Reflecting after Assignment Five

I have just had my Skype call with my tutor following on from submitting Assignment 5 and I can say that it was a very positive conversation.
My tutor seemed impressed with the volume of work in my final project and that the volume and commitment is a major part of the work itself. He thinks that the diary aspect works really well and that it really works as a digital project. We need to think about how it would be presented and that it should really be screen based, maybe focussing on it's own blog/website. We talked about Wordpress, which I have used before and would be happy to use for this project alone.

One thing that my tutor did point out was that the project didn't really connect with the title. I need to focus more on the time aspect, as I talk a lot about trying to portray the element of time through the project. But the photos are still showing family surrounding me and close relationships between my subjects so family could be in there. Maybe around time being split or shared.
He said maybe we could look at Sally Mann's Immediate Family  or on Modern Family and play on this in some way.
After thinking about the sharing and time and family aspects, I thought about maybe "A Family Moment" or just "Family Moments". I will run these by him.

My main concern is how I am to present this for assessment. As a digital project, I was wondering how to send this project in for the assessment process when you can't completely submit digitally for Level 3 courses. My tutor confirmed this was an interesting point and that he will speak to a few people at OCA to see how we can work around this. But after discussing it over, we said we could always send in a selection of prints from the project, but they would need to be small and possible screen sized to correspond with the project itself.

I am happy with that. I will look into possibly being able to print screen sized images as iPhone screens are more of a 6x3in(?) sizing. I would also have to print out selected pages of text to accompany them too. But we will see what my tutor comes back with once he has spoken to the relevant people.

I am really proud of myself and this project. It was towards the end of last summer that I changed tutor's and had a meltdown to my (now) tutor as I had no idea where to go with my work. I now understand how work can be derived from something that you feel passionate about. The work is personal and indicative of my own experiences. It's a part of me and every family member who is present in this work. It's a 7 month slice of time in our lives and will serve as an archive in years to come to reflect back on. I have achieved what I set out to do, to show the viewer how devices can take over, if you let them. And how relationships can be affected, again, if you let them. I wanted to assure people that it's not just happening in their homes, it's happening in mine too and I hope that people can relate to not just the project but to me and my own life, and possibly millions more. And I think that through this work, I have achieved that. It will be interesting to see how it is received by the public and I am eager to progress to the next step of getting my work seen.

Martha Rosler

In looking at photographs with text, Martha Rosler's The Bowery in two inadequate descriptive systems (1974-75) is a highly political piece of work. The set of 21 black and white photographs along with accompanying text include many store fronts and usual haunts of drunken people within the Bowery district of New York. The text that accompany the photographs include words that are associated with drunkenness or alcoholism that allows the viewer to create their own interpretation of the viewpoint that Rosler is displaying. But Rosler does not in fact photograph any drunken people at all within this project. The viewer visualises the point Rosler is making through the shop front photographs and the choice words to associate with drunken people and being drunk.

The text plays a powerful part within this project, as it does with most image-text photographs. Text can accompany the photographs well, either to emphazise a viewpoint literally, or by associating with the photographs to allow the viewer to come to their own conclusions about what the viewpoint actually is.

It would be interesting to see if I could create a similar image-text accompaniment as in this project by Rosler. But with the vast amount of images within my own project, there wouldn't be enough words to accompany the photographs. The project would need to be a lot smaller, maybe a photo a day for one month. And then use words associated with the scene or my mood of the day to showcase my viewpoint regarding the devices at that time. Either way, for the project as it is, it would not be plausible however I am keen to create a one-off image with inspiration from Rosler's project.

AlCallow piece inspired by Martha Rosler - 2017

Bibliography:
Afterall.Org, (2017), Afterall Exhibition 'Martha Rosler: The Bowery' [Online], Available at: https://www.afterall.org/events/afterall-exhibition_martha-rosler_the-bowery-in-two-inadequate-descriptive-systems_, [Accessed May 12th 2017]
Edwards, S., (2012) Martha Rosler: The Bowery in Two Inadequate Descriptive Systems [Online], Available at: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/martha-rosler, [Accessed May 12th 2017]
MarthaRosler.com, (2017), The Bowery in two inadequate descriptive systems [Online], Available at: http://www.martharosler.net/photo/bowery.html, [Accessed May 12th 2017]

Allan Sekula

I've just spent a bit of time doing a Google image search for Allan Sekula and have come across his work Photography against the grain. Again, I am unable to actually purchase a copy of this book but was lucky enough to find a copy available to view online, available here.

