Response to tutor feedback Assignment 4

December 2014

This was the Assignment which I found the most difficult during People and Place 1, so it came as no surprise that I needed to reshoot some of the images in order for it to be more successful. 

Overall comments:

"Thorough in terms of research and background information"

My tutor understood what I was trying to achieve although it needed to be done over more shots and a longer time frame.

"The time of year [makes it] difficult to produce positive images"

"Become much more confident at taking images within public spaces"

"Lack of depth"

"...Take some more night time / low light images as they are the most successful" 

My tutor explained what had not worked about my images. Generally, I had used a mix of ISO settings which had not helped with the quality control of the collection of images. On the whole, most of my images were not close enough to the people of Nottingham. Three of my images, however, were acceptable and using these and referring back to Todd Hido, Will Steacy and Jeff Brouws's images from the American Night Photography at Nottingham University, I had something to work towards.

Further reading:

My tutor suggested that I look at the work of Dougie Wallace who concentrated on showing an area of Shoreditch. 

http://www.dougiewallace.com/9365/shoreditch-wild-life/

I found this work enlightening and although it is not my style, it gave me something to aim towards and a point of reference to refer back to when working out of my comfort zone.

Other suggested books were:

Education of a Photographer edited by Charles H Traub & Steven Heller.

Nathan Lyons - Selected Essays, Lectures, and Interviews edited by Jessica S. McDonald

These I will be looking at after the festive period.

My main learning points from this assignment are:

• Exhibitions are great for influencing work, shaping ideas and promoting discussion with peers
• When something doesn't feel quite right, it probably isn't so that's the time to contact your tutor for advice
• Get out there and take as many photos as you can - practice and review helps you grow in confidence