to own is to have something as one’s own; to posses something.
ownership – define
(noun)
1.
the act, state, or right of possessing something. possession, right of possession, holding, freehold, proprietorship, proprietary rights, title
To help me begin generating ideas surrounding the concept of ownership and how I can break this rule in relation to freedom/limitations within photography and my own work, I created, with Ben a mind map. On this large sheet of paper, we wrote the word ‘ownership’ in the centre and then drew out different ideas from this about what ownership is and how we could break it using our own photographic methods.
We can up with several ideas, as you can see from the mind map below. We though tit necessary to actually define what ownership was however and so did this first in the bottom right corner of the sheet and produced ideas from this understanding of what ownership means.
From this mood board of several ideas, I hope to be able to develop a better idea of what I could explore for my own exploration into the activity of using photography to break the rule of ownership.
freedom, to me connotes representations of one’s ability and right to be free to do what they want. it comes back to the idea that everyone in the world has a right to equal power, equal voice and equal opinion no matter what, as introduced by theorist Aleks Krotowski. freedom to me, discards any element of discrimination that may occur in this world and instead, replace it with joy and happiness among all. there should be no limitation on how one should live their life, but of course, this should be within reason. in this modern day, people can feel so isolated and dislocated form society due to the rest of the world’s population’s need to discriminate and bully. people should feel safe and as though their lives are a place of comfort and this comes from a collective effort to encourage freedom amongst all. a freedom to express ones opinions. a freedom to dress how you wish to. a freedom to be of a certain religion and for this not to matter. freedom equals joy and this concept of joy and love should prevail all aspects of limitation. however, freedom can have its downfalls and limitations, of course can be seen as beneficial as well. a freedom to access all information on the internet of the current, social media-driven world can be dangerous and can impact teenagers of society due to a lack of filters. for me, freedom is possible through clothes; fashion. freedom, for me is expression of myself and my personality and this for me is possible through the clothes I wear and how I present myself through my appearance – something I wish to explore in my exam.
breaking the word down
to be free is to be able to act or be done as one wishes; not under the control of another.
to be free means to not or no longer be confined or imprisoned.
freedom – define
(noun)
1.
the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants. right to, entitlement to, privilege, prerogative, due
2.
the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved. liberty, liberation, release, emancipation, deliverance, delivery, discharge, non-confinement, extrication, amnesty
quotes
freedom is the oxygen of the soul
people who do not move, do not notice their chains can you remember who you were before the world told you who you could be?
freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes
freedom is being you without anyone’s permission
education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom (George Washington)
for to be free is not merely yo cast off ones chains, but to live in a way that respects an enhances the freedom of others (Nelson Mandela
LIMITATION
what does limitation mean to me?
limitation, to me is how one may feel when trapped, isolated and in a state of no escape. this can be both in one’s mind and physically. limitation is the result of discrimination. as shown in less well-off countries in the world where children have little access the most simple of things we take for granted. limitation is the result of little money one may have. limitation can result in a dangerous outcomes and the consequences of limitation can be very negatively impactful. a limitation to the accessibility of help for mental issues is how one may become detached from the people that should be their most dear. a limitation is what can force one to believe they cannot do something, no matter what and no one should believe this; everyone can do what they wish and it comes back to the idea of equal rights, equal power and equal access. limitation is a weapon of choice for many people when stress becomes too much, when they attempt to avoid situations. limitation can result in the belief that nothing is possible. limitation should become motivation to do what you wish without the fear of being judged or doing it wrong. limits should be conquered. however, a limit can also be a positive concept. linking back to the point I made in ‘freedom’, a limit; a filter could be seen as a positive when referring to the easy accessibility of internet and what it provides. society can be harsh and one can see social media as a way to exploit the vulnerability of users. face value is not affected when on social media and is seen as an easy way to voice an opinion that the consequences of are not witnessed directly. limitation, for me is the lack of ability to be forward in my actions. I often hide-away when something is not what it seems; my sensitivity takes over. limitation for me is letting my negative thought and emotions become the engine of my body to the point of no return.
