Assignment 2: A Journey.
Preparation for Assignment.
As I considered a Journey I drew a mind map to help my ideas flow.
The following thoughts came to me:
· A Journey…Why travel? Which destination and Why? Is the destination as important as the journey? Reasons to travel – work, a daily trip,
· Leisure – for a regular pursuit, e.g. sport, going to the pub, meeting friends.
· Holiday- why travel? To see new things, compare one’s own daily life to other places, at home or abroad, for self -renewal including putting one’s own life in perspective. To learn and be able to report back to and inform those at home.
· Emotional journey – this could be the changing landscape of one’s own life, a trip for nostalgia perhaps revisiting one’s youth.
This could all be very personal or following in the footsteps of another, or seeking to discover first hand what one has already heard a little about.
Every journey has a beginning, a duration and an end. Which part proves most important or memorable?
The Photography
For this Assignment I have chosen to document my journey to Wales. The object of this trip was to see Puffins for the first time. I wanted simply to show what I saw on route to my destination. As well as a physical trip I wanted to show changes in urbanisation, industrialisation through to the simple natural world of the Puffin.
My interpretation
As this was a personal journey of exploration, I had only my route plan to follow but no firm idea of how I would document the journey. I let my journey unfold before me and I show my forward progress into Wales via the Severn Bridge. As I pass through the bridge superstructure, my wider view is diminished to a narrow perspective. This is the gateway to my narrative.
Welcome to Wales leads you directly to the toll booths which I interpreted as an irony. Images 1,2,3
Stops along the way included the ubiquitous Services, coffee stops are now part of our national character. Image 4
Port Talbot steel works became a dominant feature along the route and demanded closer attention. From a dead end I saw the hope of nature reclaiming the battered landscape as flower grew on the waste ground beyond a neglected fence. Image 5,6.
Passing through a depressed town a man was busking.
The dull surroundings belied the beautiful guitar music filling the streets. Image 7.
In contrast to Port Talbot a visit to the National Trust preserved site of Aberdulais Tin Works, past industry is celebrated and the remains take on a beauty of their own. Image 8. The Mill stream is restored to its former state. Image 9.
Passing onwards through rural Wales, the roads are narrow and agriculture is the predominant industry. Now the car driver must refine his driving to accommodate other users in some impossibly narrow lanes. This requires a change of mind set and a change to the pace of life in the countryside. Here giving way to others is the norm. Images10,11.
The impressive skyline of Milford Haven oil refinery, with the contrast of sailing and cockling on the seashore was next to draw my interest. The edgelands of Wales, perhaps pushed further away from England than from our immediate cities
(Farley, P. and Roberts, M.S. (2011) Edgelands, Journeys into England’s True Wilderness. London: Vintage Books.) Image 12
Finally, I arrived at the red sand stoned cliffs of Pembrokeshire and Skomer Island which has a wealth of birds and wildlife and the beautiful, small and quaint Puffins whose sociable habits within their colony and their total lack of fear of humans was a fitting end to my hopeful journey. Images 13,14,15.
In conclusion I have looked at the questions which I first posed to myself _ why travel? My answer to this is to enrich my understanding and broaden my horizons. This journey was new for me, but revisiting former haunts could also have been significant in self discovery.
How my work relates to Section 2 Topics.
From having looked at various authors e.g. The Great North Road (Paul Graham1983), In Yangtze-The Long River (Nadav Kander 2010), Jack Kerouac's film of the book "On the Road" I have understood that the road could be seen as a symbol around which lives evolve, events take place, partial stories are told and new understandings come to light.
In this Assignment I wanted to try to step away from pretty pictures of natural landscapes, and to merge in some of the ideas demonstrated in New Topographics where the photography was seen as more documentary than landscape Art.
Lee Friedlander’s work, America by Car has influenced my way of describing the early part of my journey. I find his photographs honestly show the sort of thing we all see but don’t consider noteworthy.
Chris Coekin’s work “The Hitcher” has influenced the sort of photos I chose. His work seem to be more about recording the Moment than about long preparations to take a single shot.
Jon Nicholson’s work A1:Portrait of a road also gave me some ideas for my unfolding journey.
Reading “ALMOST THE SAME THING”:SOME THOUGHTS ON THE COLLECTOR-PHOTOGRAPHER.First published in the Tate Modern exhibition catalogue Cruel and Tender: the Real in the Twentieth Century Photograph, 2003 by David Campany, my somewhat fragmented images begin to hang together because it is a series and are not expected to stand alone.“ As David Campany says "The trick is to make the one try and say something about the other."
Reflection on Strengths, weaknesses alternative choices to develop or change this Assignment
One weakness was choosing to shoot through the windscreen of the car which meant I had no choice (or very little) as to my viewpoint. I took a large number of images which have very little interest to me, never mind any viewer. Technically it was very difficult to shoot effectively out of the side windows whilst moving at speed.
Another weakness is my choice of journey. Because of the length in miles and time there was more variety to show in a limited number of images. Perhaps it would be better to have a more limited range to develop ideas more fully. I think that this set of images require a written explanation and do not stand alone. Without that, the narrative is staccato, even disjointed.
With hindsight, I believe such an exercise would bear repeating so that a clear idea of what to expect and what to choose to photograph might produce a series of images which would be more interesting to the viewer
Communication
My intention was to share pictorially some of the varied sights I saw during this journey. I have tried to do this by showing shots both from inside and outside of the car, giving a sense of moving from place to place. I have tried to show a progression of landscape from the large arterial motorways to the capillary lanes which led to my destination. In Nadav Kandar’s work, Yangtze, The Long River, the sense of progression into the wider country areas is very strong. It is for the viewer to decide whether that progression is present in this set of photographs.
