Critical Appraisal

At the start of this semester I knew I wanted to explore the passage of time within a still image and play with how an image is typically read. I did not start with a definitive idea of how I wanted to achieve this, but instead decided to take my work forward through experimenting with images and then evaluating them.

I initially began working with joined images and panoramas, and this process is something that’s remained in my work all the way through. Images created in this way have to be read more thoroughly. Because the eye takes in visual information through scanning around an image, if the image is too large to be scanned in one go, the viewer has to take in each section one piece at a time. This imbues the work with an innate sense of time, not just because it takes longer to view and decode the image, but also because the different parts of the image are not simultaneous, as with a straight photograph. Any figures, objects and general presences within separate sections of the image were not necessarily present at the same time, and this dislocation of space is something I want to continue to the coming semester.

I have never attempted to join my images in a completely smooth manner. The misaligned parts of the images and if you can see any joins is something I didn’t want to deny – these are separate images joined to create an impression of a whole scene, they are not the whole scene. I want the viewer to at least have clues towards the constituent parts – to be able to see the building blocks.

While progressing with my work, I had to make a choice between taking my work down a more formal, constructional route, or a more aesthetic, evocative, narrative based route. I attempted both, and neither felt to be working until I began to understand the use of narrative hints and subtleties. My work’s been best when it has an implication of a narrative – suggestive, not directive. What I’m taking forward from this is that I want to create open narratives. The work has always been about representing a scene in a slightly unreal way, so all I want is the implication of a narrative. The way I enjoy doing this at the moment is by including a small, subtle figure within the image, and trying to avoid making them appear posed. A tiny figure walking through an empty scene has all sorts of implications and raises all sorts of questions. The viewer then has to decode the image in order to construct a narrative.

My work has recently undergone a change in direction. Although still working strongly within all the above principles, I’m now also experimenting with the focus of the images.

A deliberately unfocused image takes on qualities beyond a straight photograph and we are no longer able to read the photograph in the standard way. Because the details are not clear, we have to deconstruct the image and reconstruct it within our own mind to give it a sense of meaning. This means the work can be individual to every viewer and becomes highly subjective. It also becomes more representational and can become as much about the tonal qualities, colours and shapes as the actual subject of the image, and it no longer has a firm rooting in a definitive time or space. The images take on the language of dreams and memory - hazy and on the cusp of recognition but not quite understandable alone. We have to apply our own knowledge and experience around them to create an interpretation.

I used this semester as a chance to explore and extend my ideas, and through this I feel like I’ve developed a strong process and method of working. I feel I’ve created some fairly strong images, as well as a number of things that haven’t been working, and from this I know I can still stretch my work further next semester. As well as creating stronger images, in the coming semester I want to experiment and decide how to best present my work. I intend to try using light boxes, and possibly projections of the images because these have the potential to emphasise the nature of the work and accentuate the dreamlike qualities that are emerging.


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A New Direction

I've followed on the de-focused work and begun to experiment with it. Some are more successful than others but this is the new direction I want to follow. There was something about the work I’d been producing that was feeling less and less like my work. It wasn’t feeling like my ‘style’ was apparent in it, it was getting further and further away from something I’d be proud to claim as mine.

Defocusing an image allows it to start using the language of memory, and of dreams. It creates an impression of a scene, and possibly some recognisable features (a streetlight, a bridge) but the direct context of the place/subject is stripped away. A timeless/placeless feeling becomes to be apparent – the images become unspecific, undirective. They become impressionistic, and shapes, colours and tone become ever more important. Although they still may allude to things, the narrative of the image becomes far more open and doesn’t necessarily go further than a suggestion, a hint towards something.

