Feedback

Number of images
The main gist of the feedback was that I had far too many images.  Ostensibly my reason for this was that I searched and searched for the correct figure to submit in the course document but couldn't find it - despite it plainly being there for all to see.  I have to wonder why that might have been and do think I found it difficult to separate my emotions from the images, and say as much in the accompanying text.  Whatever the underlying reasons may be for not editing it according to the course stipulations, a happy outcome of not doing so before submitting the assignment for feedback is that I now have an opportunity to edit with more space and time between taking the images and discovering what the narrative is really about.  (What that does for any possible assessment mark is anybody's guess but I've always been here for the learning and experience rather than the marks).

Following a Skype chat with Andrew I found editing down to 12 images relatively simple and painless, whereas I don't think that would have been true a month or six weeks ago.  I submitted at the end of June, having taken the images over Easter.  I did a final edit last night at the beginning of August.  I remember Elina Brotherus suggesting a six month hiatus between taking and editing so I'm almost there time-wise.

Having left things this long I am beginning to see the point of a break more clearly than I did before. For one, although I had set out to photograph my family on holiday in Italy in my mother's house, and to do so from within the walls of her house - signifying something to do with seeing through a daughter's eyes - I can now see that the narrative is very much about my mother and my relationship with her, which I wasn't totally convinced by before.  I also think the narrative is far more apparent and resonates more powerfully now that the set of images has been condensed, although 12 does feel rather too ruthless, to be honest.

Colour vs. Black & White
Another suggestion was to consider colour.  I must say right at the beginning of the process I was torn between the two and felt very sad to be letting go of colour as an option.  Andrew pointed out that black and white might be too obvious a route and so colour was certainly worth considering. I have to say it felt a relief to think I might present the images in colour and have so decided that will work better.  I talked about my reasons for choosing black and white in the A5 introduction and say:

"I chose black and white because there is a type of crystalisation in the images, a freezing of time, which feels more frozen without colour.  The colour edit I nearly used seems far more vibrant.  I can almost hear the cicadas and the silent buzzing or humming of the empty spaces as I went about photographing them.  But I don't get that in black and white.  By removing the colour I feel like I have removed the life and left only shadows and impressions.  I know of course this is all in my own perception and interpretation but that is how it felt.  I might actually prefer the colour edit personally... "

Reading this back I can't help wondering why I thought at the time that removing the life would be better.

Text
Finally, Andrew suggested that I include text to give the images some context as they are more subtle than work I've submitted before.  I did have text below each image to begin with then removed it following some peer feedback but I know if I'd been committed to the text I'd written I'd never have let go of it, regardless of what anyone said.  So I must have a good think about how and what I write. I do agree that context will be very useful, although I am thinking I will write something to go at the beginning rather than captions.

The chat Andrew and I had last week was really good and helped a lot.   I have to say learning this way is quite tough and isolating at times and having real live support feels incredibly useful.  I certainly felt a bit lost with this assignment at times, I suppose because I attempt to venture into something pretty difficult for me.  I know the blurry images of A2 or the light in A4 is something solid for anyone looking to grab hold of - and that people will either like it or not depending on taste. But the thing to grab hold of in A5 may be less obvious but perhaps feels more dangerous, for me at any rate.  Andrew and I also chatted about different ways of presenting the work for assessment (the thought of which still gives me horrors, I must admit).  And I will get on with that over the next couple of weeks.

Feedback here:

Overall Comments

As everything from The Waltons to The Kardashians demonstrates, popular culture has represented ‘the family’ in diverse and contradictory ways, yet it is consistently thought of as being at the centre of normative social life. What you’ve submitted here offers a characteristically interesting, well researched and personal take on the idea of ‘the family’, and your ability to spot and use domestic details in a poignant and tender way is really striking. Stylistically, the influence of Jim Mortram is clearly evident, and provides the viewer- or certainly this viewer- with a bittersweet frame of reference and entry point into the set. Your blog entries around this project give an extremely clear indication of the extent to which you’ve thought about the work, and while it’s not without its flaws, this is an assignment that once again shows you to be a thoughtful, observant, determined and highly promising artist-photographer whose work is personal and emotive.

This assignment features a lot of work. I cover this in my specific feedback, but a more ruthless cut would have been welcome! It’s hard to escape the feeling that we’re not looking at as tightly a focused series as we might have been, and a couple of photographs repeat the point of others without necessarily adding to the meaning of the work overall. But, this aside, you’ve produced a(nother) ambitious and engaging piece of work; one that bodes extremely well for your continued studies (and beyond).

