Assignment 6: Pre-assessment tutorial

During my tutorial for my fifth assignment, my tutor and I discussed how I would present my work for assessment. Now that I have completed the course, it is very satisfying to look back through my work to see how far I’ve come during this module. Overall, there doesn’t appear to be much that I need to change. I agree with my tutor’s view that my work is very much at an experimental stage, due to the very nature of the photography that I have produced. This is very much like the current nature of digital photography. It is continually evolving and reinventing itself.

Almost ten years ago, I began studying photography with the Open College of the Arts. At the very start, I was encouraged to ‘find my voice’ and develop my own photographic style. As my studies have progressed, I believe I am closer to achieving this. However, the ever-evolving nature of photography has meant that I have had to adapt and refine my own practice.

Digital Image and Culture has enabled me to address how images can be created, manipulated and distributed in the digital-age. By reviewing my assignments and coursework, I can see what motivates me and my photography. I am fascinated by the fragility of the digital images which we faithfully upload to servers and clouds. Our digital family albums consist of bits and bytes of data, which magically appear on the screens of our digital devices.

Throughout this course I have been very mindful of my assessment feedback for previous L2 Landscape course. The assessors had referred to the potential of my work being let down by its presentation. It was my first Level 2 course and I naively thought that I could submit samples in a similar fashion as I did at Level 1. Therefore, I am going to consider my submission for this assessment much more carefully.

Since my course officially finished in December, I won’t be able to submit my work for the next assessment event in March. Therefore, I have chosen the July assessment date instead. This will give me enough time to prepare my work properly.

Assignment 1: Coalition  

Since the first part of this assignment was to create composite images from printed photographs, I will present these as the original pieces of artwork. There is also an animated gif, which I will need to slow down. For the second part of this assignment, I will print a large version of the digitally manipulated images of my son.

Assignment 2: Contactless

This was the first photo book that I had ever made. It enabled me to also explore the use of different materiaIs and their qualities. Using transparent sheets enabled me to communicate on a much deeper level than just opaque paper. I thoroughly enjoyed the process, but acknowledge my tutor’s view that the images are very close to the gutter. He has advised that I submit it as it is for assessment, since I have learnt from my mistakes by producing a photo book for my 5th assignment.

Assignment 3: Critical Review

My essay will be printed and uploaded to the G Drive, ready for assessment. I have made all of the formatting changes that my tutor recommended.

Assignment 4: Digital Identities

This assignment was a transitional moment for me. The images that I produced for this assignment were not used for Assignment 5. However, I will provide the assessors with a sample of the images that I produced, since they illustrate the development of my ideas.

Assignment 5: Glitched

A photo book of glitched images, with QR code links to related online images. My tutor has suggested that some pages have too many images on. I did this to represent the many pixels which make up each image. However, my tutor’s feedback has made me question myself about this. It is still possible to identify aspects of the original photographs, when looking at all of the constituent parts. In order to stress how a new piece of artwork can be produced by being ‘glitched’, I will choose one image to represent each glitched photograph. These will be presented as a photo book, with the QR code linking to the online images. The camera app on any smart phone should be able to view the QR-coded image, without the need to download any app.

Learning Log

Following earlier tutor feedback, I have reorganised my blog. Therefore, I need to ensure all tags and categories correctly direct the assessors, and other visitors, to the correct content.

Exercise 4.3: Similar but different: memes, cloning and replication

Ever since I first read through my course file, I have been looking for inspiration for this exercise. Memes are becoming an increasingly popular way to express thoughts about current affairs. I’m often in awe with how quick-witted social media users can be when they upload their memes. 

Then, whilst I was watching the England v Panama World Cup match, I found my inspiration. It seemed that the Panama defence would do anything to stop Kane and co from scoring. At times, it really did seem like a wrestling match. After a brief image search of wrestling on Google, I found the image below. I chose it because of the red trousers being worn by the wrestler on the right - it was the same colour as England’s shirts. I then used Adobe Spark to type the final score over the top of the image. 

