Edited • Chair

I used Photoshop CS5 to edit out the photograph frame, wall box and curtain hook to the left of the curtain, as Lawrence and my fellow peers said they were too distracting from the photograph. I used the healing brush, and cloned sections of the wall to cover the box and frame and used sections from the curtain to cover the hook. I feel, now, this works better as there is nothing to distract from the chair and surrounding area.

Research • OCD

OCD is one of the most common disorders in people, affecting different ages including children. It is estimated that one in every 50 people suffer from the disorder, and is experienced by many healthy people with no other problems. A lot of people I know have slight indicators of OCD, such as "touching wood" when something bad is said, and checking windows and doors a few times before going out for the day. I, myself, suffer from slight OCD, I always have to wash my hands at work every 15 minutes or have to wear gloves as I get an extreme sense of uncleanliness and they feel horrible. However, for OCD suffers, they have an unending cycle of obsessive thoughts which can take over their lives.

There are two different categories of OCD, "Obsessions" and "Compulsions". Obsessions are intrusive images, ideas or thoughts, which keep coming into the suffers mind, despite trying to resist them and think about something else. Although the thoughts are the persons own, they find it difficult to ignore them and can lead to severe anxiety and worry. Obsessions can be grouped by theme, and are as follows; dirt and contamination, hoarding or collecting, ordering, religion and morality, aggressive thoughts, sexual thoughts or the constant worry of making mistakes. However, compulsions are repetitive acts or behaviours that the suffer thinks they must carry out, even though they know they are irrational or not needed. These compulsions can also be grouped and are as follows; cleaning and washing, checking, hoarding or saving, repeating, ordering and needing to follow their own rules everyday.

When I discussed my idea for my project with Lawrence and my fellow peers, they all agreed that the idea was a strong idea and should be back up by research and a full understanding of the condition so my photographic work will reflect my knowledge. This book has given me a full understanding of the condition, how it can effect peoples lives and what pairs with OCD, such as anxiety, substance misuse and relationship problems. I am also now in understanding that I have a small form of OCD due to me washing my hands all the time at work and after, as well as ordering items and keeping my room clean (and if it is not, I become anxious and distressed). I plan to take some experiments, and they are as follows:

1) A series of photographs showing the same chair, as my initial shot, and then a photograph of someone washing their hands, I will then repeat this pattern but cleaning something or moving something in the shot of the chair, to make it appear like the person has to obsessively clean the area until it is fully clean, but wash their hands every 5 minutes or so

2) A series of photographs, again, showing the chair, and then a photograph of a child washing their hands, repeating this pattern again throughout the set, but the pair of hands seems to age (i.e. child, teenager, adult, elder), showing the long lasting effects of OCD and how some people hid the condition and don't tell anyone throughout their whole life

3) A series of photographs where the chair and window are stationary, and outside a pile of leaves is forming, every second shot, the leaves get cleaned up, but the cycle repeats. This would show that the person is not happy until the scene is clean, and it doesn't matter if they have to do it all day

4) A series of photographs showing the chair and window, and the shot stays stationary, but the furniture or floor keeps getting cleaned, so a slow shutter speed shot is shown of the person frantically cleaning or hoovering. Therefore, we do not see the persons identity, but we see that they are cleaning

References: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, The Essential Guide by Joanna Jast, 2011, ISBN 978-1-86144-084-6

Feedback • Initial Ideas 01/10/2013

I presented my Powerpoint to my peers and Lawrence today during a discussion and feedback session, and was surprised by the ideas that were given by my fellow peers and some ideas that stemmed in my head because of critical feedback. I developed three ideas over the course of the weekend based on my keyword of "Seat" and took photographs to begin with.

My first idea focuses on the concept of the repetition of the daily routine. I decided to photograph an armchair as the first in the narrative as a lot of people have a morning coffee or their breakfast whilst sat in their houses, so I thought the armchair would be a good indicator of this. I also researched into Autism and how people who have Autism display some signs of repetitive behaviour, as well as people who suffer from extreme OCD who follow a ritualistic routine daily, and get upset or anxious if they do not.

