Assignment 1 - Amendments & evaluation

I was very happy with the report from my tutor and very much appreciate the suggestions for moving forward. An interesting observation made was that I seem to be drawn to close up images, I'd not really given this much thought before but yes, I am and this feedback has also helped me to understand some of the new challenges of 'people and place', that being of the challenge with the exercises requiring me to draw back in the frame, it's become clearer that this seems to be a little out of my comfort zone, I do prefer close ups, I am less comfortable and confident pulling back as I am unsure of what to include in the background, keeping it close keeps the image tidy for me, it's interesting that this has been identified but positive at the same time as I can focus on a personal challenge. My current exercise of street photography is not only a challenge of being comfortable taking pictures of people but also of pulling back out of the frame. I really like street photography and don't feel my attempts are any good, maybe because they are just not close up?

My tutor also highlights my preference of monochrome, I do love monochrome, I love the revelation of the lines a textures it exposes and also the timeless quality it brings. I feel monochrome adds an element of style and can turn an ordinary image into something with mystery and on occasion an element of class. Maybe it takes me back to my childhood, of photo's taken by my parents, images of such value. I remember my fathers first Instamatic Polaroid camera, we thought we were so advanced as we were the only people we knew with such a machine! We would gather round the floppy black square, waiting excitedly for the great reveal! although these images were in colour, colour tells it how it is, shows all the details in the frame, wanted and unwanted, monochrome adds a veil of mystery and brings in a quality I admire in terms of geometry, texture, shape etc, I guess it's a little like the revealing of the Instamatic Polaroid, the excitement of what the click of the shutter will bring....exiting, that's what monochrome is to me...exiting.

I also need to add more dialogue when research other photographers, rather than just a couple of lines and link, I need to think about why I am influenced.

I will also add 'learning observations' at the end of each exercise, and try to get used to writing summaries and evaluate my learning. Also adding write ups on relevant articles that interest me, and why articles etc spark my interest.

I'm also registering with Lincoln University library, where there are a great many resources.