Friday 8 September 2017

Prompts to generate written responses to your research (Art & Photography).

NEW 8/12/19

Before you start on your research work, look at the criteria in your assignment, make sure you understand what the emphasis is and then write up your research so that it addresses the criteria first and foremost. Then, pick and choose the prompts below as you see fit. 


In your research avoid simply describing as that'll only attain a pass. You need to analyse the work your looking at...

Analysis is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it.  (1).


Evaluate - if your research criteria demands you evaluate you will need to explain how the research is of some use to you... why is it useful, how will it feed into/influence your own work?

1.       Materials – how do they impact on the image – why relevant – why used – what used?
2.       Techniques – Wide angle – telephoto – hand-held – differential focus – large, medium or 35mm format – digital or analogue – studio – location?
3.       Processes – planned – spontaneous – how organised – evidence of – collaboration – team effort – individual effort – art direction – personal project – commissioned -
4.       Light – bright – dark – sinister – type – source – diffuse – point – direction – colour – shadows – ambient – flash – studio – mixed
5.       Narrative – The story – meaning – message – single image – several images – obvious – ambivalent
6.       Mood – positive – negative – indifferent – ambivalent
7.       Composition – rule of thirds – horizon – viewpoint – dominant – subservient – neutral – diagonal – full – empty – busy – cluttered -
8.       Contextual influence and connections – artists – photographers – current events – politics – society – culture – environment -
9.       Location/Background – what does it tell us about the narrative/story?
10.   Influence – Does it look like the work of someone else – who has the Photographer been influenced by (Use image to show how).
11.   Tone – flat – contrast – stark – grey – high key – low key
12.   Line – frames within frames – leading lines- diagonal - horizons
13.   Form – Sense of depth and 3D - ness
14.   Colour/B&W  significance of either – harmony –discord – contrast - saturation
15.   Shape – angular/constructed/Geometric and hard – organic – natural – smooth - shapely
16.   Space – negative – busy – relevant – background – confused – juxtaposition – linked
17.   Pattern – repetition – geometric – regular – irregular
18.   Body language – neutral – aggressive – passive – sexual – assertive – masculine - feminine
19.   Facial expressions - Neutral – sexy – aggressive – upset – happy etc.
20.   Props – objects – things in image that help the narrative
21.   Period/style – 1960’s, 1970’s 2000’s etc
22.   Focus – Sharp – out of focus – differential – shallow

23.   Operational context – What type of image is it, where would it be seen – what is its purpose?
24. Size and scale - How big is the work when presented in galleries - why is this significant?

From document 138

NEW* Basic photographic aspects; Look at the criteria for the assignment you're working on. If it requires observations with regards the use of MTP's or equipment make sure you address these as a part of your analysis of the photographers work. Write about it in terms of the photographic elements - Light, materials, angle, view-point, use of colour, lens focal length, depth of field, media (Film or digital), designed & set-up Vs candid, formal, informal, documentary, art, or advertising. See the prompts below for more detail. 

Colour or Black and white; Why do you think the image is either black and white or colour. Is this a historical thing or has the photographer consciously chosen to shoot in one or the other for a reason - offer an explanation or do the research and find out why? Offer an opinion as to how the reading of the image would change if produce in the other way. If the image is colour, are the colours natural or have they been manipulated in some way - many digital  images are de-saturated, explain why you think the photographer has opted for this approach. Is there a colour cast - explain why this may be. If there is some aspect to the colour of the images that can be commented on, do so - offer and explanation and your analysis.

Light & mood; Look at your image and try and figure out what kind of light has been used. Discuss the lights properties, characteristics, direction, quality and colour. How have these elements been used to create mood in the image; is the lighting dramatic, or is it being used in a neutral way? Is the light being used to accentuate line, shape, form, colour or texture? Discuss the light in terms of being 'Point' or 'Diffuse'. Light is one of the first things you should look at and analyse in terms of the images visual language.

