Sitting at my desk right now I can look up at my book shelf and name a few photography books. I bought them, mostly from Amazon to research photography and photographers.The photograph as Contemporary Art, Langford's Basic Photography,John Myers Middle England, Susan Sontag On Photography, British Journal of Photography magazine amongst others. Researching other photographer's practice has allowed me to have an appreciation for the finer details and thinking behind photographs that I like and dislike. It allows me to know why I like or dislike something. Reading Sontag's 'On photography' first brought into question for me the notion of the morality of photographing people in situations that highlights their plight, it also made me think more about what I should photograph, 'it becomes arbitrary to treat some moments in life as important and most as trivial'. I began a strange practice of my own which was to avoid taking my camera out with me to see what really caught my eye and how often I would wish I had brought my camera. I thought I should train my brain and my eyes to see more and think of other ways I could capture the moments I wanted . I discovered through this that I am very interested in moving image as it doesn't single out people or moments which are left perhaps unexplained or accounted for, it gives the subject more credence and the use of sound can portry a mood more exactly, if you want the audience to really understand. Maybe the art of photography is to leave things open, open to misinterpretation or objectivity, it doesn't matter.I have struggled with photography and its many criticisms but I aim to find my own style and 'mood' has a large part to play in that. I think that came across in the photographs I took during the Digital Magazine project. In hindsight there is a certain moodiness to all the pictures, which to me personally is a good sign, because I was feeling particularly moody...
Although being long winded I guess what I am trying to say is that through research, reading and looking at other work I have thought more and more about my own work and its direction.
Another example of research is topical. I have an ongoing interest in alcoholism. The journey of researching the topic has taken me from starting out documenting personal aspects of my home-life at times when it has been bad, then leaving that behind to organizing meetings with people who have a drink problem or have overcome a drink problem. I hope this will lead to a portrait project including text, which is something I have learned from a lecturer on this course and will discuss more in another blog.
During a recent meeting with an old friend I hadn't seen for ages I was given a book about Al-anon, basically self help for people with an alcoholic in their life. Al anon is linked to the AA organisation. I have been reluctant about this sort of thing in the past but it made me think about my project and where it was going, I am now considering changing the emphasis to the other side, ie the Al anon people. It is interesting as it turns out a lot of these people are addicted to the addict, addicted to care giving, supporting others who have alcoholic partners, family members etc.This is a new direction for the project but in a way much more open to me as it is something I can personally relate to, whereas I am not an alcoholic and it is very hard to encroach on an alcoholic with questions, wanting to take pictures, it feels a bit harsh and it is difficult to understand the illness.
So to summarize, through research I have discovered a deeper understanding and philosophy behind photography. I have talked to people to research my interests and found new approaches and direction, and I have left certain ideas behind. I have also found an interest in moving image which will affect my work in the future and hopefully link into my current ideas and projects.
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