There have been a number of changes between Assignment Two and
Assignment Three. Following the feedback from Assignment Two, I realised that
my tutor wasn’t really understanding the way in which I was hoping to go with
my project and he suggested that maybe I change to an alternative tutor to get
a better insight. He felt that I wasn’t really understanding my own work and
that a new tutor might guide me better. This was the point that I swapped to a
new tutor and had a very insightful initial conversation. My new tutor got me
to think about my own experiences and how I need to focus on something that
affects my life and how I can use that to create a project. Up until this
point, and with previous comments from past tutors, I assumed that the final
body of work in this degree pathway was to produce work that I was interested
in producing. I felt that my project was to show what I enjoyed photographing
and what I was passionate about. But from working up to this point with my new
tutor, it is about photographing what
you are passionate about, but not necessarily in the sense of what you enjoy
photographing. It is about something that you have a strong connection with
that you can use as to create a message to show the viewers.
Gig photography is what I love photographing, but it doesn’t have a
message. The passion of photographing the event is there, but I can see now
what my original tutor had been trying to say – that I needed to find something
within that area to create a message. Had I been passionate about the struggle
of up and coming musicians to get their sound out there, to find a fan base, or
about the dedication of the band members, their work to produce the music and
videos as well as the stresses of touring etc. Those are messages that I
could’ve worked on and documented, however I would not have the ability with my
own home life to be able to dedicate as much time as I would’ve needed to
successfully created that project.
My new tutor opened my eyes to this fact and it was time to explore my
own life and see what affects me and how I could use my own life to hone in on
an area to produce a project from.
Thinking
about a subject area for Assignment Three
My initial chat with my new tutor mainly consisted about him asking
about my life, what my home life was like, what job I did, etc. In asking these
questions, he advised me on a few areas where a project could form. I thought
hard about his suggestions and on what areas I had enough concern and passion
about to be able to give me plenty to photograph. After a lot of consideration,
I decided on two ideas:
- How individuals are referred to as numbers in modern society
- Society’s dependency on modern technology
On putting these ideas to my tutor, he confirmed that both were good
suggestions and that doing some test shots would be a good idea to see what
kind of ideas I had in putting these concepts into photographs.
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| ©AlCallow People as Numbers Test Shot 1 |
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| © AlCallow People as Numbers Test Shot 2 |
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| © AlCallow People as Numbers Test Shot 3 |
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| © AlCallow "Can I go on my IPad?" Test Shot 1 |
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| © AlCallow "Can I go on my IPad?" Test shot 2 |
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| © AlCallow "Can I go on my IPad?" Test Shot 3 |
My tutor confirmed that both concepts had longevity within this project
and that I had to decide which concept really affected me personally. I had to
go with the dependency on modern technology as it affects my daily life a lot
more than I like sometimes. My tutor told me to go with it as I would have
plenty of subject area and had the passion within me about the subject to
portray my message into images.
Undertaking
the Assignment
I see my device as multifunctional, as I’m sure most others do. I can
check my emails, bank accounts, use my camera, check the weather, answer calls,
answer texts, as well as social media. But it is also a great way to pass time
and can be seen as a distraction. If people are using their devices while in
town, for example, are they just passing the time of doing everyday errands by
using their devices? I wanted to capture people doing so without drawing
attention to myself. And by using my phone to do this, I found it an easy way
to photograph people. Asking their consent for a photograph would change the
outcome of the image. If they still used their device knowing I was taking the
photo, it wouldn’t be natural. It would create more of a staged image. Or they
may insist on putting the device away all together. I needed to make sure that
they also weren’t aware that I was taking the photograph as to not make them
feel uncomfortable or angry by photographing them openly without their consent.
Using my phone was easy in that while I am walking along, I can hold my own
phone up and pretend to be scrolling or texting (by moving my fingers) while
really taking a photograph, as they cannot see the screen of my own phone.
I also used this tactic while photographing my own family, although
admittedly I have been caught out on occasion. It, again, shows how much my own
family use their devices, sometimes with them being completely unaware of the
amount of time they do spend on them. But the images still need to be un-staged
as the point is to convey a message of how much usage my family undertakes.
Assignment
Submission - "Can I go on my IPad?"
I have composed a selection of images, inclusive of some of the test
shots that I originally took in this subject area, showing device usage of my
family and of the public. I have left them relatively in a dated sequence as I
don’t feel the need at this stage to separate any of the images into any
subdivisions. As this is the first assignment I have produced within the
subject of technological dependency, I have left the images in the approximate
order they were taken.
My tutor was fascinated when I explained that my family can spend a
substantial amount of time a day on a single or multiple devices. He suggested
it might be interesting to try to show time
through the images if possible, exactly how much time can pass while they are
on devices. One thought I had was to create sequences to show individual times
throughout the day when they would be using their devices. I tried a few times,
and have included some here, but it was mostly when I had time in the morning
or in the day, but if we were out and once school let out in the afternoon, I
would be too busy to capture each time each person or device was being used and
so the sequence wouldn’t be a full day. There are two sequences of my husband containing 3 photographs, and two 2-photograph sequences of the same scene over a matter of minutes, one of a seat in a coffee shop and one of my dad swapping between devices. They are side by side in the photograph selection above.
This is something that I am continuing to think about and need to find a
way to portray.
Conclusion
I must admit that even I am surprised by how
much material there is out there to photograph, especially if you (unlike me)
have the confidence to go out there and shoot it, whether your subjects want
you to or not. More importantly, I have become aware through this short process
so far that I have more than enough material in my own home. I am pleased with
the quantity of the photographs I have so far but I do need to think about how
I can progress with the project and how I will inevitably exhibit it. My
thought process into this project has changed and I am now thinking that I can
show my personal journey in this subject area, and how technology has taken
over my own home. I still need to expose the factor of time through the images as well, and I am eager to try this in a
diary style text to accompany the photographs, much like Sophie Calle’s work in
Suite Venitienne. I will continue to
photograph the public for the time being as well though, as a backup and also
as it is still part of my own daily life to see people using devices when I am
out of the house. This may increase now with the run up to Christmas but then
as places get more and more busy, I may find myself going out less. Which could
impact the project if I am solely concentrating on the public side.
