AS Photog Exam: w/c Monday 24th April

• Groups C & D: Monday 24th & Thursday 27th April
• (Wednesday NO EXAM)
• Groups A & E: Tuesday 25th & Friday 28th April

Read this carefully and think how you can design a thorough unit of investigation that explores your chosen theme, topic or subject matter…

<<<CHOOSE 1 STARTING POINT ONLY>>>

Use mindmaps and moodboards to start…

You should aim to complete at least 1 Photo-shoot per week

Structure

1. Erin O’Keefe often photographs objects propped up in a corner. Her work explores the visual ambiguities of shadow, space, shape, colour and reflection. Originally an architect, her photographs are of real structures without using digital manipulation such as Photoshop. Many other photographers have experimented with constructed spaces and reflections, such as Florence Henri, Robert Smithson, Owen Kydd, David Haxton, Thomas Demand, Paul Strand etc

Florence Henri
Composition Nature Morte, 1929
photograph

2. Robert Frank shocked his adopted country when he published his groundbreaking book The Americans in 1957. Rather than seeing the cosy Middle America personified in later TV cartoons like The Flintstones, he revealed the raw push and shove of a society that was at odds with itself. Other photographers such as Nan Goldin, Jeff Wall, Chris Killip and Sophie Calle have also been compelled to expose the real structures in society and ‘Tell it like it is’.

Robert Frank
Canal Street – New Orleans, 1955
photograph

3. Stories can be told in a single frame, three frames, or, as in films, millions of frames. Narrative structures can be linear, such as with Duane Michals’ sequences, or non-linear such as Paul Graham’s A Shimmer of Possibility and Wolfgang Tillmans’ If One Thing Matters, Everything Matters. Photographers, filmmakers and animators find unique ways to structure the narratives in their work.

Duane Michals
Alice’s Mirror
photograph

Bill Owens
Untitled from ‘Suburbia’
photograph

4. Photographers have been fascinated by the structure of natural forms from the earliest days of the medium. Karl Blossfeldt found a monumental presence in simple seedheads. Edward Weston revealed beauty in the forms of peppers and shells. Robert
Mapplethorpe, Ori Gersht, Todd McClelland and Olivia Parker have also focused on natural forms in different ways, demonstrating personal responses to light and texture.

RM
Honesty
photograph

Here are some other suggestions that may stimulate your imagination  / Starting points for photo-assignments
• Pine cones, pineapples, grapevines, hops, ivy, bindweed
• Scrapyards, building sites, cranes, restoration yards, derelict ruins
• Crystals, molecules, geology, fossils, footprints, tracks
• Stadiums, orchestras, rock concerts, floodlights, staircases
• Motorways, railways, runways, dockyards
• Flowers, plants, trees, fungi, algae, feathers, scales, shells
• Nests of weaver birds, wasps and bees, termite mounds, baskets
• Circuit boards, pipework, telephone poles, towers, pylons, skyscrapers
• Shop displays, escalators, bars, libraries, theatres and cinemas
• Gardens, parks, playgrounds, swimming pools, beaches
• Dolls, mannequins, puppets, cuddly toys, Lego

Assessment Objectives

You should provide evidence that fulfils the four Assessment Objectives:

AO1 Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding
AO2 Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops
AO3 Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress
AO4 Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.

Your preparatory studies should show evidence of:

• your development and control of visual literacy and the formal elements (tone,
texture, colour, line, form and structure)
• an exploration of techniques and media
• investigations showing engagement with appropriate primary and
secondary sources
• the development of your thoughts, decisions and ideas based on the theme
• critical review and reflection

Good luck and make sure you ask for guidance at any stage of the process…remember to play to your strengths and approach this unit in a similar way to your coursework units !!!