Feedback on assignment

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity

In a recent chat you noted how each of your previous assignments had put you at their centre, and that for your final piece of work on TAoP you were keen to take a different approach. You’ve definitely done this, once again demonstrating the breadth of ideas that you’re having and your stylistic versatility and willingness to always take chances and follow your creative impulses. At the same time, I think this work absolutely does still have you at its centre, albeit in a more tangential way. Your voice is apparent throughout the set, and this submission acts as a subtle complement to the assignments that were much more directly about you. Equally, in spite of the shift in style, what you’ve submitted here is still recongnisably ‘your’ work. The portraits here show a growing range of technical skills and an awareness of how subtle inflections in a subject can communicate an entirely different set of meanings- good.

While the series, at least in the most reductive sense, is ‘about people’, the photographs where people are (in a literal sense) absent not only convey a very poignant atmosphere, but also help the viewer to fill in those all-important ‘gaps’ with their own readings. This said, I think this is one of the areas that would possibly benefit from a little refining/ editing: you’re cramming a lot in here, and I sometimes got the feeling that a smaller set would have made for a slightly greater impact. Indeed, sticking to the letter of the assignment’s law, in submitting 33 photographs you’ve gone way over what’s outlined in the guidance notes:

create between 6 and 12 images- you can choose.

33 is almost treble the recommended upper limit, so this is definitely something you’ll need to look at before submitting for assessment. What you’re trying to do/ communicate with the work is pretty clear, but it’s important to go through the series again and think about how you could hone it down to its core essence without losing any of its qualities/ meanings. As things stand, I’d be extremely surprised if the assessors didn’t pick up on the excessive number of images you’ve included and use it as a reason to question your judgment. It’s one thing to produce extremely interesting and promising work- which you’ve consistently done throughout TAoP- but this does need to be allied to a strong sense of discernment. The work and ideas are certainly ‘in there’, but with a more focused edit these would be much more clearly evident.

A practical example of how you could potentially scale everything down a touch: as the series heads towards its conclusion and the emphasis shifts more towards your mother, I did get the feeling that you could have culled a few images and been a little more direct. Photos number 29, 30, 32, and 33 of your mother are all interesting in their own right, but in terms of what they contribute to the overall ‘narrative’ I did wonder whether there was a little uncertainty on your part as to which ones to include/ exclude. #32 is most striking for me: you’ve captured something incredibly vulnerable and poignant in your mother. #33 is very much in contrast with this, and there’s something quite severe and defensive (and also very striking). While these two are very to the point and have a clear sense of purpose, #29 and #30 feel less essential: #29 is fairly interesting in its own right but, for me, doesn’t add a great deal more to what you’ve already said. #30, while showing your mother in a slightly different light, feels a little more throwaway and less vital. Whether you remove them from the series ahead of submission ahead of assessment is entirely up to you of course, and something I’m happy to discuss further… but I do think that a more ruthless approach to your final edit is what’s needed here. Perhaps because this is the final assignment on the unit- and because it’s featured such obviously personal work- it’s been harder to be restrained than might usually be the case. This is totally understandable, but do keep in mind that the process of creating meaning is not just something that happens when you shoot an image, but when you sequence a series of photos. In some ways, this can be the toughest part, but it’s really important to develop your ability to refine a project down to its core elements: less… is… more…

Having said all this, you’ve still produced a series that is touching and personal and says quite a few things about your family and your relationship with them. You’ve communicated an impressive range of emotions, from everyday joy to something altogether more ambivalent, and as the sequence shifts away from a focus on your children to your mother, we seem to reach the very poignant essence and emotional heart of the work. It’s really likeable stuff, and with some further thought could be even more affecting.

Just a couple of quick bulletpoints/ questions to end on:

- Are you sure that colour doesn’t work? I’ve only seen the people-less photographs in colour, but I think it would at least be worth giving some further thought to using them. I get why you’ve gone with b/w, but it does seem like it frames the work in a particular way- I won’t say ‘obvious’, but it does seem like a fairly standard device to have employed. Maybe when you’ve brought the number of images in the sequence down to something closer to the recommended limit, it’ll be easier to ‘see’ the project working in colour- the meanings you’re reaching for could even cause it to resonate in ways that you hadn’t anticipated.

