Evaluation.

Evaluation.

For me this major project was a chance to redeem myself for what I produced in my minor project which has weighed on me since handing it in. Going into the project I was confident that I could do much better as I had all the research and inspiration behind me from my dissertation which I planned to apply to the project, rather than basing my project on a less substantial idea and research. Despite my project having a better foundation of research, unlike last time I had to contend with a surgery recovery which made things interesting in the first few months of the project.

Right from the off I had to make some modifications to the project, the main change being the switch to digital which I had no real choice in, otherwise I could have missed a lot of time shooting in the early months. However I feel as if this was ultimately a positive as it gave me a lot more freedom in terms of shooting style which is clearly evident in my portrait format final images where I solely used the image stitching technique. This technique ultimately allowed me to take better images by letting me make a compromise between taking a high vantage point to attain God’s eye and expansive images. Even though my research was substantially undertaken in my dissertation I think it was a good idea to revisit, develop and isolate the different aspects of the photographers I talked about in the text to give myself a general frame work to base my images and style of photography.

Despite having to endure a lot of driving and walking on my leg, I think this has easily been the most enjoyable project I’ve done to date as I’ve visited so many different places in the country and indeed Scotland; photographed a vast range of subject matter and produced some good quality work. I think the best photo trip I went on was the fourth one where I visited three places in a day and experience three completely different types of weather. Even though I didn’t use any of the pictures from this shoot, I think that what I experienced on the day with driving in the snow, exploring the unknown and being in the landscape for the day is why I’ve always enjoyed this type of photography. I think my best images are of the chalk mine and also the image of the pipes in seal sands. It is these images that best fulfil my brief because they balance aesthetics and narrative as I explained within the photoshoot write ups.

No matter what, or however well I think a project had gone, there’s always things that I would change if I was able to do it all over again. I wish I had discovered the book ‘Altered Landscapes’ earlier, or even had it when I was writing my dissertation. The book contained some fantastic images of a range of subject matter that took a conceptual style. While I wouldn’t have completely abandoned the style I’ve photographed the project in, I would have definitely applied it to diversify my outcomes. Whether I ended up using them or not is a different matter because they might not have conformed to my brief, but having more good images is only ever a good thing when building a portfolio and I could always have revised the parameters of the brief a bit like I’ve already done.

   

In summary for my last self-made project I still haven’t managed to complete my brief to the exact original plan however I think this project has evolved, and is now something that I can develop outside of University. With this said and the final images I’ve handed in I think I can say that I’ve redeemed myself for my last project and hopefully get myself back on track for a first.     

Image captions for portrait images

Image captions for portrait images

To accompany my final portrait images I thought it would be a good idea to create some extended image captions, similar to the style of Edward Burtynsky. Burtynsky often reflected on his personal thoughts of a scene, along with facts and things of interest related to the area in question. Doing this adds an extra dynamic to the image and can influence the spectators’ perception and thoughts regarding the subject. While I won’t be handing a physical copy of this in with the images come deadline day, this is a perfect accompaniment for the images when I exhibit them at the end of the level 6 year.

 

Kielder water:

Kielder Water and its forest surroundings are completely man made, the successor of land that was once used for farming, a school and a railway. The way that the positive and negative effects of the construction of the dam are perceived and dealt with shows us how our priorities have developed for our need of power and its security. While the reservoir produces an average of 20,000 MWh of electricity per year, which is a considerable amount of clean energy, the landscape of the river downstream is altered for ever. The change in temperature near the base of the dam and the increased metal content of the water throughout the river makes it difficult for the salmon to dig their spawning redds and also for Black Fly and Mayfly larva to attach themselves to the rocks which effects the wider environment, not just the river ecosystem.  

Teesside Industrial Park (Huntsman Tioxide):

The reality of this scene is a contradiction of what our first impressions would lead us to believe. The long pipes and industry in the background potentially make us conclude that we’ve invaded this landscape with our industry and our expansive nature. However in reality, the image is created in a scene where nature and industries relationship is an improving one, despite the reputation of tees valley area. The number of seal pups sighted in the area had been rising consistently over the last five years.  In 2013 there were 22 healthy pups which is the highest recorded number in a single breeding season. This all points to a healthier River Tees, a vital resource for both industry and

Melton Bottom chalk quarry (Omya)

The Melton bottom chalk quarry extracts and processes Chalk (calcium carbonate) to produce a range of products that are used in a variety of industrial applications. The amount of earth moved within this operation is testament to the quality of the ground, but also our desire to capitalise on varying resources despite the amount of effort and money used to do so.   Ironically the south section of the quarry is now a protected ecological site; this almost doesn’t make sense. It could be said that as a society in some circumstances we are capable of prioritising the wider environment over economic gain, but in others, for example larger scale projects we still don’t see environmental protection as priority.  Perhaps this needs to change if we want to ensure the best possible future.

