REFLECTIONS ON ASSIGNMENTS ONE AND TWO.
As the course notes flow assignment two straight off the back of assignment one, all of my response to my tutors’ assignment one feedback went into the reflective commentary for assignment two.
I have now received the tutor report back from my tutor for assignment two and I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t devastated. It’s very difficult to hear someone say that you may be better taking a break from your studies, or continuing for personal development instead of assessment as your work may not meet the criteria to pass the degree. I’ve read and re- read continuously since receiving the feedback and now I have made a note of the main points and can make my own responses.
What do I want to achieve?
The submission for assignment two was emailed to my tutor with a note explaining my concerns on my area of work. Assignment one was an opportunity for me to go out and take the photos I was comfortable taking to show the type of photos that I produce. I had decided on beginning this course module, that I wanted to produce a body or work around stage photography. However, I also enjoy making landscape images and included both genres in my assignment one submission. In the assignment one feedback, I felt that my tutor was unimpressed with any aspect of the stage photography. He commented that it looked like “standard stage photography” and that even with my attempts to make it more artistic, it was still just “performers in coloured lights and smoke”.
My tutor said he felt some of my landscape shots were the strongest but that I had to decide which genre I wanted to work in and stick with it. I made the decision to stick with the gig photography as it was the genre I felt most pleasure in undertaking and producing. The note with my assignment two submission explained that I had been worried more about producing work that my tutor liked than what I enjoyed producing myself. My assignment two feedback starts with a response to this, stating that the work is not about my tutor but about finding my own personal voice as a photographer. But unfortunately my tutor doesn’t believe from my work that I am “concerned with finding this personal voice”. So he asks what I want to achieve?
Personally, I completely disagree. Looking at other student blogs and even the course materials, stage photography is something different that doesn’t seem to be in high demand. Maybe to some, it’s boring and unimportant; but to others, it’s everything. I have explained on both assignment submissions that I enjoy focusing on the facial expressions and passion of the performers. They are artists in the same way that I am. To undertake their art, they have to give it their all and that is what I try to capture through their body language and expressions. I want to build a collection of a variety of performers all showing this passion.
Unfortunately, I don’t feel that my tutor is interested in my subject area. Once again, his feedback states that my work is “no better than generally available commercial stage photography”. In response to this, stage photography is the art in itself. My tutor states that at this level of study, I should be creating more inventive work and not copying what I have seen others do but the point of stage photography is that you are capturing what happens on the stage. Stage photography can be split into sub-genres; portraits, documentary, reportage; it all depends on how the photographer captures it. But the art comes from the ability to shoot these shows in a variety of venues, with different lighting depending on But the art comes from the ability to shoot these shows in a variety of venues, with different lighting depending on each venue, different performers and their performances - depending on the genre of music they produce, sometimes within a small timeframe. Versatility is key. But so is ability and equipment.
As the course notes flow assignment two straight off the back of assignment one, all of my response to my tutors’ assignment one feedback went into the reflective commentary for assignment two.
I have now received the tutor report back from my tutor for assignment two and I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t devastated. It’s very difficult to hear someone say that you may be better taking a break from your studies, or continuing for personal development instead of assessment as your work may not meet the criteria to pass the degree. I’ve read and re- read continuously since receiving the feedback and now I have made a note of the main points and can make my own responses.
What do I want to achieve?
The submission for assignment two was emailed to my tutor with a note explaining my concerns on my area of work. Assignment one was an opportunity for me to go out and take the photos I was comfortable taking to show the type of photos that I produce. I had decided on beginning this course module, that I wanted to produce a body or work around stage photography. However, I also enjoy making landscape images and included both genres in my assignment one submission. In the assignment one feedback, I felt that my tutor was unimpressed with any aspect of the stage photography. He commented that it looked like “standard stage photography” and that even with my attempts to make it more artistic, it was still just “performers in coloured lights and smoke”.
My tutor said he felt some of my landscape shots were the strongest but that I had to decide which genre I wanted to work in and stick with it. I made the decision to stick with the gig photography as it was the genre I felt most pleasure in undertaking and producing. The note with my assignment two submission explained that I had been worried more about producing work that my tutor liked than what I enjoyed producing myself. My assignment two feedback starts with a response to this, stating that the work is not about my tutor but about finding my own personal voice as a photographer. But unfortunately my tutor doesn’t believe from my work that I am “concerned with finding this personal voice”. So he asks what I want to achieve?
