Below are the links to my PDF Submissions:
Category / Uncategorized
Project Overview: Final Thoughts
My project began with an idea to shift direction from reflect and research. Throughout the past year I have focused on the active role of relationships and how they are presented in photography. I also focused on the idea of gender and the female experience, or the female gaze.
My past projects focused on the range of relationships humans have, this time I shifted my focus to the relationships we have with ourselves. I also wanted to include how the use of social media and ever changing beauty standards may come into play with this, as this has been a huge factor with the relationship I have with myself.
My project took on a whirlwind of ideas and I tried my best to compile them into meaningful work. Inspired by artists such as Petra Collins and Amber Asaly I tried to bring forward the use of digital art and collage, which have been popular on social media platforms when posting imagery. I engaged with my practice by reading about how social media has affected photography also, especially the snap-shot style of documentary photography, which I focused heavily on in the previous project.
Then, reminded by my tutors, I shifted my gaze back to my previous work as to not steer too far away from the connected projects. I focused back to archive images and how my work I had made could interlink with those, to show connections with my previous projects and the styles I had once worked with.
Text was a huge factor for my work as I had always tried to connect my images with writing to develop a narrative. It was important to continue this idea as it helped to shed light on the context behind the images and also add depth to the work by sharing personal experiences. I had previously used digital text in my work, yet this time it felt important to use handwritten text to keep myself and my work connected and also raw. I had written letters to myself and taken snippets of them and incorporated them into my work with handwriting.
Without realising, my ideas were coming together and I was creating work with an autobiographical meaning, my own experiences with myself and how I have a relationship with myself surrounded by all the issues I have encountered. It was only when selecting my final images where I saw the narrative truly taking form and without giving too much away, or throwing all my ideas at the audience, I believe I created the work which I had no intention of producing, yet needed to create.
When selecting my final 5 for exhibition, it helped me to look at my work from a different perspective, as if I had never seen it before. It was important for me to do so as I needed to view my work as an audience. I considered: who is my audience? I realised it truly could be anyone, but I believe it is mainly for myself and other females who have grown up in a society which doesn’t benefit from them liking themselves, causing inward stress and personal issues. My work helped me to work on things I had struggled with and become more comfortable with myself and the body I inhabit. Although my project has come to a close, I feel the work could continue and morph into different ideas.
If I were able to change anything at this point I would probably wanted to do another shoot to work with and wished I would have gotten to my main ideas quicker so I could have done more work around that. However, I am pleased with the work I have created and hope to continue with this project in my own time.
I believe my practice has been able to be refined into smaller categories this term. I have found a deep connection to documentary style photography and also look into work which evokes emotion and has a personal meaning. I deeply love working with 35mm film and find my style works best in this way. In my practice in the future I hope to continue working with similar ideas and continue projects which inspire me to be the best version of myself as an artist and person.
Reflective Journal Overview
BA (Hons) Photography
Research Blog/Reflective Journal Overview
Student Name: Emily Ryder
Tutor: Sylvia Waltering
Date: 4th May 2021
1. What are the main written resources you have used to help you develop your work and ideas? List and give a brief summary of their relevance (publications/writers/articles/theories you have focused on over the past year):
The Ontology of the Photographic Image – This is a useful text to refer to, reminding me of my practice and why it is so important to understand how it remains influential and useful to create artwork today.
Social media photography: construing subjectivity in Instagram images. By Michele Zappavigna.
The article helped me to connect my ideas of social media influence to the relationship with self. It discussed social media dominance, audience, subjectivity, image and visual choices.
From Snapshots to Social Media – The Changing Picture of Domestic Photography. Written by Risto Sarvas and David M. Frohlich.
This text helped me to understand the change in domestic photography in recent years. It gave me context to the origins of domestic and snapshot photography, helping inform my research. It discusses how the aesthetic has transformed into oversharing on apps such as Facebook.
‘Old and New: Working With and Responding to the Photographic Archive.’
Magnum Photos. Theory and Practice. Written by Sophie Wright.
This text helped to inform me on how archive images can be used today to inspire new work. This helped me when I revisited the idea of using archive images in my project to construct a narrative which better suited my project.
How To Write About Contemporary Art, by Gilda Williams
This text helped me write my artist statement. It was informative on what to avoid and what to include, sharing common mistakes artists use when writing about their art.
