Interpretation of the brief
As this was an open brief, I wanted to pursue something personal and if I’m honest saw it as an opportunity to spend some time at the seaside. I had come across the concept of liminality and realised how well it represented how I had been feeling for some years.
Relationship to photography and visual culture
There’s a plethora of work that references the seaside. It’s a location that can relate to geology and climate change, childhood memory and temporal displacement that lends itself well to the concept of liminality. There’s vast associations of imagery relating to being shipwrecked, battling the sea, the gendered notions of the sea, again for men to conquer and tame, the primordial nature representative of life and death along with this sense of permanence and transience.
Strengths and weaknesses and ideas for further development
Using Google slides to present this I think works very well. I had to imagine how these images were to be viewed. I deliberately chose backgrounds that were stark, white cube like gallery spaces, and the inclusion of the benches were a deliberate choice to reflect the theme of liminality. I was in two minds about including the text board in the middle of the images which depict perimenopause symptoms. For a truly interactive exhibition, I wonder if a white board could be included for Women to write their experiences of symptoms?
One of the weaknesses of this, is my failure to write up my research more thoroughly. I’ve been working on this on/off for some time and done a lot of reading and random note taking and should have documented the process more thoroughly. It’s something I need to work on in terms of a better system of getting my thoughts down as they evolve.
Technical choices and creative influences
I had become intrigued by a certain visual aesthetic by viewing the work of Giulio De Sturco and researched how I might be able to achieve it. I discovered that by using an open aperture alongside a ND filter it was possible to achieve a certain softness whilst shooting in bright sunlight. To some extent, I’ve manage to achieve this in my images although I think I should have used a less dense filter and there’s a little issue with the lens I was using that had a vignetting of soft focus at larger apertures. As the sun got higher in the sky, I began to get lens flare and I deliberately added a warming filter and turned the filter toward the sun which reflected pink/red onto the images which I really like in the images.
Explanation of certain views and visual outcomes
I was keen to create a sense of disorientation by tilting the horizon and softening the focus. I found it quite difficult at times as my instinct, which probably reflects my personality, was to straighten my lines and perfect my focus. As mentioned above, I really enjoyed the effect of the intrusion of the sun on the images.
No Longer and Not Yet
Clicking on the image below will take you to a Google slides presentation. The on-slide instructions will take you around the exhibition. The magnifying glass will give you a closer look at the images.
Contact sheets
Demonstration of technical and visual skills
I’ve struggled a bit with the technical element of this piece and question how successful my attempts are to create images that represent ambiguity and disorientation, I would question whether they look a bit forced. I would say that the process of doing it however has been worthwhile and were I to do it again, I would know better how to approach things.
Quality of outcome
I struggled to get a final piece to fit together. I’m conscious that the images are very disparate but I’ve tried to fit them together in a way that ‘makes sense’ whilst allowing an element of the chaotic. They are certainly meaningful to me however whether I’ve managed to communicate my ideas remains to be seen.
Demonstration of creativity
I’ve enjoyed doing things a bit differently and pursuing something personal. I really like the Google slides format as a digital presentation and can see opportunities to use it again in the future.
Context
In general the location and subject matter work appropriately together.
Landscape, Place and Environment 