I haven't read through the essays, I didn't feel it relevant at this present time, but I did have a look through his works Aerospace Folktakes and School is a Factory. Both these works have sequences of photographs with accompanying text. What I like about Aerospace Folktales were the fact that the adjoining commentary was short and to the point. They seem to be making a small but relevant point as to why the photograph is included or what relevance the subject has. The photographs are accompanied by a commentary as two interviews with the engineer and the wife. The engineer spoke of work, the economy and how it affects ability to get work, whereas the wife spoke of the work and economy and how it affected her family. The commentary focuses on skills as an art form. It would be interesting to see this exhibition as it was. The introduction states that the original version included "142 prints and titles grouped into subordinate narrative sequences." The sound track that accompanied the prints "consisted of four conversations" that played for seventy-five minutes continuously in a small room next to the main exhibition and the commentary was displayed at the end of the exhibition.

Looking to my own project, I would have far too much text to be able to display it all alongside the photographs. It would need to be alongside to correspond with the photographs of that particular day. I'm not sure how the best way to exhibit this would be in that scenario. Hence why a book might've been better in the long run or an online blog as suggested by my tutor. I will definitely have to have a good think about it. 

School is a Factory is also a works based around photographs with accompanying text. The photographs appear to show people at work or in training and the text then confirms who the subjects are and what they are doing. The text also gives some context surrounding the subjects, like the reasons these people undertake this type of training and if and where the training will lead them when they are fully qualified. Here the text is informative and gives background information to, not only the subjects in the photographs but also to the norm for the types of training being undertaken and where the subject may or may not go following their training. The text accompanies it's image yet really informs you of the political view Sekula wants to get across. But all the images are of real events. They are real people in real jobs/training. And we get a good visual that what we are seeing actually took place. 

References:
Sekula, A., (1984), Photography against the grain: Essays and photo works 1973 - 1983 [Online], Available at: https://ia600303.us.archive.org/18/items/AllanSekulaPhotographyAgainstTheGrainEssaysAndPhotoWorks1973-1983/Allan%20Sekula%20-%20Photography%20Against%20the%20Grain%20Essays%20and%20Photo%20Works%201973%E2%80%931983.pdf, [Accessed May 10th 2017]
Sekula, A., (1978-80), School is a Factory [Online], Available at: https://monoskop.org/images/4/4d/Sekula_Allan_School_is_a_Factory_1978-80.pdf, [Accessed May 10th 2017]

Tim Lott - The Guardian - When does close friendship turn into emotional infidelity?

My tutor dropped the name Tim Lott in my previous feedback, mainly for the way he writes his family column and how he talks so openly about himself and others.

I have just read through his a couple of his more recent columns and came across his post from 7th April 2017 entitled "When does close friendship turn into emotional infidelity?".

I must say that I found this post interesting and rather relevant, in a way, to this project.

One of the first questions he poses is "Just what does it mean to be emotionally unfaithful in a time when email, instant messaging and mobile phones give us more private ways to connect than ever before?"

I can relate with this. My marriage is solid and I completely trust my husband, but when he spends so much time on his phone, and I know he does message other girls, I cant help but wonder why? Or what he is doing/talking with/talking about. To him, he is just talking to a friend, however I find it quite disrespectful to message, for long periods of time, members of the opposite sex. Especially if you are married. I would never dream of messaging a friends husband, or anyones husband for that matter, for a chat. So I find it difficult to comprehend those that find no problem with it. Do I trust my husband?...yes! Do I worry about it?.....No. Am I happy about it?....No!

