Exercise
All three of these projects are examples of personally driven work but they become universal when we can relate to the feelings they present by visiting our own personal histories.
• Which of these projects resonates most with you, and why?
• How do you feel about the loss of authorial control that comes when the viewer projects their own experiences and emotions onto the images you’ve created?
Although I cannot directly relate to Peter Mansell’s injury I am given an amazing insight into his world. I am interested in the fact that I am being shown something I would not ordinary see from a very personal viewpoint. He successfully shows us the small minute, often banal elements. It is interesting as it is something I am looking towards for my next assignment, although I am attempting to show something I do not have directly but an acquired knowledge.
I also connected with Jodie Taylor’s work surrounding childhood, I think most of her images would be familiar to people growing up and the pathways and remains of everyone’s childhood places can often be found, I explored similar areas in my first assignment in EYV.
I didn’t relate to Dewald Botha’s Ring Road images, perhaps because I felt no personal connection to the spaces portrayed.
In terms of loss of authorial control, I do not see this as a problem but rather an interesting dialect that is opened between the photographer and the viewer. If I intend to direct the viewer to one conclusion in an image then I presume I would need to include text or strong signposts to ensure I take them there. However I believe images are to be interpreted and the journey it takes a viewer on can be equally as interesting as the reason for creating the image. The viewer is often expected to ‘relate’ to an image or to read a story and construct an ending, each persons view is unique, there should be no right or wrongs. The fact that an image can open up someone’s own experiences or emotions is a job well done whatever they may be.
Wendy Rose Context & Narrative 