Concept Confusion

I'm in a bit of a quandary at the moment with regard to both my Dissertation and my Personal Project. I'm finding it difficult to pin down exactly what it is I am going to do for both.

I want to write about women landscape photographers, but its not easy to find many that have been written about. Also do I write about my own practice or shall I make it more of a historical study, or a study about landscape itself.

With regard to my personal project, part of me is thinking that I want to make work about the sea and how I feel about it, and what it means to me, but I'm not sure this will work or what my actual concept is. The other part of me feels that maybe I should continue with the work I've been doing on memory, with regard to place and space.

I'm not particularly happy with the images I have shot so far but this is usually the case. It takes time and experiment for me to capture the essence of my concept, and to feel that the images convey the mood and atmosphere I want them to evoke.

My mind is a bit of a minefield at present but this is usually the case when I am at the beginning of a project so I shouldn't beat myself up and just take my time. Art can not be rushed!

Semiotics Analysis - Brief Lecture Notes

The Study of Signs
Analysis of Text and Image
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857 - 1913) - questioned how things were named. Revolutionary Theory of the time. It had been believed that God named things.
Saussure said that language had to be learned, and that signs had to be understood through learning.

Sign = Signifier + Signified

Signifier = Tree
Signified = The idea of a tree.

Each sign is composed of two distinct parts. One physical and one Conceptual.
Language is a symbolic sign system.

Cultural Codes and Conventions = Collective to agree on the meaning

Recommended Book - Harris, Roy (1987) Reading Saussure LONDON Duckworth.

Not all signs have the same collective meaning. A Dove for instance denotes Peace in the UK but not throughout world cultures.

Roland Barthes (1915 - 1980)  Mythologies - elements of semiology.
Polysemic text - open to more than one meaning. To interpret.
The text needs to anchor the meaning.


Second Level of meanings - Emotions - to look at an image and read it through association of the learned.

Visual Metaphor - comparing a sign with another by association or point of similarity.
To convey a message without many words.

METONYM  - LOGOS - one sign that stands for whole company or product as in Volkswagen. Recognisable to many.

How we represent a story affects the person listening or looking. Interpersonal. Compositional.

The Search for 19th Century Women Photographers

Its so frustrating searching for information on Women Photographers of the 19th Century. I've searched in museums, libraries, even the photography gallery has no information that I can find on pioneering women photographers. I have ordered a book by Naomi Rosenblum called History of Women Photographers but I'm not expecting there to be much written about Anna Atkins, Alice Austen, Laura Gilpin and others. As I say it is very frustrating and I am thinking that this could probably be a worthwhile subject to research.

Anna Atkins: The First Woman Photographer (1799 – 1871) 

Images courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lemons_photogram.jpg

Dissertation Proposal

WORKING TITLE - Broadening Horizons …. An Historic Perspective of Women Landscape Photographers

KEY WORDS - Landscape Photography, Women, History, The photograph, Barthes

STATEMENT OF INTENT - My intention is to study the work of Women Landscape Photographers in an historical context from the 19th Century, to the Contemporary Landscape Photographers of the present day This is of interest to me because I have a passion for the internal and external landscape.

RESEARCH CONTEXTS – The methods of research I will be using are:

·         Visit galleries and museums

·          Research the  Historical context of landscape photography and women

·         Books, Journals, Dissertations

·         On line resources

VISUAL SOURCES – I will be searching for and using images of landscape photography by women from its inception in the 1800's to the more contemporary works of Uta Barth, Roni Horn and others. 