But this is is where social media and modern technology create an issue. You can hide this sort of behaviour from your spouse/partner/friends. There is no way of them knowing that this is happening, given that they cant check your phone, etc. And it's that secrecy that I find disturbing.
Plus it's a whole other level in regards to teaching our children the dangers of certain individuals online.

My daughter and I were talking yesterday about social media after she had had a talk about it in school. She was talking about connecting with her friends and was quite proud of the fact that even though she has a Musical.ly account, she didn't have any other social media at all. She only has an iPod so her friends can email her or iMessage, some can even Facetime. But she looked confused when she asked me about connecting with my own friends online when I was younger and I said we didn't have the internet when I was younger. Her reply was "yeah, but you could still message them" to which she was even more confused when I again told her, we didn't have mobile phones when I was her age. I didn't have a mobile until I was 17 years old and even then it was pay as you go, £10 would last you over a week and when you could get enough signal to send a text message, they cost 12p each!

She forgets that this is still relatively new technology but I forget that it's all she's ever known. So we have to adjust to the fact that this is their norm now. But the dangers of social media are hard to teach when it comes to being careful of who they talk to online and how much information they share with that person. I am currently engrossed in the MTV show Catfish, hosted by Nev Schulman and Max Joseph, where people contact them to find out if the people that they have been speaking to online for however long, are actually real people and who they say they are. Majority of the time, they aren't and it's only a few that get their happy ending, but mostly it's people out to play games with others, making up fake people and fake back stories and usually just a joke that went too far.
Trying to teach this to our children is not only vital, but an unfortunate side effect of modern technology. There are people out there who just want to trick others. And these people could be the mailman, the lady down the street or even your own spouse.

So back to my point about this post - I know the post is about emotional infidelity but social media plays a huge part in this nowadays. You don't have to meet people in secret anymore, they are just a few clicks away, without the fear of getting seen by people who may know you or your spouse.

In relation to Jim Lott's writing style, I admire his truth and honesty. He is authentic and sincere in his opinions and doesn't hold back when talking about his own life and experiences. I feel this is a great quality when reading writing such as this. People can relate and have their own experiences when someone talks so openly. It doesn't feel forced or fake at all and gives the reader an insight into him as a person. I like people who say it like it is. Who you know will be honest genuine. I don't like two faced people or others who tell you what they think you want to hear and from reading a few of Lott's columns, I can see he is neither of these people.
I am documenting my photographs with diary style text, where I am writing in a similar way. I am accompanying the daily photographs with a written account of who, when and what devices are being used a) to emphasize the usage that take place daily in my house and b) to outline exactly how much time is being taken up daily by these devices. I write in an honest and open way, much like Lott. I wont sit there sounding all perky and happy if I'm fed up and annoyed that my kids are nagging to go on the computer again and I wont pretend I'm not bothered when my husband wont put his iPad down and get dressed. I will tell it like it is. Mood swings and all.

References: 
Lott, J., (2017), When does close friendship turn into emotional infidelity? [Online], Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/apr/07/when-does-close-friendship-turn-into-infidelity-marriage-intimate-secrets, [Accessed May 10th 2017]

Bibliography:
Lott, J., (2017), In a moment of existential crisis, I took my child's teddy to bed and held it all night [Online], Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/apr/28/in-a-moment-of-existential-crisis-i-took-my-childs-teddy-to-bed-and-held-it-all-night, [ Accessed May 10th 2017]
Lott, J,. (2017), Mamma Mia! It's hard to praise mothers everywhere and not insult anyone[Online], Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/mar/24/mamma-mia-praise-mothers-everywhere-insult-anyone, [Accessed May 10th 2017]
MTV, (2017), Catfish: The tv show [Online], Available at: http://www.mtv.co.uk/catfish-the-tv-show, [Accessed May 10th 2017]

Chauncey Hare's Interior America

I have been looking online for a copy of this book but I cannot source anything online and am not able to purchase one at the moment. Thankfully, I can get a pretty decent look at some of his images through a Google image search and can see exactly what I was expecting from the title, everyday photographs of working class families within their homes. Unfortunately, I think my tutor advised to me to look at this project predominantly for the personal statement and they way that he spoke of himself and his family but I am unable to find it online.
So I hope to be able to return to this work at a later date to be able to read the introduction when I am able to get hold of a copy.