Exercise 4.2: Panopticism

Michael Foucault’s theory of ‘panopticism’ begins with an account about how, during the end of the seventeenth century, a syndic would ensure that anyone suffering from the plague remained locked away in their home. It was the syndic’s responsibility to keep the street under surveillance, and reports information to the intendant of the quarter, until the quarantine is over. However, if the syndic fails in his duty, then they will be killed. The documenting information about each inhabitant reminds me of how our every click on the Internet is registered, for others to scrutinise and take advantage of. By keeping a watch on each person, the state is able to control the behaviour of its society.

Foucault continues by refering to Bentham’s Panopticon, whereby a solitary prison guard is able to watch every prisoner by standing in central tower, due to the circular arrangement of the prison cells. By constantly having a bright light shone at them, each inmate was unsure when he wasn’t being watched. Subsequently, this created perception of always being watched. Therefore, they adapted their behaviour, to ensure that they weren’t punished for something that had been caught doing.

Even over 70 years later, panopticism remains a feature of our society, in an attempt to exert control and power over our behaviour. For example, speed cameras are capable of ensuring that we regulate our speed whilst driving, even though there is always the possibility that the camera might not have any film in it. Just the very presence of the yellow camera is often enough for drivers to reduce their speed.

Furthermore, CCTV cameras and automatic number plate recognition record our every move. We even contribute to the surveillance of ourselves and others, by using dashcams and taking selfies. We are creating millions of pieces of data about our every day actions. When shared with others, we are then judged by our actions.

Reference

Foucault, M. (1977) Discipline and Punish London: Penguin

Assignment 5: Digital identities 2

Mega amounts of pixels are arranged on flat, led screens, providing the viewer with an ultra-high definition representation of an image. Mobile phone companies have literally pushed their displays to the edge with borderless screens. Despite this, the digital images that can be swiped across these screens only exist because of the individual pixels that they are made from. Whilst millions of users put their faith in this technology to capture and store their memories, a loose connection, or a dropped device, could easily corrupt an image file, rendering it useless. The more pixels used to create an image, the more prone it is to becoming corrupt.

The vulnerability of digital images was made clear to me when my Camera stopped working, whilst I was photographing my son playing football. It had started to rain quite heavily and my camera stopped working. Luckily, the photos on the memory card were ok, but it made me realise that digital isn’t indestructible. I started to look through, and back up my digital archive. I started to notice images that were similar to my most memorable photographs from my own childhood. The photographs that I was taking of my sons was similar to the photographs that my dad had taken of my brother and I. For example, celebrating football achievements, birthday parties, and family portraits. Despite the thousands of images that I’ve taken, those that were similar to my favourite childhood photographs stuck in my mind the most. It is as if they’re imprinted in my mind, to the extent that I would still be able to see them if the image had a glitch.

Following my Assignment 4 tutorial, I decided to develop the idea of glitching photographs which were contextually similar to my past and present. This meant researching photographers who had experimented this aesthetic and the technicalities of doing it. Some digital artists, such as Melanie Willhide and Sabato Visconti, have embraced this flaw in digital imagery, producing new artwork. Glitch art is made by forcing errors within the image’s data, using techniques such as data bending, data moshing, and hex editing. The fact that you could tamper with the internal construction of an image’s raw data really appealed to me.

At first I used Apple’s TextEdit to delete and copy text imported from an image.  also tried inserting text which was directly related to the image. The results ranged from absolutely no difference, to altering the colour, contrast and composition of the photograph. My skills-based research also included using Glitch Photo and Hex editor apps. Again, the results with these were quite varied. Wanting to push the boundaries further, I began databending photographs by importing them into Audacity and applying different audio effects, such as reverb and echo. During this entire process, I was curious to find out what the effect of my tampering would have on the resulting image. This reminded me of when I was younger, opening a packet of developed film photographs, to see how they had turned out. 

