ASSIGNMENT 1 - 'THE SQUARE MILE'
“In our earliest years we know a patch of ground in a detail we will never know anywhere again – site of discovery and putting names to things – people and places – working with difference and similitude – favourite places, places to avoid – neighbours and their habits, gestures and stories – textures, smells – also of play, imagination, experiment – finding the best location for doing things – creating worlds under our own control, fantasy landscapes”. (Professor Mike Pearson).
Brief
Make a series of six to twelve photographs in response to the concept of ‘The Square Mile’. Use this as an opportunity to take a fresh and experimental look at your surroundings. You may wish to re-trace places you know very well, examining how they might have changed; or, particularly if you’re in a new environment, you may wish to use photography to explore your new surroundings and meet some of the people around you.
Reading the quote above from Professor Mike Pearson I instantly think of where my Parents live. A sleepy little village surrounded by Orchards and friendly neighbours who spend their days drinking tea and taking their dogs on long walks through the many footpaths which are waiting to be explored.
This is funny, however, as it is not where I was brought up. We moved here when I turned 20. I was very reluctant as before this I had lived in the same house my whole life. Now, the village I was brought up in has been developed, my old school has been knocked down and is now an ‘academy’ filled with apple macs and trees growing inside the building! It is not what it once was and I no longer feel any connection to it.
They say ‘home is where the heart is’ and part of my heart will always be in that sleepy little village where my parents reside.
I spent quite some time looking through the recommended practitioners list. Nothing was really jumping out at me until I came across Gawain Barnard. I enjoyed looking through his website at the different series of work. I found inspiration in his series, ‘Journey’s by train’. The train tracks and the diverse landscapes and structures that surround a train line are what drew me to this bit of work.
Of course if I were to sit on a moving train for this assignment, that would not meet the brief of ‘The Square mile’. Instead, knowing that I wanted my sleepy village to feature in this assignment, I started to think about the little train station that is situated there and what surrounds it. My dad always says it reminds him of something out of ‘The Railway Children’.
The train tracks run along one side of the village and create an almost barrier like line around it. Within the train tracks are many public footpaths that take you over bridges, above the train lines and through fields and orchards which I have walked many times with family and our dogs. I decided that this area would be my focus for my first assignment but not quite sure where it might lead me. So I picked up my camera and started to walk towards the station, through the footpaths, over the bridges and further into the countryside around the train lines.
I didn’t want to over-complicate this first assignment. I have a terrible bad habit of over thinking most things. The day I decided to go out with my camera was a crisp but bright day, so I set my camera to auto mode with the flash off (I’m still learning my way around the manual modes and not completely confident with them yet) with an 18 – 55mm lens as I wanted to focus more on view points and to open my eyes to new things that I may have missed in the past.
Upon my return, I decided to look into the history of the train station as this is something that would generally come up in conversation on many of our walks. Quite interestingly, the station was never meant to be built where it is. The Lord Darnley, from the sister Village which was the more populated at the time and first choice for a station, was opposed to a railway station bearing the name of his village and so in 1861 the station was built where it stands today to satisfy the Lord. There is history of a derailment, Dartmoor ponies being transported to the station and links with Charles Dickens.
Below are my chosen series of photos…
As series of photos, I think the above work well together. I’d like to think they take you on a sort of journey around the station and train tracks. After reading up on the stations history I wanted to give my photos a slight vintage look and so lowered the vibrance on all of them ever so slightly. Just enough to take away that modern look.
A look at a few individual photos…
The photo above is one of my favourites from the series. I’ve always enjoyed the sight of a red telephone box and the feeling of nostalgia that they evoke. This one in particular is still in very good condition, which most are not unfortunately in this day and age. The red of the telephone box and the grey tone that the station is painted in, I feel, compliment each other well. I played around with a few different angles which you will see from my contact sheets below but this one is the most powerful for me. This photo could almost pass as being shot back in the 1950’s or maybe earlier.
Although the colours and feeling of the past are favoured in this photo, there is an object that I hadn’t noticed until a few shots in of the telephone box. Sitting right on top of it is a beer bottle, which I found to be quite comical and made me wonder how someone could reach that high to place it there.
This photo was one of about seven attempts to align the train tracks in the centre of the diamomd fencing of the bridge and I’m still not 100% happy with it but it was the best of the bunch. I should have used a tripod and taken a bit more time on this one but at the same time I like how it came out after a bit of cropping. The diamond shape almost creates a secondary lens and a frame for the background. The focal point of the photo for me is where your eyes are drawn to the ‘end of the line’ on the horizon.
I wanted to make sure I got a shot of the station as its an obvious part of the theme for the series however, I took this photo late afternoon and I don’t like the shadow that the trees have cast over the station. If I were to take this shot again, I would make sure the sun was in a good posistion.
I enjoy the visual aspects of this shot – the sharp angles of the diamond fence that are opposed by the arches over the top and the rustic colours against the blue sky.
Again, these photos have shadow over the train and bridge. To re-shoot I would need to think about the time of day.
Reflecting on this assignment as a whole, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was nice to explore my local area again and find out some history. I feel I captured a good series of photos that work well together.
I should have thought a bit more about the time of day. Although, it was a bright day, the sun wasn’t quite in the right place for all the shots and so I had a fair bit of shadow when I was shooting around the station and on its platforms. I also could have used a tripod for quite a few of the shots.
If I were to re-visit this assignment I would like to see the station with some people on it, getting on and off trains. Its a fairly quiet station but can be busy in the mornings with commuters travelling to London.
Contact sheets...
Assessment Criteria
Demonstration of technical and visual skills
I used my Nikon D3400 to shoot this assignment with an 18-55mm lens. At this point in time this is the only lens I currently own. It would have been nice to use a longer lens to capture some views from a distance but I woke with what I had. I also think that I should have taken a tripod out with me to get a straighter and steadier composition for some of my images.
I try to look at things in a unique way when composing my shots and I think this came across in this assignment but I am sure that this is also something I will develop throughout the course,
Quality of outcome
As I stated before I am uneducated with the manual and semi-manual modes of my camera at the moment so for this assignment I went out with my camera in auto mode and used what I have, which is a creative mind and eye. The content of images I have produced for this assignment I believe, fit the brief and I have created a concept around my square mile. My photos all follow a theme and sit nicely in a series together.
Demonstration of creativity
I tried to experiment and use my imagination as much as possible for this assignment. I tried to look at things from a different perspective. There is so much landscape around the area that I photographed but I wanted to look more closely at the smaller things that we see everyday but don't necessarily pay much attention too. For example, looking though the bridges, down staircases or at road signs.
Context
Research is an area I don't feel very confident in at the moment. How to display that research or reflect on it and how to put it into context with my own work. I am hoping this is something that I can improve on and master throughout this course,
When it comes to reflection, I would also like to improve on this. I have always been terrible on self reflection. I would much rather someone else do it for me but for this assignment I think I have started off well and been honest with myself. I think with the more knowledge I gain the better my self refection will become.