The photographs themselves are similar to the images that I am planning to take myself. They are an honest representation of different families within their own homes. I think the reality of if is an important factor. Home is where you are completely yourself, where you can relax and don't have to put on any facades. So photographing people within their own homes, feeding their families, getting in after a day at work, give the viewer an insight into their reality. Into their lives. There's no airs and graces, or staged performances into how people want to be seen or how they want to be portrayed to an extent, it's just an insight into them as people and how they live and this is what I want my own project to objectify. My reality and an insight into how I live within my own surroundings with my own family, with the inclusion of the reality of modern technology.

I will keep trying to track down a copy of this book and return back to this post when I do.

Willie Doherty

I have briefly looked into the work of Willie Doherty as suggested by my tutor.

Born in Northern Ireland in 1959, he continues to work there today. His work appears very focussed around political views surrounding this country. On his website Williedoherty.com, we see a lot of his work centred around isolation, graffiti, abandonment, burning or burned out cars. I see it as not so much a documentary style but it definitely addresses the political factors I think of when I think about Northern Ireland like War and terror.
The photographs and videos are addressing what has happened there and they have an overwhelming sense of reality as opposed to being staged in any way. It's documenting what is there at the time the photographs were taken which hold a scar of what has happened there before. As most of his work holds the same subject area, you can see Doherty's personal voice about his country and his work.
I think my tutor was wanting me to look more at how he includes text within his photographs and I will say that I find them quite powerful. The photographs depict the reality of the borders and a feeling of being caged or enclosed behind barriers or the wishes of freedom and the future. The text Doherty has included on each photograph, even though they are minimal, only heighten and bring home exactly what he is trying to tell you.

When it comes to text within my own work, I also feel the need to included words to really hone in on what the pictures already tell you. The words make the images stronger. To see, for example, five photographs of my husband on his phone might seem excessive to some but nothing to others. Looking closer, you may see he has the same clothes on in them all, maybe he wore them more than once, maybe they are all in one day. But adding the text really accentuates the fact that all five photographs were not only taken the same day, but every hour for five hours (as an example of course). The text can add that extra level to the photographs. Just like it does in Doherty's work.

References:

Doherty, W., (2017), 'Willie Doherty' [Online], Available at: http://williedoherty.com/home, [Accessed May 2nd 2017]
Lack, J., (2009), 'Artist of the week 38: Willie Doherty' [Online], Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/apr/22/willie-doherty-artist-of-the-week-troubles, [Accessed May 2nd 2017]

Tutor Feedback: Assignment 4

Formative feedback

Student name	Amanda Callow	Student number	507285
Course/Unit	3: Advanced	Assignment number	4
Type of tutorial	Skype

Overall Comments

The project is shaping up to be insightful, interesting and topical. Scale is important, keep up the work for as long as you can – and keep up the reflection and research. Well done.

Assessment potential

Assignment 2 and 4 Assessment potential

I understand your aim is to go for the Photography/Creative Arts* Degree and that you plan to submit your work for assessment at the end of this course. From the work you have shown in this assignment, providing you commit yourself to the course, I believe you have the potential to pass at assessment.  In order to meet all the assessment criteria, there are certain areas you will need to focus on, which I will outline in my feedback.    

Feedback on assignment

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity

Notes from, and in addition to, our Skype tutorial -

Great to see the project growing. Keep producing as many images as possible, we can worry about editing later. It is good to see real volume.

Your 'diary' is warm and immediate. Its a tricky balance that I think really works – have you cited any literary influences?

Keep up the reflection on what you already have in the light of essays, other practitioners, and new findings.

'Disruptions' to the body of work can come later, you need to make sure you have a solid, consistent stretch of time documented. The longer it stretches the better.

Keep your observations on extended family, keep everything in at the moment, every interaction might be important.

Have a think about what the participation of your subjects means. Think about the ethics, your obligations to them, how you feel about the project, how they feel.