CONNECTIONS BETWEEN PRACTICE AND DISSERTATION

My Dissertation, Personal Project and External Project will all be connected. For my dissertation I am looking at the work of women in landscape photography. For my Personal Project I will be photographing the landscape exploring the connection and relationship that I have to the landscape of my ancestral home. The external project will be an exhibition of my landscape work.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gaston Bachelard The Poetics of Space

Barthes. R (1993) Camera Lucida Vintage London Melbourne Sydney Auckland Johannesburg

Bright.S. (2005) Art Photography Now Thames & Hudson Ltd London

Clarke. G. (1997) The Photograph Oxford History of Art Oxford University Press New York

Cotton.C. (2004) The Photograph as Contemporary Art Thames & Hudson world of art London New York

Andrea Liggins PHD (2005)

Sontag. S. (2008) On Photography Penguin Modern Classic St Ives England

Tilley. C (2004) The Materiality of Stone Explorations of Landscape Phenomenology Berg

Liz Wells Land Matters

Edited by Liz Wells, Kate Newton and Catherine Fehily Shifting Horizons

Personal Project Proposal

TITLE  -  Coming Home

My intention is to photographically explore the connection and relationship that I have to the landscape of my ancestral home. I have long held a desire to return to Wales, and now after over 30 years of living in England, I have been given the opportunity to do so.

Coming home is important to me in many ways; but it is the memory of family and of places visited as a child, that gives me the sense of belonging here  that I have not felt anywhere else.  Living on the coast I feel a great sense of freedom that the sea and the distant horizon evoke in me. A freedom that allows me to be the person I want to be. The land under my feet, and the land and sea that surround  and engage me, are inextricably connected to the past in the greater sense of the word, in the connection to my ancestors, and in the link to my own past.  I have a physical, emotional and spiritual association to Wales.

I will look at the theory of Phenomenology and how it informs my personal practice looking at, for example, Edward Husserl, Paul Satre and Maurice Merleau-Ponty.

I am writing a dissertation about Women Landscape Photographers; I feel it is appropriate as a woman with a passion for landscape photography, to research the work of other women in this field. I will look at the work of Uta Barth for her painterly style of photography and her concepts of the way we see, Roni Horn for her political views of the Thames River and other female artist photographers. In my reading I will include Liz Wells “Land Matters” and “Shifting Horizons,” Charlotte Cotton “the photograph as contemporary art” and a Thesis by Andrea Liggins on the environment (2005).

I enjoy using medium format cameras, in particular the 6x6 format as this is not a common medium for landscape photography. I don’t feel that it is necessary to depict the landscape in the conventional 10x8 form.  I also intend to use plastic cameras as I feel they may give me a more suitable apparatus to evidence the mood I want to create. This mood is of the past, it is memory and story, and may be better photographed with a dream like aesthetic.

Coming Home is intended to convey my deep connection with the land using a meditative and contemplative approach which will express my profound feelings for it.

Exhibition Space at St Ishmael's Church

My neighbour has told me that there is an Exhibition Space at St Ishmael's Church that regularly show Artist work.

Mobile Image of a space at the Church

Film Images

http://www.orielbach.com/#!show/cfvg

A Small Gallery in Mumbles ....I've contacted them with regard to volunteering some time to work with them, and to also find out about exhibiting my work in 2013 as part of my External Major Project.

http://annikaruohonen.com/

Just discovered Annika Ruohonen landscape images on Twitter .....

Coastal Walk

This afternoon I wanted to start photographing my local area and coast line. The theory I am using for my Dissertation and major Project is the "Poetics of Space" by Gaston Bachelard. He uses wonderful, descriptive and poetic words to describe our relationship with Space.

At the beginning of Chapter 8 Infinite Immensity There is a quote by R. M. Rilke The World is large, but in us it is deep as the sea .... and another is by Jules Valles Space has always reduced me to silence.

I walked along the Coast Road Path to St Ishmael's Church. Fortunately there were two women cleaning the church after the  recent Harvest Festival Service and asked if I would like to go into the Church. This I did. I shot some images with my camera and a couple with my Mobile.

Mobile image

I had taken my Medium Format Camera with me to shoot images of the landscape and sea life, but an opportunity to take some shots of the Church was welcome.

I crossed the Railway Track, always a slightly unnerving experience listening as hard as I could to make sure there wasn't a train coming. I sat for a while admiring the views before setting off to walk slowly home along the beach searching intuitively to compose a good image. I wont know if I have succeeded until I have developed the films.

What struck me while I was photographing the magnificent space, was that the mood I was creating was that of solitude. Looking in the view finder, I saw that solitude. It is the freedom of the space that draws me to it, but when I am there it is the solitude that strikes me.

