My tutor pointed out that putting the title of the photograph inside the frame of the picture made the text part of the view. This had not been my intention, the titles were there primarily as a method of identification. With that in mind, I have removed them from the pictures and placed them underneath. I had also not considered the order in which I was presenting the individual pictures and this was impacting on the message I was trying to portray. The thought process behind my photographs was to show the disconnect between my view of the area in which I live as opposed to the one that is experienced by visitors. I live in an AONB, and it is beautiful but it has its downsides, the lack of investment in the nearest town, transport links, the quaint areas much photographed by tourists contrasting with everyday life and work. Following the tutor suggestion, I printed small versions of the photographs and tried re-arranging them so that they gave a stronger narrative.
Light leads the way 
sheep by dung heap 
Supermarket dash 
Anchor 
Derelict Rye 
Kino 
Rye life 
Looking out for a train 
Station in the dark 
Railway bridge 
Slipway
Assignment 1 – reflection
Having only lived in my current location for 4 years, I still do not have the emotional anchors to the area that had been created from living in my previous home of 34 years. When I added the rural nature of my environment into the equation, I felt cast adrift by this assignment. Being unsure what to photograph I opted for places I went to on a fairly regular basis, which included my local cinema and supermarket. I used a borrowed camera, a Sony A230.
Initially I left the auto focus on and this led to some unsatisfactory and frustrating results (fig 1).
Kino cafe 
Kino wall 
Old mans beard
There were two photographs however that made it into my final choice for ‘Square mile’ (fig 2.)
Kino 
Supermarket dash
(1) The strong vertical lines and the shadows of the bare branches against the wood that appealed to me in the first example. (2) I liked the strong colours in the second photograph and the angle of the road that leads your eye into it. The use of lines and how they directed and slowed the eye was discussed on the EYV meet up and was helpful in choosing a composition.
Following my initial session, I went out again into my more immediate locality. This time, feeling more confident with the camera, I used manual focus. My problem was subject matter; in reality my square mile is field, after field.
Martin Parr was one of the photographers that came up in my research and his way of people watching was in the forefront of my mind in my next session (fig 3) and I used a longer lens in order not to be too intrusive.
Landgate 
Rye anchor 
Tourists
Photograph 3 went into ‘Square Mile’ as I liked the composition and waited for the moment when the group would be framed by the anchor. I think it would have been better taken from a slightly different position and further away.
In the EYV meet up we also discussed the ‘decisive moment’; ‘capturing an event that is ephemeral and spontaneous, where the image represents the essence of the event itself’ (Sarinana, J. 2013). This reshaped my ideas, asking the questions, why here? Why now?
Fig. 4 Commuting to London one cold, dark, wet morning formed the why; it was something that formed a part of my life. The now; the ultra-bright lighting popping out of the dark sky, distorted by the rain and the glistening reflections. The angst of the man looking out for the train capturing that moment halfway between hope and despair. Using my iPhone there was no real technical skill apart from framing.
Discovering photographer Peter Spurgeon and his series Beyond Limits gave me the impetus to look at my rural surroundings with fresh eyes, experimenting with angles for example Fig. 5: 1 & 2.
1. Avenue of limes 
2. Ripples 
3. Light leads the way 
4. Sheep by dung heap
Fig.5:3 was added to ‘Square Mile’ due to the streak of light which highlighted the style in the field. Fig.5:4 showed the nitty-gritty of rural life.
Word Count: 511 excluding references
References
Buchanan, K (2020) Assignment 1 research [Online] Available at: katie9.home.blog/coursework/assignment-1-research/ Accessed: 31.03.20
Parr, M (2020) Beach Therapy. Available at: https://www.martinparr.com/recent-work-4/. Accessed 14.02.2020
Sarinana, J (2013) The Decisive Moment and the Brain [online] Available at: https://petapixel.com/2013/08/12/the-decisive-moment-and-the-human-brain/ Accessed: 31.03.20
Spurgeon, P (2020) Beyond Limits [online] Available at: https://www.peterspurgeon.photo/beyond-limits-work-in-progress Accessed: 31.03.20
Contact sheet for Assignment 1
Katies Photographic Journey 