PHO710: Positions and Practice, MA Photography CRJ Topic 2: Methods and Meaning

TASK: Post an image that you think is an example of a good use of a photographic ‘faux pas’ or what we might traditionally think of as a ‘mistake’.

Ian ROBSON. 2019. Woodland Dream

I have made many images, primarily seascapes, using intentional camera movement (ICM) as an expressive tool. The ICM method I use normally involves panning the camera horizontally during exposure (you can move in any direction) utilising a 100-400mm lens to select an area of the sea that interests me, with the camera set to auto focus (AF) and shutter priority set to 0.3 seconds. Due to the reduced level of control over the outcome this approach requires a lot of reviewing and refinement to achieve a desired visual expression of the sea and its movement, and/or careful selection and editing in the post-visualisation process. It usually involves a lot of ‘failed’ images.

However, the image I have selected was ‘taken’ about a year before I started purposely using ICM. It resulted from unintentional camera movement. I was changing my camera settings on the move, walking along the Laugharne Estuary in South Wales, and inadvertently touched my shutter button resulting in this singular image.

It came as a surprise on downloading my image files to find it, like a ghostly intruder. I am glad I did not discard it as a mistake (‘faux pas’), as its dream like quality has grown on me over time. As Laugharne was the home of the writer and poet Dylan Thomas and I had passed the shed where he worked at the start of this woodland path, I can now contemplate him taking this route following a visit to his favourite bar!

Bibliography & References:

ROBSON, Ian. 2019. Woodland Dream. Private Collection: Ian Robson.

TUCKER, Marcia and Margaret IVERSON. 1981. Chance (John Baldessari: Pursuing the Unpredictable). London: Whitechapel Gallery. (pp.137-139)

TASK: Investigate a practitioner you might have an interest in. Identify their methodologies: you may wish to think about their research strategies, technical considerations, and their presentation choices. Where apparent, identify the photographer’s intentions and/or the conceptual underpinning of the work.   

Fay GODWIN. 1977. Top Withens Near Haworth, North Yorkshire.

Fay Godwin (17 February 1931 – 27 May 2005) was a writer and photographer who came to prominence in the 1970’s for her influential black and white landscapes of British countryside. She was self-taught only discovering her passion for photography in her 30’s when photographing her young children. Through her literary connections she took many photos of the leading writers and poets of her time, these understated and perceptive portraits were all shot in natural light.

Fay subsequently collaborated closely with literary friends in her research into British rural history and human intervention on the landscape. Many subsequently co-authored the books that would bring her critical and commercial success, including the poet Ted Hughes in ‘Remains of Elmet’ with its dark and bleak black and white images of the Calder Valley, near Halifax in North Yorkshire, that were taken over a seven-year period.

She was tenacious and determined, striving for perfection in her approach to making images of the landscape – ‘I don’t get wrapped in technique and the like, I have a simple rule and that is to spend as much time in the location as possible. You can’t expect to take a definitive image in half an hour. It takes days, often years. And in fact, I don’t believe there is such a thing as a definitive picture of something. The land is a living, breathing thing and light changes its character every second of every day. That’s why I love it so much!’ David Corfield, 2004.

As well as creating an outstanding body of photographic work Fay was an outspoken advocate for the right to roam in the British landscape, becoming President of the Ramblers Association at a time when the walker’s movement was politicised through the ‘Forebidden Britain’ campaign. Her work became increasingly concerned with the human impact on the environment, becoming more photojournalist in style, resonating with the current concerns over climate change.

Bibliography & References:

GODWIN, Fay and Ted HUGHES. 1979. Remains of Elmet. London: Faber and Faber.

GODWIN, Fay and John FOWLES and Ian JEFFREY. 1985. Land. London: William Heinemann.

‘GODWIN, Fay. 1977. ‘Top Withens near Haworth, Yorkshire’. Photograph. British Library. Fay Godwin Collection. (Online) Available at:  https://imagesonline.bl.uk/search/?searchQuery=fay+godwin Accessed 9 June 2022)

PARKIN, Tim. 2011. Fay Godwin. On Landscape 22 January (Online) Available at: https://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2011/01/master-photographer-fay-godwin/ Accessed 9 June 2022)

CORFIELD, David. 2004. No Man’s Land – Fay Godwin’s last interview. ePhotozine 31 May 2005. (Online) Available at: https://www.ephotozine.com/article/no-man-s-land---fay-godwin-s-last-interview-67 Accessed 9 June 2022)

LARSEN, Evald. 2010. Fay Godwin 1931-2005 – Iconic Photographer. Amateur Photographer 9 November 2010. (Online) Available at: https://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/technique/fay-godwin-1931-2005-iconic-photographer-18907  Accessed 9 June 2022)