Assignment One: Self assessment & Learning Outcomes

Professional context / Knowledge.

LO1 demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of the professional context(s) relevant to your practice and have an understanding of the professional dimensions that underpin a successful photographic practice.

• So far my portfolio reviews have been written. I think you need to choose carefully who to show your work to and what you show.  
• I do intend to obtain more reviews. 
• My research has been quite specific, particularly into photographers who work with archives and how they disseminate their work.
• I keep adding to my book collection to look at how other photographers present their projects in book form. 
• See research HERE / HERE / HERE.
• I am continuing with personal projects, I think as an evolving artist (no matter how old !) it is essential to keep creating new work. 
• My CV & statement/s are not static and will be amended as required.  
• I have made a couple of PDF’s to compare for any potential portfolio review using Affinity Publisher. These have been adjusted as required and have already been changed a couple of times. I finally chose to only include Hireth and Frozen (in time) in my final major project portfolio.

Creativity.  

LO2 coherently present a body of work, making creative presentation decisions that complement your subject and/or your artistic strategies.

This LO will change and is obviously dependant on how the work is finally presented, whether that be in book form, an exhibition or both. The list below is what I have done so far. 

• I have updated my website and added new work. The website will change over time as new work / images are added I feel this is important. 
• I am trying different presentation ideas i.e my silk print. This would look great in a gallery setting or even on my website, possibly with more prints hanging in a specific setting. I have also been experimenting with more frozen images and a new Hireth montage.
• I have amended one of my Hireth montages following a suggestion made in my recent Lens Culture review.
• Following feedback from another Lens Culture review and discussion with my tutor I intend to re-write my Frozen (in time) statement.
• For most of the open calls I have entered the text has been excluded. I prefer titles especially if viewed on screen but also if printed. I have been printing the Hireth series on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Ultra Smooth 305 gsm postcards. If I include the text it is so tiny it cannot be read, so I will either have to enlarge the text or exclude it. I have saved the Hireth series with text and without. 

LO3 operate in complex commercial contexts requiring the application of specific interpersonal, professional and business skills within an ethical framework.

Should I perhaps include within this LO fulfilling the request to supply large scale files to 1854 media for print and the subsequent email correspondence regarding my entry ? Not sure but I’ve noted it down here. I could also include preparing files and info for any open calls as they all differ in their entry requirements.

Presentations and Outcomes.

LO4 independently disseminate your body of work by establishing relationships and networks with audiences, clients and markets.

• I have been entering various Open calls.
• I spoke to fellow students about my work at a Focus Live forum.
• I use Instagram to share new work. 
• Along with fellow L3  students I entered work as a collaborative to the Belfast Photo Festival. 

Varied images from my Hireth series have been successful in open calls :  

• His eyes were the colour of the sea was chosen to feature in the updated Photograd gallery & on their Instagram page. 
• I miss her stories and I wish time could stand still were chosen as single image winners in the  1854 Open Wall Arles 2021 competition. They will be exhibited at Galerie Huit Arles from the 04/07/21 until 26/09/21.  
• I submitted 4 images from Hireth to the AOP 2021 Student Awards …Wish you were here / When the world was black and white / It will always remind me of her / Empty spaces remind me of you… I was not a winner but am honoured to have been chosen as one of the 20 finalists in the Places Category.  

LO5 confidently engage a public audience with your practice and analyse, review and evaluate information relevant to your practice, identifying opportunities for professional development.

The Focus Live student forum on the 21st February was the first time I have spoken to a group of people about my work and I felt very nervous. I spoke far too quickly just wishing to get it over with. LO5 will (I hope) be something that will evolve, dependant on how I decide to present my major project. My confidence is slowly growing but I much prefer listening to talking !

I believe by entering specific open calls I can include this in identifying opportunities that are potentially beneficial for my future practice. 

Assignment 1 tutorial / feedback

These are my brief notes, I will annotate them when I receive the completed feedback from my tutor.

