Nicola South Student number: 514516
REFLECTIONS ON FORMATIVE FEEDBACK
Tutor report: This was written feedback
I’m glad that my tutor believes the work has provoked a lot of thought about the term “Economic scarring and visual culture. Economic scarring was my starting point, a new term that emerged at the beginning of the pandemic, not a new phenomenon but a new term. He also suggests that I should explain more fully the way I’ve combined small closeup shots of wounds with each image.
The scarring is not only present in the fabric of places affected by a pandemic but is felt by the people affect by and witnessing this. The term makes me wince almost in pain and it is for this reason that I decided to add a small raw wound under each image, as a hashtag to emphasis the hurt that has been caused. I chose stitched wounds to represent a holding together and the hope of recovery. I have placed them there to emphasis to viewers the damage that has been caused by the interruption to the economy and these businesses.
My Tutor also directs me to the work of John Davies, whose images of the eighties industrialised landscapes have an interesting visual approach. He also directs me to look at the work of Hannah Blackmore Vacant whose images of abandoned shop fronts are shot closeup like one of my images and do show both sadness and beauty. Looking at Blackmore’s work helps me to realise that one of my images fits less well in my set, whilst it might fit into her series!
In view of this and other reflections I have taken out the shop front image and the Aquadrome images from my series and replaced them with others; two images that were in my draft, but I eventually excluded. I can see these images are more subtle than the images I am replacing and importantly to me show more obvious signs of abandonment, neglect and potential longterm damage.
My Tutor was correct to point out that I have linked my learning less than I would usually to the development of my assignment work; This was because I started work on the photography early on, as the deadline for business closures was coming to an end and I knew what I wanted to capture. So this is to be avoided in future!
I’ve also changed the background colour on my blog as suggested.
I will particularly take forward his encouragement to use still images to open thoughtfulness in my viewers, to also leave room for their interpretations.
Next post: https://nkssite5.photo.blog/category/submissions/assignment-2-submission/a2-submission/
Photography 2: Documentary 