Format & composition; Vertical or horizontal (Portrait or landscape)? Explain and analyse why the image has been shot in either format. Is it down the way the image has been designed to be used... Webpage, magazine or is it a piece of art? How has the image been composed? Has the photographer used the traditional rule of thirds to layout the elements within the frame - how and why do think this has been applied. If the rule of thirds has been ignored - offer an explanation as to why?

Background; The background and the foreground in some cases is exceptionally important in telling the story and giving us visual clues to the narrative of the image. Explain the background - what role does it play in the construction of the image, does it work perfectly, does it make sense, or does it lead to confusion in making sense of the image? If the background causes confusion in the reading of the image - is this by design... has the photographer shot it like that in order for the image to be ambiguous or troubling?

Size & Scale; The size and scale of the images is another important aspect of the images that you can potentially discuss in your work. The physical size of the images often gives us an indication that the work is being presented as 'Art' in galleries (See context section below). A useful method of finding the size, process and materials used in the production of the final prints seen in galleries is to Google search using the following search... In Google pre-fix the Photographers/artists name with the words Sold at auction. This will bring up a list of recently sold work by the artist and this is normally accompanied by the detail you're looking for - size, print -finish and process used. You'll also see the price the work was sold for. You might have to dig around a few websites to find one where you can access the information without having to sign up.

Props; Look at the image and make sense of the props, these are things such as the clothes and styling, the style and type of things around the subject, things that people are holding or working with, these all act as visual clues to help the viewer of the image make sense of it more readily.
Style and period; Linked closely to Props, there are clues in the styles depicted and recorded in the image and this is in part reliant on you having a good and broad education. As a photographer you need to be very aware of the world around you and as well as looking at and studying photography, you also need to be looking at all forms or art, media and culture, as they are all very closely inter-linked with photography. If you recognise the style and period or if you've researched the photographer and they have mentioned this aspect of their work, you too need to say something about it - more than simply identify it - demonstrate that you at least understand why it's being used or its potential within the construct within the image.

*Influence; This is one of the Distinction standard prompts as it requires additional research. Reading the articles and watching the video's look and listen for what or who influenced the photographer that you're studying. Find an image if you can that shows that relationship/similarity and use it amongst your 8-9 small images. Do some quick research into that artist/photographer or artwork and write about what it is your photographer was influenced by, this might be a visual aspect or it may be their idea. Explain the connection between the two. *Don't forget to add this additional research to your bibliography.
Socio-economics; Another Distinction standard prompt.

One of the first things you should look at is the relationship between the photographer and the people/situation that they are photographing. Look at all of the clues you have and make a judgement on what you know of the photographer about their
socio-economic status or background. Then look at who is being photographed and again make a judgement of their socio-economic status and then look to see if there is a difference and ask yourself if this is relevant or significant?

It may be useful to identify and compare your own socio-economic status and make connections with either the subject or the photographer themselves?

As an example if you look at the work of Joni Sternbach
here think about what you know of Surfing already and look at the visual clues in the images.

Think about your own ideas and own life experiences, living conditions and financial status. Are the people in the images the same or similar to you - what things do you share with the people? The very basic questions you should look at, might include questions such as...

Are the people Western or Non-Western?
Are they poor?
Are they comfortable (Financially)?
Are they wealthy?
Are they working class, under-class, middle class or upper-class?

Whatever assumptions you make, you then need to discuss in your work what leads you to believe these assumptions - the visual clues?

Then ask yourself does the photographer share the same lifestyle or values as the people in the images and does this then affect your feelings towards the photographers work or not - does it matter?

In many instances, photography because of the nature of it ... cost/access to equipment and resources is conducted by people that are predominantly middle-class. One of the defining features of being middle class is to be in control of your life to some extent, having excess capital (money) that allows you to be involved in activities such as photography and travel. You might want to discuss how photographers interact and relate to different people from differing socio-economic backgrounds? Looking at the image/s your writing about - how are they are shot and used, are there any observations you can make with regards to whether you feel the subjects in the images are being exploited? Or does the photographer go about their work with a sense of empathy, making the images in such a way that they imbue their subjects with dignity?