I discussed this idea with my group, and I was given feedback to continue with this narrative, but concentrate more on OCD and the clinical methods that they use throughout the home. As my peers could see, this photograph is very clean and clinical, and although this was intentional, people commented on how some features are distracting, such as the view of the television in the far right hand corner, and the power box next to the curtain. These can be easily Photoshopped out or moved, but I left them in in this particular photograph to set the entire scene, and then flaws could be seen by my peers and changed. Warren came up with a good point of taking a series of static shots, of the exact same scene, and changing something in every shot, like the person suffering from OCD has to constantly correct their living space. I like this idea, as it really makes the person think about what is different and why things have changed.

I am going to experiment with different ideas and concepts for the next few weeks, and see what works best. I plan to place some leaves by the window, and have them being moved in the second shot, and repeating itself during the narrative. I also mentioned to my peers that I wanted to experiment with film and make a narrative film based on this persons experiences, I have worked with Premier Pro before and would like to learn more about sound and the uses of it. I plan to read more into OCD and look at the medical side of the condition, as well as reading into how sound can impact a film and change emotions.

My second idea is relating to the idea of memories that individual people have of the same place. I photographed a bench in a park as people can have good or bad memories about that particular bench i.e. first kiss, broke up with boyfriend, found out bad news etc. I was thinking of photographing a series of events on this bench, where the start and end is the bench being empty. Maybe a argument between two people, which ends in the two people walking away and leaving the bench empty once more, or a family growing up and the problems and happy times they face on one particular bench. This bench is actually where me and my fiancé first kissed, and probably holds many more memories for us as well as other people.

I then photographed this from three different angles. The first angle was sideways from above; I felt that this gave the photograph a sense of spying on someone, like a bird watching over someone. The second is of the actual benches structure, where you can see the grain in the wood of the bench and the depth of field compliments this. However, I don’t think this would work as part of a narrative; it is too close and doesn’t give any sense of story behind this. The final viewpoint I took was a slow shutter speed of someone getting up from the bench. I thought this was a good idea if I wanted to use a model in my narrative but the model would not be recognised, and the blur gives a sense of secrecy.

My final idea, and granted not my strongest, is based on the idea of Duane Michals and his thought provoking narratives where you zoom out in every image. I took a photograph of this desk as Michals often started with a normal scene and a desk was something I see all the time and I am sure everyone else does too.  I then plan to zoom out and make a confusing narrative, which then relates back to the first image, much like Michals did. I’m not overly keen on this idea and it’s definitely my least favourite one to pursue.

Research • Autism and Aspergers

Autism

Autism is a lifelong developmental disability which is part of the "autism spectrum" and is sometimes referred to as ASD. The word "spectrum" is used because, while people with Autism share three areas of difficulty, their disability will affect them in different ways; some are able to to live normal lives without support, whilst some will require a lifetime of assistance.

The three main areas of difficulty which all people with Autism share are sometimes known as the "triad of impairments", and they are as follows:

• difficulty with social communication

• difficulty with social interaction

• difficulty with social imagination

People with Autism find it hard to understand body language, and therefore, cannot understand when people are feeling annoyed or happy etc. Also, socialising does not come naturally to them, where we can go out and talk to anyone in the given situation, they close up and have to learn how to speak to people like it's a language.

Another characteristic is the love of routines. The leaflet produced by The National Autistic Society says "One young person with Autism attended a day service. He would be dropped off by taxi, walk up to the door of the day service, knock on it and be let in. One day, the door opened before he could knock and a person came out. Rather than go in through the open door, he returned to the taxi and began the routine again".

The world can seem a confusing place to someone suffering with Autism, so they feel the need to repeat a routine to feel safe. This way, they know exactly what is going to happen everyday. This routine can extend to wanting to travel the same way to and from school or work, or eat exactly the same food everyday. Rule can also come into this characteristic, where they find it difficult to change their ways if they have been taught something a different way. However, people suffering from Autism can cope well if they are prepared in advance.

Aspergers

Aspergers is a form of Autism, but people with Aspergers suffer from the symptoms less than someone with Autism, and they do not experience language delays that people suffering with Autism do. Children with Aspergers may only be mildly affected and have good language skills, and to someone who does not know anything about the condition, they may just think the child is normal, but behaving slightly differently. Children with Autism often seem uninterested in others, however, children with Aspergers want to fit in and have interaction with others, they just don't know how to do it. 

The leaflet I read also commented on the love of routines, and said "If I get anxious I get in a fizz. I have a timetable; it helps me to see what I have to do next, otherwise I get confused."

