Assignment Four: Image and Text – Tutor feedback

Beginning with the positives, my tutor liked the idea of me starting the photographic process, only once all of the ‘lockdown stories’ had been heard. He felt this showed development in my learning and understanding, as it demonstrated giving each participant a sense of identity. I must admit, this was not something that I intended, but I’d like to think that it was done on a subconscious level, as it’s an element of my photography that I’ve been working hard on since assignment one. My tutor also commented on the last sentence I wrote in my essay, which read “This would also make certain that the intended narrative remained open for interpretation, making for a more meaningful project”. He admitted this raised his hackles slightly, was a ‘blanket phrase’, and questioned me on whether a photographic project needs to be open for interpretation to be meaningful. I see this as a positive, because at the same time, my tutor felt this statement seemed “harsh” on the work I’d produced, which to me, shows a level of appreciation on his part, on what I managed to achieve. This has also made me realise the importance of thinking carefully about statements I wish to make, before including them in any written piece. On reflection, I do agree with my tutors comments, and as a result, I’ll remove this sentence from my essay.

There were some areas of the assignment that will need to be re-worked, before assessment. The main issue my tutor had, regarded the sequencing of the images / audio, and the overall edit. As image one was considered, in his opinion, the most obscure in terms of its narrative – something I completely agree with – perhaps this should appear in the middle of the series, which would allow the viewer to gain some form of understanding of its intended meaning, from the photographs’ and ‘lockdown stories’ that are perhaps easier to interpret that appear prior. We had previously talked about starting a series with the ‘best’ image, which was my thought process in this instance. However, I now understand that this notion shouldn’t always be applied, and careful consideration must be made about which photographs appear where, to help strengthen the overall narrative. Also, I realise the importance of consistency, when using video to present your work, and more so, if spoken text has been used to support your images’. For example, the lockdown story – specifically related to image one – is far too long, and inconsistent with the others. This will need to be shortened when re-editing my video for assessment. What I found interesting – again, specifically related to image one – was that my tutor associated the cogs shown, to a personal incident surrounding a bike. This made me wonder if photographs have more impact than spoken word, even when they accompany each other.

I have been encouraged to look at photographers, who incorporate a range of multimedia in their work, for example, Susan Trangmar, or the multimedia section of WPP, as I feel this is an area I would like to explore further in the future. I’m currently looking at investing in the student package of adobe’s creative cloud, in order to improve, and have perhaps have more options when creating videos, specifically when using Premier Pro.