This is possibly my favorite so far. There could be a slight contradiction between the image and the intent. I want to explore the sense of time and narrative within an image through defamiliarisation. However, this is shot at the market, and although it’s not quite the market most people know, it’s recognisable. I felt it was worth working with despite this, mainly because of the colours and the structures. There’s a carnivalesque feel to the image, but this is combined with a certain sense of threat as this is a place that’s known for its hustle and bustle, but it’s night and the place is deserted except for the single figure. This figure enables the viewer to begin constructing narratives, but its ambiguity leaves the narrative open. The lack of focus and distorted perspective help to present the place in an unfamiliar way, and, interestingly, the part of the image that appears to have the most distorted perspective (the left side of the centre stall) is actually contained in one photograph.

I feel this image is working to a certain degree as well. It feels placeless to me; it could be in a different city, a different country. There is a figure in this image but between the focus and the way the light fell, she’s lost the dark patch on the right. But if on a close inspection someone wonders if that could be a person, could that be enough in itself? Even though the image isn’t supposed to be focused, it doesn’t feel quite right. I’m not sure at this stage if it needs to be slightly sharper, or perhaps even less – this is something I’m going to have to learn through practice.









This image felt like it should work, and may have had potential but on reflection it’s got a long way to go. It’s too busy to work as a defocused image. I tried separating the images and leaving gaps to see if that would improve it. I think the idea of having disconnected, defocused images could work, but it’s really not there yet. This has drawn my attention to the end right image – it’s working quite well on its own, and I think this could be down to its composition. The suggestion of figures in the left two images is quite an interesting feature, and something to bear in mind.










The rest of these images aren’t really working, but there's things I can take from them. It's looking like figures will have to be well lit, I think the images are going to need plenty of space in them and the tonal qualities and colours within a scene are more important than ever;

These are a couple of single images I felt were working on some level;

These images are obviously a bit out of keeping with this new direction, but the images have a vibrant quality to them with it's really nice, and the short depth of field is good practice for the other things I'm doing. Also, in it tutorial it was pointed out to me that these are actually quite reminiscent of the images above, especially the circular shapes of the lego, and the circular shapes of the lights.

Something that came up in tutorial was how I might present my work in the degree show. Displaying the image/images using a projector or a lightbox might work pretty well - it would illuminate the use of light within the images, and possibly give more impact to the unfocused nature of the work. This is obviously something that'll need playing with to see if it's going to work or not.

I'm edging more towards playing with light sources than a projector - if an image is projected, it never wholly exists within the physical world. Although this might be an interesting idea, I definitely want to have a little play with lights.

Research

With a switch towards more representational, unfocused images, Uta Barth is an obvious artist to look at.
Her work challenges the borders of photography, and evokes the language of memory. Her images appear alien, yet strangely familiar. We can recognise shapes and features within them, but as these are not clearly defined, it's up to use to reconstruct the work and interpret it in our own individual way.
Her work becomes about the act of looking and the way in which we see, as much as what's contained within the images themselves. They evoke a more base, emotional response than an intellectual one, we react to the image, rather than try to understand it.
These principles are what I want to incorporate into my work - this suggestivity and subjectivity. I want to create impressions of scenes, and allude to narratives and ideas rather than dictate them.

I discovered Slinkachu's work over Christmas. It revolves around "little hand painted people left in London to fend for themselves." I think it's fantastic, but it's not the main part of his work that I'm interested in with relation to my work, but the backgrounds. When photographing these people at very close range, the background is out of focus, but beautiful. Obviously this is not the key part to the image, but I really like the effect, and think it's another good example of the kind of direction I might be headed.

I've recently discovered Idris Khan's work. He works with amalgamated images to create something new. The image on the left is constructed from Bernd and Hilla Becher's series of gas cylinders. Despite being constructed from photographs, his work almost appears more painterly in its appearance. This stretching of the boundaries of the photographic medium is something I'm becoming increasingly interested in, and this is an exciting approach to creating work.

I really like Astrid Kruse Jensen's work. They appear almost like dreams - a small moment that raises more questions than it can provide answers to. Her work "explores the passage between reality and imagination, and the constant clash between nature and the artificial." The images are suggestive, and although features are recognisable, they don't appear to be anchored within the 'real' world.