Demonstration of technical and visual skills

Materials, techniques, observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills.

The series demonstrates a good level of observational skill, visual awareness and compositional skill. I believe the presentation as a set of 3 triptychs demonstrates good design. One aspect I am concerned about with the series is a balance between the positive aspects of consistency and negative impact of familiarity. I will be interested in my tutors viewpoint on this.

Quality of outcome

Content, application of knowledge, presentation of work in a coherent manner, discernment, conceptualisation of thoughts, communication of ideas.

I believe I have communicated my vision for this assignment well, both in terms of the write up in support of the series and in the series itself. Some of the shots in the series are more challenging than others, i applied discernment in the selection process to achieve alignment with the truth and in doing so selected some shots which are less aesthetically pleasing. It was more important for me to capture the truth even if that truth is less obviously beautiful. This is demonstrated most clearly in the ‘where’ for North Queensferry lighthouse – the truth is the lighthouse is stuck in the middle of a jumble of other things and is dwarfed by the Forth Rail Bridge ( itself one of the most fantastic examples human creation ).

Demonstration of creativity

Imagination, experimentation, invention.

There is a good level of experimentation, as can be seen in the contact sheet for assignment 2. Although none of the night time shots made the final series many shots were taken experimenting which Aperture/ISO/exposure combination gave the best results when trying to capture the light from the Carsewell lighthouse. An interesting challenge which ultimately did not reach a good enough level for the series but lessons learned.

The subject matter and my intent for this assignment did not really demand a great deal of imagination or invention.

Context

Reflection, research, critical thinking.

I settled on the theme and style for this series after some research, summarised here :-

The ‘dead head’ ‘straight on’ style of Ruscha’s gas station shots are in intent what I aim to capture for assignment 2 ‘where’ and ‘what’ of the lighthouse.

Phaidon (2013)

Choice of Triptych and sequencing for the series following research detailed in learning log entry Considering sequence

Inspiration for the series following research detailed in learning log entry Inspiration 1

My thoughts on application of critical thinking and reflection on this assignment are written up in learning log Assignment 2: Collecting