We began the session today with an activity in our groups where we had to distinguish authors and criminals from each other in a catalogue of mug shots and portraits. Our group got 7/17, which was not bad, but we were fooled by just assuming the people who had the mugshots in the typical prison line up way were criminals, when in actual fact, they were authors. This gave us a strong base to begin our session with, as we already knew a bit about pre-conceptions of people from imagery through doing this activity.
Jason Lock the went on to discuss the power of photographs and how anyone can take a photograph and call it art, and how we need to step up our game, so to speak, and become "photographers", rather than a person with a camera. I learnt that the way photography is looked at has changed. In the old days, when film cameras were used and digital was not around, people took photography as a gift, as a special thing that was precious. People used one or two rolls of film a year, for example, a roll of film would contain the family holiday they took during the summer, as well as the big Christmas meal they had. Photography was precious, as well as expensive, so they savoured the moments they had and took the best as photographic memories. In the modern day, people take photographs all the time, whether it be their breakfast, a page in a book to remember the words or a new pair of shoes, people don't take photography as a precious thing anymore, it's part of our everyday life.
The next subject we delved into was how our perceptions change because of the context in which an image is presented in. Lawrence guided us through a series of scenarios and asked us how our perceptions changed because of the situation the photograph was placed in. Here are my thoughts:
• Image viewed on a computer screen: no importance to me personally, they could be anyone from anyone, the woman and man in question looked like they were going to a wedding, and the woman was a bridesmaid, but it was a typical couples shot
• Image viewed in a photo album on a bookshelf at someones home: the image obviously has some significance to the person who owns the photo album, I thought it would be the man that was of a significant importance to the woman as men don't often compile photo albums for themselves or family
• Image viewed in a photo frame: the image or the person in the image is obviously special, depending where the photograph in the frame is viewed, if it was on a wall it would be more important than a image at a desk or somewhere were you cannot see it fully.
• Image viewed in a frame on a white wall: again, image is obviously of some importance otherwise why is it on the wall? A white wall suggests a gallery location, rather than a house. Is it part of an exhibition? If so, why?
• Image viewed in a frame, on a white wall, in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool (prestigious internationally renowned art gallery): the person in the photographs has some worth, but the person who has taken the photographs is the one with the most importance, we look at the photograph and look for a deeper meaning, rather than just thinking "yeah, it's just a cute photograph of a couple at a wedding", we think "why has this photographer taken this photograph? Is it part of an set of photographs with the same theme?"
The photograph we analysed was part of the exhibition by Rankin titled ALIVE: In The Face of Death, and the above works featured old photographs of his parents before they died recently. He also photographed several people who were in the "face of the death", such as suffering from a terminal illness or having a condition which shortens their life, or people who faced death and overcame it.
Above is a woman named Sandra, who is a 48 year old mother from Switzerland, who suffered from breast cancer 8 years ago and was given one year to live by the doctors. She overcame that but the cancer has now spread, making the cancer spread to her brain and becoming terminal. All Sandra can do now is have chemotherapy to prolong her life and fight. Sandra said when talking to Rankin "she is displaying her inner warrior" (Walker Art Gallery, 2013) in the photographs and through her battle.
Above is Louise who was a 42 year old charity worker from Edinburgh, and she had untreatable bone cancer. She spoke about how a terminal illness means much more to someone who suffers from it, compared to someone who doesn't. To her, it is a life changing word, which can change the rest of your life, however short it can be. Louise died shortly after the launch of the exhibition.
I am not overly keen on the work of Rankin, I find his studio work that is NOT fashion to be very bland. Obviously, this project was going to upset people and tug on the heart strings, but without hearing the context behind the set, I would never have known what the photograph was supposed to represent.
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