Exercise 2: Reviewing your broad themes
Begin by browsing the Source Texts and Case Studies and make notes of at least 5 broad themes you can identify that interest you. Identify at least 2 source texts or case studies that you can work through to help develop your own practice and have these ready to support your Project 4 work. List other possible broad themes that you think could have potential for yourself, your peers or other practitioners that interest you.
Make notes in your learning log.
Source Texts in support of Projects 3 and 4
- “Look at Me!” – The Representation of Self
- Removing The Figure
- Documentary Depictions and Dilemmas
- Documentary Fictions
- Landscape As Research
- Landscape and Identities
- Still Life To Explore Identity
- Case Study: Backwards and Forwards in Time
- Self Portraiture and the Colonial Gaze
- Colin Pantall: Where We Look and What We Show
- Case Study: Andy Hughes, Hermosa Beach
- Landscape As Political Text
- Documentary Deconstruction
Themes
10 months ago, through an opportunity at work, I moved from London to Dubai in the UAE. I had been to Dubai many times but never expected to live there. Although it’s part of the UAE and Arabic, its population is roughly 90% ex-pats supporting the government policy of diversifying the economy using brain and brawn to achieve its ambitions. It’s a city of continuous growth, sprung rapidly from the coastal desert starting in the 70s. Like all boomtowns, it attracts all sorts as they flock to the honeypot to make their fortune-myself included, I guess.
As a photographer, I sometimes have a heightened or amplified sense of my surroundings, and lately, I’ve found myself trying to make sense of Dubai; what makes it tick?, what shapes it?… As I begin to express this photographically and to give me a better focus, I have decided to explore the following themes including:
- Landscape
- Identity
- Environment
- Power
These themes are interrelated and overlap, and I’m hoping they will help me focus on the different lines of investigation for a coherent series about Dubai.
“Images, being partial and often either exaggerated or understated, may be accurate or inaccurate. They result from stereotyping, which over-simplifies groups of places from within a region, or from prejudices towards places or their inhabitants. A set of core images forms a widely disseminated and commonly held set of images of a place or space. These form a relatively stable group of ideas in currency, reinforced by their communication value as conventions circulating in a discursive economy.
Places on the Margin, Rob Shields (2002: 60- 61).
The source texts that I’ve used to help me include:
- Landscape and Identities
- Anthropocene -Human Impact on the Environment
- Narrative and Represenation
Landscape
Landscapes are integral to shaping and expressing the identity of a place, as well as the people connected to it.
- Interconnectedness of People and Place: identity is shaped not only by cultural, historical, and social factors but also by environmental and ecological elements. This relationship creates a dynamic exchange that evolves over time.
- British Landscape and National Identity: During the Second World War, propaganda and cultural portrayals were crucial in embedding the British landscape and countryside as powerful symbols of national pride. This runs deep in the British sense of identity.
- Cultural Stereotypes: Landscapes (and the notion of a landscaped scene) are used to perpetuate stereotypes, such as the idyllic rural scenes often portrayed in media. While culturally ingrained, these images may simplify or misrepresent the complexity of actual landscapes and the people who inhabit them.
- Political issues like climate change and urban development, are often impacted by the way they influence public perceptions around the visual representation of landscapes. Controversies over renewable energy projects or housing developments often center around the visual and cultural impact on the landscape.
- Personal and Collective Identities: Landscapes influence individual and collective identities. Artists like Ingrid Pollard explore identity by focusing on the intersection of race and place, confronting the idealized depictions of the British countryside. Her work exposes feelings of alienation and discomfort experienced by non-white individuals in these rural landscapes, challenging the traditional, romanticized narratives associated with these settings.
- Gender: The historical exclusion of women from landscape representation and how feminist photographers have redefined their relationship with the land are discussed. The document cites various female photographers who have addressed themes of access, ownership, and the male gaze in their work
- Artistic Interpretations: The document references numerous artists and projects that engage with landscape and identity, illustrating how landscape imagery can serve as a powerful means to explore social, cultural, and political themes(Landscape and Identities).
Exercise 1: The British Landscape During World War II
Read the short extract ‘Landscape for Everyone’ in John Taylor (1994) A Dream of England: Landscape, Photography and the Tourist’s Imagination.
Summarise the key points in your learning log, along with any other observations or reflections.
In ‘A Dream of England: Landscape, Photography and the Tourist’s Imagination’ Taylor questions the inclusivity of the English landscape and how imagery shapes our understanding of place, belonging, and national identity, including:
- Cultural Construction of Landscape: Landscapes are culturally constructed through imagery reflecting and reinforcing societal values and power dynamics. The idea of an “English” landscape is shaped by historical, social, and political narratives rather than being an objective or purely natural depiction.
