Informing contexts - Starting to edit more Ananchronism
I took the images below along to the webinar this week to see what reception they would get. I feel I have actually found a place I want to be. One word Anachronism. It helps me play, allows me to lean on the creative side of my photography but also challenges me to see if it works or not. Last week it was suggested I look at black and white and so I did that to see if it worked. I have to say it was my opinion and that or my tutor and peers that the black and white lacked the punch that the colour had. It lost detail and even story, for example in the top image there is a burning of Alexandrias library behind her. And in the second image is Cleopatras own funeral. These fade away when in black and white. That is not to say future images will be the same though so I will go through the process each time to compare. Easy enough as I created my own action so that my images were consistent.
I have asked all models to study who they are portraying and also to think about how they would act if they were alive today. I expect the models will find this easier if they are a little older. I am asking the models to answer some questions for me.
1. Who are you portraying?
2. Tell me about them?
3. How would they be described if they were alive today?
4. How would they act?
5. How does it feel becoming someone else?
6. Why is it important to remember people from our history?
7. How do you know what you have read or seen in photographs is true?
Maybe a little deep for a seven year old, but we will see how I get on.
Looking through On photography again, Sontag talks about the lying in photography and how they are more central in photography than they can ever be for painting, because a fake painting falsifies history and a falsified photograph falsifies reality. (86)Which I can relate to wholeheartedly. I set out to create a photograph they is a lie from the second it pops into my head, I think there is enough documentary photographers out there, I am not in a position to get to the out tribes of the Amazon so I will stick to what I know. I call it creating art, its my art as it is me all over it, from conception to delivery. One of my peers said she can recognise my work now, it's a Timms and where is the anachronism. My life is stressful as it is so having a play and enjoying my creating is essential. Am I bothered I am lying, no and quite frankly couldn't give a stuff! I like to think that my images are the best of both worlds, truth, as in they actually have a person from our history, but secondly adding that twist so the viewer has no idea what is true or not. Julia Margaret Cameron claims that photography is an art because it seeks the beautiful and was succeeded by Wildeans claim that photography is an art because it can lie. (128) One of the aims I have is to create unique images. I don't want to just do repeat, or a take off of someone else's work, I may be inspired as lets face it there isn't much that hasn't been tried and tested.
I am getting a lot more used to reading and searching out who I am, I made a comment to Paul that I am feeling very cynical. It seems everywhere you read critics or theorists, everyone has an opinion on what is photography, where and why-fors, I have had to in my mind, totally separate the fact I am taking images at the same time as Im am thinking far too much about critical images, as the critical thinking is making me quite negative about the subject, as interesting as it is. Barthes obsession with death probably doesn't help. But it does make me think about how I am feeling when I edit, do I edit my work dark because my life has been a challenge since I came out screaming? If I wrote a book after one of my foster kids had just put all my windows through I doubt it would read like a Mills and Boon.
A note taken from On being a photographer as I do struggle with the language at times.
'The reason is that the language used by academic theorists in photography is so dense, obscure, jargon-filled and so damned dull that is is usually impossible to decipher the points that are being made" (138)
BARTHES, R. (2012). Camera lucida: reflections on photography.
HURN, D., & JAY, B. (2009). On being a photographer: a practical guide.
SONTAG, S. (1978). Susan Sontag on photography.