Discussed my recent Lens Culture reviews and how to respond to conflicting suggestions. Talked about how the course and my recent 1854 Open Call success has increased my confidence and is a great addition to my CV. I feel much more confident making my own decisions but I am also happy to alter / amend work  if I feel any suggestions made will improve it. 

We considered the text info I’ve written as my Frozen (in time) statement. I need to be careful what I write, dependant on what I (as the artist) am trying to convey. Try to step away from it personally and think about what I want it to say to a viewer. To do.

If I decide to exhibit the work I don’t want large scale printed info about the projects on a wall but perhaps a pamphlet or leaflet that can be picked up and taken home. 

Discussed expanding my major project but I’d already decided prior to speaking to my tutor to concentrate on Hireth & Frozen (in time). However, it’s good that my practice is expanding and new work is being added to my website.  

Looked at the Learning Outcomes for the course, there’s no need to address all for each assignment, look at those relevant to what I’ve done. To do, I will update my blog with a LO post as soon when I’ve done this.

Use social media  to share ideas & research as well as my BoW. I’ve used Instagram for a few years & more recently Twitter that I don’t use as frequently. 

It’s a good idea to make a dummy book, experiment with layouts, size etc. 

Looked at my blog and the video of the fabric print I’ve had made. 

It’s a good idea to look at the 3rd assignment brief now (work experience ) & have a think about what I might want to do. Thoughts: photo archivists / conseravtors / artists working with vernacular family photographs.

Research suggestion: Turkish artist Cemre Yesil Goneli who presented her research in book form. Website here.

2nd Assignment due Sept. 

Asking for feedback #2

Lens Culture Feedback on Frozen (in time).

I’ve received some interesting (& encouraging) feedback for the 10 Frozen (in time) images I submitted to Lens Culture this year. This is the same set I submitted to a Lens Culture open call a year ago, prior to my review last year I was presenting the frozen images alongside the originals in diptych or triptych format . The feedback I received in 2020 made the suggestion that I present the frozen images on their own, which I then started to do and submitted them as such for my BoW. 

2021:

“Allow me to begin by writing that I think your series is quite compelling overall. Your images speak to photography’s capacity to capture and preserve memories yet also instill a rather enticing and ultimately poignant sense of our collective inability to arrest time and preserve loved ones and associates”. 

The new feedback has given me lots of food for thought and the reviewer kindly says “I hope you can tell that I found your work highly engaging overall, and I certainly feel that the formal qualities of your photographs, and also your process in general, is a fitting exploration of your concept”.

Feedback Pdf. 2021: 

Lens Culture review Frozen (in time)Download

Feedback Pdf. 2020:  

lensculture-contemporary-photography-2Download

My main question for the reviewer explained that the work is an exploration of the materiality of snapshots, time and memory. I asked what do the images connote on first viewing and do they conceptualise the themes I am exploring ? “Formally, your images strike a fine balance between documenting and describing what appears to be these original photographs with a layer and patina of moisture and ice. This makes quite plain your conceptual investigation of the deteriorating and preservative qualities of photographs”.

The reviewer suggests I alter the sequence the images are viewed in (see below). 

“Naturally, there are a number of photographs in which a single person appears in the middle of the frame and in a rather larger scale. I suggest you intersperse these a bit more fully throughout the series to create a greater degree of rhythm and pacing across multiple types of photographs. For example, the similarities in scale and composition in images four, five and six are overpowering, and therefore the flow of the series slows a bit too much at this point”.  I deliberately placed them in chronological order so I’m reluctant to change it too much but I can certainly swap 7 with 6. I’ve also been freezing more images so I can try to mix the scale sequencing up more. However, the reviewer in summing up reiterates this is a primary consideration for me to make so it’s something I really need to contemplate.   

Below I’ve compared the suggestion made last year to the one the reviewer suggests this year regading my project statement as they offer differing thoughts. 

2021: The review I’ve just received comments “I suggest you speak more directly and personally about your process” i.e discuss why I use personal not found photos, are they originals or copies, what I do, why etc. Without this information the reviewer feels “not addressing these elements is kind of a proverbial element in the room, so to speak. Not addressing these issues also entails that the project statement seems a bit unresolved”.  The feedback ends by reiterating that I need to consider my statement and sequencing. 