Think about where/when is your cut-off.

Ask yourself if you have a thesis you want to 'prove'. What was your opinion on family life + technology before you started? Has it changed?

Currently you are playing the role of the 'straight' documenter, what are you doing it for? (Again possibly time to look at Inside/Out by Abigail Soloman-Godeau.)

I mentioned the Phaidon Family book.

Matthew Finn said to me recently, he'd been told “they really aren't many projects with 30+ odd  years longevity” - people are interesyed in long-term intimate engagements.

I also mentioned Chauncey Hare's very open introduction to his book, Interior America, where he spoke very candidly about himself and his family. I wonder if Tim Lott who writes in The Guardian might be interesting – he recently revealed how, and why, he talks so openly about himself and others.

We discussed making sure you can document family events coming up that disrupt looking at screens, what about the longer days, summer activities, school holidays? Weddings, parties, festivals?

We discussed how the final work should be presented - perhaps it should be viewed on screens, perhaps even on phones.

You have documented yourself, in the process, keep up the personal reflections too.

I mentioned looking at Allan Sekula and Martha Rosler for examples of text and images working together. Also check Victor Burgin, John Kippin, Willie Doherty. All very political but then everything is, especially within the family.

Coursework

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Demonstration of Creativity

You are doing some decent reflection and its good to hear you following up on previous references.

Research

Context, reflective thinking, critical thinking, analysis  

Try to tie in who you are reading with the work you are making.

Learning Log

Context, reflective thinking, critical thinking, analysis  

Good to see the work presented here. Have a play with how the blog presents the work as this might inform how it is displayed in future (on a screen, scrolled through...).

Suggested reading/viewing

Context

Please look at the practitioners above.

Pointers for the next assignment / assessment

For the next assignment date we'll be making decisions on the final output, so you'll need to do some serious research into how you might present the work, it might be worth checking the work of very recent graduates to see if you can find anyone who's presented personal screen based work. Start with OCA, then look at RCA, Brighton, Westminster, LCC, Farnham, Bournemouth, USWprogrammes.

Tutor name	Les Monaghan
Date	06/02/17
Next assignment due	06/05/17

Reflection.

I have been very pleased with this feedback and it's good to hear that the project is making good progress. 

The first point to mention is the scale of the project. With assignment four, I only submitted one month's work as I felt it may be too much to take in but my tutor disagreed and said that the more there is, the better so I know not to hold back in the final assignment or the final body of work and to include everything that I have. We touched on when is a good time to finish and for the time being I will just keep on with it until anything changes or until the end of the module, whichever comes first. 

My tutor told me to think about what the participation of my subjects means and how we all feel about the project. My kids and parents are not bothered in the slightest. My mum only queries to make sure she looks decent in the picture, if she knows I am taking it. My daughter asks why I am taking her photo, again when she notices, when all she is doing is playing on her laptop. My husband knows that he is the main subject of my work and although I try my hardest to keep my shooting secretive, he does realise on occasions and has no problem making certain hand gestures if he feels the need. I cant say that he is happy about being the main subject and I'm sure he would rather he wasn't but he knows that it's an artistic project and is prepared to go ahead with it. I am always conscious of how I show them all though. Obviously I wont photograph my children unless they are dressed and I know my husband is uncomfortable with how his body looks in some photos so I am always respectful to him by not photographing him in his underwear or at least trying to crop out areas if he is sat up in bed. I don't think I would want to include anything that any of them really didn't like. So I do pay attention to these things and I feel that is my obligation to them, to not make them look bad or make them feel uncomfortable in any way. 

I'm not sure at this point if there is a thesis that I want to prove. If there is it would be along the lines of how modern technology can interrupt with the family relationship. Before I began this project, I was concerned about how much time that my husband spent on his phone and his devices in general. I was fed up with my kids constantly asking when they could go on their devices. None of that has changed. What has changed is my knowledge that I am not alone. Reading as many articles as I have been regarding this subject matter has shown me that this is so common nowadays and that there are more than likely households that are far worse than my own. But I cant prove that these devices do create a family divide through this project. I can highlight my own situation and express my own experiences but it hasn't created a divide within my family because I don't let it so I cant prove that it does.

