The last three months have been some of the most exciting I have had so far in terms of my photography and the ongoing progress of my MA studies. With a full time job that provides plenty daily challenges, juggling the extensive reading, and research for my studies has required plenty of planning, and plenty of late night / early morning sessions before and after work.
However this has been so worthwhile as not only has the research and theory all started to slot into place, but I have now achieved a body of work that I am really proud of.
Moments of Still is that work and represents a series of eighteen still life images, where I have attempted to use objects, such as flowers and fruit, together with their hidden meanings and specific significance, that is found in still life paintings, to bring context to my work. (Impelluso, 2003). Through the composition and use of additional triptych images and one line poetry I have attempted to bring these meanings to life for the viewer. As Roland Barthes identified in his essay The Rhetoric of the Image, I discovered the ‘signifier', can be composed together with their cultural symbology to act as the ‘signified’ giving context and meaning to my images (Barthes, 2009).
This work in progress represents the largest single project I have undertaken so far with my practice. Earlier works tended to jump from one style to another and therefore this body of work has allowed me to consider its dissemination beyond just images in a portfolio or posts onto social media. The file below is this work in progress, which I have saved in a book format, as I see this as the key dissemination for how I want this work, including the poetry, to be seen.
I am really pleased with how these eighteen images have come together but I am now keen to produce more before I take this into a physically made book. I am aiming to at least double the quantity, if not take it to forty main images. I will also look to add further context and flow to the work by ensuring a complete set of emotions and feelings are evoked by them. Given that the next module on the MA is Sustainable Strategies this feels like a natural progression for this work.
References
Barthes, R. and Heath, S. (2009). Image, music, text. New York, Ny Hill And Wang [Ca.
Impelluso, L., Sartarelli, S. and Getty, P. (2003). Nature and its Symbols. Los Angeles The J. Paul Getty Museum.
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