2020: Interestingly, the above is in complete contrast to what the reviewer suggested last year who told me “Advice passed along to me long ago was to consider part of your art like a magician. Don’t give away all of the secrets, as it can burst the bubble of being enraptured by the surreal. Having the information here as a reviewer is helpful, but I also encourage you to leave out the detail of placing the photographs in a freezer as you exhibit this work. Let your audience stare in curious wonder at the *how*, and rather let them swim around in the *why*”. 

Thoughts on project statement: 

If I’m honest I prefer the suggestion made last year re keeping my statement ambiguous but it’s worth thinking in greater depth about what I include, or don’t. Both my recent Lens Culture reviews reference Camera Lucida, my work and extended essay have been greatly influenced by Barthes’s book. The Winter Garden Photograph is a non indexical sign, this is important because a photograph is supposed to be a trace. We frequently believe images to be trustworthy narrators of the past but how much how much do they actually tell us ? The Frozen (in time) series subverts the family album, whilst we see the visual traces considered to be authentic affirmations of family ties the images are ambiguous, these could be anyone’s photographs.

Asking for feedback # 1

Lens Culture Feedback on Hireth.

I’ve had some lovely, constructive feedback for the 10 Hireth images I submitted to Lens Culture as a series and paid for a review. I excluded the text from the montages and just provided their titles instead.

“Hi Judith,
I am personally a fan of projects that are of such a personal nature. And I feel you have done something that is enviable in ways; I feel you have found a way to reanimate your parents that allows them to have a certain life and presence for you”

Feedback Pdf. in full below:

Lens Culture Portfolio Feedback : HirethDownload

In answer to my main concern re the coherence of the set the reviewer wrote: “I personally feel that the images are very coherent when it comes to aesthetics. While I recognise subtle differences of one vintage image having corners or how contemporary images are made from different vantage points-and how you position the vintage images within the contemporary ones-I fundamentally feel that the project has a lot of continuity”

What is interesting is how the reviewer continues “And perhaps a little too much…One thing you might consider is placing the vintage image fully inside the photographic frame of the contemporary image”. I might try this with a couple of the montages I feel it could work well with. If I decide to alter any it won’t be any of the ten I submitted but possibly worth a try with some of the others or possibly new ones.

The reviewer suggested I look at two particular images commenting “you don’t attempt to align the horizon or match up rock features between the two time periods. You might want to push that more in the project too”.  I have amended Before she was grandma, funnily enough the alignment had been bugging me but until it was pointed out I hadn’t tried moving the vintage snapshot to the right hand side. Revised version below & original below that.

• 

• 

 I’ve also tried to alter When the world was black and white (original below) but without much success. I moved the old image into the centre, tried different alignments but am finding it difficult to really improve or align the horizon as the contemporary image is just of the sky.

• 

Also the reviewer suggests I remove the final sentence of my project statement I sent as they feel it’s not relevant to this particular one. When I’ve entered different open calls I’ve been tweaking my statement and notice previous ones did not include this sentence so I’m unsure why I included it.

The review ends “I…find this work quite touching and thought provoking. And I feel this could make a wonderful book project-perhaps in the style of a vintage photo-album”

Thoughts on progress Assignment 1 / Part 1.

I’m not going to write about the Learning Outcomes until Part 2 of the assignment has been completed but I thought it would be good to make made a note here of how I’m progressing and what I’ve been up to. 

I used Affinity Publisher to create my PDF’s for the assignment, this was a huge learning curve for me. I’m still tearing my hair out each time I use it but it will useful for making mock book  layouts etc. I’m finding peer networking invaluable, whether via my blog or student Zoom meetings. I’ve made yet another PDF (see below) taking on board suggestions by fellow students. Unfortunately, I was unable to add the video of my fabric print as an interactive element but have added a hyperlink to it on Vimeo. I’ve moved my name on the front cover more to the right hand side and enlarged the text in addition to moving the title above the cover image. I think this latest PDF is certainly an improvement on the previous ones, I will wait to chat with my tutor about it. 

