Spent some time this week in the company of Federica Chiocchetti, along with a group of other students on a Teams call listening and learning all about The Photocaptionist, an editorial and curatorial platform that explores the relationship between photography & fictions, images & words, operating both on and offline.
Given my interest in all aspects of this and the direct link to my current FMP I found the talk riveting and rewarding. During both my Informing Contexts and Sustainable Strategies modules I looked to include text in some format with my images.
This particular practice does not come without its dangers and issues as I have found when trying to add text that then distracts the viewer away from the image. The proximity or invasion of the image by the text is explored in Duane Michels work, There Are Things Here not Seen In the Photograph 1977, where the inclusion of the text can subvert how we see the image.
Federica pointed to the work of Victor Burgin who in his work The End of Art Theory and the Chapter Seeing Sense pointed to the fact that 'even the uncaptioned 'art' photograph, framed and isolated on the gallery wall, is invaded by language in the very moment it is looked at : in memory, in association, snatches of words and images continually intermingle and exchange one for the other'. As part of my studies I intend to explore the writings of Victor Burgin further.
Federica also highlighted the John Bergers point in The Ways of Seeing that how our perception of Van Gogh's painting can change if we know before seeing it that this was his final work before he committed suicide.
As highlighted Federica is the Director of The Photocaptionist and we have been encouraged to submit an assignment through Falmouth University that could lead to masterclass with her and even a piece of our work being published.
The brief being to provide an image, a separate piece of text (not your own) together with your response in no more than 400 words. I felt this assignment really worked well with my current still life work and jumped at the chance of exploring this and submitting something. My choice was to use the above image that I shot in February and which is currently displayed with the lyrics from a U2 song, called Love Comes Tumbling. I therefore chose to add a response in the form of a short story that emanates from my interpretation of the image and lyrics. The final submission is detailed below.
Refs
Photocaptionist (n.d.). About. [online] The Photocaptionist. Available at: https://photocaptionist.com/about/ [Accessed 5 Mar. 2022].
Berger, J. (2008). Ways of Seeing. London: British Broadcasting Corporation.
Burgin, V. (1986). The end of art theory : criticism and postmodernity. Atlantic Highlands, Nj: Humanities Press International.