"Overall Comments
Amanda, I think your thorough research has set you up well for this assignment and underlines the importance of pinning down your own work within a particular context. The holiday brochures are very cleverly put together and although they follow a certain ‘model’, the sunshine, blue skies and sea, beaches and people enjoying themselves all contribute to making the holidays very enticing.
Choosing Porthcawl is a good idea, (I remember going there a couple of times on holiday as a child) and taking the shots out of season gives a different feeling to the images. Out of season holiday resorts are always quite interesting, they are a lot quieter than the summer months and there is a kind of melancholic atmosphere as everyone waits for the warmer months and the tourists to arrive.
Assessment Potential
I understand your aim is to go for the Photography Degree and that you plan to submit your work for assessment at the end of this course. From the work you have shown in this assignment, providing you commit yourself to the course, I believe you have the potential to succeed at assessment. In order to meet all the assessment criteria, there are certain areas you will need to focus on, which I will outline in my feedback.
Feedback on Assignment
All but one of your final selection of images contains parts of the beach and sea, there are some variations in the other shots and possibly the edited needs a little more thought? It depends on how you want the images to balance out, for example the first two shots in the finished sequence show a good view of the sea front and the form of the buildings with the second shot showing a view out to sea and the lighthouse; these two work together well as the viewer gets a good sense of the two opposing views that the photographer is showing.
The following image of the couple on the bench looking out at sea works well as a contemplative image, although I am never too fond of shots that show the backs of people as, and at the risk of generalizing, it usually highlights a lack of the confidence on the photographers part. Why not ask the couple if you can take a shot of them, I know approaching strangers and asking to take their photo isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but should be considered nonetheless. In a similar way I think the shot of the surfers would have worked much better if you had got a lot closer and approached them and asked to take a shot or two. A couple of full length portraits with the sea in the background could have worked really well. The viewer wants to see the people, backs of them or small figures in the distance lack any kind of identity and as such alienates the viewer a little.
The snap shot of the passers-by looking at the dog is the only shot in your final selection where we can see people a lot more closely, it is one of those moments that causes us to glance up and take note of, but there is nothing to dwell on. Yes the shot shows people smiling and passing the time of day enjoying the sun, but I’m not sure how well it fits in with the rest of the sequence. I think if you could have possibly laid out the images in a mock magazine spread this may have helped with the editing process. Some of the images that you didn’t use in the final selection could have been used if this was the case; the shot of the souvenir shop could have worked and although Coney Beach is closed the shot does have that ‘out of season’ feel that I mentioned earlier.
The final image of the holiday homes / caravans close to the beach shows a different location of the town and through this the viewer, if they haven’t visited Porthcawl before, starts to get a sense of the variation of the town and the visitors it attracts. Overall the images seem to be trying to show too much and as such are a good set of ‘reccy’ photographs that would work in this context providing enough information for a continuation of the project at some point. The process of particular photographic projects such as this start at point A and often end up at point Z, it would be a difficult assignment for any photographer to produce a series of images that shows a particular town in one day.
Learning Log/Blog
I’m glad you found Ricky Adam’s work interesting, I have been in touch with a couple of times for a little interview I did for the OCA blog and he is a very helpful and approachable person. Its great to see you looking at other work and I enjoyed the Isaac Ferry images and reading your thoughts on his work. If you don’t mind I would like to use your blog as an example to some of my other students as it is a good example of what to include and how to go about it!
Suggested reading/viewing/pointers for the next assignment
We’ve already discussed your idea for the final assignment and I think all your research work into other photographers should really help with how you want to approach the shoot. I’m not sure what limitations you will have, I know that some bands will only let photographers take shots during the first 15 minutes of the set for example or if you have access to back stage. Looking through any of the music magazines should give you a good idea of the kind of images that editors like to use, or you may have your own personal take on how the images should work, this is fine and I think your experience of taking shots at live shows previously should put you in good stead for the assignment. Also, if you haven’t already, it might be good to get some group shots/portraits of the bands, I think these kind of shots can work well when used next to a dynamic live action image."
I said in my closing statement of this assignment that my only worry would be if I have chosen the best images for the final selection and from this feedback, i can see that this was, pretty much, the only negative factor of this feedback.
I will address some of the pointers that my tutor has mentioned now.
Firstly, I agree with his mention of getting a different feel to a place when images are taken out of season. I always find places eerily quiet in comparison to the hustle and bustle of Porthcawl in the summer months and I think subconsciously I was hoping to capture the quieter more relaxing 'watching the day go by' atmosphere that you will experience in the winter months. I will re think and post my amended final selection at the end of this review.
My tutor pointed out about the image of the couple looking out to sea. He sees this as the photographers lack of confidence to approach the people to capture their faces. This was not the case in this instance. My purpose was to 'capture the sense of place' of Porthcawl and this image is something that you will see almost every time you visit. The benches are close to the railings, I'm assuming so that people are not encouraged to walk in front of the benches while walking along the promenade. This would give the people sat on these benches a little privacy and personal space to enjoy the view. These benches are almost always taken up whether it be cold or gloriously hot weather and so it was an important factor for me to capture. The fact that I have taken an image of the back of the couple is because it shows a small insight into a personal moment that they are sharing, sat cuddled on the bench together, gazing out to see. This image wouldn't work in the context that I have explained it here if the pair were posing and smiling for the camera. We wouldn't have been able to share in their romantic, peaceful moment at the beach.
I completely agree though with the comment on the image of the surfers. As in one of the research photos for this assignment, I could've copied the same idea ad had the full length portrait of the surfers with the sea in the background and it would've worked a lot better. But my idea with the last two points was that we had been learning in this past 'project' about making people anonymous, single small figures and balancing figures and space so it was my interpretation that we were to incorporate this learning into this assignment. Either way, this idea would've worked really well. I did, however, capture another image shortly after I submitted this assignment to my tutor and feel that this new shot would make a nice substitution for the surfer image that I originally had;
The last point that my tutor remarked on was the image of the elderly couple walking along the sea front. I can see how he would think it doesn't fit in with the sequence but this is exactly what you will see on a visit to Porthcawl and I thought it important to include in this collection. It shows that, even though out of season, Porthcawl is still visited and enjoyed by many who will just come here to walk along the front, have a coffee or walk their dogs.
So after re-thinking my final selection, I will now add my amended final choices;
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