Judith Bach. Paper MemoriesDownload

Public relations network / list of upcoming Open Calls. Preparing material for submission. 

I’ve entered a few Open Calls, each has slightly different criteria to follow prior to submitting the images. I keep and update a list of upcoming calls with a hyperlink to each site but I think it’s also important to be selective as to which ones to enter. I was thrilled that one of my Hireth images was included in Photograd’s updated online gallery & Instagram page. I joined fellow L3 students in a collaborative entry to the Belfast Photo Festival.      

I’ve treated myself to a new  A3+printer and have managed to set it up without too much stress. I’ve done some test prints & am very impressed with the results so far. 

My website has been update and new projects added. 

Resource network. I’m keeping  a list of useful resources. Contrado for my fabric prints,  Photography supplies, paper & ink etc. I use various sources. 

Professional feedback / Portfolio reviews will be added to the LO post when Part 2 of the assignment has been completed. 

Assignment One: Asking for feedback / Part 1.

1. PART ONE: Prepare a PDF document with the intention of showing it to an industry professional and asking them politely for a short piece of feedback. This should contain an edit of the work you produced for Body of Work. You may wish to include an overarching artist’s statement as well as the introduction you wrote in Body of Work. In the first instance, you’ll use this to introduce your work and your ideas to your tutor who will give you suggestions on the submission itself and how to enhance the PDF before sending it out. Please tell your tutor who the PDF is intended for and include some background information on how you’ll contact them. Make sure that you’ve researched the form your submission should take; some organisations still ask for a CD/DVD, for example, which you should prepare in advance. 
2. PART TWO: Having taken your tutor’s comments on board, use your PDF document (or, if applicable, a hard copy portfolio) to get some feedback from a professional photographer or another professional from within the industry. This could be done via a portfolio review or by a contact you already have.

I ended up making 4 PDF’s in addition to trying out a couple of different front covers !  I’ve extended the work I’ve been doing towards my major project, despite the different interventions  all address similar themes. Hence, I’ve given it an overall title Paper Memories (which ties in with my C/S extended essay).    

I made two containing the BoW work submitted for assessment, Hireth & Frozen (in time),  plus two more that additionally incorporate my more recent projects. I used Affinity Publisher for the first time. When I finally completed them I decided they  probably needed page numbers but for the life of me I can’t work out how to add them ! As I really need to submit my assignment this is something I can return to and amend if needed.  

I feel the format that works best is the PDF that does not include all the images, just a selection with a link to my website to view the remainder.  See below.

SYP A1 selection of images Paper MemoriesDownload

The full version containing all images is below.

SYP A1 : all images in projects Paper MemoriesDownload

The two PDFs containing just Hireth & Frozen (in time) are below, the layout of my CV has been altered in the later versions above. 

SYP A1 Hireth and Frozen selection of imagesDownload

SYP A1 Hireth and Frozen : all imagesDownload

Examples of different front cover pages. 

Shutter Hub’s annual subscription is £87 a year but this includes an online portfolio review plus other benefits so I think it’s a good idea to join and take advantage of the review.  

I am going to enter the Lens Culture Critics Choice competition again this year and pay extra for a review but obviously that will be in addition to any I obtain for the second part of this assignment.  

The other professional  I have considered contacting is Amy Parrish. She offers a written review for a portfolio of up to 20 images for $125. Initial contact is by email and prior to the review she sends a survey to answer regarding your concerns and goals. However, my work has extended to incorporate different, smaller projects within my proposed final submission I would need to edit it down quite a lot to include samples from each. Also I’m not sure how the images are shared with her, if by PDF that would be fine because I could produce another one specifically for the review. I will chat to my tutor about this. 

Questions / thoughts I am keen to ask potential reviewers:

1. How best to present the work and discuss my ideas such as print size, framing if I do exhibit. 
2. Book presentation thoughts. 
3. What are their thoughts on the text on the Hireth images,  do these work well ? It’s ok on my website but in book form I’m not so sure. 
4. If exhibited I feel Hireth will work best printed  small scale and again it becomes difficult to read the text.   
5. Thoughts on fabric prints for Frozen (in time) for both exhibit purposes and perhaps videoed outside and presented on my website. 
6. Which images work well, are there any that should be excluded perhaps, are there too many ? I am keen to incorporate the projects seen on my website in my major project as they address the same theme. 
7. If there is time ask their thoughts on my website. 

