Tag: reflective practice

Journal Reflection -Sustainable Prospects Week 1

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The first week of this module has been incredibly exciting with the introduction of the live briefs and the opportunity to participate in these.  We have been allocated our groups for the live brief project and I am pleased to have been allocated to my first choice, even though this is likely to take me out of my comfort zones as a photographer. Read more about the live brief here.

Already the importance of research in this context has been emphasised as it is essential to understand the client and the brief in order to create an effective project pitch.  Preliminary research for the live brief projects has involved looking at the client, the visual language they are using, where their campaigns are appearing and how they are being presented.

I have undertaken a lot of online research this week around the live brief, focusing on how the client is utilising social media channels, where they are focusing their campaigns and how they are presenting themselves visually.  This has led me to consider my own visual language and how I am portraying myself and my work online.  I anticipate that I will be making some changes in the near future as I consider the importance of personal branding.

I have looked into various definitions of research methodologies and initially struggled to apply this to my artistic and photographic practices as it seemed rather theoretical. It was immensely helpful to look at how other photographers approach their research and to discover a number of varied yet equally relevant ways to approach this. 

In the past I have used research methods in my formal studies, however, as these were not art studies, it was predominantly through books, periodicals, text books and online sources.  These are equally relevant to my current photography project, along with practice-based research and constructivist methodologies. 

This includes physical exploration of the urban landscape, engaging with people in these landscapes and communities, placing myself within the context of the project, and exploring relevant techniques.  I was pleased to gain a real sense of context for my research and feel this will help to focus my work and photographic practice.

Inspiration © Juanita McKenzie

Journal Reflection – Positions and Practice,Week 5

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During coursework this week, we explored issues of power and responsibility as photographers. I am very clear on my own morals, ethics and responsibilities as a photographer, however, I found it difficult to come to terms with power. This is a concept I was initially very uncomfortable with as I had never considered myself as powerful in my role as a photographer or as having power over others in this capacity. 

Upon reflection I came to understand through Henri Cartier-Bresson’s concept of the decisive moment, that the moment of decision, choosing when to take a photograph, was actually an act of power. This led me to consider how as photographers we should reflect upon why we choose a particular subject to portray, or a particular moment in time to capture, and what we will include in the frame. Conversely, what we exclude or leave out – the photographs never taken – are equally significant. What is present or absent in an image is a conscious decision made by the photographer that will not only create meaning but will speak of the photographer’s relationship to the subject matter.

Our tutor, Jesse Alexander, emphasised that it is vital for us as photographers to understand the relationship between subject, image, viewer and photographer, and that it is our moral and ethical responsibility to make that relationship as fair as we believe is reasonably possible. In discussions on the forum, we looked at how photographs can be misused, and debated our responsibility as photographers in this context. It made me extremely aware of the need to be careful about who I am willing to work with and just how much ownership of my work I am prepared to give away.

I think its also extremely important to be aware of the kind of contracts involved and define both who the contract serves and protects.  We always have a moral and ethical responsibility that is implicit in our work as photographers by virtue of the relationship that exists between the photographer, the subject and the viewer. For me this triangular ‘model’ is a good starting point from which to make ethical judgments about my own photographic practice or that of another, and to enable me to assess the balance of power in each situation. We need to always be aware of the power of an image and therefore be discerning and sensitive in the way we work.

In peer debates privacy and dignity were raised as being important to ethical photography, and this is very pertinent to me as somebody with an interest in both street and social documentary photography. I had in fact been considering working on a project around social issues in the urban environment, in particular homelessness.  I am acutely aware of the vulnerabilities in these circumstances and how essential it is to protect what little privacy and dignity such people have. 

The conflict for me is between feeling I have a responsibility to tell the story while constantly questioning myself around the moral aspects of photographing such vulnerable subjects. I believe it is essential to be sensitive towards the subject, to be very clear on personal integrity, and to work collaboratively where possible.  I particularly feel that collaborative work is not only ethical but also empowering for all involved and is particularly important in portraiture, photojournalism and social documentary photography.

I am currently focusing on urban architecture and some street photography, so in this context it’s very important for me to understand the law,  particularly in respect of private buildings and photographing people.  My first responsibility is always to make sure I know the law and to work within those boundaries while also maintaining my rights as a photographer. The second very important aspect for me is to consider the subjects that I am photographing and to make sure that I am photographing with sensitivity, respect and compassion. 

Colour Co-ordination – Street Photography, Bristol ©Juanita McKenzie

Journal Reflection – Positions and Practice,Week 4

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This week our coursework was focused on creative collaboration and learning how this could support and develop our photographic practice. The task was set to work in creative partnership with one or two of our peers to create and deliver a micro-project by the end of the week.

To find our creative partners, we were tasked to post something in our forum discussions, text or image, that we felt a connection to and which represented something about ourselves and our work. We then looked at the contributions shared by our peers to find a post that resonated with our own and from this established our groups.