This solitude is not loneliness. Quite the contrary. I feel no sense of loneliness as I walk, but a sense of being together with all that surrounds me. The energy I feel is comforting and safe. I sense the great wonder of all nature that surrounds me and it is this that fills my solitude.

Bachelard writes of Baudelaire using the word "Vast" ... he writes " It is no exaggeration to say that for Baudelaire, the word vast is a metaphysical argument by means of which the vast world and vast thoughts are united. But actually this grandeur is most active in the realm of intimate space. For this grandeur does not come from the spectacle witnessed, but from the unfathomable depths of vast thoughts. 

In his Journauz intimes Baudelaire writes
 "In certain almost supernatural inner states, the depth of life is entirely revealed in the spectacle, however ordinary, that we have before our eyes, and which become the symbol of it." The exterior spectacle helps intimate grandeur unfold. (Bachelard. G. 1994. Beacon Press Boston) (Bachelard. G: 192)

The freedom that I sense in the landscape enables my mind to free itself from all thoughts, to contemplate the land itself with the intention of photographing intuitively how I feel, as opposed to photographing the details of the scene before me.

Lecture Interviews and Questions

This lecture gave advice on how to form a question, not only for interviews, but also as a guideline for research and dissertations.

It is important to communicate to others exactly what it is you want to find out. For example asking Have you all had breakfast? instead of What did you have for breakfast this morning? implies that you are asking whether you have ever had breakfast; asking What did you have for breakfast this morning? phrases the question so that the answers you are given relate to exactly what you want to know.

The best researchers and best thinkers challenge perceptions.

• Questions are the basis of knowledge, skills and talent. 
• Questions inform and influence. 
• Questions help to build up evidence to form an argument.
• It is important to be fair and unbiased and to ask answerable questions.
• Questions that have a yes or no response or that are too general will not be useful
• Make introductions clear - what is it you want to achieve
• Explore and Propose

• Be consistent and Ethical
• Observe Facts
• Spot Patterns
• Build Theories
• Allow for a range of Responses using Guidelines (e.g. Disagree/Agree on a Scale of 1 - 7)

Question why people hold the views they hold - your subject needs depth and different views from different people/theorists/philosophers.

This was an informed and useful lecture which tied in with the Writing Workshop we had with Mary. Both discussed the conclusion of your enquiry or dissertation as a tool to being clear about what it is you want to find out about your subject, and as a means to focus your writing.

Annie Leibovitz: Powerful Images

Roni Horn Short Interview

Watch and Listen: photography: Roni Horn: _Still Water (The River Thames for Example)_

Writing Workshop with Mary Davies-Turner

Writing a Dissertation ......... How to Begin.....

The Concept is the idea and the Context gives meaning to a concept in its Historical, Social, Cultural and Political sense. This is how our session began. Mary spoke about introducing the concept, and to then begin to develop the ideas. She discussed finding first the "Big Words" that relate to the concept, and to break them down so that you gain a better understanding of the theory. It is then much easier to define and understand how that theory relates to your own practice, and to gaining a clear insight into how that concept informs your practice and your writing

To begin a Dissertation it is a good idea to first think about your conclusion. What is it you want to find out? With a clear vision of your intent, it is much easier to then discuss is your dissertation how you want to structure your essay, and have a better understanding of how to develop that essay.

When thinking about Chapters, it is  a good idea to first think about what you want to convey within the chapter and how it will lead on the next chapter. Think "where am I going with this?"

If you find yourself getting lost when writing paragraphs within the chapters, thinking about your conclusion will return you to your focus.

At the end of the session, Mary invited us to write for ten minutes using "Free Writing Techniques" This proved to be an excellent system to free your mind. Writing with no thought of structure or ideas. I have used Automatic Writing in my work since I researched the Surrealists, Free Writing is the same.

Here is the content of my Free Writing exercise..... thinking about the theme of my dissertation Women Landscape Photographers .......