Outcome

Since my images were inspired by both analog and digital, I wanted this to be reflected in the final product. Therefore, I have created a photo book which uses QR codes to link to a digital version of the original image with its glitched copy. The photo book shows enlarged screen shots of glitched photographs, and the photographs have been chosen due to their similarity between past and present. Subsequently, both analog and digital photographs inhabit both contexts. QR codes in the book provide a link to the original and glitched photos. This represents my memory of the photographs, beyond the surface level of the original image. There is no need to see a perfectly preserved photograph of the moment it was captured. Each image remains vivid in my mind, because I was there to experience those moments.

The Photo Book

Frustratingly, I only encountered glitch art towards the end of my research for this assignment. If I had more time, I could have explored this in much more detail. Since it is a relatively new photographic art form, I would like to develop my ideas further. Also, this will be my second and final Level 2 course, so I am considering whether Level 3 would provide me with an opportunity to challenge myself and the limits of digital imaging. 

Brothers

Family

First Football Team

Trophies

Snow Days

Self-evaluation

When I first started my work for both assignment 4 and 5, I had no idea what my final outcome would be. At first, I had considered selfies, but my desire to challenge myself and push myself further has led me to this point, producing work which I never envisaged at the start of this course. My tutor has really helped me to refine my thinking, and to consider the process involved in the image making. Before that, I had always jumped to the final product and produce work to fulfil that. However, this time, by developing my own practice and considering the work of other practitioners, such as Melanie Willhide and Sabato Visconti, I have arrived at a much more meaningful outcome.

Since this is the final assignment of my final Level 2 course, I am thinking towards Level 3 and my next step. Glitch art and the role of photography is something I’ve become interested in and would like more time to delve deeper into the subject. Therefore, it could be a possibility for me at Level 3.

Research

https://kernelmag.dailydot.com/issue-sections/features-issue-sections/12265/glitch-art-history/

http://www.theperipherymag.com/on-the-arts-glitch-it-good/

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Eelco_Den_Heijer/publication/253650085_Evolving_Glitch_Art/links/02e7e51fa332abad3c000000/Evolving-Glitch-Art.pdf?origin=publication_detail

http://www.redefinemag.com/2014/glitch-art-expression-through-an-aesthetic-rooted-in-error/

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17514517.2017.1295711

https://digital-photography-school.com/make-abstract-glitch-art-photographs/

http://worldpicturejournal.com/WP_6/Manon.html

https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1081&context=communication_theses

http://digicult.it/articles/the-punctum-as-glitch-in-contemporary-art/

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/oct/25/rise-of-glitch-art

http://www.academia.edu/Documents/in/Glitch_Art

https://www.wired.com/2014/08/supranav-dash-pixel-studies/

https://ucnv.github.io/pnglitch/

Melanie Willhide

Not many people would be grateful to have their house burgled. However, if Adrian Rodriguez hadn’t stolen her laptop, then who knows how Melanie Willhide’s photography career would have turned out. When her lap top had been returned, Willhide discovered that her photo files had been corrupted. Instead of attempting to repair the damage, she embraced the situation and enhanced the distorted images.

To Adrian Rodriguez with love, © Melanie Willhide

Whilst Melanie Willhide has had an input into her final images, it is interesting to consider who can lay claim to them. Is it the burglar? After all if it wasn’t for his action then the images wouldn’t have been corrupted. Is the computer responsible? If it wasn’t for the lap top corrupting the files, then the art work would not have been as significant. Or is it Melanie Willhide? She had the artistic vision to pursue the concept of glitch art and apply this to her work.

As digital technology progresses, it can be difficult to determine where the photographer’s intervention ends and the computer’s begins. Whilst Willhide used Photoshop to enhance some of her images, I want to rely on the random possibilities of the image file corrupting. Therefore, I won’t be using Photoshop to manipulate any of my images.

Reference

https://slate.com/culture/2013/01/melanie-willhide-to-adrian-rodriguez-with-love-photos.html [Accessed 27/10/18]