- I appreciate that you’ve not wanted to include much in the way of text, but the assignment guidelines note that ‘…you are about to illustrate a story for a magazine. You have a cover to illustrate, and several pages inside […]. Even though there may be no text, you should write captions (of any length) to explain and link each picture’. In terms of what you’re doing, I can see how this could be problematic- but a short overview of the work that sums up your rationale for the work would certainly be useful. Let’s catch up on Skype and discuss this further.

Learning Logs or Blogs/Critical essays

Context

As usual, your accompanying texts are highly engaging, dedicated, and clear indicators of how much you’re launching yourself into your photography and studies. Could you perhaps manage everything just a touch more efficiently though? There’s a lot on your blog- certainly not to any unmanageable degree, but would it be worth condensing a few of the sections?

Suggested reading/viewing

Context

This is another area where you’ve pushed on with real determination, and you’re always eager to look beyond the obvious in search of useful material- excellent stuff.

If you’re not familiar with them anyway, you might want to have a look at the following films, all of which offer reflections on the idea of ‘family’:

Buffalo 66 (Vincent Gallo)

Les Quatre Cents Coups (Francois Truffaut)

Paris, Texas (Wim Wenders)

(You might also find something useful in Julian Roman Polser’s The Wall)

Pointers for the next assignment steps

Your work on this unit has been consistently engaging, thought-provoking, personal, eye-catching, daring, and ambitious, and you’ve made the most of the opportunities that it has presented. This in itself is extremely commendable, as at this comparatively early stage it would have been entirely understandable if you’d taken a safer and more conservative approach to your work. I’m very glad that you didn’t: it’s been a pleasure to see how you’ve developed over the course of TAoP, and even from a very early stage it was clear that you were always striving to produce evocative and meaningful work. I don’t doubt that this will continue, so please do continue to challenge yourself and take the more difficult (but ultimately more rewarding) paths. The more you do, the more you’ll improve on both a technical and creative level and be better placed to successfully visualise your ideas. Keep pushing!!!!!

Feedback and my response

I was pleased to receive very positive feedback because as usual I was a bit nervous about the direction I had taken.  I have inserted my responses below in blue.

Tutor report

Student name	Sarah-Jane Field	Student number
Course/Module	AoP	Assignment number	4

Overall Comments

This is another engaged and engaging assignment that provides further evidence of how you’re committed to your studies, specifically, and to exploring photography (and beyond) more broadly. From A2 onwards there’s been a real sense of someone finding their feet in artistic terms and of being able to articulate this with their camera. It’s also reassuring to see how you’re not losing sight of the technical issues that underpin your efforts, and the accompanying text that critically reflected on the outcome of some of the assignment’s photographs gave a very clear indication of you determination to improve and move forward.

Re the specifics of the brief and what was required, this is always something that is going to be open to interpretation- such is the nature of art and the expectations of higher education- but if there’s any suggestion that you’ve veered off course, your accompanying notes provide an eloquent counter, and are expressed with a level of conviction that mirrors the approach to the photographs you are taking.

In spite of your concerns over how appropriately your response to the brief has been, I still maintain that you absolutely should submit for assessment. Each assignment has been underpinned by a sense of inquisitiveness and a willingness to take chances and experiment. While this is a virtue in its own right, it’s by no means the only one: experimenting is one thing, but experimenting with purpose and achieving consistently interesting and worthwhile results- which you are doing- is another. Certainly from A2 onwards, while there’s not been- as I’m sure you’d be the first to admit!- a ‘flawless’ submission, this is perhaps less important than the fact that you’re taking chances and avoiding any internal policing that might whisper that it would be better to play it safe. So in this sense your approach to the course is most encouraging, and if you carry on in this way it seems almost certain that your work will continue to improve.

Technically, I think I will always have holes and flaws, but the more I work at it creatively, as you say, the better that will become just through doing it and making the mistakes that I make.  

Assessment potential

I understand your aim is to go for the Photography/Creative Arts Degree and that you plan to submit your work for assessment at the end of this course. From the work you have shown in this assignment, providing you commit yourself to the course, I believe you have the potential to succeed at assessment.  In order to meet all the assessment criteria, there are certain areas you will need to focus on, which I will outline in my feedback.   

