Informing Contexts:PHO720 1:1 with tutor
I had a very interesting discussion with my tutor this morning. I realised that I could challenge myself more in my practice, there is no point going through this process unless I try new things. Experimenting with medium format and portraiture is new to me but I would also like to progress my storytelling by capturing scenes that are not all about the ‘person in the middle’. Ultimately, I’m most interested in my ‘subject’ but I would like to tell their story using signifiers, and metaphors from their environment.
Mohamed Hassan (https://www. MohamedHassan.com) is a photographer who successfully combines these elements in his work. I have been greatly influenced by his work ‘Road Trip 1’ and ‘Road Trip 2’. Hassan shows in this body of work the environment through the eyes of a newcomer to Wales. I see his work as an excellent example of documenting a rural landscape and its relationship with the local people.
Fig. 1: Hassan. 2020. Jasmin
Fig. 2: Hassan 2020. Untitled
This approach will challenge me to take a step back and view the wider context. My current methodolgy has been influenced by my relationship with social media. I’m finding that its beginning to hinder my development. The feedback from my followers on instagram can come between me and my artistic development. I discussed with my tutor the liberation of making work just for myself and not posting any current work for a while. With this in mind I decided to take a photo walk that supported what we had discussed. The results are below.
Fig. 3: Warde 2023. Past and Present
Fig. 4: Warde 2023. Orams Arbor
Fig. 5: Warde 2023. Untitled
My recent research in the topic ‘Photography, The Shapeshifter’ has lead me to the writings of Subhankar Banerjee. In his essay exploring his artistic process (Photographers and Research: The Role Of Research In Contemporary Practice. 2017) he discusses how his relationship to photography is philosophical and how it leads him to think about things differently. My practice has always been opposite to this, since I have been challenged to try something different I have found that my artistic practice has evolved and is forcing me to think about things differently. For example, I was walking in the country in a place very familiar to me. Its somewhere that I have usually seen through the eyes of a dog walker. I have recently lost my dog, I began to notice other aspects of man’s influence over the countryside. I was drawn to a particular scene (See below).
Fig. 6: Warde 2023. Scar 1
Noticing the striking physical scars on the landscape has got me thinking about how the land is used by the community today, how it has been used and the controversial demolition of Twyford Downs in the 1990’s. The landscape is permanently damaged to make way for the M3 motorway which cuts through this ancient nature reserve.
Fig. 7: Warde 2023. Scar 2.
I have begun to consider how we give, and take from Twyford Downs and I’m noticing the scars on the landscape that are indicative of a relationship which spans centuries. I’m looking forward to exploring this in more depth.
READ, Shirley and Mike SIMMONS.2017. Photographers and Research : The Role Of Research In Contemporary Photographic Practice. Abingdon: Routledge.