Saturday 19 April 2014

Assignment Two - Feedback and more

I have to admit that there are times when I wonder if (even after all these years) I am at one with my photography and in the early hours of some mornings consider selling up and moving on. However there are other times when I get inspired and can do little else other than look at photographs, make images, print, read and feel that learning rush we all had as teenagers when first exposed to something new and exciting. The feedback for assignment two arrived in the email this morning and once again I am feeling good about my work. The constant self doubts, the nagging little voice, the inner knowing that maybe you could do better are to some extent banished for a few minutes with the favorable comments. 

The first few comments were about my online reworking of assignment one, which when first submitted had a few issues relating to it that needed my attention. I am pleased that the second set of photographs were seen as more personal. Upon reflection I am sure that my lack of conceptual thinking was due in part to my year away from the degree and with PWDP you start straight off the start line with an assignment rather that a few exercises to warm up with.

Assignment two was thought of as "considered and thoughtful"  with a "strong ability for lateral thinking". This is encouraging for me as I did enjoy the book cover problem solving and realised soon after reading 1984 that there was unlikely to be a simple solution and that the way forward would be with manipulated images that related to the underlying message of the book.

Our tutors do of course look at our learning journals and this where I know there is more work to do. I love books and buy far too many, the result of which is a lack of structure in my reading. This module has a bias towards essays and critical theory and while I have looked at and read much so far there is little evidence of this in the blog which gives the impression (quite rightly) that I haven't been busy. I will address this by way of more mini critical reviews of books and comment on the BJP and Source magazines, both of which I subscribe to. 

I have made a start on assignment three and posted a few images in a recent post. My tutor is happy that we are on the same wavelength with this as it is self directed and moves away from the written requirements of the module. Once again a small comment from the tutor has made me aware of my shortcomings when I write the journal. The comment relates to keeping the prints consistent as my examples varied in size and style. One monochrome and the other colour, both with different aspect ratios. My error here is that I did not explain that the example were of two differing styles and I would never see myself putting them together for that very reason. This reminds me of my time studying law and remembering that the prosecution have to back up their claims with "evidence" rather than wishful rhetoric.

So, on refection I need to smarten up my journal writing and remember that apart from a wider public who may have a look, it is being assessed continually by my tutor and ultimately by the assessors. I need to be precise and offer detailed explanation of my choices backed by how the end products are influenced by my conceptual thinking. 

Friday 18 April 2014

Exercise - Experiments with Layouts

This exercise takes a simple 2 page layout and asks that we make at least three layouts using different typefaces and describe which is the most satisfactory.

I am making a double page A3 option so that each page is A4 size.

Version 1

 
Version 1 - Main text 14pt Times New Roman Regular - Main Heading 30pt Arial Bold
 
 
The construction for version 1 within Photoshop is shown in the following screen grab. Further versions have similar layers and tools with the only variation being font size and paragraph indents.
 
 


The use of Layers allows easy modification and the guides provide a framework for the layout. In this version the typography is simple with minimal fonts. The paragraph control is with no first line indents and the whole page is clean and suitable for the ornithological study. It is normal practice to show Latin names in italics. The A4 page size requires the main body of the text to be 14pt for reading at a distance, more so than a paperback which would tend to be held closer.

Version 2



Version 2 - Main text 12pt Arial Regular - Main Heading 30pt Arial Bold

Version 2 has the main text font changed to Arial and is 12 pt. A clean contemporary layout with reduced column widths adds an element of balance. The font change has produced a less academic look although being smaller may be a disadvantage.

Version 3


Version 3 - Main text 12pt Arial Bold - Main Heading 30pt Arial Bold

Version 3 uses a single wide column for the main text. This is easier to read than the two column versions above and is now with Arial Bold. The paragraphs have indented first lines which create a feeling of older style layouts while using a modern font. The photograph title is now moved to the left as this creates abetter balance and the main heading is moved to the centre.

Version 4

 
Version 4 - Main text 12pt Lucida Bright Regular - Main Heading 30pt Lucida Bright Demibold
 
Version 4 returns me to a serif typeface with Lucida Bright for all of the text except the Latin picture title which remains Arial. Picture titles are now moved to the centre to balance with the central position of the main title on the facing page. The main text I have kept regular as this adds a lightness to the page that is lost when the bold is introduced.
 
Conclusion 
 
The four versions are a mock up page for a book on British birds. It is unlikely that in such a publication there would be any outrageous fonts or layouts so the changes between the four are rather subtle. The variations therefore are as much in the layout and minor adjustments such as one or two columns, position of titles and paragraph indents. The major changes are the main text font and the choice of whether to use a serif typeface such as Times New Roman / Lucida Bright or a sans serif such as Arial. Arial is very similar to Helvetica (which isn't included in Photoshop) which is the most used font in almost every country of the world. In this instance, the subject matter and the scientific nature of the writing suits a serif and between the two I have used I prefer Lucida Bright. It is lighter and less aggressive  that the Times New Roman used in version one. The text should not compete visually with the photograph and in four there is harmony.


Exercise - Photographic book covers - choosing imagery

Photography as a book cover can be of any genre. For this exercise we are asked to find some examples in the following categories.

  • Out of Focus
  • Inverted
  • Historical archival but not depicting the subject
  • Still life close up
  • Minimalist landscape or scene for large sky

Within each type I will discuss the suitability of the cover after some research into the contents of the book and offer a conclusion why the publishers chose the image.