Drax power station:

Drax power station is a symbol of the UK’s status as one of Western Europe’s largest energy producers through coal.  I has been recorded to burn around 30,000 tonnes of coal a day which makes 4,000MW (7% of the UK’s needs). But it could also be seen as a symbol of the UK’s primary contribution to the global warming issue. Drax was built with the intention of using local coal from the rich supply that would have been the Selby Coalfields however it was shut down. This meant that over half the coal supply came from South Africa and Eastern Europe, and it continues to do so. The plant is the UK’s largest emitter of CO2, about 22m tonnes a year, the equivalent to the whole of Sweden’s emissions plus a bit more. Drax intends by 2016 to have 3 of its 6 units running on biomass, claiming that this is a cleaner more efficient method of energy production. Drax’s biomass fuelled furnaces produce three percent more CO2 than coal and this is before the biomass pellets are transported from America and Canada (a 3,800 mile trip). Taking this into consideration biomass produces 20 percent more greenhouse gas emission than coal.

final images

 After all my photography trips I’ve ended up with 5 landscape images instead of 4 and a total of 9 altogether. Despite surpassing my target of 8 images and being off balance with the number of landscape to portrait I’m very happy with what I’ve produced. My earlier worry of how the image of forest clearing would translate next to the other final images was unfounded as the image’s individual narrative is supported by the other landscape images.

Now I just have to print.  

Eighth shoot write up.

Eighth shoot write up.

This eighth and last shoot has been an awkward one as I’ve been backwards and forwards to Wynyard manor trying to decide on how to go about photographing the area, as it is a very tight space to work in. I decided not to continue to photograph west park as the whole site is sealed off with a really dense and high wire fence that makes it impossible to photograph properly so I concentrated purely of Wynyard. In theory the Wynyard manor housing development is perfect for my theme, but it’s been a real challenge as the close proximity of the surrounding meant it didn’t lend itself to my expansive style as you can see in the imagery. I ended up photographing the surrounding fields on the same day as I felt as if I could key in some of the logging that was necessary for the houses to be built. I initially wrote off the images I’d produced as I was too busy thinking how well they fitted into the pattern I found in my first evaluation, but as standalone images I think they say a lot about our culture.  

This last image as you can tell is crop of the first image. I think the simplicity of the composition lends its self to be cropped making it the best picture to be used in my final set of images. Strangely seeing this image with the others within the post transforms the effectiveness of the image by reassuring the narrative of the composition, hopefully this effect will transfer to the final set of images. 

Seventh shoot write up

Seventh photo shoot write up

Melton Bottom, one of Omya UK Limited’s plants was today’s location. The chalk plant is situated just outside of Melton and Swanland, Hull. Even though it was supposed to be an average weather day I managed to catch the best parts of it once I had eventually got into a good position to see the mine in its entirety. The mine was a fantastic location to shoot because it was a completely brand concept that I’d never photographed before. In shoot I managed to get one portrait and one landscape format image that I liked, which helps them fit into the set of images I talked about in the previous evaluation post. The top two images are definitely the best as they help to deliver the scale of the operation and best highlight the road tracks which look like the veins of the plant. My only concern with these images is that they contain identical subject matter which means that I might have to lose one when I end up submitting the final set of images.

With deadline day fast approaching and the weather forecast becoming increasingly worse I think I will have to draw a line on the shooting and just do one more which will be of housing developments which will better diversify my images in comparison to fracking.    

Presentation method.

Presentation method.

Even though I haven’t yet completed all my photoshoots I decided to go ahead and finalise how I will present them to save time at the end of the course so I can have as much time as possible to prepare myself for the end of year exhibition. I’ve decided to keep it simple and go A3 size, so therefore an A3 print box plus sleeves. The sleeves come in packs of 10, so that’s the limit of how many images I’ll produce which is fine as I shifted my target to 8 which gives me 4 landscape and 4 portrait.

Mini Evaluation of images so far.

Mini Evaluation of images so far.

I think the images I’ve produced so far have been pretty good, but after my last photography trip (shoot six) which yielded no good images, I think I need to review my progress because it’s getting close to the time where I should be beginning round off the photographing phase of the project and think about how the images are presented, what size, and what images actually to choose which all takes time.

So to save some time later on I thought it would be a good idea to see what my best images are which will help me to decide what avenue to take my work down next.

In my opinion the six images below are among the best images I’ve produced and also the ones that work the best in groups. Coincidently I’ve come out with 3 portraits and 3 landscape, the portraits are all products of image stitching and the landscapes are all standard images, and lastly the style of the image is orientation specific i.e. landscapes are more conceptual, where as the portraits are more traditional.

I’m happy with the way this has turned out and I think I should try and keep this format going with the next photoshoots I do. I think it would be a good idea to try and do a few more locations so I can get a diverse range of images so I better fulfil my brief.