2. What are the most important other sources you have used for your research? List key exhibitions/videos/talks/events etc and give a brief summary of their relevance:
When researching, I often look for videos from artists I am researching to help me get a better idea of them and their work. I also look for interviews and other texts to help inform my research.
https://www.photolocale.co.uk/features/nickwaplington – Artist Nick Waplington discusses his time growing up and attending art school, to his work alongside Alexander McQueen. He details the changes in society and what it means to be an artist today. This interview gave an understanding of his range as an artist and what continues to inspire him.
My Mothers’ Cupboards and My Fathers’ Words – Anna Fox
The video helps bring understanding to the intricacies of the project and allows Fox to discuss it in depth. This helped inform my research as it spoke of all details in the project, discussing the use of text and image in a personal project.
Sophie Calle on becoming an artist / Sophie Calle’s voyeuristic portraits of hotel rooms
These videos allow an insight into Calle’s life, detailing how she became interested in the use of text and image work, conducting invasive projects and travelling. Her work inspired me to go further in depth with my projects and push past what makes me uncomfortable.
Photographers in Focus: Richard Billingham / Richard Billingham ray’s a laugh
These YouTube videos from Billingham allow an insight into his working methods creating his work and the meaning behind the work. It was interesting for me to see how documentary images can have such a profound outcome. It was a remaining factor for me to document relationships of all kinds through my work, including the ones we have with ourselves.
https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/jack-davison-photographer-interview-2019
This article from Jack Davidson discusses his time growing up and discovering photography. It also discusses how one of his main sources of inspiration is found imagery. This use of archive imagery as inspiration helped to keep me inspired when looking at my own archive work and fitting it into my project.
Sorry Not Sorry, Women Have Body Hair: Petra Collins / Photographers in Focus: Petra Collins
These videos were a huge source of inspiration from Petra Collins as she helped to uncover issues with social media, beauty standards for women today and the relationships we have with ourselves and our bodies, which gave a deep insight into the issues I was tackling with my work. She details puberty, sexualization of women in the media, body hair, the negativity social media has on our lives and the female experience.
3. From the research developed on your blog/in your journal and through your practice, outline the key areas (the concepts/themes/theories) of interest have emerged this year? How has this helped with the development of your practice?
My project title was: The relationship with self in the age of social media. Over the course of the project, I referred to my previous work this year to help push me into a new direction. My work had been based around the female gaze, relationships and documenting life. I took all this with me into my new work and began looking for a new angle to work with. I focused on documenting the relationships we have with ourselves, from a female perspective, growing up in the age of social media and constant changing beauty standards from society. The project allowed me to reflect on my own experiences and difficulties, making personal work which therapeutically helped me heal alongside the project. Completing the project has allowed me to reflect on my own experiences and look at how all my work this year has been interlinked with an overall meaning which I wasn’t able to reflect on until now.
My practice has been made more interesting, I allowed myself to experiment and experience my work in a different way, not focused on the end goal but the journey of getting there. It was a project which allowed me to share in ways I previously was unable to do so. Also, I was able to begin creating physically again which I haven’t been able to do for a long while.
Budget pricing
I am aiming to spend around £100-150 on my exhibition as I plan to print x5 prints and frame them individually. I am printing x5 A3 prints on a glossy / silk paper, the highest quality paper to enhance my images in the best possible way ahead of exhibition.
I will go on a variety of websites and check the prices and content against each other.
DS Colour Labs:
Total: £42.44
Print Space
Total for 5 prints: £86.64
Spectrum Printing
Total for 5 prints: £44.40
-20% student discount
Framing:
Photo Printing and Art:
Total for 5 frames: £53.50
Frames.co.uk
5x black frames size A3, Total cost £55.10
PicFrames.co.uk
Final Choices:
I chose to go with DS Colour Labs and Photo Framing and Art as they best fit with my budget alongside the quality I am aiming to have with my final prints.
This will take my final cost to £95.94, well within my budget of £150.00.
Portfolio: Supporting Work
Feeling like uploading my portfolio images wasn’t enough, I went ahead and printed some physical prints. I totalled 12 prints using Canson Lustre A3+ paper in the digital darkroom. This process helped me to review the images as I hadn’t been able to see them physically before, only digitally.
After I had made the prints, I booked into the studio to create a short clip of me flicking through my images as though someone would be doing this if hand-in were to go ahead normally. I found this helpful as it opened my eyes to see how my work would be viewed.
I also took photographs of the images in the studio and also created a small ‘flip-book’ style clip of them in their correct order. I made 2 different videos in order to get the best possible outcome of my portfolio.