Upon reading these leaflets and articles, I began to look at how I could incorporate this into my photographic work. The love of routines fits in well with my initial thoughts, as I wanted to show someone following a daily routine to the T.

The National Autistic Society - What is Autism?

The National Autistic Society - What is Asperger Syndrome?

http://www.autism-society.org/about-autism/aspergers-syndrome/

Research • Sam Taylor-Wood

Sam Taylor-Wood is a filmmaker, photographer and visual artist, and I am going to analyse her self portrait works that she has produced.

I love Sam Taylor-Wood's work because of the eerieness but safeness of the shots. This photograph is taken from a collection called "Gracefully Suspended", where she explores the ideas of gravity and weightlessness and "places herself in situations where her interior and external sense of self is in conflict" (My Modern Metropolis, 2009)

This is the collection of self portraits titled "Bram Stoker's Chair Series". I have always wondered about these photographs, why has the chair not got a shadow? Is there some importance as to why she is only highlighted in the shadows? I think this series focusses on her darker side, which is why she is only highlighted in the shadows. The shadows are mimicking her at the moment, but later on in the series, or if she were to continue it, the shadows could walk away, or not copy her anymore, becoming a lone entity and leading its own life? If this were a circular narrative, the shadow could move away, and then the main character (in this series, the main character being Sam Taylor-Wood herself), could retrieve her shadow and put it back where it belongs, ending back at the first photograph. This would be my idea if I had the keyword "light", but alas, I do not.

Research - Jeff Wall

I have studied the work of Jeff Wall before and always found his work extremely interesting in terms of narrative and storyline hidden deep within the images.

In this photograph, I can see a man, facing away from the camera, in a room full of bulbs and lights, a well illuminated room. The room is chaotic, messy, but a typical artists workplace (we like to work in mess and chaos sometimes!). He seems to be engrossed in what he is doing, although I am not sure what it could be. Jeff Wall produces a lot of staged narrative photograph, and this is a great example. You can almost hear the man in the photograph's cry for help, maybe the lights are a desperate attempt to get someone to notice him, save him from a nightmare he is living? Or maybe he feels content in his room, and the lights make him feel warm and happy? If I could see the mans face I would be more certain, but Wall has been clever and hidden it, so it becomes an open structural narrative!

Research • Duane Michals

Duane Michals is the king of the narrative, through his step by step photographic like 'movie' he produces. I have chosen two pieces of his photographic work to analyse, both following the narrative approaches we have learnt about.

"The Fallen Angel" is a piece of narrative I am familiar with and viewed in a gallery some years ago. If I was to place Duane Michals work in a narrative approach, I would place it in a "open structure", as the conclusion is not definite and we are left to make our own decisions. What is happening? Where is the mystery man going? Has he taken anything? We are also made to look at the photograph in more detail to try and answer our questions and come to a conclusion.

This is a circular narrative, the types of imagery we have been focussing on in our research as they relate exclusively to our final outcome. The beginning photographs shows a bathroom that looks normal, or so we think. We then see that the bathroom is small, and someone has put their foot in it. This makes us feel confused, we have misjudged the situation and now know the bathroom is a fake, it is very small and unreal! The third shows Duane Michals himself in the room with his foot in the middle. Why? What is he doing? The fourth shows the previous photograph in a book, possibly being held by Duane himself, talking about his photography and ways and means of doing things. The fifth is a zoomed out shot of this, not revealing much more apart from the person is sitting down to read! The whole narrative plays on our perceptions and come back to the place we started.

Susan Bright • Art Photography Now

"Art Photography Now" by Susan Bright examines the concept of the narrative and how photographers use them to develop their work. She describes a narrative as becoming the "most synonymous with contemporary art photography"

"The term narrative suggests a story, and therefore movement. A story needs to progress in order to be told" I was thinking about this concept in regards to a circular narrative and understand my narrative has to have structure to develop as a story, much like a film.

Research • Dina Goldstein

Dina Goldstein's work focusses on the work of the hidden fairytale, the fairytale that has not been told and the truth behind it in modern day society. Her collection is titled "Fallen Princesses" and focusses on the commonly known Disney Princesses and their downfall in the modern age. Beauty from Beauty and the Beast has been given excessive plastic surgery, The Little Mermaid is locked up in a tank at a aquariaum and Snow White has become a young mother with a lazy, couch potato husband.

