Assignment 3 Tutor Feedback

Overall Comments

I should start my feedback by saying that I think, overall, you have done a good job here. I read through your text first and was unsure about the results I would view at the end as you highlighted so many of the problems you faced and mentioned that you were not overly happy with the results. When I came to the layout in the blog post, I was pleasantly surprised. The way you have laid out the photographs has been effective –you’ve managed to generally mask some of the heads of other audience members well (although in a few cases you could have done a bit more on this front), and the format of one double page spread per band works very well. I certainly think the results would be acceptable for a local magazine or gig guide, and as such enough to get published. A couple more similar shoots and you would have enough published work to get a press card and better access. From what I understand (gig photography is not something I have ever been known to do much of), this kind of photography is all about access, and at bigger gigs you have to work very quickly. With this in mind you seem to have got the shots a magazine would want and so in that regard have been successful.

The (major) problem that would, in respect to this assignment at least cause you to fail is that the zipped folder submitted contains the files for assignment 2, not 3. As the goal of the assignment is to submit work as you would for a professional assignment you can see where this would be a problem... However, on the positive side, that is part of the reason you have a tutor and these interim written tutorials – to iron out these bugs. It is much better these mistakes happen with me rather than at assessment or, god forbid, with a real life client! I opted to write feedback from what you presented rather than request a resubmission of the correct files as it highlights the attention to detail required if working professionally. A general rule is you should always double and triple check anything you are sending out and proof read all of your text. I tend to send work to one of my other email addresses first to make sure I haven’t made any silly errors, which we all make from time to time.

There were a few typos towards the end of the supporting text on the blog so you might want to give that a quick read through as well prior to assessment.
I’ll finish the introduction back on a positive note though. I was particularly impressed that you managed to get enough different strong performance photos that each of the dominant images on a double page spread had a different lighting effect. This would make picture editors particularly happy as it livens up their layouts no end and I am sure you agree creates a strong visual separation between each band, whilst the page formatting links them together.

Feedback on assignment
Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity

•   As I note in the introduction, I thought you did an excellent job in securing enough variety in the images to have each double page spread stand out from the others.
  
•   One area I thought you could tweak a little, especially if the layout was to go into a portfolio (which it certainly could...), would be to reposition the smaller frames on each layout to make the heads of other audience members less prominent. They do not have to be completely covered but a little creative license in laying out the work could draw the eye away from the heads and leave you looking like you had great access. You could also make some judicious use of cropping to get rid of some of the heads –as you are laying the work out there isn’t a particular need to stick with the same aspect ratio as you shot with (not something I would normally advise but in this model it could be effective).
  
•   Your introductory blurb is somewhat negative and I would think about how a client might find this. A lot of this kind of photography is all about perception –if you say they are great pictures people tend to go for it, especially if they are rushed and on a deadline and need someone fast. I have some friends who work with bands quite a bit and they tend to be more upbeat about their own work than I would possibly say is warranted, but it works and they get a lot of paid jobs. Working commercially is often about the perception of value and is as much about marketing as it is about skill with a camera.
  
•   Instead of focusing on the dreaded red light or the pillars, introduce your work by saying how amazing the bands were, what a great atmosphere was at the venue, how it was a very popular night attracting people from all over and how fantastic the bands looked. By selling the work on a positive vibe you will have viewers much more interested in seeing the work. This may feel awkward at first but over time it will become more natural. Let you obvious enthusiasm for the genre come through not only in your photographs but also in the way you talk and write about the photographs as well.
  
•   Regarding gear, I think you have done a great job selecting the appropriate lens for the job. If you were doing this full time you would want something a bit longer and fast but that starts to get expensive. Perhaps a (relatively) cheap 85mm 1.8 would be useful as this would be a few hundred rather than thousand to get to 1.4. Another idea to make you stand out from the crowd would be to go the other way and shoot with what would normally be considered totally inappropriate equipment and develop a highly unique style. A friend of mine won a top photojournalism award with a dirt cheap plastic Russian camera, so there are no hard and fast rules.

