I have a degree in English.
I have trawled my way through Dickens, Defoe, Spencer’s The Fairie
Queene, medieval delights and Anglo Saxon battlegrounds. I’ve been enlightened by Shakespeare and the
American poets; liberated by Yeats.
I have spent many years since graduating working within the
confines of the rules applied to the English language. I have written copy, features, proposals,
information leaflets, letters, poems and the odd short story. I have overcome the mental block that stood
in my way when faced with grammar and its application.
I have found a way to use the tools available to me. And in turn those tools have helped me find
out more about who I am, what life experiences have taught me and where I belong
in the world around me.
As I approach the end of this module The Art of Photography I know what makes me tick and although I can
communicate that through words I now have to explore the reality of
communicating it visually. Visual
language is an entirely new proposition.
I’ve been reading Maria Short’s book Context and Narrative and several questions have arisen about my
work to date and where I go to from here.
How do I communicate my ideas visually? How do I breathe life into a
concept? How do I ensure audience engagement? What technical considerations do I need to
contemplate?
In her book Short describes what’s needed to be a
photographer…”you need to be passionate about communicating ‘something’, as
this will inform every choice you make in relation to your work.” She
continues, “you also need to interested in the world around you; you need to be
interested in things beyond photography. The substance of
the work is in your commitment to your subject, as this will show in your
photographs, this commitment will make your photographs breathe; this is how
your personalise your work. If you are
clear about why you are photographing your subject then you can choose how to
photograph your subject, and in turn this should help your audience interpret
the photograph.”
This is the way you communicate your ideas; this is visual
language; this is how you develop your voice.
There’s a three-way relationship between photographer,
subject and audience – a communication triangle. The treatment of the subject by the
photographer and the visual language applied has a direct influence on how the
audience interprets the picture in front of them or if they care to interpret
it at all.
Picture making is not divorced from the photographer’s life
experiences and beliefs. In many images
the influence of the photographer is apparent.
They construct the image, it is a trace of what they see and how they
want the audience to render meaning from it.
What is a photograph?
It is an image of the past, a moment that was captured and
frozen in time. It is a document of what
happened or what was present.
Photographs can be simply records, like medical or forensic
images, or they can be something more.
They can tell a story.
The key to a successful photograph is engaging with the
subject.
A photograph is a way of expressing an idea, of developing a
concept and of storytelling.
What is narrative?
A narrative is basically a way of telling a story. It usually has a beginning, middle and
end. In photography, a visual narrative
works slightly differently. It can have
the basic structure of beginning, middle and end or it might simply imply what
has happened in the past or is about to occur.
It may be a fictional interpretation of a given person, place, thing or
moment.
Linear narrative
In photography a narrative can take be communicated in a
linear sense, but it can also be cyclical.
It can be a series or images or a single one. It can be a collection of images that only
make sense when brought together.
Visual continuity
Images can be linked by using visual continuity whether that
is weather, subject, location or another linking factor.
Sequential narratives
Narratives can also be sequential stories or journeys like a
pilgrimage that takes you from A to B.
Visual punctuation
Visual punctuation includes the breaking of the sequence by
including a black and white image or one of a different size – something that
interrupts the flow. It can be a one
off.
Juxtaposition can help raise an argument or present a
question; the tension between hot and cold, light and dark for example.
The eye of the camera also plays a role. Is the eye a fourth wall, the eye of the
subject or the eye of the viewer/audience?
Symbols and signs
The study of signs is called semiotics.
To familiarise use with the models and terminology we can
look at the work of two philosophers.
Ferdinand de Saussure
Dyadic approach. The
signifier (form which the sign takes) and the signified (the idea/concept it
represents).
Charles Sanders Peirce
Three tiered approach
Representament – the form the sign takes
Interpretant – the sense made of the sign
Object – to which the sign refers.
Barthes on a more basic level looked at the ‘studium’ which
he described as the general interest in an image and the ‘punctum’ which
arrests the attention.
Symbol
Something that represents something else. In this case the signifier does not represent
the signified – this relationship must be learned like rules or language.
Icons
The signifier is perceived as resembling the signified or
imitating the signified. For example, in
a portrait, cartoon, with gestures or sound effects etc.
Indexicality
Indexical signifier is physically or casually linked to the
signified. This link can be observed or
inferred. Natural signs like smoke =
heat, footprints = footsteps.
Indexicality is very important to photography because it is
a literal ‘trace’ of the original subject according to Peirce.
Visual Metaphor
Use of a subject as a visual metaphor for something the
photographer wishes to express. This can
be seen in the work of Short herself in her collection Gall. In this body of work she uses a horse as a visual metaphor to
“express how I felt about the challenges that faced young women in relation to
their sense of identity and social placing.”
This enabled her to raise questions such as “when is
protection suppression? When is freedom a cliché?”
Enigma and truth
An enigma is something inexplicable. We can capture something that looking back
can never be explained like someone’s actions or an event.
The truth always brings up the question of ethics in photography. The camera never lies has long been
discounted and even more so today.
Photographers are often faced with situations where visually strong
images are captured in a fast moving environment that present questions
surrounding ethics and integrity.
These fleeting moments are part of the visual language and
may represent an idea or concept that can become emblematic or metaphorical.
