Story telling

I have been thinking about how my story will flow in my artists book. Whether it will be linear with an obvious start and conclusion or more like Anna Gaskell's style in 'Hide' 1998 and 'Wonder' 1996. As i wrote last semester when researching her tableau work "There is no flow or sense of time between her photos, rather they are all just snippets of an idea represented in different ways. Even the protagonist Alice changes actors multiple times throughout Wonder and Override." Perhaps my narrative could take a similar shape.

Images from the 'Hide' and 'Wonder' series':

http://forums.thefashionspot.com/f71/anna-gaskell-photographer-119879.html

Isolation

Fisheye Artist Books

'Fisheye: Rumble in the Pond'

From what I can tell this book is from a series of fisheye photographers. It appears to be pretty uncreative in comparison to the artists books we have been looking at in the past weeks.

"The content of this book is OK, but the problem is that the binding is substandard, so all the pages fell out within a couple of weeks. I contacted Lomography and they say that it's outside their 14-day return period, so it's just tough. In other words, they only expect the book to last for 2 weeks"

- A comment for a not so satisfied customer on Amazon.com

'Fisheyes' - By James R. Holland

I cant find any images accept the front and back cover.

http://www.amazon.com/Fisheyes-James-R-Holland/dp/0978863712/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316605329&sr=1-1

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Nearly Narrative: Some Domestic Stories

I really like a lot of the photos in this reading. I found them to be quite sinister and even somewhat humours. I would really like to emulate this style in my own photography. Wether the images are exaggerations of the past or just depicting memories in a different way, i believe using family and personal experience is a really strong source of inspiration that can allow both photographer and viewer to connect with the resulting images.

Shots like the one of the girl in a party dress in danger of having beers drunkenly spilt over her engage directly to the audience (to myself anyway) because they seem so familiar. I have no similar looking family members or memories of a similar situation but its just seems like something so typical of the average daggy family and plausible in my own childhood.

I think making the shift form album to book can be as subtle as having neatly bordered and labled images. It can however change by the difference of throwing images together compared to having an underlying story or intricate theme that transforms the images into an idea or lasting thought rather than a collections of snapshots that are enjoyed then instantly forgotten.

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Playing Catch Ups - Jeff Wall

I've been falling behind with my writing so here goes...

Upon naively glancing at the photograph 'A View from the Apartment' I was completely convinced that it was every bit as "inconspicuously normal" as Wall intended. His utter mastery of light, composition and the tableau style shine through in this image. I would think that without the essay though, or at least a brief description of the story behind the image, it would not be as impressive. I believe however that because of his reputation and almost rockstar status in the photography world, not person in the know could look at a Jeff Wall image and assume it is merely a snapshot straight out of the camera of a real event. His efforts continue to impress me.

The article itself has some clever views and in depth analysis that is apparently necessary with such a multi layered image such as 'A View from the Apartment'. It has encouraged me to think about every aspect of my images such as the body language of the subjects and their relationship to people and surroundings. Also the attire and setting are features that should not be rushed or overlooked.

Lighting in my images can apparently make a real difference to the viewers perception of believeability. For myself i use all natural lighting but it is obvious that when creating such drama as Jeff Wall over a long period of time is a far more difficult task. Then again narrative is in no way constricted to an aesthetic depicting the real world, it is often quite the opposite.

I found the essay to be easy to digest but still quite interesting, I will likely be looking back to it in the future for critical analysis techniques.

Further more...

Im thinking of branching out to the idea of photographing other situations, not just standing in one spot.

More shots...