I have some other photographers to look at and I will try to do that as soon as I can. I also need to start thinking about the final presentation and how I could present the project in a digital way. I have spent a good few man hours trying to find any works that are digitally presented in the way my own would be and have found nothing. I have been through the recent graduate shows of all the schools listed in the feedback and have only come across two images, both from the LCC Flickr account from last years graduate show. One was of work by Alixanne Hucker, where an iPad was attached to the wall for viewers to 'Bait Themselves', possibly a selfie type activity. The other was the work of Elmo Tan, where four iPhones were connected to the wall, each showing a photograph. But further Google searches on both students shows nothing. I think I will have to discuss it further with my tutor as I really don't know what I am meant to be looking for in regards to this and as much as I am trying to look for it, Im not coming up with anything. 

PRESENTATION AND OUTCOME: Final decisions

Final Decisions

Knowing when to finish
This is a tough one for my own project. It could be an ongoing project following on from completing Body of Work, however I still need to reach a point where I stop for the final submission.
For me, I have included seven months of (almost) daily entries into this project and it has, on occasions, taken over. Other days it's been a background thought but it's always been there. In regards to the subject itself, I don't think there will ever be a time where device usage is not part of daily life, it's just part of society now and some part of me has to just accept the fact that we cant get rid of it.
In regards to the family unit side of the project, I have had days where I'm completely fed up of looking at everyone on computers, where I'm bored because no one is talking, where my husband and I have argued because he's been on his iPad for hours and hasn't spoken a word to me but I know that the best thing to do in these situations in speak up and, if possible and weather permits, just get out of the house. As much as they moan about it, they have fun whilst we are out and we all spend time together. I have reached a point in this project where I feel that my husband especially is making an effort. A lot of this project is repetition. The same routine every day and that can lead itself to boredom and then the devices come out. But now, after seeing just how much text and how many photographs there are, my husband is trying to work around me and using his devices when i'm not around or sleeping so I feel this is a good place to stop documenting. I could continue with it but I feel that i've made my point to him and also enough for the final submission to be successful in its message.

Defending your work
This is a very personal project and so I feel I must defend it on a personal level. I am not out to play the victim or make a monster of my husband, I am merely giving you an insight into my daily life. Obviously there will be criticisms and at the start of this module before my project changed direction, I felt that that's all there was was criticism and I almost let it overwhelm me. But all it takes is one person to understand and you feel that your work has purpose. I can defend my own life and my own decisions. I know not everyone will relate to this project but everyone is entitled to their own opinion. And I have mine.

Presentation
Looking forward to presenting my work, I would like to keep it digital if possible, purely for the fact that it has been completely created on a mobile phone, even down to the text , so I would really like my viewers to see it in the same format. My tutor suggested a blog post and I am keen on this idea so we will see where that idea can go.
I also like the idea of a book, keeping in with the diary format. I even did a mock up book format in this post to see what it could potentially look like.
A gallery wall exhibition might be a stretch. The vast amount of text pages and photographs would take up a lot of space and I don't think it would be a feasible way to present the project purely for this fact.

SHOWING NOT TELLING: Using image and text

Using image and text

I have previously explained that in a way, sequencing is important to my own project. It's not the sequence itself that lends to the subject of device usage within my project but it is important in emphasizing the factor of time. I have taken photographs throughout the days and so it is important to keep them in the order that they were taken to inform the viewer of the amount of time a person is on their device throughout the day. The lighting of the photographs may also lend assistance in order to show the times of the day as well. But I decided that including text within my project will be a essential element to really accentuate the time factor.
I am using an extensive textual element by including a diary format text with dates and times to run parallel to the photographs to give an informed insight to the viewer of exactly how much time my family spend on devices. The text is important to convey not only the time issue but other factors, and possibly emotions, of each day to bring the viewer into my daily life.

SHOWING NOT TELLING: Sequencing

Sequencing

Sequencing within photography is important, especially when it comes to the flow of a project. The course notes highlight how each photograph is read within a sequence to tell a story.