Preparation for Assignment.
As I considered a Journey I drew a mind map to help my ideas flow.
The following thoughts came to me:
· A Journey…Why travel? Which destination and Why? Is the destination as important as the journey? Reasons to travel – work, a daily trip,
· Leisure – for a regular pursuit, e.g. sport, going to the pub, meeting friends.
· Holiday- why travel? To see new things, compare one’s own daily life to other places, at home or abroad, for self -renewal including putting one’s own life in perspective. To learn and be able to report back to and inform those at home.
· Emotional journey – this could be the changing landscape of one’s own life, a trip for nostalgia perhaps revisiting one’s youth.
This could all be very personal or following in the footsteps of another, or seeking to discover first hand what one has already heard a little about.
Every journey has a beginning, a duration and an end. Which part proves most important or memorable?
The Photography
For this Assignment I have chosen to document my journey to Wales. The object of this trip was to see Puffins for the first time. I wanted simply to show what I saw on route to my destination. As well as a physical trip I wanted to show changes in urbanisation, industrialisation through to the simple natural world of the Puffin.
My interpretation
As this was a personal journey of exploration, I had only my route plan to follow but no firm idea of how I would document the journey. I let my journey unfold before me and I show my forward progress into Wales via the Severn Bridge. As I pass through the bridge superstructure, my wider view is diminished to a narrow perspective. This is the gateway to my narrative.
Welcome to Wales leads you directly to the toll booths which I interpreted as an irony. Images 1,2,3
Stops along the way included the ubiquitous Services, coffee stops are now part of our national character. Image 4
Port Talbot steel works became a dominant feature along the route and demanded closer attention. From a dead end I saw the hope of nature reclaiming the battered landscape as flower grew on the waste ground beyond a neglected fence. Image 5,6.
Passing through a depressed town a man was busking.
The dull surroundings belied the beautiful guitar music filling the streets. Image 7.
In contrast to Port Talbot a visit to the National Trust preserved site of Aberdulais Tin Works, past industry is celebrated and the remains take on a beauty of their own. Image 8. The Mill stream is restored to its former state. Image 9.
Passing onwards through rural Wales, the roads are narrow and agriculture is the predominant industry. Now the car driver must refine his driving to accommodate other users in some impossibly narrow lanes. This requires a change of mind set and a change to the pace of life in the countryside. Here giving way to others is the norm. Images10,11.
The impressive skyline of Milford Haven oil refinery, with the contrast of sailing and cockling on the seashore was next to draw my interest. The edgelands of Wales, perhaps pushed further away from England than from our immediate cities
(Farley, P. and Roberts, M.S. (2011) Edgelands, Journeys into England’s True Wilderness. London: Vintage Books.) Image 12
Finally, I arrived at the red sand stoned cliffs of Pembrokeshire and Skomer Island which has a wealth of birds and wildlife and the beautiful, small and quaint Puffins whose sociable habits within their colony and their total lack of fear of humans was a fitting end to my hopeful journey. Images 13,14,15.
In conclusion I have looked at the questions which I first posed to myself _ why travel? My answer to this is to enrich my understanding and broaden my horizons. This journey was new for me, but revisiting former haunts could also have been significant in self discovery.
How my work relates to Section 2 Topics.
From having looked at various authors e.g. The Great North Road (Paul Graham1983), In Yangtze-The Long River (Nadav Kander 2010), Jack Kerouac's film of the book "On the Road" I have understood that the road could be seen as a symbol around which lives evolve, events take place, partial stories are told and new understandings come to light.
In this Assignment I wanted to try to step away from pretty pictures of natural landscapes, and to merge in some of the ideas demonstrated in New Topographics where the photography was seen as more documentary than landscape Art.
Lee Friedlander’s work, America by Car has influenced my way of describing the early part of my journey. I find his photographs honestly show the sort of thing we all see but don’t consider noteworthy.
Chris Coekin’s work “The Hitcher” has influenced the sort of photos I chose. His work seem to be more about recording the Moment than about long preparations to take a single shot.
Jon Nicholson’s work A1:Portrait of a road also gave me some ideas for my unfolding journey.
Reading “ALMOST THE SAME THING”:SOME THOUGHTS ON THE COLLECTOR-PHOTOGRAPHER.First published in the Tate Modern exhibition catalogue Cruel and Tender: the Real in the Twentieth Century Photograph, 2003 by David Campany, my somewhat fragmented images begin to hang together because it is a series and are not expected to stand alone.“ As David Campany says "The trick is to make the one try and say something about the other."
Reflection on Strengths, weaknesses alternative choices to develop or change this Assignment
One weakness was choosing to shoot through the windscreen of the car which meant I had no choice (or very little) as to my viewpoint. I took a large number of images which have very little interest to me, never mind any viewer. Technically it was very difficult to shoot effectively out of the side windows whilst moving at speed.
Another weakness is my choice of journey. Because of the length in miles and time there was more variety to show in a limited number of images. Perhaps it would be better to have a more limited range to develop ideas more fully. I think that this set of images require a written explanation and do not stand alone. Without that, the narrative is staccato, even disjointed.
With hindsight, I believe such an exercise would bear repeating so that a clear idea of what to expect and what to choose to photograph might produce a series of images which would be more interesting to the viewer
Communication
My intention was to share pictorially some of the varied sights I saw during this journey. I have tried to do this by showing shots both from inside and outside of the car, giving a sense of moving from place to place. I have tried to show a progression of landscape from the large arterial motorways to the capillary lanes which led to my destination. In Nadav Kandar’s work, Yangtze, The Long River, the sense of progression into the wider country areas is very strong. It is for the viewer to decide whether that progression is present in this set of photographs.