Why do men and women photograph the landscape in different styles? Male images are more technically defined, sharper and with more detail. Women are more inclined to make pictures that are more emotional and emanate from a deeper place within. So how can I understand this? What do I need to research? Do I compare and contrast or do I concentrate my writing on how women see the world around them? What is important to them and to me? 

As a woman landscape photographer what is it about the land that draws me to it? Is it the beauty, is it the connection with a higher energy, is it the feeling of immense freedom that accompanies and attaches itself to me when my feet are grounded on the earth? I love how the sand is soft and gets between my toes, I love too, the firmness of the land beneath my feet, it makes me feel secure. The sky and land both change constantly and this resonates with me as I feel that I am also changing all the time.  The ebb and flow of the sea mimics within me.

I feel a belonging to the land, the past is ever present and right there with me, as is the present and the future.

It is hard to explain how freedom takes its form within me, and outside f me. The infinity of the horizon, the vast space that encompasses me as a small being, a few atoms joined together, forming me. 

I am standing in the vast open space that is the earth in a universe in a galaxy. The huge dimensions are impossible to imagine but somehow when I walk on the land, I do feel this infinite space as being part of me and I of it. The vastness of it is the attraction, is the freedom.

My freedom is my imagination. I can imagine and visualise anything in this huge space around me. The land looks alien when I study it, when I really look and see nothing . From nothing comes something. Part of the freedom is that I can look out at the horizon and know that I am of the world, but here I don't have to be part of anything except to know that I am a human being listening to the sounds of the earth and being .... just being.

The ten minutes came to an end .... I was, and am amazed that with very little thought about what I was writing, there came snippets of information will be helpful and inform my practice. There are questions that I can research. I felt that this exercise is incredible useful and I will use it to help me write my dissertation. Freedom of the mind is a wonderful tool to use.

Writing Workshop with Mary Davies-Turner

Writing a Dissertation ......... How to Begin.....

The Concept is the idea and the Context gives meaning to a concept in its Historical, Social, Cultural and Political sense. This is how our session began. Mary spoke about introducing the concept, and to then begin to develop the ideas. She discussed finding first the "Big Words" that relate to the concept, and to break them down so that you gain a better understanding of the theory. It is then much easier to define and understand how that theory relates to your own practice, and to gaining a clear insight into how that concept informs your practice and your writing

To begin a Dissertation it is a good idea to first think about your conclusion. What is it you want to find out? With a clear vision of your intent, it is much easier to then discuss is your dissertation how you want to structure your essay, and have a better understanding of how to develop that essay.

When thinking about Chapters, it is  a good idea to first think about what you want to convey within the chapter and how it will lead on the next chapter. Think "where am I going with this?"

If you find yourself getting lost when writing paragraphs within the chapters, thinking about your conclusion will return you to your focus.

At the end of the session, Mary invited us to write for ten minutes using "Free Writing Techniques" This proved to be an excellent system to free your mind. Writing with no thought of structure or ideas. I have used Automatic Writing in my work since I researched the Surrealists, Free Writing is the same.

Here is the content of my Free Writing exercise..... thinking about the theme of my dissertation Women Landscape Photographers .......

Why do men and women photograph the landscape in different styles? Male images are more technically defined, sharper and with more detail. Women are more inclined to make pictures that are more emotioal and eminate from a deeper place within. Sho how can i undertand this? What do I nned to research? Do i compare and conrast or do I concentrte m writing on how women see the world aroun them? What is important to them and to me? 
As a woman landscape photographer what is it about the land that draws me to it? is it the beatury, is the connection with a higher energy, is it the feeling of immense freedom tht accompanies and attaches tself to me when my feet are grounded on he earth? I love hw the sand is soft and gets into my toes, I love the firmness of the land beneath my feet, it helps me feel secure. The sky and land both change constantly and this resonates with me as I feel that I am also changing all the time.  
I feel a belonging to the land, the past is ever present and right there with me, as is the present and the future.
It is hard to explain how freedom takes its form wthn me and outside f me. The infinity of the horizon, the vast space theat encmpses me as a small person, a few atoms held together froming me and I am standing in the vast open spacd that is the earth in a universe in a galaxy. The huge dimensions are impossible to imagine but somehow when I walk on the land, I do feel this infinite space as being part of me and I of it.
My freedom is my imaginiation. I can imagine and visualise anything in this huge space arond me. The land looks alien when I study it, when I really look a dn see nothing . From nothing comes somethng. Par of the freedom is that I can look out at the horizon and know that I am of the world but here I dont haev to be part of anything except to know that I am a human being listening to the sounds of the earth and being .... just being.