I've looked at the sequencing of Dewald Botha's 2012 project 'Fame'. The photographs of Zeng Kaigui that have been papered everywhere are almost like advertising posters. They remind me of when people put up flyers for lost cats, etc but I feel the sequencing is interesting. As each frame progresses you wonder why we are seeing the same poster in all the photographs  in so may different locations but without the text there is no way of knowing exactly why these images are everywhere. I feel the sequencing draws you in. You can almost feel like you are walking through a town and seeing this mans face at every turn. Each photograph emphasises the focus that someone wanted this man to be known for what he had done and their desperation of physically putting up these posters everywhere to inform the public.

Looking at my own project, I think sequencing is also important for me. I am creating a project based on a time factor and so the sequence of my photographs is crucial otherwise the timeline is incorrect and doesn't mean anything.

Looking at another photographer whose work I have enjoyed when it comes to sequencing is Duane Michals. I remember looking at his work back in an earlier module and was aways really interested in his sequences especially 'The Fallen Angel' and 'The Bogeyman'. Both sequences are fascinating and you can see the importance of reading each image in its rightful place. If any of the photographs were in a different order, the story would not make sense. Each frame gives a bit more detail and can only be read in the order they are shown.

References:
Botha, D,. (2012). "Fame" [Online], Available at: https://player.vimeo.com/video/74703746, [Accessed April 6th 2017]

Assignment Five: The submission

Introduction. 

Have you ever stopped and thought about how much time you spend on your mobile phone? On your tablet or games console?

Modern technology is all around us. It permeates through our daily lives. It allows a world of information and activity within our finger tips and it allows us to communicate with whomever we choose, family and friends, wherever they may be in the world. But how many times have you unknowingly ignored your partner or your children from subconsciously scrolling through your phone? Is it damaging your relationships with those closest to you?

In this body of work "Family Moments", I have explored the factor of time. Time that my own family spends within their alternate reality on devices. The images offer a visual representation but they are accompanied by a diary format text to enhance the factor of time. It is a very personal project to me and gives an insight into how technology intrudes on my own family.

I am interested to see if others can relate to my work and how essential others feel their digital devices are to them.

"A Digital Connection."*
"Family Moments."

Evaluation.

Looking back through the module of Body of work I have come a long way since the early stages. My project has taken a complete direction change but only for the better. Initially, I began this module believing that the work I was going to produce was to be the of the photography that I loved to take, which includes Landscape and live music photography. I believed that it was my passion for taking photographs within these genres that I would find my own voice. What I didn't understand was that there was no clear message within this type of photography for me, no matter how much I enjoyed undertaking it. 

I think that changing tutors after Assignment Two was the highlight of this module for me. My new tutor was able to help me see where I was going wrong. It wasn't that the photographs that I submitted for assignments one and two were particularly bad, its just that they weren't conveying a message. I had no voice within them. My tutor explained that I could proceed within the live musc photography genre if I found a message to communicate. With so many photographers out there producing live music photography on a daily basis, I would need something to make me stand out. And I drew a blank. My tutor assisted me in finding a subject within my own daily life that I felt strongly about. One that I could portray through my photographs. And this was my turning point. My tutor encouraged me to produce something that was natural because I was already living it. 

My first major influence was Sophie Calle. I read Suite Venitienne and found her technique of diary inserts accompanying the photographs inspiring. I was excited by the way her photographs were more of a surveillance and not posed or staged, which I related to in the sense that I do not like directing people and staging shots. When I set out at starting this project, I spent time looking for photographs within the public. It was not something that I wanted to be obvious about when taking strangers' photographs, and so I dismissed my big DSLR camera and opted to use my mobile phone instead. It was a lot more subtle and I could pretend to be using my phone when really I was taking peoples photographs. Suite Venitienne encouraged me to continue, proving that the photographs I was producing as a observer were acceptable. However, I overlooked some technicalities about photographing in certain buildings and places and quickly realised that I had more than enough subject matter within my own house. This added another message to the project, adding to societies dependancy on modern technology to how that dependancy can affect the family unit. 