Feedback on assignment

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity

I really like the way your accompanying text discusses the stylistic shift for this assignment. After A2 and A3, which had obvious stylistic parallels, I did wonder how you’d approach A4, and whether you’d look to develop your interest in blurred, slightly elusive imagery. The emotional resonance of the images here is similar to A2 and A3, but stylistically there’s a world of difference, and whatever it is that you’ve been ‘reaching for’ is being expressed in a more muted and ‘controlled’ fashion than the previous two assignments. The blurred images express a certain chaos, whereas the images here aim for something much more precise. I can’t help but think that this shift in style represents a shift in something else- the blurred images by definition obscure you, but here everything is that bit more ‘direct’. But, nevertheless, a shift in style hasn’t meant a complete shift in mood and tone. These images are still very clearly ‘yours’.

I have certainly not abandoned blurry images for good but for now I think I am looking for clarity and definition.  

I notice on a follow-up thread on your blog you’ve been very critical of the amount of ‘horrible’ noise in these images. This might be overstating things a bit, but in any case, I don’t think that this has an overly detrimental effect on the series as a whole. Nevertheless, it’s obviously a good thing that you’re scrutinising your work to the nth degree, and should keep on doing this (but with a sense of proportion!). If you continue to apply yourself in the manner that you clearly have been on AoP, such technical niggles will eventually be ironed out as your methodologies become more established and your sense of what works/ doesn’t work is further honed. 

Last night I spent some time looking through the images I have taken over the last two years and I have to say the chaos in my head is evident in many of the choices (or rather the inability to make choices) about exposure and composition.  I saw how much I have learnt by comparing what I was doing 18 months ago to what I would do now without thinking about it.  So although I can be hard on myself I do appreciate how far I've come.  I do get frustrated with myself though.

So, for me, it’s the expressive/ ‘artistic’ side of things, and your creative response to what is quite a deceptively tricky brief, that most stands out here. Nevertheless, it was very interesting that you were thinking about leaving this image out…

I can appreciate your misgivings, but in terms of a) how it responds to a particular part of the brief and b) its initial impact as part of a wider series, it’s a striking, arresting image that uses light and colour to evoke a lovely mood- one that provides a nice counter to the almost abrasive impact of some of photographs in A3. It was an inventive way to respond to the brief, and one that, for me, transcends the technical problems you’ve identified in your notes.

Good, I'm glad to read that.  I was just annoyed by my clumsiness with placing the reflector in-shot which meant I had to crop so much.  I still make these mistakes and need to stop doing it really.  I really like the mood of the image as well as the light and colour and am glad I kept it in.

If there’s one image in this assignment that stands in total stylistic contrast to the work done in A2 and A3 it’s perhaps this one:

It’s not a ‘showy’ image, is pleasingly pared-down in a compositional sense, and uses light in a simple and unobtrusive manner, demonstrating that there’s a growing range to your palette.

I am very pleased this image has been picked up on - I am beginning to like less 'showy' images quite a lot.

Overall, in spite of any reservations about stretching the limits of the brief, light clearly leaps out here as being central to the construction of these photographs. It’s also a series of photographs that works really well as a set, and has managed to respond very creatively to a brief that can be quite restrictive in some ways. I’ll leave it for you to decide if you think some reshoots are necessary so as to lessen your feeling of ‘horrible’ noise, but one thing that might be worth revising is the captions that accompany each photograph- if you stress which part of the brief each is a specific response to, it’ll tighten everything up in relation to the assignment outline and serve to work alongside your accompanying text that explains your decision to position yourself as the series’ ‘object’.

I am very happy to put some captions in that highlight which part of the brief each image responds to.

Learning Logs or Blogs/Critical essays

Context

This side of your work on the course represents an impressive accompaniment to the photographs you’re producing, and is consistently thoughtful, engaging, and demonstrates someone who’s making a good deal of progress. Even just a cursory glance at your blog points to the fact that words are as important as images in all this, and text-based posts are certainly not marginal, reluctant, tokenistic entities, and are eloquent and engaging in their own right, giving a clear sense of how you’re progressing through the course.

Words are very important to me especially as someone who comes (albeit quite a long time ago now) from a background in text based theatre.  I am very keen to keep developing the writing side of what I'm doing here, both artistically and academically.  I think I probably could do with more concentrated effort in the latter, although only when I have more head space in the future, i.e as my youngest grows.

Suggested reading/viewing

Context

With the final assignment looming, this is something we should discuss on Skype (particularly as the piece of work you were looking to undertake might be logistically unfeasible now).

(But having seen you mention on your blog being bowled over by Frank’s The Americans, take a look at Mishka Henner’s gloriously nihilistic Less Americains).

