culture focussing on childhood and childhood memories. Interesting series with the animals masks!

• Jennifer Hudson: takes inspiration from the themes of faith, intricacy of personal relationships. Beautiful finish to the images.

• Gregory Crewsdon: clearly a master at creating narratives in an sub-urban landscape

Landscape Photographers Trap

Take a look at this quote:

Landscape photography is one of those 'branches' of photography which is so appealing to the picture buying public that it has become associated with the sort of bland scenes that you might find on the walls of a hotel; pseudo-dramas with dense clouds and misty water. It has become a victim of the rule of thirds and a pictorial orthodoxy for epic large scale scenery featuring superfluous foreground objects in sharp focus shot for little else than as a gratuitous display of its author's technical prowess. 

Put all this together with an exotic location, and you have the recipe for what would be and is often mistaken as being representative of landscape photography. Wall fodder. 

But landscape photography is about much more than far away or unseen places and an expensive camera. Landscape photography, like all other photography, like all art in fact, must convey a message or communicate an idea if it is to avoid becoming Ikea stock and take on a role in the fickle, jargon riddled world of contemporary fine art. 

That isn't to say that pictures can't simply be enjoyed, quite the contrary, but it is up to us to distinguish between simple decoration and art. 

extracted from the intro text of a contemporary landscape photography exhibition held at Bristol Creative in May 2010: 

Why am I posting this?

Firstly I think, even out of context, this extract articulates so eloquently a concern I've labelled as 'landscape photographers trap'. I for one, beguiled by the beautiful, fell in to this 'trap' before I even understood that it was one and have been looking for escape routes ever since. And secondly, it indirectly highlights, more for its absence, the emphasis of the course material. Whilst I accept the importance of technical competency in landscape photography, the projects focus almost entirely on this. By producing a technically perfect image we can create, what? - 'wall fodder'? And as revered as Ikea is, I haven't set my sights on supplying them 'simple decoration'.

Appreciating that this is probably no more than a consequence of dated course notes and having had prior knowledge from other OCA students, I have no interest to protesteth too much. However, I am still at a loss as to where to find guidance on these ephemeral 'non-technical' skills that 'one' clearly needs to elevate 'one's' work from simple decoration to art. How do you move up the curve and work out how to...

- make images that challenge,
- translate ideas in to a visual, 2d, 'indexical' (think that's the word) photograph,
- contextualise and create a visual language,
- produce work that is contemporary, relevant and original.

I'm reading plenty of books and these bullet points are only the tip of my enquiries. I do have some thoughts, but I was hoping I didn't have to tackle it all by trial and error...

Any answers on a postcard...well just down here in the comments box would be just fine...pretty please...I'll even buy you a pint...now there's northern generosity for you!!!