Overall I am happy with the outcomes, I hope the work will be recognised as it was somewhat time consuming and a process that would be necessary in future projects.
Links to videos:
Virtual Exhibition Space
Using Art Steps, I have been creating a simple, clean space where I can showcase my work. I felt I should keep it small as if it were real, my space would not take up a whole gallery space. I kept my colour palette very neutral, with greys and whites for the colours. I created an ‘L’ shape floor plan, easy for me to showcase my work on the larger wall, side by side, and the text on other walls.
I incorporated my artist statement into my exhibition space as it felt necessary to pair the work with the artist and some knowledge behind the work. I also added the title of my project to the smaller wall as a way of defining my work and the project it fell into.
After deciding on sizing when printing my images out, I went for A3 size images. I kept this in my images when adding them into the space, by sizing them all the same (11.7 x 16.5 inches). Although, within my space they may look slightly out of proportion as I couldn’t find the correct dimensions of the space.
I sequenced my work first before adding it into the space by deciding how the work would be seen and in which order worked best. The sequence begins with the image of the younger self, beginning the ‘journey’. The next image shares the body and the window, followed by the image of the current self with writing over the face. This is then followed by the final two images, which share the current body, with handwritten text over the top. I felt this sequence to work the best after trialling the images in different ways.
After evaluating my space and asking for responses from my peers, I reviewed it and decided to change it slightly. This is because on ArtSteps, it is easy to get carried away and act as if I have a singular exhibition for myself, not considering space for other people’s work. Therefor, I condensed my work, artist statement and working title into one wall and made the images look their correct size, which would be A3. I also changed the colours of two walls to add some depth and make them look less bare without the other writing on them.
I much prefer this outcome as it is more realistic, yet still ambitious.
Link to Space:
https://www.artsteps.com/embed/6086d33b8f7bb368091f0dc2/1280/720
Portfolio
This week I have been beginning to sequence my portfolio and begin to print it. I have chosen 14 images to use in my portfolio and went off the way the images interacted with each other. I tried to sequence them in a way which kept the theme and narrative of the work flowing. I then booked into the digital dark room and ordered Canson Lustre paper in A3+ to use for printing. I made it so I could print 2 images per page, overall I printed 14 to use for my portfolio.
My next step is to create a short video of my portfolio being handled and hand that in alongside my final work so the audience can see my work in physical form.
After laying out my portfolio, I decided to take out 2 images from my images relating to journal style work as I felt it didn’t fully suit the style of the portfolio. I felt they were nice prints but looked better without them in my sequence.
My Portfolio sequence:
My portfolio sequence began with the roses, symbolising strength and also vulnerability within femininity. The sequence then followed with a mixture of monochrome and colour images sharing my body and all of the things I am insecure about. It then followed with some of my final pieces, which connect all my ideas together through the element of text, sharing a narrative. The end image shares a message saying “It’s not you, it’s what you are programmed to see.” I wrote this on my image to create a place for myself to be reminded that it is okay for me to look and be this way, there is nothing wrong with myself and by body, I have just been programmed into thinking it is wrong by the environments of social media and the internet which have taught me it is wrong and not beautiful.
My overall message and my portfolio is an expression of a journey I have taken myself on through this project. I was finally able to discuss the relationship I have with myself and why I needed to tackle some elements of it to learn how to be okay with the person I am. I have discussed the relationship with self and how the internet age and social media have come to play with that. I have discussed many details and personal struggles into my project and I believe my portfolio is another reflection of this, sharing my best work from the project.
How To Write About Contemporary Art
Gilda Williams
I read sections of this book to inform my writing on an artist statement to help with my final part of the project. I found the text useful in learning what to avoid and what to include. Although, I don’t believe I can create a piece of text which incorporates everything in this text within 150 words. However, I believe the main things can be pointed out and inform my writing.
I often struggle writing about myself and the work I create, so this text was informative and insightful in helping with this task.
I took screen shots of the section I read to help me refer back to the text and read over it once I had written my artist statement.
My outcome:
‘Emily Ryder is a photographer and artist residing in Manchester, England.
Growing up, she developed a connection to domestic and documentary style photography, with a focus on the ‘everyday’.
Ryder shares a fondness for the overlooked moments in life, which hold capacity to create meaningful and inspiring images. Often photographing those closest to her, she reflects on the normalcy of life and the issues which often trouble us.