Personally, I completely disagree. Looking at other student blogs and even the course materials, stage photography is something different that doesn’t seem to be in high demand. Maybe to some, it’s boring and unimportant; but to others, it’s everything. I have explained on both assignment submissions that I enjoy focusing on the facial expressions and passion of the performers. They are artists in the same way that I am. To undertake their art, they have to give it their all and that is what I try to capture through their body language and expressions. I want to build a collection of a variety of performers all showing this passion.
Unfortunately, I don’t feel that my tutor is interested in my subject area. Once again, his feedback states that my work is “no better than generally available commercial stage photography”. In response to this, stage photography is the art in itself. My tutor states that at this level of study, I should be creating more inventive work and not copying what I have seen others do but the point of stage photography is that you are capturing what happens on the stage. Stage photography can be split into sub-genres; portraits, documentary, reportage; it all depends on how the photographer captures it. But the art comes from the ability to shoot these shows in a variety of venues, with different lighting depending on But the art comes from the ability to shoot these shows in a variety of venues, with different lighting depending on each venue, different performers and their performances - depending on the genre of music they produce, sometimes within a small timeframe. Versatility is key. But so is ability and equipment.
I feel confident in my work showing exactly what I want it to show. My tutor says that what I
want to communicate isn’t coming across in my work, yet he states that my work “shows
attention to gestures and expressions or the performers”.
My tutor also questioned whether I had been
critiquing the work of photographers mentioned in the text, as there was
nothing in regards to the course module in the write up for assignment two. As
there was nothing in the course material to look at between assignments
one and two, I didn’t feel the need to re-send this learning log write up with
all the work regarding the material in the course notes again, as there were no
further entries and it had been sent along to my tutor with assignment one.
My tutors’
main points are that my work
- has no visual impact
- seems generic, lacking in originality or personal expression (mainly because I don’t
- see them as portraits and keep referring to it as ‘gig photography’
- is lacking anything visually interesting in the subject area
- has visual problems such as viewpoint, focus, composition, and general lack of variety
- is indecisive due to mix of black and white and colour photography
- is grainy and noisy (although he recognizes that there is no way to avoid this )
- I did, however, manage to pull out some constructive points
2: possibly find a way to isolate the figures from the background, decontextualizing
3: from the stage and emphasizing emotions
4: possibly explore intense Photoshop work
5: Try to find something in the performers body language which is strong and emphasize it so it communicates with the viewer
There’s not
much that I want to say in regards to the negative comments. I appreciate this
area of work does not appeal to everyone and I felt that most of the comments
were more due to this than anything else. As I have stated, I found some
constructive points to take on board and I will definitely look into how I can
use these points in moving my project forward.
There was a
section about research in my report which questioned the type of research I had
been doing with a book that I had referenced. The purpose of the book in
regards to this course module was to look at some well-known stage
photographers and to see what type of work they included towards a specific
collection (the collection being the images in the book). I haven’t been
reading about how to deal with the “mess”
on stage, as my tutor so eloquently put it but I have been reading texts with
reference to music photography and I will do separate instalment to my learning
log in relation to each text.
To end his
report, my tutor has offered a webpage as further reading;
I have
looked at the webpage today and can see the distinction between the images on
this site and my own. However, I will reiterate something that I have said
before; venues, lighting and equipment play a huge part in stage photography.
The bigger the artist, the bigger the venue. The bigger the venue, the better
the lighting. Only one of the shows that I have gotten access for (and
submitted some of the photos in assignment one) is considered a big venue. And
even then the lighting didn’t have a huge variety. The other venues I have been
to (unfortunately the same venue has been used for three of the shows) are
small bars, with easier access for me. Bigger venues have camera policies and
unless I can get access through the online webzine I shoot for, then I can’t
get in with my DSLR or get in at all unless I pay for the show. I have been
paying for the smaller shows in the bars as the webzine only wants me to cover
well known and shows that are going to be in demand.
Fast lenses
are great for the low lighting conditions and currently the fastest lenses I
have are a 28-70mm F2.8-4 and a 50mm F1.8 prime lens. My tutor suggested using
a fast lens, even though I explained which lenses I had used for the photos in
assignment two. The faster F1.4 lens he suggested are out of my price range. He
also commented on the fact that a lot of the assignment two photos were ¾
length portraits. This is due to the fact that the bar has no photo pit and a
low stage. I need to stand far enough back to be able to not just have all
close up shots but also close enough so that there aren’t people between myself
and the stage. Stage photography really is about working through a lot of difficulties,
yet also thinking about what you want your image to convey and what the final
image will look like.
In light of
this report, I have since requested to transfer to another tutor. I had the
option of three different tutors and have chosen my new tutor who I hope will
be able to advise me more on where the project could go and support me in
progressing it forward.
I can only
thank my previous tutor for his honest opinion.
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