- Tourist Stereotypes: Tourist images simplify and romanticize the landscape, often promoting idyllic and stereotypical views. These representations cater to cultural nostalgia and the desire to escape urban life, presenting an idealized version of rural England that may not match the lived reality.
- Role of Photography: Photography is presented as a powerful medium that both constructs and perpetuates these idealized landscapes. Taylor examines how visual representations of the English countryside have been used to promote tourism and national identity, often glossing over social and economic disparities.
- Accessibility and Ownership: The idea of the landscape being “for everyone”, as access to these spaces has historically been restricted or contested. Taylor explores how class and privilege have influenced who gets to enjoy and shape these landscapes, revealing a more complex picture of land ownership and access rights.
Reflection
When we take a portrait photograph, we can only capture the external world of any individual and can’t really see into their inner world, no matter how hard we try. The same applies to landscape. We can capture the beautiful Welsh valley at sunset but never know or covey its history or lived experience. This chapter by Taylor opens up so many fronts in regard to how photographs are taken, used, abused and interpreted. It puts the malleability of images in focus and the output of the photographer’s eye shaped by social, cultural and lived experience. This selective representation raises questions about who gets to define what the landscape means and for whom it holds significance.
Notes on Anthropocene -Human Impact on the Environment
Photography plays a key role in documenting and advocating for environmental issues, including:
- Highlighting the concept of Anthropocene: The term Anthropocene was introduced by scientists Paul Crutzen and Eugene Stoermer, highlighting the era where human activities have become the dominant influence on climate and the environment. It has reshaped how we view environmental responsibility.
- Eco-Philosophies: There are different environmental ideologies, including environmentalism, deep ecology, ecofeminism, and the cornucopian view. These shape how artists, photographers, and the public perceive and respond to environmental issues.
- Environmental Advocacy: Photography plays a key role in raising environmental awareness. Artists like Edward Burtynsky, Richard Misrach, and Andy Hughes use photography to critique human impact on the environment and use different visual strategies to advocate for change, communicating complex environmental messages to inspire action.
- Role of Social Media and Environmental Activism: Social media platforms help spread environmental awareness through the use of hashtags and visual storytelling to facilitate global conversations and enable grassroots activism, connecting people to pressing environmental issues.
- Ethical and Aesthetic Considerations: The text delves into the ethical responsibilities of photographers, the impact of sponsorships, and the balance between aesthetic beauty and environmental messaging. It also explores how “greenwashing” or “bluewashing” can obscure the true environmental impact of organizations.
Chris Jordan’s *Intolerable Beauty* and Nyaba Leon Ouedraogo’s *The Hell of Copper*, which address themes of waste and industrial pollution. The document encourages exploring how these works challenge viewers’ perceptions and highlight environmental injustices.
Notes on Narrative and Represenation
‘Consider some reading methodologies and the study of photographs as a discourse’; that is, moving from photographs as ‘evidence’ to photographs as ‘arguments’.
- Narrative in Photography: Photography uses narrative techniques to “make sense of the world.” Narratives can take many forms, from single images that capture symbolic moments to sequences that tell a broader story. These are often influenced by film and storytelling frameworks.
- Documentary and argument: Although it is tempting to view photographs as simple evidence, they can be developed as arguments or perspectives. This shift encourages photographers to understand and present images within a larger social and cultural context, shaping how viewers interpret the “truth” of a photo.
- Building meaning through sequence and context: The sequence of images (e.g. photo essay, book, or exhibition) creates meaning, which is heavily influenced by what the photographer chooses to includes or exclude. This approach challenges viewers to think about narrative beyond the single image.
- Photographic approaches to narrative: There are two main approaches: sequential and structured, (like in a photo essay) and associative storytelling (using juxtaposition and conceptual relationships). Each approach offers ways of engaging viewers and building meaning.
- Contextual influence on interpretation: The context of an image, including the viewer’s background and beliefs, affects interpretation. Photographers like Robert Frank and Walker Evans employ subtle cues and signs that rely on the viewer’s perceptions and cultural knowledge.
- Reportage vs. Reflective Gaze: Traditional reportage captures events in real-time, often in a straightforward, descriptive style. In contrast, more reflective or conceptual photography considers the setting and experience, emphasizing metaphor and allegory over direct representation.
- Challenges of visual storytelling: The document discusses critiques of photography’s ability to tell stories. Some argue that a single image lacks the complexity to fully convey a narrative, while others explore the potential of visual metaphor and abstract qualities to evoke stories indirectly.