A Walk Along the Beach

As I walked along the beach I wondered what my connection with it is. The coast line has always had a significant appeal to me.

For my personal major project I intend to document the changes in light and notice how the texture of the landscape changes. I don't know if this will work but it is the surface of the beach and the distant horizon that I want to photograph. I have looked at several works by contemporary photographers, but I need to research more into why they photograph the desolate landscape and also think about my reasons for doing this.

The wide open space appeals to me, the distant horizon and what lies beyond it. Is it the memories I have of childhood summers at Tenby, Amroth, Pendine, Mwnt and other seaside places that is the appeal. Is it the meditative mood that accompanies me when I walk along the sand noticing shells, sea life, light, lines and textures. Why do I like these aspects. Can I write a dissertation about the space. I want my dissertation and personal project to run in conjunction. I always try to do this as one gives me an insight to my connection and reasons, and the other is the pure delight of photographing the space.

After coming home, I feel energised and healthy, for want of a better word. I have been ill recently and it is said that the sea air has a healing effect on the body and soul. I see and feel this.

But my mind is a little bereft of ideas or thoughts about my reasons and so until I have read and researched philosophies, and works by other artists, I am not ready to write. My ideas will probably change as I look deeper into myself and my reasons for being passionate about the landscape.

Rosy Martin Lecture

I was glad to be able to attend Rosy Martin's lecture today. An Artist, Lecturer, Therapist and Theorist. 

I had researched her work during my Foundation Degree and this was a great opportunity to listen to her discuss her practice. She said that she is often invited to talk about Theory but seldom has the opportunity to talk about her practice. She is a quirky lady. Her work is conceptually serious but she has a keen sense of humour, and said that it is important to her that her work incorporates both these elements.

Her practice is grounded in the every day and she advised us that all practice should be theoretically informed; that the best work begins with the self, and develops into a connection with the wider audience, the collective.

Her influences have come from the theorists Barthes, Bachelard and Boudelaire. This reminded me of The Poetics of Space which I have now ordered and will use as the structure for my theory of the landscape photography I intend to concentrate on for my BA work.

Here is a link to her website ....

http://www.rosymartin.co.uk/Site/Hi.html

The 100

I bought a disposable camera to join in "The 100" taking photographs during the week from
Oct 1st to 8th 2012.

As I spent most of this week in bed with the flu, the images are shot from my bedroom, except for the image of Merlin shot in Carmarthen.

A Few Contemporary Photographers

http://www.josefhoflehner.com/patience/02.html

http://www.michaelkenna.net/index2.php

http://www.tonyhowell.co.uk/abstractphotography.htm

http://www.m-perry.com/beach_grid_16.htm

http://www.danholdsworth.com/projects/

The Beginning

I have decided to create a new Blog for my BA studies. This blog will document anything that I find of interest, or useful to my Projects and Dissertation. I intend that both the personal and external projects, together with my Dissertation will be connected.

I have not had a particularly good start to the Academic year, illness has plagued me. But today I feel ready to begin this journey. I have much work to catch up on; proposals for my projects have not yet been written. But being ill has its downfalls, namely that it is difficult to do anything other than rest and heal. My head feels clear and ready to take information and knowledge, and my hand is ready to write.

I want to concentrate on photographing the place where I live. It has a beautiful landscape, and as landscape is my passion, I am content to document what I see and feel around me.

I have shot a few 35mm film images. I did attempt to take my 120mm film camera out today, but it soon started to rain. I am not usually averse to a little rain, but having been ill for the past two weeks, I wasn't going to risk any further setbacks.

Sun Shadow

Darkness

Sun and Land

Sun Lines

Blue