Pointers for the next assignment

Again, this is something we can discuss on Skype. But as a general- and rather insipid!- pointer, just keep going. You’ve certainly ‘taken control’ of your studies here, and throughout Art of Photography have used the assignments as a way to explore your growing photographic, thematic and personal interests, and to develop your technical skills. Perhaps as a general principle, it might be an idea to move away from self-portraiture for this last one: it’s something that’s accounted for three assignments now, assignments which have demonstrated a range of growing technical skills and an evolving artistic voice.   

I am certainly planning to move away from self portraiture - it took a little leap of something internally but I have documented that 'struggle' in one of the exercises for the next section of TAOP.  I may use something I have already been doing where I have found a narrative emerging - I will need to speak with you about this in our Skype call though as I have some questions.

An assignment that rounds the course off with some work that foregrounds something a little different might be worth considering- but this is up to you, of course. I get the feeling that, such are the steps that you’ve taken, even taking an approach where the subject matter is beyond what you’ve produced for the course so far, that the work would still be identifiably ‘yours’.

Tutor name	Andrew Conroy
Date	11/3/15
Next assignment due	11/6/15

Feedback A3

Overall Comments

Kicking off with a Roland Barthes quote underlines the ambition you’re bringing to your studies, SJ, and was certainly not something that came as either a surprise, or was something I saw as a shallow attempt to bask in the reflected glory of the ideas of one of the Big Hitters of theory! Rather, it’s a typically and appropriately thoughtful way to get your third assignment underway.

In spite of the reservations you point towards in your text, there’s a very clear progression from what you did for A2 here, and one that nicely balances the requirements of the brief with the direction your photography seems to be taking you in anyway- not necessarily an easy balance to manage. This is an assignment, like the last one, where you’ve stuck your neck out- commendable in itself at this level of study, but it’s certainly not the only plus point of what’s another intriguing and very promising assignment. There are ‘flaws’, inevitably, but I’m yet to see any work that hasn’t been flawed at this comparatively early stage, and by taking such chances rather than going with the easy option, I think sooner rather than later you’ll start to see the developments that for me are fairly clear… 

Trying to insure I met most of the brief requirements as well as develop the work I'd begun in A2 was indeed tricky and to be honest I wasn't even sure if doing that was OK - and even now, I think, is that an OK thing to keep doing; to keep developing the ideas that informed A2 and A3.  It seems to me the most beneficial way forward but it does worry me too that I'm being a bit narrow minded.  However, when I look at the work I've done so far it does seem still to be preparatory work.  Glad I didn't seem overly grandiose by quoting Barthes; but that thread within his book was really something I felt able to grab hold of and it seemed to speak to something that had been swimming around in my head. 

Feedback on assignment Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity

In terms of an overall set, this assignment continues on really well from the last one in the sense that it has a strong overall impact, and is further evidence of someone committing themselves to their studies, having some bold and imaginative ideas, and experimenting to a hugely impressive degree for this level of study. Although you’re clearly expanding on what you did for A2, in at least one technical sense this assignment was perhaps more tricky than the last one, in that the introduction of colour was something that brought an additional set of things to think about. For the most part what you’ve done is effective, particularly as you’ve not had a massive amount of time to put this together, yet it still hangs together well as a set that produces a consistent mood and is very expressive. I think the images that don’t show an entire face are a touch more effective, subtle and understated- #8 Similar is fine in itself, but just seems to be a little too direct compared to others in the set, which leave a bit more to the imagination and seem more appropriate to what you’re reaching for. I agree and had I had more time would certainly have replaced that image along with some others.  I did feel this was something that could have taken me weeks or months to do; balancing that work, however, with being a mum and everything else I need to do was not easy.  

