Visual essays – photos
Good morning all,
I just wanted to follow up with some general notes about photography, that I will hope will guide you in the week ahead. As Inge said, we will spend some time discussing the format of the visual essays in a few weeks time after the film screening, but I have a few very general thoughts here based on notes that I made after looking at your essays which might help you for now. It could be that this throws up a lot of questions that I am happy to discuss, so please email me, or pull me aside some time if you need more guidance:
* Framing: This is perhaps the most important. Think about what you are including and what you are omitting in your image. This was particularly a problem in the ashmolean essays, where I had to ask, what am I looking at here? Consider angle (is the object straight?), perspective, distance (would a close up be beneficial, or should I take in the whole scene?) Really think about what the image is trying to convey that words can’t, or how the image will add to the understanding of the words or concept you are discussing.
* Light: Is the image too dark? Or over exposed? How might I adjust the light levels on my camera (phone) to better capture the scene/object?
* Colour: How might colour play a role in what you are trying to convey with your text?
* Is the image in focus? Check after you have taken the photo, and if not, try again!
* Cropping: photographs come in standard sizes that have been set by the manufacturer and are still traditionally linked to film formats. If you want to crop in, think about how that works with the aesthetics of your piece. Aesthetics are a tough one, because they are based on taste, and we will discuss this more in class, but really think about how your essay looks, and how this might add to what you are trying to convey.
There is more, but I don’t want to overload you right now!
Also, as a general comment, I have asked most of you over the course of the 4 weeks to include the following in your essays:
1. Full details of the assignment in the header of your essay i.e.
Assignment 4: Read Keane’s article about spirit writing, then visit a church or any other place of worship and select an object present in this space that will help you to explain his theory of transduction.
2. If you have used images from the web or elsewhere, please include references at the end of the essay, otherwise I will assume you have taken the images yourself. As a point of good practice, when referencing websites you should also include the date that you accessed them, you will need to do this for text based references too so it’s a good habit to learn. i.e. Accessed: 6.2.19
* Finally, and this is for my own ease – could you save the documents in the following format
Week4_Charlotte.pdf. You can save a pdf in word by going print > save as pdf.
I have really enjoyed reading your essays so far, and I am making this point about photography to encourage you. Everyone has the potential to take good photos, if you just stop and think about what you are doing in the moment, and pay the act a little more attention. Visuals have the potential to really enrich your writing and engage the reader, so take the opportunity now to get feedback on this, if it is something you might like to try in your work.
That’s all for now. Thanks!
Charlotte
Contributed by CharlotteLinton on 06/02/2019
