I am a big believer in fate. Everything happens for a reason. I can relate completely to 'The Freudian Slip' as I am usually the one who's thoughts come out of my mouth! Accidental photography (or not accidental but a subconscious exposure if you prefer) is shown in the course material through David Bate's Bungled Memories project.
I can honestly say that I enjoy this series of images. Bate's website (2009) describes the project as " ...these 'Freudian Slips' are taken as the basis for the production of new artworks that are rooted in the hidden psychology of everyday life." It also goes on to say that "the work produces something new from what is normally discarded." This can be looked at in more than one way. Broken objects are normally thrown away, or discarded, and photographing them could show the weakness of something broken. Yet there is strength in these images, showing that even though the objects are broken, they have further purpose in being created into art. Personally, I look at the objects as individuals. The fact that they are domestic objects leads me to think of them as family members, who , even though are broken or damaged, they don't cease to be the strong individual that they are. They are still standing tall, with all their flaws, to fulfil their role within the home.
The project by Alec and Carmen Soth is an interesting one. As a parent and a photographer, my children have grown up with me constantly photographing them, or documenting outings, basically having a camera a lot. They know not to touch mummy's camera equipment in the house yet I have found that my 9 year old daughter increasingly asks now to use my camera while we are out. She even uses her own digital camera / smart device to take her own pictures if we go away. I will then upload them to her laptop and keep copies myself for her to look back on. In the case of Alec and Carmen Soth, I think this was a stroke of genius. What probably started as an act of desperation on his part is turned into a whole other idea. Children don't see things the same way as we do and what may seem like a great composition to us may seem different to a child. An act of desperation, a mistake if you want to label it that, has made a substantial yet important project showing that anyone can undertake photography, and even children can take direction, maybe more so than adults. Carmen Soth did an amazing job with the images that she took. And the project would probably have had a completely different look had Alec taken them.
So I do think that good art can be made from mistakes. I always think that the art is in the eye of the creator and that the viewer will always make their own mind up about what they see in the art itself. Artwork will always have it's critics and the viewer may not see what the artist was trying to portray but they may see something else. The viewer may interpret the work differently, it's probably more likely that no two people will see the same thing in the work and I think that is the beauty of it.
Looking to my own work, I guess it would depend on what mistakes I made as to whether I could own the mistake and make a more conceptual art. Most of the photos I take are gig photos and I can honestly say that sometimes, I am not trying to capture dramatic movement blur but I can use the photos as it does create a more dramatic image. But at times I know that the mistake is just too big and that I cant use the photos. But I wouldn't be against at least analysing the mistake and seeing if something good could come from it.
References
Bate, D,.(2009) Bungled Memories [Online] Available at: http://davidbate.net/ARTWORKS/BUNGLED-MEMORIES.html?pic=120 [Accessed October 21st 2016]
Davies, L., (2010) Brighton Photo Biennial: Alec Soth [Online] Available at: http://www.dazeddigital.com/photography/article/8534/1/brighton-photo-biennial-alec-soth [Accessed October 21st 2016]
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