Out of Focus


"Disguise" is a tale of illegal wartime adoption and the subsequent life story of a man (Gregor) who spends his life with a suspicion that he may not be who he thinks he is. His adoptive parents and his real mother engage in lies and deceit to conceal the reality of who he is. The strain eventually takes it toll and Gregor leaves his wife and family to become a musician and tours Canada and Ireland, "an entire lifetime of departures and comebacks". Described as " a story of double misfortune turned into multiple good luck". 
The publishers will have wanted to convey the uncertainty of the central character and the lack of authenticity in the life of Gregor. The blurred image over written with the title word "DISGUISE" is sufficiently connected to offer a hint of a character who is not known and deliberately hidden.

Inverted


"NoVA" is set in North Vaginia, an otherwise normal part of the suburbs of Washington DC. It as view of contemporary America that starts with a 17 yo boy hanging himself and the subsequent ramifications that surround his family and friends. A tale of sex and drugs amongst the middle classes who work for the technology companies, federal contractors and government institutions of this area. Sharp social observation and dark humour are amongst the techniques used by Boice in this disturbing tale. The cover is not an obvious choice and the inverted picture can only be a metaphor for the upside down world inhabited by the characters. The white painted fence being typical in a clichéd sense for the middle class gardens surrounds of the eastern USA.

Historical


"Dominion" is complete fiction with a story that we have all pondered on at some stage. What If we hadn't won the second world war and the Nazis had control of Great Britain. Sansom creates a totally believable place where Jews live in fear, the radio and television are under state control and an underground Resistance movement is led by an ageing Winston Churchill. A Resistance spy is caught up in a plot to free a civil servant who has a secret that could change the world.
The publishers have chosen a cover photograph that is correct for the post war period. The foggy scene is perhaps London (although that's not crucial) and has a touch of menace with isolated characters exchanging a glance while a black cab is close by. 

Still life

De Botton takes the reader through 10 self contained studies of the sorrows and pleasures of the complex "workplace". These range from a biscuit factory in Belgium to the soulless headquarters of a firm of London accountants. It is a work of psychology and ideology rather than a practical guide to survival in the workplace. The book teems with interesting detail and shrewd commentary but there is no linear argument. A book rather more for discussion than a "how to". The cover chosen for the edition above shows an office chair in it component parts. We don't know whether it is new and waiting to be assembled or whether it has been taken apart. It shows us the parts rather than the sum of the parts and that is how the book is arranged. As I mentioned, there is no linear argument, only a series of disconnected studies. The photograph connects on a materialistic level, in as much as we are all familiar with a chair in the office an we recognize it here.

Minimalist landscape


A story emanating from the attacks on the Twin Towers of The World Trade Centre in New York on September 11 2001. Keith the central character is caught up in the periphery of the event and finds himself making his way to his one time family home where he is reunited with his estranged wife. He recounts to her seeing people falling from the windows of the twin towers and then later they watch a performance artist recreate the scene as a stunt. Keith feels his life is falling away and through various minor story variations the theme develops to incorporate all three.

Apart from the text on this cover there is nothing other than clouds and two vertical parallel lines. It is clear why the photograph has been selected. The "Falling" theme is present physically and metaphorically throughout the book and the shot from above the clouds invokes a feeling of vertigo, height and danger. The two parallel lines act as a metaphor for the falling action, or at least a trace of it where it has been.


Conclusion

I am concious that there are two ways of approaching this subject at the conceptualisation stage of the process. The straight forward concept will use an image that is overtly connected with the content of the book. The other option is to use an image that is symbolic or at some secondary level has an allegorical link to the content. The use of metaphor is perhaps the most often used to entice the reader to take a closer look inside. There is a point at which the imagery will become too obscure and that can only be counter productive. The typology has to fit around the image and as such is in a auxiliary role. A cover design using graphic art techniques would start with the text and manipulate a design to suit. 

Wednesday 9 April 2014

Something and Nothing

I find it difficult these days to come to terms with how banality has taken over my life. Personal circumstances can change so quickly and we have to follow a path through life sometimes not of our own making. I wont go into the detail of what happened a year ago but family matters took over and now as a carer the days are different as my world condenses into a semi medical/domestic routine. A trip to the supermarket for an hour being taken as a rest and the chance to see the world. This lifestyle has had an impact on my photography. No longer can I come and go as I please to places I view as interesting or inspirational. Initially I saw these restrictions as the end of my photography and for a while there was a low point with no activity and when I did force myself to make some images (Assignment One) they were not perhaps my best and I reverted to type and made work reminiscent of the past and inside my comfort zone.

Life has now settled down, I dont find the daily chores so daunting and unattainable anymore and photography is once again making its way back into my life. Assignment Two has been sent off to my tutor and between us we have agreed upon a way forward for Three which is very encouraging.

Something or Nothing is the title of chapter 4 in Charlotte Cotton's book "the photograph as contemporary art" and is one of my favourite long term reads. In this chapter she looks at and explains how non human things that are often seen as being ordinary can be made extraordinary when being photographed. There is nothing extraordinary about our house or the garden so by definition everything is ordinary and is my world photographically for the foreseeable future. As Cotton reminds us we pass by the ordinary or keep them at the periphery of our vision and automatically give them no credence within visual art.

For Assignment Three I intend to make a set of images of the generally non photographed items from my close everyday life captured simply with little post production. The brief will be to capture the banal and foster a curiosity in the item by leaving out some of the visual clues and inducing contemplation with the simple.

Maybe on these lines

Or this.