I think though, the gamble paid off. I have a series of 7 images that I believe fulfill the brief. The assignment specifically mentioned that the series must be visually consistent and tightly edited, and I think they are, or at least I tried to achieve that. The colours/tones are very similar: mostly cool with the exception of the orange in the sunrise picture which punctuates the start of the series. In addition, each photograph leads into the next: they are all visually connected with each other by colour/tone or also by an element within the frame:
- In photos 1 & 2, both men are covering their faces
- Photo 3 provides the head and upper torso that is hidden from view in photo 2
- In Photo 3, the man is peering into the room in photo 4
- Photos 4 and 5 both have an activity taking place inside a rectangle - similar compositions
- Photo 5 the man is looking out of the frame slightly alarmed at the dog in photo 6
- In photo 7, the child is looking back at the dog (also looking alarmed).
Presenting these images for an assignment though was also an emotive decision. I had such an amazing time during that week with Maciej Dakowicz, that there was no way I was not going to use the images! But, I hope it works out as a complete assignment - the emotional stakes are quite high, so I will be disappointed if it's not a success!
In terms of the Assessment Criteria, here are my thoughts:
Demonstration of technical and visual skills
During that week in India, I found that my technical and visual skills progressed way beyond my expectations. I was so happy with the process that I booked another workshop in Myanmar in March again with Dakowicz as I wanted to take it further still. I learnt so much about exposure, composition, story telling, observing, and so on, and I think it is reflected in these images. I also became a lot braver about being closer to people when I took photographs. I also learnt from Dakowicz how to put a portfolio together - how images need to connect with each other, and this has also been demonstrated in this assignment.
Quality of outcome
I'm happy with the quality of outcome - of course I am - I've never produced anything like this standard of work before (hope that doesn't sound too immodest but I'm still on a high from the whole experience)! The images are all clear, correctly exposed, no noise etc. My only concern is with the text - should I have captioned the images or included more text? I think the approach I took is the right one, I do want the viewer to wonder what is going on and think about their own reaction of wonder, without too much guidance, but I'm not 100% certain that I should not have included more guidance text.
Demonstration of creativity
This is definitely my most creative piece of work yet and I believe that personal voice is now starting to show. The best thing though is that I have "found myself". I've realised that I can combine my two biggest passions in life: travel and photography, and that my photography now has some direction. In my Reflections to Assignment One, I mentioned that I felt that various strands of photography were emerging. That's all over now. This experience was so exciting that I cannot bring myself to photograph anything else at the moment, and certainly not every day urban scenes. I can't wait to be able to have another experience like this. I get an adrenalin rush from Street Photography anyway, and I think it's time now to just focus on that, and combine it with travel where I can.
I am aware though, that, although the way in which I've used these photos is original, on account of the assignment directions, but, overall, my images from Varanasi look similar to other photographs I've seen taken by other people, and of course they are inspired by the style of Dakowicz. They are original for me, but overall, I need to step up still in finding more a more unique perspective. These broadly look like many people's travel photographs, so I feel like I'm just on the first step of the ladder now. But, I am thrilled though that I've found my ladder! I think it might have always been there, and I have spent the past six months intensely focusing on Street Photography, but until now, I wasn't really ready to rule out other avenues. But I am now :)
Context
Research for this assignment was limited to the work directed by the course materials. I got a really good sense through the projects, exercises and research points of what photographing the unseen can mean, i.e. through gesture, traces, metaphoric illustration, so I hope that this has come through in this piece of work.
Overall
Overall I am extremely pleased (as you probably gathered....sorry....) with this work. I think where I may get some learning points / constructive feedback will be in how I put the series together - were the photos in the right order - does the onion layers idea come through? Have I really captured the concept of "wonder"? Is this too illustrative and not sufficiently metaphorical? And also whether I should have used more text/captions. I will be interested to see my tutor's response and whether the ambiguity I tried to achieve came through.
Websites:
- Maciej Dakowicz available from http://www.maciejdakowicz.com/ [accessed 23 November 2014]
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