Technical and Visual Skills From a technical perspective, the most challenging aspect of this assignment was the very high dynamic range that the winter light creates between sky and land, this is exacerbated by the reflection of the sky in the canal which essentially rules out the use of a graduated filter. Building on Exercise 1.8, […]
Category: Part 1
Assignment 1: Beauty and the Sublime
The Thames and Severn Canal – Not an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Introduction This assignment interprets the brief in the same way that I want to challenge my landscape photography; by questioning what is a beautiful landscape. Before commencing OCA study, my photographic practice was largely what I called at the time ‘landscape’ but during […]
Exercise 1.8: Zone System in practice
Exercise Demonstrate your awareness of the principles of the Zone System and your ability to take accurate light readings by producing three photographs taken in relatively high dynamic range, i.e. contrasting light conditions. Make sure that your exposure choice renders as much detail as possible in the brightest and darkest areas of the photograph. Interpretation […]
Exercise 1.7: Assignment Preparation
Exercise Email your tutor a short summary of any ideas you have for this assignment. Use their feedback to help you to refine or expand your ideas. Include a description of how you intend to submit your assignment, as well as any other questions you may have. Record your correspondence in your learning log. My […]
Exercise 1.6: The Sublime
Exercise Background Reading the course text and Morley’s essay on sublime (Morley, 2010), taught me a new meaning to the word which I had previously understood to mean ‘nice’ in the incorrect manner as de Bolla describes in the BBC In our Time podcast (BBC, 2004), ‘that soup was sublime’.
Photographer: Paul Seawright
I researched Seawright’s project Invisible Cities (Seawright, n.d.). In this collection the images “examine how peripheral developments and settlements have become a frontier through unconventional and largely unrecorded means” (ibid.). I found the series interesting because it reminded me of the time I spent in Nairobi, Kenya and also Harare, Zimbabwe. The images aim to capture the […]
Exercise 1.5: Visualising Assignment 6
For this assignment I have decided to build upon what I think is going to be the subject of my Assignment 1, the Toadsmoor Valley near Stroud. I have chosen this valley partly because I live in it but mainly because I only moved here two years ago and it is the first time that […]
Exercise 1.4: Photography and Artistic Photography
This is an analysis of Photography and Photography and Artistic-Photography by Zayas (De Zayas, 1913). Summary The principle argument that flows throughout the article is that there is a difference between an image that is intended purely to demonstrate physical form, and one that is intended to convey an emotion or a feeling that is evoked […]
Exercise 1.3: Establishing Conventions
Exercise This exercise first looks at 12 18th and 19th Century landscape paintings in order to look for comanality between them. It then goes on to look at landscape photographs to look for similarity and difference.
Photographer: Justin Partyka
I enjoyed looking at Justin Partyka’s website and images (Partyka, n.d.). They are closer to where I feel that my interests have moved to rather than the stereotypical landscape image such as the example I included in Exercise 1.1 of this course.
Exercise 1.2: Krauss – Photography’s Discursive Spaces
Exercise This exercise was to read Krauss’ journal article (Krauss, 1982) and comment / reflect upon it.
Exercise 1.1: Preconceptions
I think this exercise shows why I have chosen photography for my art rather than doing my own painting. This is my sketch of what one might expect from a landscape scene.