Sustainable Strategies: PHO730 All The Glass We Carry

I have begun this module by reflecting on my methodology. My methodology is constantly evolving. Its a jumble of my own invention and bits borrowed from other artists. I rarely question it because it feels intuitive, its just what I do to get the results that I desire. Yesterday the concept of a ‘visual methodology’ was introduced to us and we looked at the difference between practice-based and practice-led methodologies. The idea that practice informs research, and that practice is NOT the research helped me to analyse my current practice.

Fig 1. WARDE 2023. Samuel from my ongoing project Engendered

I have been working my project ‘Engendered’ for about 8 months now (Fig 1). My initial research involved looking at the topic of gender identity in the 10-18 yr old age group. I was primarily researching other artists and seeing what was already out there. I also looked at the history of this subject and gained an understanding of how my project was placed in the historical context. I then began to make the photographic work. Part of this process was meeting the participants and having them fill out a questionnaire about their views on their gender identity. The responses/views I recieved back have given me leads into other areas of research which are relevant to the subjects.

I have also been playing with the idea of rephotography. I thought it would be an interesting exercise to rephotograph historical images of children and seeing how they sit in the world today. This would probably be classed as an re-enactment. Reiger (2011) discusses the purpose of rephotography in the book The SAGE handbook of visual research methods. He says that the challenge is in finding the visual indicators of social change, however subtle or obvious they are. I set about recreating the photograph ‘New Mothers’ by Sally Mann (1989).

Fig 2. MANN 1989. New Mothers

Fig 3 WARDE 2023. New Mothers Retake

This exercise was more difficult than I expected. Paying consideration to the light, the angle of the camera and the posing of the girls was complicated. By the end of the exercise when I viewed the results I began to wonder what the point had been. The mood of the ‘fake’ moment in my re-enactment appears flat and emotionless. I had failed to recreate the defiance in the faces of Mann’s children. The meaning of the fake cigarette had also changed. Because the children in my photo lacked attitude, the cigarette just seems meaningless, and almost ‘silly’.