First Crit...

The Crits at Swansea are very different to the ones we had at Plymouth. For me these are tough. The whole group gathers together, and those whose work is being Critiqued, have to put prints up on the wall. The lecturers then discuss the work and ask questions. I did not cope very well with the pressure and stress of the situation.

In Plymouth we had small group crits where we all discussed our own work first, and then had a group discussion about how we could improve, make suggestions etc. Obviously the lecturer sitting with the group would give a critique as well as join in with the general discussion. I found this style of critique was much less stressful and personally more useful.

I found that although I do like to see the other students work, but it isn't a situation where most students speak freely about their work.

Yesterday it was my turn to put my images on the wall. From the outset I felt vulnerable. Sadly my nerves got the better of me and when the lecturers asked me questions about my work, my mind went completely blank. Embarrassing. The lecturers gave constructive criticism. Being at a new University for my third year has been much more difficult than I had anticipated. One suggestion that I do recall, is that it may be a good idea to find letters, or a personal object, to accompany my images to focus my attention on memory, if that's the way I'm going to move forward with the project.

Now that the first 3000 words of the Dissertation have been handed in, I can focus more on my picture making process. Tomorrow I intend to go on a journey to find inspiration. My work is about memory and space ... maybe the punctum ... I'm not sure. But returning to the place of my childhood, will, I know, help me to create something. Whether that something will be an improvement on the images I have already, I can not surmise, but the picture making process is all about failures to reach success. From nothing will come something.

These were the images I put on the wall...

Connection with Ancestral Home

Critique 

Old fashioned... Formalist.... Post Modern .... thousands of similar images found on Stock Photo Libraries.....need clearer concept .... if memory .... need personal items/objects to accompany images ....suggestion that I look at the work called "Fate"  (at the moment that's all I remember)