breaking the word down
to be limited is to be restricted in size, amount or extent; few, small or short.
limitation – define
(noun)
1.
a limiting rule or circumstance; a restriction. restriction, curb, restraint, constraint, control, check, clampdown, hindrance, impediment, obstacle, obstruction, bar, barrier, block, deterrent, inhibition, damper, brake, rein
2.
law
a legally specified period beyond which an action may be defeated or a property right does not continue.
quotes
the only limitations you will ever have are the ones you put on yourself
don’t limit your challenges, challenge your limits
know your limits, but never stop trying to exceed them
in imagination, there is no limitation
the fears we don’t face become our limits
you cannot put a limitation on anything
love the life you live. live the life you love (Bob Marley)
To aid my development of ideas for what I may wan to explore for my photography exam based around the concept of freedom and limitations, we were set a task to generate our ability to take photographs creatively when thinking about ways we can represent freedom/limitations. The task revolves around breaking a particular rule of photography that is deemed vital to follow and obey in order to create meaningful and quality imagery. However, we have been told to break one of these rules as a way of creating exciting art. Using this criteria as a way to create photographs also encapsulates the idea of freedom/limitations because I will purposely be breaking a rule of photography, resulting in much more freedom in the way I create art, even though photography is a very free means of expressing yourself and some people may like to believe there are no limits in photography. Expanding this to the extent of breaking rules allows me to even more free, however, I believe I may find this task quite difficult because even through I am breaking the typical conventions of photography, I will be focusing on how to represent how I have broken one particular rule and my thought processes when planning a shoot will be based around how I can show that I am breaking this particular rule. This may in fact limit my abilities to be creative in my processes and from my primary planning, I realised this unexpected difficultly in thinking about how I can break a rule of photography because I had never really thought about the rule even when I make photographs normally.
From looking at a video on YouTube which outlines a brief history of the artist John Baldessari, I was able to retrieve some primary inspiration for this new task that had I just been introduced to; to break a rule of photography. John Baldessari was a very controversial artist because he challenged the conventions of photography and did not conform to the norms of people of the industry were used to. He’s is an American conceptual artist known for his work with found archival photography and appropriated imagery. He used painting in his early work to become established in the create industry and eventually began using old found photographs and incorporating this into his art and graphic abilities and his eye for difference and ability to differentiate himself from the others at the time allowed him to make such a name for himself as he has done today. He works with light humor, and with materials and motifs that also reflect the influence of Pop art. In the video that introduces the work and history of Baldessari, it shows him famously burning all works he has ever produced form a period of 30 years in his career. This was a never-seen-before gesture and it shocked people because of this. He also, mid-way through his career and as a contributing factor to why he burnt his work, said that “I will no longer make boring art”. This was a way for him to encourage himself to create more exciting and controversial art. He focused on using typography and different text within his art and also worked with collage to create art.
Baldessari is a great example of breaking the rules of art and creativity because although it is is seen as a very free means of expressing yourself, it is often limited by social and culturally norms and expectations of who humans should behave. Using metaphorical means of expressing opinions and views is what Baldessari did and it has influenced the creative industry ever since. Often, breaking the rules is what we need to do in order to break from the comfort of familiarity and of what has been developed over such a period of time that it becomes a comfort. This ability to erase the once known comfort of creating “boring” art can inspire a more innovative way of creating art. Baldessari also sued the most simple forms of art to produce complex meanings, such as the use of coloured dots which covered faces of subjects in found photographs.
Here is the link to the article, entitled ‘Eight ‘rules’ of photography that are worth breaking’written by photographer and writer Lewis Bush which outlines the different rules of photography and examples of photographers who break them.
I have chosen to produce a mini response to the theme of breaking the rules of ‘ownership’. On Lewis Hine’s article on breaking the rules of rules photography, when he talks about the rule of ownership he says:
“Our world is a raging storm of images. Photo uploads to Facebook exceed 300 million per day, with Instagram seeing around 90 million.
