In this piece of reflection I will show the changes I have made to my third assignment. My tutors feedback will be in plain text. My response will be in italics.
I enjoyed my first assignment feedback from my new tutor. It was honest and thought provoking.
I didn’t agree with the feedback around my learning log. I feel the log is about the image. My learning log was very strong in regard to seeing the image however…………..
I read my tutors feedback and thought about how someone else would view my work. I changed to a different theme. My tutor was right! The theme I chose (Rowling) keeps the image in a strong position. But works in a clear manner for someone looking at my work for the first time.
In this feedback my tutor identified some of the menu issues I had missed. Some work didn’t sit in the right category and the menu was too small. I have worked on this. It has taken hours but now works well for the new viewer.
You contextualize your preparation well with your reading, try to find connections in your photographs as well. For instance, your comment on No. 2 might relate to the way Henri Cartier-Bresson shot through the railings for the Gare St. Lazare shot.
I added contextual paragraphs for each photograph to show what I was trying to achieve.
Photo No 7.
No. 7 is intriguing – please add some background to the sculpture and if possible the artist and date. How does the sculpture connect with the people in the photograph?
I added the detail I could find in regard to to the story that connects the statue with the people. Unfortunately I couldn’t find the sculptors name. I should have read the plaque on the statue.
Try to keep to an academic style of writing for your assignment notes. You can be ‘writerly’ but avoid abbreviations and colloquialisms.
I totally agree when my tutor says I am too writerly in my style. I have read several pieces of work about academic writing. I hope to show development in this area in the last two assignments. I considered rewriting everything but decided I would leave my work. To show how I have developed through the course. The abbreviations and colloquialisms have all been removed.
Direct quotes should be referenced in brackets in the body text with author, date and page number, and then the full reference given at the end. Check the course guide for examples.
My understanding of referencing needed fine tuning. Whilst referencing work used I wasn’t putting numbers in the text. This has now been corrected across all work.
This part of the brief is asking you to think about the concept of the decisive moment and its relevance today. You’ve read Ghazzal and looked at Paul Graham, who shoots on the street in a way that is clearly not Cartier-Bresson’s decisive moment. What do you think of these sources? How relevant is the decisive moment to photography today? Please add some comments to your assignment notes to position your photographs within the concept of the decisive moment.
I thought about the above a lot and added my thoughts to my assignment notes to portray my feelings on relevance of decisive moments.
I like full bleed prints but the general advice from the OCA is to use broad white borders for ease of handling. Matte paper is acceptable but they do narrow the tonal range a lot. The tone varies throughout from warm to cool and you need to be careful about that when printing B&W. Please research the OCA forums and blogs for more info on printing.
I note all of the above and have bought some high quality gloss paper for future assignments. Plus I have added borders of 1/4 of an inch to my settings in Lightroom. The forums have triggered some interesting thoughts about how I could use different print setups to portray mood and time. I continue to experiment with this.
Michael Green 