I chose to post the following quote as it is how I approach much of my urban photography:

“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” – Elliot Erwitt

This immediately connected me with my peer, Dean, who posted these song lyrics: ” Life is just a bowl of All-Bran. You wake up every morning and it’s there. So live as only you can. It’s all about enjoy it ’cause ever since you saw it , there ain’t no one can take it away.” – lyrics from Happy Days Toytown by the Small Faces.

We both felt an immediate connection around finding beauty in the ordinary things and this became the foundation from which we structured our project. We had been given complete freedom to choose a theme, the content and creative direction of the project with the only specifications being that we needed to create a small body of work in it’s own right which was formed in collaboration and which could be presented in a digital format.

Dean and I had a conversation on the phone about the project and very quickly came up with a simple project idea and process. We agreed to take a walk in our respective cities with the parameters being the same day of the week, the same time and duration, and it had to be in a local context. The aim would be to look for the beauty in the ordinary along the path of the walk and this would generate a body of images we could then collate.

We both ended up wandering much further than we anticipated and went off the intended routes but the result was rather interesting. When we looked at our images side by side, we began to notice similarities in the forms, the themes, the subject and mood despite being in very different cities.

Harmony ©Juanita McKenzie
Image from the project. Full project slides can be viewed here.

I had a good eye for pairing up images so that each page of our presentation has a side by side image by each photographer. Dean was brilliant at designing and compiling the presentation. We chose the images together, agreed on the layout and edit of the final compilation and created the text together. The entire process felt incredibly easy and fluid because we made such a great creative match based on the shared vision in our work.

When we presented it at our webinar, we both spoke about our images and why we took them, also looking at why we paired them the way we did. I felt that it was a balanced dialogue between us and the creative vision was easily articulated to our peers and tutor. We got very positive feedback at the webinar and also when we shared it in our discussion forum.

Looking at the work produced by our peers, it was very exciting and inspiring to see how others had approached this micro-project and the way they had chosen to present it. I was also amazed at the way in which certain themes repeatedly came through in each of the projects, for example environmental issues, the celebration of day to day life, finding meaning within the ordinary, and home or sense of place.

This was an incredibly valuable experience as I mostly work on my own and did not realise how working collaboratively can actually take the creative process into new directions and out of the usual comfort zones. It was a great activity and I learned so much from my peers and from working in creative partnership!

Nature finds a way ©Juanita McKenzie
Image from the project. Full project slides can be viewed here.

Journal Reflection – Positions and Practice,Week 3

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This week the focus of our learning was around the changing world of photography, with constantly evolving digital technology, especially the smart phone and it’s link to social media. This has had a tremendous impact on photography and on the associated industries with the rise of the phenomenon of ‘user-generated content’ and citizen journalism.

There were interesting discussions about this in our weekly forum and opinions are varied about whether this is a positive or negative phenomenon. In my opinion the use of smart phones has made photography accessible to most people, breaking down barriers to this medium and encouraging people to explore visual documentary of their lives and the world they live in, as well as being able to share these images. 

This leads into citizen journalism which I do believe has its place in these times – modern media seems to have become increasingly more biased  and narrow in scope which is why citizen journalism can provide real time, on the ground footage of events that might otherwise not have been shared.  The lack of editing and technique gives it a sense of immediacy and gritty realism which can have a strong emotive impact. 

On the negative side, there can be an element of sensationalism where people are constructing scenarios, or taking unnecessary risks to get more views or likes.  This can lead to a lack of context to the images and also a lack of respect or sensitivity towards the situation being photographed.  There have also been a number of incidents where people have died or been injured while taking selfies in an effort to get the best locations or views.

Although I am not interested in selfies or sensationalism, I must admit that I am an avid ‘Instagrammer’ and took to it very readily.  Personally, I have had very positive experiences and have found it to be quite valuable in terms of networking and creating an online presence.  Instagram’s estimated value, which appears to be rising rapidly, is a reflection of the growth in popularity of this medium as more and more people seek visual content rather than written word.  I think professionals have quickly realised that if you are in any way involved in visual media, then Instagram is the platform to be using. 

Snapshot of my Instagram feed @juanita_mckenzie_

 

Journal Reflection – Positions and Practice,Week 2

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Having explored the concept this week of photography as an interdisciplinary field, I’ve spent some time reflecting on whether my current photographic practice is interdisciplinary and how I could expand further on this.

I am already focusing on aspects of documentary photography which may have its roots in early interests in journalism and film. Social and cultural commentary are present in my work already and this draws upon earlier studies in psychology. Within my current practice I explore urban art as an integral part of the urban landscape and the social commentary it provides.

I would like to expand my practice by learning more about Fine Art photography and how this can be combined with street and documentary photography to create something more contemporary. I would like to explore surrealism, Bauhaus and expressionism as art movements that could inform, develop and deepen my photographic practice.

My interest in the urban landscape is closely linked to the architecture of places as well as the historical, cultural and geographical elements within these landscapes. Studies and research across all these areas would be extremely useful for contextual research and project development.

László Moholy-Nagy, Bauhaus balconies in Dessau, 1927.
© László Moholy-Nagy