Producing a project within my own family has positioned this work within several different genres. It can be seen as family photography, documentary, snapshot or even portraiture at a push. This project is making a statement about how device usage could be creating a family divide and I think that will open it up to many criticisms, however I hope that this work will be relatable to the viewers. I don't suppose that with all the articles that I have read on this subject that people will look at it and deny that this happens in their own homes. I think that it is an important subject and one that affects many people and I hope that the message is read as it is intended. 

This module has been enlightening and has shown me that I can put my own personal views into my photography, something that I didn't understand before. As much as I will continue to photograph the genres that I enjoy working within, I feel now that I am able to produce meaningful work should I have a message that I want to interpret into photography. 

This work definitely portrays my own personal voice. It's a very personal project and the subject is all within my close family unit. It gives an insight into my own private and possibly intimate relationship and into my daily interactions. But I believe my message within this work is very clear and I am eager to get feedback from how others have read the images. 

The main decision that impacted this project was the one to produce the project on my mobile phone. With all photos being taken on my iPhone 6, it hindered how professional the photographs would turn out. Low lighting was the major concern as it produced grainy images with sometimes high contrast and movement blurring. But I was insistent on using the phone for the ability to capture photographs without my subjects knowing (on most occasions) and for the fact that I always have my phone with me. This was important as I couldn't foresee if and when I would need my bigger camera and when the occasions arose, my phone was never further than a few feet away. Plus, I had the ability to document all my diary inserts into my notes app, keeping all my work together and easily accessible. If I'm honest, I can't deny that I also really enjoy the irony of documenting my families device usage from a device. As with any technology, there were a few occasions where I almost lost work as my phone was playing up or times where I accidentally deleted a photo or two with them being on my phone and not backing up enough but the final project hasn't really been impaired by this decision at all. 

The only artistic impression for this project was to present the truth. I didn't want to stage any of the photographs or enhance the truth, I just wanted to show a section of my life as it is in regards to device usage and our family relationship. I was true to that. The only criticism I will give at this point is that, although the text shows my own usage within it, the photography does not and that was due to the impossibility of photographing my self on my phone with my phone. But I have been true to the content of the work and the message that I want to portray. 

Producing the work has been long and testing, yet editing the photography hasn't been too much of an obstacle. As I said, some of the photographs have a lot of noise and blurring which was only aggravated if images needed to be cropped. I decided to keep my photographs to black and white to keep with a documentary theme, but also to minimise distraction within the photographs. I felt the colour made the images too loud and focus was taken away from the subject. But then the process of moving all the notes from my phone app, into a document that didn't look too different from how it did within the app was a long and monotonous one, mixed with matching up the text to the relevant days photographs. It's been a long process however an important one. I've learned that you have to focus on the small details and not just attempt to throw things together because the final outcome will suffer.

This course has been a long road and one that I am very happy to be completing. I've learned that it's important to put your own stamp on your work and that you can make your voice heard through your photography, but that you have to surrender and commit to it to make your work successful. I've given my all to this project over the past eight months. There's been sweat, tears and arguments but I'm proud with what I have achieved. Looking forward with this project, I have had a few ideas on how I would like it to be presented. Initially, I thought a book form would be interesting, much like Suite Venitienne and tying in with the idea of a diary format. I have not completely dismissed this idea however I also really like the idea of keeping it within a digital format. The project has been entirely produced on a mobile phone. If there were a way to keep it digital then I would like to keep it that way so that viewers can experience it in the same format that it was made. There is also an irony in there in light of the subject. My tutor suggested a blog presentation and I do like this idea. So I am keen to explore with my tutor how I could make that work and what I would need to be able to do this. We are still at a planning stage in light of this but I am eager to see how the final outcome will look. 

*Note: The name of my project was changed following feedback from my tutor. He felt A Digital Connection didn't reflect directly about the family or the time aspect of the project that I was trying to portray. He suggested finding a title that summed up what the project was about, the fact that it was based on family and with an aspect of time included.