The imagery is a combination of film photography and archive imagery, which creates work which challenges societal ideals.
The work incorporates digital image manipulation alongside handwritten text. Ryder’s work allows an audience to step into the images, mirroring parts of their own lives. This can be seen through the concept of pushing past society and social media to truly accept and love ourselves. ‘
Final Images
After going through all my images, I have selected 5 to move forward with into my exhibition plan. These would be the images I would put forward to exhibit, if the degree show were to be taking place.
After careful consideration, I selected 5 monochrome images, which alongside each other would create a collective which shares the narrative I am aiming to put forward. The images are from my final response, where I incorporated all of my previously edited images and hand wrote text over the top. I found these to be the most successful representation of my ideas and wished I had came to that conclusion sooner. However, I am glad I went through the process of creating this work as it is extremely meaningful to me.
In the selection process, I found these images worked so well together and once sequenced, will have the ability to share the story I am aiming to provide to the audience. I believe these images subtly suggest the narrative of a human being, damaged by the age of social media and societal values, which have immersed themselves into the way she has a relationship with herself. Through the moodiness in the images, to the text written in the negative spaces, I am happy with the outcomes of these images, especially when sequenced together.
My next step is to decide the sizes of the imagery and place it into a scenario where it could be in an exhibition space. For example, on the walls or a plinth. I am unsure on the sizes, but feel that huge prints could ruin the personalisation of the work. It might be nicer to some small to medium sized prints to be able to share the work, without ruining the intimacy of the images.
I am considering sizes A4-A3 as this could work best for the type of work mine is, I feel anything as big as A1 or A0 could ruin its private feel, exposing my work hugely. Especially given the number of images I am putting forward, I think the smaller sizes would suit the collective better.
Response 11
After evaluating my previous responses, I did some more research around text and image, focusing on stripping my ideas back to basics.
I did have a lot of fun creating the collage-style pieces, however it became less relevant as I continued. I felt I was just adding bits for the sake of it, rather than considering its place in the work and how it adds to the overall theme and message.
Therefor, I began a similar response, stripping it all back to simply text and image. I considered which images to use and printed various images from archive imagery to current work. I then began to consider the text I would use and referred back to the letters I had written, taking excerpts from those.
I considered the work of the artists I had researched and played with how I would write my text. I felt that by handwriting over the images, it would still have the collage-feel to it, without the unnecessary messiness. It would also carry an organic and personal feel to the overall message, carrying the sense of vulnerability and truth.
I wrote over the faces in the images, the bodies and also backgrounds to consider how the text and image could come together. I found it most interesting when I wrote over the face and bodies, as it combines the message with the person in the images, myself. Meaning, my identity and the narrative of relationship with self in the digital age would be coming together in a way which forces the viewer to look.
I found it interesting when considering the younger self too. It made me consider how we are protected as children from viewing the world in its true form, open to be exposed after a certain age to how it really works. Protection, the word felt compelling to me as we fight so hard to protect children and vulnerable people from the world and the horrors that the people who inhabit it can create.
When editing the work, I focused on which images I thought worked well and which still had decent quality to move forward with, as these scans had been through different processes to consider previously. I questioned: Does the text and image work well together? Is the quality of the work strong enough? Does the work carry a strong message to take forward? All of which I considered and deliberated with in my editing process.
I mainly enhanced the work by making sure the text was prominent enough, considering contrast and lighting aspects also. For some of the images I re-cropped, also turning some from colour to monochrome as it fit the narrative and overall mood of the image better.
I feel very strongly about these images and believe these are a well-rounded finalisation of my project which explores the relationship with self in the digital age. My work was not aiming to answer the questions, but to explore them and share parts of my own experiences with insecurities and mental effects to being ‘expected’ to live to a certain standard as a woman in an ever-changing society.
My next step is to consider how I will finalise these, perhaps only using a select few instead of all. I feel that this could be interesting as I don’t want to give too much of myself out, providing the audience with some but not all, keeping them in a state of questioning with some insight into myself as an artist.
I believe the best way to do this is to go into a selection process, perhaps 5 or 6 images maximum, maybe even less. I need to consider how best to present them. I am steering away from book formats as I relied heavily on that in my previous project, possibly printing and framing could be a nice way to complete the work.
Research: Text and Image / Collage
After creating the physical collages, I decided that I wanted to strip my ideas back to the basics, text and image. I began searching online and finding work which I felt inspired by. I came across an artist called Sophie Hur, who was recommended to me by a peer after seeing my work.