Contrast: red and blue is really effective and eye-catching- a good idea executed really nicely. Contrast: red and yellow is nice composition- and idea-wise, and in terms of how it seamlessly fits into the overall set, but I think the contrast between the red and yellow could have been a touch more pronounced. Indeed, this is something that I felt with other images where you’d prioritized reds and yellows. The last image, for example, which I think as a whole is great, making fantastic use of negative space to produce a particular atmosphere, seemed to be less about the contrast between red and yellow per se, than the red being slightly swamped by the yellow. My initial impression with this shot was that it demonstrated a certain lack of control over white balance, and that the image would perhaps have been a touch stronger had the yellows actually been closer to whites, which would have made the reds- which seem to be at the emotional heart of this image- pop out that bit more effectively. It’s these examples that underline the difference in terms of technical difficulties between what you did for A2, which obviously pursued a similar set of ideas but in b/w, and A3, which introduced another layer of complexity. Overall, it’s hugely impressive to see you take an idea you’d developed in a previous assignment, and elaborate on it so that it fitted the brief of a subsequent piece of work. Overall, I think it’s been a much tougher ask, and the control over colour certainly isn’t flawless and can be just a touch chaotic… but it definitely shows an artist, thinker and photographer who is increasingly finding their feet. If you keep working as you are, the gap between your ideas and their realisation will almost certainly narrow as you become more accomplished and confident.

As I was working I was aware that I was using auto white balance which, after lots of discussion, I will use with events and general family work.  But I do think going forward when working on this sort of stuff I should be setting WB and paying more attention to it afterwards too.  However, the type of thing you mention with the yellow and the white balance is really something that I think might be discussed in more regular tutorial type sessions which I'd expect to have if on a course that had a more tutor input while working on projects.

Re your accompanying text, I found this rather interesting:

I know I cannot be accused of failing to be creative.  I am prepared to try things out and fail and try again to find something interesting.  I think I am creative but perhaps struggling to find a way to express that adequately.  I kept waiting to have a moment where I knew what I was going to do which happened after weeks of thinking with Assignment 2 - but that didn't really happen.  Instead I went round and round in my head, changing my mind, going back to what I'd planned, dropping it again.  I felt compelled to keep photographing these shapes and expressions.  By the end of it if I feel if I never photograph me again it will be too soon.

This passage is perhaps an extension of some of the email conversations we’ve had of late, SJ, and it does raise a few points in my mind. When you’re looking to produce work that is as personal and expressive as his been the case in the last two assignments, it can be difficult to get away from some of the things you’ve noted, particularly when you’re also trying to figure out the best way to make the most of your gear. The nature of OCA study means that once you’ve completed an assignment, you don’t necessarily get an awful lot of time to put it to one side and reflect on it (as would probably be the case if you were shooting entirely for yourself - I would never have stumbled across this work had I been shooting for myself.  The structure and restrictions imposed by the assignment, along with the need to visit galleries and read certain books have all contributed to a sort of unconscious 'awakening' for want of a better word.  I really didn't know what I expected to find when starting the course). So to be even attempting work of this sort within such a limited time frame is commendable and impressive. I do know that the work by Jessa Fairbrother that we’ve spoken about was something that was tweaked and retweaked over quite a long period of time, for example, and with an equal amount of doubt and uncertainty! 

By the time I submitted the work I did feel it was a shame to have had so little time to develop these ideas, and am beginning to see  that the process can take quite a while which I wasn't really aware of before.  I do feel at the moment that what I have done is somewhat undercooked!

Overall, this is another solid, intriguing, and extremely promising assignment, and I’m very glad that you continue to take the tougher paths rather than following easier options.  

Glad to read this.

Learning Logs or Blogs/Critical essays Context

Although the content is always solid, thoughtful and highly promising, I think you’re still figuring out the best way to present the materials you put together. There’s certainly nothing ‘bad’ or overly taxing about using your blog, but I think it could be just a touch more user friendly and easy to navigate. If you decide to go forward to assessment, the assessor will primarily want to be able to move from each assignment to the next without too much fuss, and also be able access your research materials as easily as possible. At the moment, while everything is labelled, with a growing amount of content I did feel the shift from one section to the next could do with being a little more seamless, and with less new windows opening each time a link is clicked- although it really is a relatively minor issue in the greater scheme of things!

Do jump onto the forums and have a look at those by your fellow students, so as to have a better sense of what works in terms of accessibility, navigation, and presentation, and what is less successful.

Do I need to redo the blog entirely for assessment transferring all the material over to a better layout?  This is something I do feel a bit uncertain about to be honest and wish there were more human guidance.  I will look at other blogs and do follow several people already but I feel a bit overwhelmed as I don't really know how to rectify things which have been mentioned before.  My 'work' site apparently also needs an overhaul which is to be expected but I feel a little lacking in confidence about how to go about fixing these web things. 