As a photographer, it can feel futile to keep adding to this visual blizzard, when so much can be said with those that already exist. The solution, for some, lies in a creative attitude to the old-fashioned idea of ownership and copyright.
For seven years the French collector Thomas Sauvin harvested film negatives from Beijing’s vast dump, buying them from specialist scavengers who recycle the negatives for the valuable silver they contain.
In his hunt, Sauvin has created an archive of a million images that offers a unique insight into a pivotal period in modern Chinese history, from the tail end of Mao’s cultural revolution, to the economic success story of modern China.
Belgian artist Mishka Henner, meanwhile, works with images he finds online to dissect the motivations and power of their original producers.
In 51 US Military Outposts, he uses satellite imagery of US military bases around the world to probe the extent of this modern American empire. His interest in these images, he says, lies in the fact that “the people who are running the show, that’s the stuff they’re working with.”
I have chosen to produce a response to this rule as I think I could use some creative and unique ideas to produce a mini-project about ownership and what it means in relation to freedom and limitation. I already have a couple ideas about how I could present something surrounding this idea of how I can break the rule of ownership. My main idea incorporates the use of Instagram and how I can use concept of ownership relating to Instagram, the biggest photo sharing social media software in the world, to create a response to what ownership is and whether it actually matters if the image you, as a photographer uses is not yours. Photographers themselves take inspiration from all sorts of other artists round the world because without inspiration and subtle stealing of ideas, art can be boring and this essentially alludes to the idea that ownership of the work you display is not essential and showing the work of other artists to present meaning can be even more powerful.
On my return to school after half-term, we swiftly moved onto looking at the exam criteria and how we can build and generate ideas relating to the exam theme of Freedom and/or Limitations. The first task I completed in order to aid my development of ideas for I may wish to carry out for the exam, I gathered with a couple of other members of my class to create a brainstorm which outlined different keywords surrounding the concept of freedom/limitations. During the lesson we collectively came up with several; ideas in which we could possibly explore over the next few months. Considering freedom and limitation is such a broad criteria, it was relatively simple to come up with many ideas but also quite a challenge because it was difficult to transfer out ideas into how we would produce a series of photographic work surrounding it.
After out group task and then discussing our ideas a class afterwards, I decided to create an online mind map of what we had started thinking of. Below is the image if the online version of my mind map. I created this on a program called WordItOut which allowed me to insert specific works into the software and afterwards, it would generate a colourful and creative bundle of words of different sizes and colours to replicate the look of a mind map. This was a quick task I thought would benefit me as it allowed me to re-write what I had already written in the group task and it is presented in a creative way. This task was intended to allow me to pick a handful of keywords from the long list already created and create a more detailed mind map outlining the key words in more detail where I talk about what I could explore in each idea.
Freedom and limitation is very broad and so I have decided to quickly group together several keywords from each binary opposition. In my more detailed mind map I will divide the page into freedom and limitations and talk about a few possibilities for each. I am still unsure on what I actually want to explore for my project because it is so early on in the process but these tasks are intended to allow me opportunities to weigh up my most preferred options and discard the ideas I dislike to allow me the chance to understand more so what it is I want to carry out for my exam project.
As well a using my own knowledge of what freedom and limitations mean to me already, I will also utilise the exam booklet which I have been handed and this covers different starting points students cab use when they are exploring the subject of Photography. This mentions different artists and their works at which we can look at for inspiration as well as introduction to what freedom and limitation can entail and the history of art and visual communication in relation to freedom and limitation.
Below is a Word Docuemnt version of a more detailed look at different possibilities for what I could explore in my project. However these are pony starting ideas and it was an opportunity for me to quickly get my thoughts down about each category. When I progress further into the exam work, I will be required to think more carefully about what exactly it is I want to work on. The concept of looking at fashion as a means of freedom is something I am most attracted to and this was the first potential idea I thought of when the exam criteria was revealed because of my own passion for fashion and expressing myself through clothes, following trends and being unique in my own physical look. I already have an envision of what the final product could look like but still need to plan and research until the point at which I have several thoughts for different paths I can take.