Returning to the Joni Sternbach images, with only a few minutes of researching on-line we can establish a number of facts about Sternbach's work ...

1. She is a white middle class American. Things that connote that she is so include the fact that she has a degree and an MA, she makes a comfortable living through making art photographs, which allows her to travel all around the world pursuing this career.

2. The people she photographs for the most part are similarly white middle-class Americans, Australians and English. How do we know they're middle class even though they're almost without clothes on the edge of a beach? Surfing is for the most part a middle-class past time, the
surfboards for instance are expensive luxury goods. All of the people in the images look fit and healthy and they live near the beach and again that is a reasonably good indication of wealth combined with all of the other factors.

You therefore have to look at the images used in your research and ask these types of questions and offer responses to them by way of trying to establish what the images are really about. You only need a few lines (As above in italics) or a paragraph that demonstrates that you've considered this aspect of the images in your image analysis.
Meaning/message
Context; With this one you can look at a number of different aspects. First the 'Operational context'. Ask yourself is the photography one of the following three.

(1). Art Photography
(2). Commercial Photography
(3). Amateur Photography

On the course you'll be taught the differences between all three and how to sift through all of the images on the internet and differentiate between them. When you're doing your research you need to explain what type of photography you're looking at and studying and what makes it one or the other?

Narrative/Story;
Creative intentionLook at the image as a single picture, can you see what it's trying to convey to the viewer? What is the message? What is the story or 'Narrative'? Explain what you think the story is, or write about what the photographer says the images are about (Use quotes) and reference your quotes. Do you think the message comes across clearly - is the story behind the image clear? When you first see the image and ask yourself 'What is this image about - what does it mean, what is it trying to say or convey to its audience'? How successfully has the photographer been able to get that message/meaning across to you? Or is the work purposefully ambiguous and if so why?


Equipment and techniques; For this one you'll need to do additional research. The best method to use is to use Google image searches and pre-fix the photographers name with the following words or phrases.
  • Which camera
  • Equipment used by
  • On location
  • In the studio

This will frequently produce images of the photographer and their equipment including the lighting. Follow the image link to the webpage and read the accompanying article - you might find more details about the materials, techniques, processes and equipment used by the photographer.

The other way would be to use Youtube, Vimeo or Dailymotion to find video footage of the photographer at work or discussing their work methods, MTP's and equipment. Again use the pre-fixes above.

Once you've found the images of the equipment if you're not able to identify the camera/equipment/lighting ask Dave T or another photography lecturer and they'll be able to help.

When you write up your work - consider using an image of the equipment/photographer amongst your 8 small images. When you write up the response to this prompt try and explain why this equipment  has been used, research the equipment, why is this equipment used by the photographer - what does it bring to the image and the feel of the picture? How does the use of the camera relate to a sense of professionalism or the work being 'Art' for instance?



Materials used (Supports and post-production)

This, is a slightly more difficult prompt to address as it would normally involve primary or deeper research. If you can see the work for real or discuss the work with the artist you may be able to ascertain what materials have been used in the production of the work… The paper type, finish and qualities. If the work has had some form of post-production technique applied to it similarly it’s far easier to figure out what’s been used, if seen for real in a gallery or by questioning the artist/photographer face to face or by email or social media. The key question here is – what impact does the use of the materials or the process have on the perception and reading of the image – how does it enhance the image

Body language and facial expression; If the image is of a person or people discuss their body language and facial expression... Is either, of any real importance to the message being conveyed in the image? Does it matter to the narrative of the image? Do the people look engaged in the process of being photographed - are they happy to be photographed or are they unaware or indifferent? Is this by design or is a natural response? Think about what the images are being used for and how important the meaning is behind the image and who the audience/viewer is for the images.

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The more you do this and the more you understand how these principles are applied in photography, the more complex and layered your own images will be and they'll move on from being 'Snaps' to photographs.

Want more prompts? Click here for more

Person + background + symbol + involvement = Picture.

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