I considered the following questions when preparing this week’s reflection:
• your experience of the week and feedback received • any reconsiderations to the core methodology of your project • the forms your project / photographs could potentially take beyond this module
During this week I focused on two activities the photobook event at Magnum Photo and the draft copy of of my Oral Presentation.
The feedback from the webinar to discuss Oral Presentations was positive with limited feedback from my peers during the webinar. The feedback from Stella was sufficient to confirm directional and content wise that the presentation would cover the relevant topics for the module. I was encouraged to think creatively about how to make the presentation engaging. Based on that feedback I decided to include clips from the Magnum event, the photowalk and exhibition. I decided to draft a script for the presentation as the approach had been successful in the previous module ensuring I covered relevant material.
The Photobook event with Magnum Photo provided a wealth of information for me to digest with respect to creating photobooks. The feedback has made me realise that to create a successful photobook that strong image are important but not enough if you want the book to appeal to people outside the photobook market. For the stories I am currently exploring archival material is important consideration when developing the narrative. Jack Latham’s book Sugar Paper Theories is a good example of a photobook using archival material even taking design cues when selecting the paper for the book.
The methodology at the core of my practice is sound with respect to image making but that alone is unlikely to be sufficient to support a publication and this has prompted me to consider how I can incorporate a stronger research element to practice through use of additional material such as archival documents. The photobook experience has made me realise that for some projects the photobook might be a more important than an exhibition and for other projects it might be the reverse. What I realise from this week is that shooting images and creating an archive over time is an important aspect for a practice like mine.