This, I feel, is the best edited photograph from the series. The Little Mermaid was my favourite Disney fairytale when I was a child, so seeing it portrayed in this way makes me think of how innocent my childhood was and how times have changed when growing up. When we were younger, our minds were protected from the wrong doings in society. Sex, drugs and 'rock and roll', to coin a popular phrase, were hidden from our innocent eyes and we were not educated on the bad things that existed. I feel that this series of images plays with that, opening our eyes to the wrong side of fairytales.

This is the most hard hitting photograph, and I picked it as I wanted to speak about it from a photographical point of view, as well as a personal point of view. The image is very clean, also clinical, everything is laid out in a particular fashion meaning the image is not too clumsy and busy. The main focus of the photograph is the girl without her hair, clutching it inbetween her hands. There also seems to be a glow around her head, like a white light radiating from her. Now, from a personal point of view, I think this image represents, again, the innocent in children of the modern age. A lot of children are not aware of illnesses like cancer until it affects their family, I think this advertisement should be used as a campaign for children's cancer awareness, in an attempt to raise knowledge in the younger generation.

Research • Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman is one of my favourite photographers of all time, but when we started this brief, I never looked at her work from a narrative point of view, more of a self portrait and technical point of view. I have decided to investigate the narrative of two photographs, both from the "Film Stills" collection.

Cindy Sherman always used herself in her film still images, which also provoked some questions in my head. Why has she used herself? Is this a reference to her life, dressing up to remain anonymous to the world perhaps? Maybe she has some deeper concerns within her life, like anxiety or confidence issues which make her take on a different persona in her imagery?

Throughout her entire body of work, Sherman investigates particular traits within women's roles in society. Above, looks to be the typical house wife. The pan in the foreground blurred by depth of field and the washing up liquid next to her suggests she is a stay at home housewife, or maybe a busy businesswoman who does the cleaning at night after a day at the office? However, the way she is glancing off to the side suggests that she is not happy with this everyday, maybe she is wondering how to get away and start afresh? Cindy Sherman's narratives leave a lot to be explored, and a lot of questions are raised in my mind. The who, what, where, when and why is asked, which is good when I need to analyse the work of others.

First Impressions • Initial Brief

Back at University for another year, and I was briefed today by Lawrence Giles on our first module of the year "Areas of Photographic Practice A". The module seems to be quite interesting and something that will challenge us as individuals and as a collective.

We started off by looking at a slideshow of work that delves into the narrative format by photographers such as Duane Michals, Cindy Sherman, Karen Knorr, Colin Blakely, Red Saunders and Dina Goldstein. All these photographers presented their work in a conceptually driven way, with a strong and powerful story. I really liked the work of Dina Goldstein, I had come across her work before but did not know the name of the photographer, therefore, I could not personally research more into her practice as a photographer and any other sets of photographs she has produced. At first I was unsure what the brief was asking us to do, but then it became clear when I was given my keyword.

"SEAT" is my keyword, which can involve a vast amount of things. Since I received this work, ideas have been going over and over in my head as to what I can produce relating to this image. The thought that keeps repeating itself is the thought that people automatically think that seats are stationery, and you don't move in them. This lead me to think about transport seats, such as bus, train and bicycle seats and the effort that is made to use them. I also thought of the impact of the "routine", and how people can fall into a routine, whether it be to go to work or school, or just a general routine when they have a day off.

We also learnt about narrative codes and structures, and what they mean. I learnt that "open structures" have no set perceptions, you are left to think what you think and not drawn to a certain end, such as a cliffhanger in a film. A "close structure" is quite the opposite, there are set perceptions that you must follow and the story always come to a conclusion, and a certain one at that. Then there are "circular structures", which are the ones we are focussing on in this module. The ending is the starting point, they share the same photograph or scene and relate back to each other. We then started to discuss films we had seen that fit the pathway of a circular structure, I thought of the film "Momento" where the main character has 5 minute amnesia and forces himself to remember, but the film runs in a backwards fashion, meaning we learn more about his past further through the film. Other people also discuss the circular narratives of "Kill Bill 1 and 2", "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", "Pulp Fiction" and "500 Days of Summer". I have not seen these films, but make it my aim to watch at least one to get more of an understanding of the circular structure.