Learning Logs or Blogs/Critical essays
Context
I feel you need to start adding a bit more about the work you are looking at, and, especially as you are soon to start at level 3, attempt to interrogate some of the success or failure of that work in light of the critical theory you are reading. Starting to add this now will put you in a strong position as you start thinking about your critical review –your initial notes into different possible subjects for the paper could form useful posts on your blog.

Suggested reading/viewing
Context
Critical Writing about photography
ADAMS, R. 1994. Why People Photograph, New York, Aperture Foundation.
ADAMS, R. 1996. Beauty in Photography, New York, Aperture Foundation.
BADGER, G. 2007. The Genius of Photography: How photography has changed our lives,
London, Quadrille. (also see accompanying DVD of BBC series)
BADGER, G. 2010. The Pleasure of Good Photographs, New York, Aperture Foundation. BARTHES, R. 1993. Camera Lucida, London, Random House.
BATE, D. 2009. Photography: The Key Concepts. Oxford: Berg
BERGER, J. 1972. Ways of Seeing, London, BBC & Penguin Books Ltd.
Youtube link to series: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pDE4VX_9Kk
COTTON, C. 2009. The Photograph as Contemporary Art, London, Thames & Hudson.
HILL, P. & COOPER, T. J. 2005. Dialogue with Photography, Stockport, Dewi Lewis Publishing. JEFFREY, I. 1981. Photography: A concise history, London, Thames & Hudson.
MITCHELL, W. J. 1994. The Reconfigured Eye: Visual Truth in the Post-Photographic Era,
Cambridge, MA, The MIT Press.
SHORE, S. 2010. The Nature of Photographs.London: Phaidon
SONTAG, S. 1979. On Photography, London, Penguin.
SZARKOWSKI, J. 2007. The Photographer's Eye, New York, The Museum of Modern Art. WELLS, L. 2009. Photography: A Critical Introduction, London, Routledge.

Pointers for the next assignment
The next assignment calls for you to write a critical review. I have included some critical writing on photography in the suggested reading –picking up a copy of David Bate’s Photography: The Key Concepts and Liz Well’s Photography, A Critical Introduction should give you some good material to reference. The course book is quite thorough in giving you advice on topics and layout but if you get stuck feel free to get in touch. The most important aspects are showing that you are using and evaluating a range of sources to construct your argument and then forming a conclusion on how you position yourself in these debates. It is also important that you reference these sources correctly –there is a guide to Harvard referencing on the college website. 


The above is the feedback report that I had from my tutor in regards to Assignment 3. When submitting my assignment to my tutor, I also sent the final layouts as A4 prints and asked for advice on the prints themselves. As well as some advice on how best to present these prints before assessment, my tutor also gave the following feedback on the prints themselves; 

"Regarding assessment submission, I did feel the A4 versions showed off a little of the softness of a couple of the larger images –especially and somewhat troublesome was the cover image being quite clearly out of focus. (which was hard to see in the web preview I had to use to write the feedback). If you have an alternative frame that is sharp, use that, otherwise I would consider resizing the project so that it could be presented as an A5 sized ‘zine, as the less you increase the size, the less the softness will show…"

In regards to all the feedback received I am very happy but I feel terrible at the same time. I thought I was being super organised by creating folders and subfolders of all my work from this module on my computer and then I go and send the wrong zip folder to my tutor with the assignment email! For this I am very angry with myself. I totally support my tutors decision to not ask me to resubmit the correct folder because, as he said in my report, the point of the exercise was attention to detail.
But apart from that I am very happy.
Things to note from this feedback are to be more enthusiastic and not so negative with my write up and possibly crop out the detail of the crowds heads more where possible.
The glossy prints I sent were of suitable quality although I have been advised to get matt finish prints as opposed to glossy ones for ease of holding and to reduce reflection. Also, I need to amend the cover page as, when blown up to a bigger scale, the shot appears too soft. So a few things to work on and alter but very good feedback for Assignment 3.