Sophie Hur is a New-York based photographer and artist, born in Australia. Her work follows an array of methods, not all sticking to the same aesthetic or basis. They are very editorial-esque and are extremely experimental with colour. The work almost always surrounds people, playing around with mixed media and colour, often adding text and other props. The work is playful, it doesn’t ever seem to follow the same narrative and is very interesting to view. On a platform such as Instagram, we often forget to be artistic and follow the status-quo, Hur completely avoids this and appears to have fun when creating her work.
Hur’s work inspires me to enjoy my practice and to have fun being experimental, instead of always trying to fit my work into the ‘end goal’, because I never truly know how that might look. I am considering what to do with my images now, how I may layer them and in what way I could add text.
Another artist I am inspired by is one I found online, they go by the name Jangdukhwa. I came across this work when looking for artists who use text and image and create interesting pieces. I noted how they used text alongside the image, often considering space and the images they worked with. Some of the work resembled how I attempted to create messy and artistic pieces of work, whereas others resembled well thought out pieces which seemed considered and understood the outcome they set to achieve. The artist works with an array of subjects, from landscapes to portraiture and still life, playing with colour and textures. The work seems editorial and commercial, with some playful elements too.
The artist has made me consider how I might use text in my following pieces. I am working to strip back my work to text and image, ignoring the messy add-ons I had previously considered. I want the work to tell a clear narrative and consider the origins of the work and how that might work as final pieces.
In response to this I recalled this clip of artist Ed Ruscha discussing the tension between text and image and how that can play out in work. The artist explores the audiences interpretations of text and image, considering language. He often makes the text appear as objects themselves to be viewed. I had researched him in the previous project, his work is still relevant to my work today.
Response 10
In response to my research, I decided to experiment with physical collage making. I incorporated all the ideas from my research and planned on making a messy, raw and handmade collage piece to tie all of my ideas in. I used text from my ‘letters’ to myself, imagery from archives and the previous shoots, watercolour paints and playful doodles to create the pieces.
I began by creating a wash of colour on A2 cartridge paper using watercolours. I stuck to a feminine colour palette to correlate with the ‘female experience’, adding pinks and purples lightly. I then began placing cut out imagery onto the paper and experimenting with placement of the images and which worked together. I still incorporated the roses into the background to carry the symbolism of flowers through, also linking to the artist Linder Sterling, who also incorporated flowers into her imagery of women.
After I settled on the placement, I added some freehand doodles and added a sense of messiness and sketch-book style scribbles to enhance the idea of the unconscious mind coming through in the work. I then began adding text from my letters and working it around the images, allowing both to have space and work well together. I found the text to really tie the work together and give it a distinct narrative. It allows the viewer an insight into what my work is about.
When viewing the work, I found people were drawn to the writing first and reading it, then viewing the images second. This enabled them to differentiate the images from the text, as without it they would not understand what direction the images were heading. The narrative text allows the story to be told in a subtle way.
My ideas were to merge the past and present self and create an overall understanding of the way I have grown and have a relationship with myself. I wanted to incorporate the old self with the current self to allow myself to attempt to understand how I have changed in my attitudes towards myself, more importantly – why? I examined the way I have grown around social media and the pressures of growing up female with such societal pressure to be perfect without a push on self-acceptance. My project was an attempt to explore this overall idea and connect everything together in a meaningful, experimental way.
Reflecting on this, I think I could tone it down abit and refocus on the imagery I am using. I need to re-evaluate the level of chaos I want to bring into my work as it may overshadow the meaning and imagery I am trying to share.
I think it possible that I may still layer images and add text, but maybe step away from the enhanced messiness and doodles that were not properly thought out, just thrown in for extra detail that didn’t make too much sense. Although I do like it personally, I feel like it steps in a direction I don’t have time to explore.
However, I do like the way the work speaks truth to the narrative and has allowed me to bring my messy style back into a piece of work. I like the ideas of journal work as it has the freedom to be honest and experimental, I just feel like my work needs more refinement to work on a final piece.
My next step is to do some more research and revaluate the images and see which ones to bring forward into my final pieces. I need to re-edit the work in a style similar, still allowing text and image to pair, but strip away all the unnecessary additions that did not need to be there (the paint, scribbles etc). This is to visualise a final piece which is experimental but professional and meaningful.
Emily Ryder 