Here are my critical reflection on my assignment submission for Two Sides of the Same Story:
I chose to represent two different perspectives of my local neighbourhood of Feltham in Middlesex (just outside Heathrow airport). Feltham is an area that has enormous potential due to its strategic location, yet it is run down, under invested and generally quite rough. I wanted to see whether I could present this perspective (which was easy) and another more uplifting, positive view (not so easy). I found a few visual representations that with the exclusion of surrounding areas in the frame, could isolate the good, but I also had to use metaphorical representations. The narrative I constructed was not a linear narrative (as in one event happened after another), but more of a study of place that should enable the viewer to form an opinion. Was this objective achieved? I think that with the help of captions of the photos that opinion could be directed, and so yes, the objective was achieved.
Funnily enough, I realised later when I was putting the work together that I had recreated the first exercise of TAOP on contrasts! Hopefully, my photography has improved since then!
Did I take any risks? To be perfectly frank, walking through Feltham with £4k worth of camera and lens is a massive risk. On top of that I climbed walls, walked around an unsafe building (inside the barrier), stood in the road, photographed people, and stood around a weapons bin for ages. These are all risks that as a street photographer I'm comfortable with, my equipment is insured, so I didn't really step outside my own comfort zone, although others may not have been comfortable with that.
During the shooting itself, particularly on the second day where I had an ideas list to work through, I felt quite down about the photography. I didn't enjoy working through a checklist that in the end I wasn't that passionate about. I nearly gave up on this idea, but when I looked through the images, realised they were ok, and that I could crop them consistently to make a stronger collective, I decided to go with it.
Demonstration of technical and visual skills
I think this was probably quite average. These were all landscape shots and my objective was to take clear sharp images that were correctly exposed, with suitable background blurring where advantageous (in B - Rescued and G - New Life).
Quality of outcome
I think the images have been presented well with coherent narrative. I stuck to the same format for each image so that they look and feel as part of the same series. I would have preferred consistent lighting throughout, but the images were taken over two different days, so I couldn't control that. I think I have conceptualised and communicated my ideas of the two different states of the area, its inhabitants and its economy. I think the concept of two different economies comes through quite clearly in C - Bust / Booming, D - Decaying / Developing, E - Cramped / E - Comfy, F - Deposits / Withdrawals.
Demonstration of creativity
Have I shown imagination? I honestly don't know. The depiction of the graveyard as the end of the life cycle in G - Pushing up the daisies is imaginative, from the point of view that this is shown as a negative concept. I thought through various captions for this including not needing light, buried, asleep, end of life, and although the image in itself is lovely i.e. green, bright light, happy feel, it is in the negative set because it is supposed to convey the extinction of life (versus the conkers in G - New Life), as an extension of the idea conveyed by the weapons bin in F - Deposits. In the end, I didn't want to offend anyone or be too morbid, so I added some humour with the popular daisy phrase. There is also a distinct metaphorical representation of the whole concept of a neglected suburb vs one undergoing regeneration in B - Abandoned / Rescued.
Does this work show personal voice? I don't think it does; I'm not really at that point yet. The street photography exercise I did in Brighton is much closer to where I think I'm heading with personal voice. Although, this said, I can see 4-5 strands emerging, and an urban social commentary is starting to become one of them. The images A - Confined / Open is quite similar to the work I did previously for Assignment One in DPP (at HMP The Verne, Portland).
Context
Aside the two authors mentioned in my Preparation and Execution post, I struggled with research and context, although this was not without trying (including asking the OCA Photography 1 Facebook group, Crossing Lines and my tutor).
All in all, I think my work has improved since TAOP, without doubt; I am now thinking more conceptually and metaphorically than I used to. My biggest problem with this exercise was that I didn't feel that I had a good story.
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