Bio, C/V and Artist statement. Coursework

I’m really struggling with this as whatever I write for my statement crosses over and is already summarised in the bio I’ve written. 

BIODownload

Artist statement, points to consider:

• Look for threads that connect your projects. Over the past few years my OCA projects and ad hoc images explore the archive using both personal and ‘found’ photographs.  
• What drives me as a photographer.
• The term artist’s statement can be a general one or a statement such as the one I wrote about my BoW. More confusion, the one I wrote for my BoW is the one I’ve based my bio on. 

Research: looking at artist’s websites / Bio’s /statements / & C/V’s 

Amy Parrish is an internationally renowned artist hence her website ‘about‘ section is very extensive. This lists her bio, exhibitions, writing, teaching, portfolio reviews /competition juror, awards, publications, reportage, etc. But what interests me is the Web features and Social Media Shares section; I was surprised to see my own name there referring to research I did last year &  was posted on my OCA blog post about her series Check the Mail for Her Letter. What a great idea to include any mentions / features I’ve had about my own work. Admittedly there are very few but it’s better than nothing and is photography related 🙂 .

Ellen Korth’s ‘about‘ section lists books (including self-published ones), group and solo exhibitions, work in public collections, prizes and assignments. There is little personal information except her place of birth, where she studied and now works. There is individual project information on each section of her website but not not an overall general statement.

I bought Rick Schatzberg’s book The Boys (see post here). His website ‘about‘ section is minimal however, he has added the option to download his CV as a PDF. This is more extensive listing his education, awards, publications, exhibitions, monographs, press.   

Fellow OCA student’s websites including mine can be accessed via the OCA Fotograd Collective. 

The links below are to a couple of recently graduated students websites whose work has been featured on the Photograd site, their bio’s are relatively brief. 

• Valentino Albino 
• Kelly Anne O’Brien 
• Chloe Evelyn 

Whilst Olly Hayward has an ‘about‘ section containing a two sentence bio + education, publications etc. in addition to an ‘artist’s statements‘ section detailing project info. 

What I’ve discovered is there’s no single formula to adhere to so the moment I’ve updated my bio to the info section on my website, keeping it simple but informative. I’ve chosen not to include a separate artist’s statement, this is something that can always be amended if required. Individual project information is included in each section. 

My CV. 

Most disconcerting is how sparse my CV first appeared as I wondered what to include, an approx A4 page is suggested. The course notes remind you to not understate your achievements to date, as your experience grows the CV can be updated. 

With this in mind I jotted down everything I could consider:

1. I’ve been studying for this degree since 2007 but because my past employment had nothing to do with photography I don’t think there’s any need for it to be included. 
2. However, I did complete a short Open University digital photography course when I was studying towards an OU degree. Following this I changed direction and signed up with the OCA to commence a photography degree so I will include this in my education section. 
3. I will add my extended essay under the publications section.
4. I’m wondering if the four Blurb books I’ve created for previous L2 OCA assignments should be included here too ? 
5. I’ve had a couple of images printed in magazines. 
6. One of my photo montages was recently chosen for Photograd’s online gallery so this will in the publications section. 
7. Taking my cue from Amy Parrish I shall have a social media share section too. I can’t decide if I should include hyperlinks to the relevant posts but unfortunately can’t include one to an OCA FB share as I’m no longer on Facebook. 

Surprisingly, I managed to fill two A4 pages so then needed to cut it down. I’ve not included my self -published Blurb books so my initial CV draft now fits on an A4 page. For the time being I am not including it on my website, though I could add a note if I want that it’s available on request as that’s something I’ve seen other sites. 

My initial CV (pdf). 

CVDownload

In addition amending the ‘about’ section I’ve altered the layout of my website and will add my other projects to it soon.