‘Collection’:

‘Fragments of a vessel which are to be glued together must match one another in the smallest details although they need not be like one another’ (Walter Benjamin, [1936] 1999, p.79).

‘The Walter Benjamin quote above expresses the idea that a collection should reflect a single
coherent idea, but you’ll also need technical rigour to match the photographs to each other ‘in
the smallest details’. Start by choosing your focal length, aperture and viewpoint combination
in advance.
Visually, similarities correspond so they’re easy to look at, but be careful of duplicates because
repetition is boring. Differences are interesting because they contrast, but randomly changing
your framing or allowing a confusion of detail into your backgrounds will distract from the
viewing.

Brief:

‘Create a series of between six and ten photographs on one of the following subjects: • Things • Views • Heads’ (Bloomfield, 2018).

Initial thoughts:

– Excited to be challenged by creating a collection of images that are consistent in terms of concept but unique in appearance, albeit small.
– Enjoy the idea of being able to branch out from a single word, allowing the assignment to be broad and open right from the beginning.
– Slightly wary about creating ‘duplicates’ and creating a jarring set, so I will have to plan thoroughly to avoid this.
– Concerned about going off-piste from the brief due to the variety of ideas, so will regularly refer to it throughout each stage to make sure everything is on track.

Initial plan for the brief:

– Create a list of ideas that link with each word.
– Choose one subject and start exploring the ideas within in more detail.
– Research practitioners for further ideas to help with the concept choice.
– Use a tripod to keep the framing as accurate as possible.
– Experiment with a deep depth of field, instead of shallow depth of field which I am comfortable with.
– Experiment with focal lengths to see what works best.
– Make sure the set is coherent, yet individual.
– Explore what makes me uncomfortable e.g different camera settings, framing and lighting.

Reflection on mind-maps:

– Wide variety of concepts for me to explore and experiment with.
– Plenty of ideas linked with ‘Things’ which will allow me to fall back on another idea if my initial plan doesn’t work.
– Also, like the idea of exploring facial features in the ‘Heads’ (see Fig. 3.) subject, but don’t have many back up ideas if that doesn’t work, hence my appeal to focus on ‘Things’ (see Fig. 1.).
– Plenty of ideas to push me out of my comfort zone and potentially collaborate with others to shoot or gather opinions. E.g. asking someone for their most important possessions, asking to shoot with someone I don’t know well, or figuring out what everyday items people would count as a “necessity”.
– Don’t enjoy the ‘Views’ subject as much due to the lack of different ideas and potential struggles with keeping the images cohesive.

After formulating a selection of ideas and concepts for the three subjects, sitting with them and going about daily life to see which ideas remain in my head, has been really helpful with deciding with routes I want to go down first. Currently, the necessities of life mentioned in the ‘Things’ mind-map (see Fig. 1.) is standing out for me, therefore will begin to note down the items I use on a daily basis across the space of a few days, as well as gathering anonymous responses via an online survey about “necessary” everyday items. I will also begin artist research to understand what a ‘collection’ can mean when it comes to photography.

References:

Bloomfield, R., 2018. Photography 1: Expressing your Vision. 4th ed. [pdf] Barnsley: OCA, p. 51. Available at: https://www.oca-student.com/course/photography-1-expressing-your-vision [Accessed 11 February 2020].

List of images :

Figure 1. Powell, L. (2020) Things [Ballpoint pen on paper] In possession of: Lauren Powell: Eastleigh.

Figure 2. Powell, L. (2020) Views [Ballpoint pen on paper] In possession of: Lauren Powell: Eastleigh.

Figure 3. Powell, L. (2020) Heads [Ballpoint pen on paper] In possession of: Lauren Powell: Eastleigh