 

Suggested reading/viewing Context

The work that you’ve done over the course of the last couple of assignments is interesting for a number of reasons, but is given an added resonance when considered it in relation to the ubiquitous ‘selfie’. What you’re doing here looks to express something rather different than the typical selfie, of course, and you’re obviously turning the camera on yourself and using a visual language that calls on cues and conventions from the world of fine art. This review-cum-article by Peter Conrad discusses the self-portrait across a range of mediums and, I would hope, should give you some food for thought. I haven’t read the book he’s discussing, but it seems like it could also be worth a look…

I'm fascinated by the ubiquitous selfie and why it might have become such a phenomenon.  The whole social networking thing is truly intriguing: it reminds me of people sitting on a bus talking far too loudly so that everyone else is forced to listen to their conversation wether they want to or not.  I know selfie's (a truly horrible word!) are rather different to self portraits in one way but in another, aren't they just egalitarian self portraits?  

If you’re interested in finding out more about what some theorists have had to say about ‘what it is to be female in our society’, Gender Trouble by Judith Butler is a highly challenging, seminal text. A little more accessible is David Gauntlett’s Media, Gender, and Identity, which could be useful if you wanted to think about the relationships between images, media, and gender identity. I get more than a sense that gender is a key part of what you’re exploring, so keeping an eye out for literature and work in this area in general would help.

In terms of photography, Sandy Skoglund’s work has used colour in a rather different way to your approach in this assignment, but is well worth a look- it’s complex, visually striking work that expresses all manner of contrasting moods and ideas (particularly Revenge of the Goldfish, which still stands as one of my favourite photographs).

Fantastic to be directed towards writing about gender and what it is to be female as that is exactly what I'm searching for but there is so much available it is difficult to know where to start. 

Pointers for the next assignment

As a small pointer in terms of making things easier for me, I do like to be able to copy and paste images I want to comment on from students’ assignments, but it’s difficult for me to do this from your site as the images are copyright protected. It’s no big deal, but it would make things a touch easier! Sorry - this is down to habit when setting up galleries and strangely I did think about it yesterday, perhaps sensing some irritation about it across the ether!  It's very easy to rectify and whilst I know it is my responsibility to submit work that is technically accessible it is the sort of thing that makes me wish there was a little more to and fro communication, such as I would expect on a course that was delivered more traditionally.

Beyond this- keep going. There’s a real sense of someone exploring here, and while I can appreciate your moments of doubt and uncertainty, these, I think, are par for the course to some extent when you’re throwing yourself into realising your ideas in the way that you are. You’re aiming high, and while you don’t always necessarily reach the levels you want to with each image, it’s important to keep trying. As it is, you continue to produce attractive, thought-provoking and incredibly promising work.

I’m going to suggest a little longer before the next assignment, so that you’ll be able to sit with your potential ideas that bit longer, weighing up what might and might not be working and worth pushing on with. As ever, I’m happy to catch up for a chat if there’s anything you want to discuss…

Very grateful for longer time.  Also for the final sentence as this responds to the thing that I feel isn't quite right for me with the course.  I totally appreciate the fact that OCA does not have the funding of the OU for instance and so courses are delivered accordingly.  I'm not sure however, that I'm in the right place.  It's a bit bewildering and quite alienating to be working on this stuff all on my own with so little guidance.  I know I can go online and chat things through with other students on FB, and there are some really lovely people there but we're all at very different places and I don't think purely online relationships offer the right forum - we as a society are still finding our feet with navigating online communication (I certainly am) and whilst in some ways it's great, in others it's sorely lacking.  

I was very pleased to have such a speedy and thoughtful response when I emailed you - thank you.  But I do yearn for a classroom, some teaching time, proper conversations with people where body language and real live relationships also feed into the dialogue. I don't think I need or want to be spoon fed and as things stood at the beginning of this year the way in which OCA operates was ideal; but as I develop and begin to get a glimpse of what I might do and aim for, I'm starting to wonder if it may be more beneficial for me in time to be in an environment where greater support is possible.  Although I did think that I'd start to concentrate more on commercial 'work' stuff next September when my littlest child begins nursery full time I am starting to think that I should find a way to commit to an offline course for two years if at all possible.  I'm so pleased that what I'm doing elicits the sort of feedback I've had here and chuffed I've got a tutor that sees the potential.  But I really am quite doubtful that I'll fulfil my potential doing this online, or at any rate without more regular group discussion, idea sharing and ongoing feedback.  Gosh, I hope that doesn't sound dismissive of the the support I've had so far - it isn't meant to; just a recognition of what I think I'll need in time to come. 

Thanks for really positive and encouraging feedback.