Thank you for coming to look at my blog.
I started writing posts in January of 2019 and have now added over 30 more. I do hope you will enjoy reading about my journey to become more visually literate. I would encourage you to add your comments or questions to the individual posts. I will try to reply in a timely manner.
The Google Blogger application prints out posts in reverse order so the first one you will see is the last one I have written. If this is the first time you have visited this blog it would be best if you could read the posts in the order they were written. If you look on the the right hand side of this page you can see the dates of all the posts so you can select those from January 2019. All the post titles include the name Post 1 Post 2 Post 3 etc
I look forward to hearing your views in the comments section or by email to chrisc2055@gmail.com
Friday, December 27, 2019
Saturday, December 21, 2019
Post 34- A Review of the past 12 months.
I started my Project designed to
improve my visual literacy almost 12 months ago and have thoroughly
enjoyed the discoveries I have made. I have tried to keep a note of
the stages of my journey through the posts on this blog.
Early influences were Victoria Wilcox, Valerie Dahling, Chris Gilbert, Chris Upton and Chris M Dale. Exposure to these photographers opened my eyes to the many techniques open to the modern photographer and encouraged me to develop my own style of image creation.
I am in the process of selecting images
for my third photobook of “Arresting Images” which I hope will
enable you to see the evolution of my style and techniques during
the year. I hope to get the chance to share these images with you.
I have benefited greatly from being a
member of various photography groups like Togsquad, Ockbrook and
Borrowash Image Club, Ockbrook Photo Club, the Friends Facebook Group
and the Macro Photography Group. I have learned a lot by sharing
ideas and experiences and moving out of my comfort zone to join in
their monthly challenges..
During the year I have been inspired by
Paul Sanders, Doug Chinnery, Julia Anna Gospodaru, Charlotte Bellamy,
Heather Burns, Alex Fredricksen and Mary Frances.
I have also learned a lot by having
Moy, my wife , as a mentor. Many of the techniques and approaches I
am struggling to learn seem to come naturally to her and I am
regularly impressed and inspired by her work.
I now have a portfolio of techniques
available to me and plan to spend next year trying to use my
imagination and develop my creativity. I plan to produce images that
create an emotional response in me hoping that they will also evoke a
response in the viewers of my work. I must try to be less concerned
about other people's opinions of my work and not be disheartened if
their response is muted or negative.
I intend to close this blog at the end
of 2019 and start a new one as I continue my journey towards
increased Visual Literacy. I hope you will follow along.
Here is a link to Year 2 of my blog if you wish to follow along.
https://visualliteracyjourneyyear2.blogspot.com/
Here is a link to Year 2 of my blog if you wish to follow along.
https://visualliteracyjourneyyear2.blogspot.com/
Chris Calverley
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Post 33- Black and White
I am impressed by these but not moved by them. A small number of contributors are posting images of people and street scenes and these appeal to me much more. I do not plan to continue posting on this site
I am now convinced that black and white images are intrinsically more "arresting" because they portray their subjects in a way that is unreal and therefore likely to be more intriguing for the viewer. I have enjoyed revisiting old images and re-editing them in black and white and am very happy with the results.
The following three images are ones where I have allowed a single colour to remain. I like them because they look "different".
I have not yet started to try and pre-visualise images in black and white which is a key precursor to the production of a "fine art" image. This is a completely different way of thinking and will take some time to master. I am lucky enough to have a Fuji camera that can produce black and white images on the preview screen so I hope to be able to learn this new skill fairly quickly.
Thursday, November 28, 2019
Post 32- Craving Recognition?
My good friend Dave Vowles and I have been debating Fine Art Photography and we have both been influenced and inspired by the work of Julia Anna Gospodaru and the (En)visionography movement she has created. I have recently found that she has created a closed Facebook Group to display Black and White Fine Art Photographs and have been following it for the past week. The group is curated by Julia herself and has a number of strict criteria about the content that is allowed. The rules state that works that do not fit the criteria or get little support will be removed from the page quite quickly.
I have observed that most of the images seem to be of buildings and bridges often surrounded by calm waters and cloudless grey skies. Portraits are specifically excluded from the site "unless the exhibit an artistic approach".
I have so far posted two images. The first was a study of a woman finely dressed in steampunk vintage clothing at an event at Papplewick Pumping Station. Near the end of the closing day of the event, together with two others, she proceeded to climb onto the coal heap and play apparently delighting in getting dirty. I posted this image and it received two likes but disappeared on the second day. Apparently this had been removed by the curators but no reason was given. Was it removed for not being classed as fine art or for getting insufficient support?
The second image I posted was a study of a small part of the Knife Angel. This sculpture was made from knives handed in a Police Weapon Amnesties and attracted a lot of interest in the three weeks it was outside Derby Cathedral. This image has been on the Facebook page now for a little over 24hrs and has received 5 likes. I will watch with interest to see how long it remains on the page.
This experience raises two issues. Are these two image worthy of being categorised as examples of Fine Art Photography? And why am I still so obsessed with how many likes my posted images receive?
Fine Art Photographs show subject matter in a way that originally only existed in the mind of the images creator using captured images processed using software. In both the images above I initially processed them as colour images but saw the potential for them to become more striking in high contrast monochrome, more closely cropped and framed than the originals. Is this sequence good enough to qualify as "fine art" or is it necessary to have a vision of an end product before the initial captures. I feel a need to get clarification on this point.
I am quite well aware that there will be a spectrum of quality going from poor examples of fine art photographs to high quality examples and am quite happy for these two images to be placed lower down on the scale.
On the subject of seeking to peer review my images by posting them on sites like this I am more clear. True artists produce work that they themselves believe have merit and do not need or seek the praise of others. I have not even come close to this state of mind and am still craving the recognition that comes from Facebook Likes. Maybe when I am further along my journey towards the goal of visual literacy I will be less dependant on likes.
I have observed that most of the images seem to be of buildings and bridges often surrounded by calm waters and cloudless grey skies. Portraits are specifically excluded from the site "unless the exhibit an artistic approach".
I have so far posted two images. The first was a study of a woman finely dressed in steampunk vintage clothing at an event at Papplewick Pumping Station. Near the end of the closing day of the event, together with two others, she proceeded to climb onto the coal heap and play apparently delighting in getting dirty. I posted this image and it received two likes but disappeared on the second day. Apparently this had been removed by the curators but no reason was given. Was it removed for not being classed as fine art or for getting insufficient support?
The second image I posted was a study of a small part of the Knife Angel. This sculpture was made from knives handed in a Police Weapon Amnesties and attracted a lot of interest in the three weeks it was outside Derby Cathedral. This image has been on the Facebook page now for a little over 24hrs and has received 5 likes. I will watch with interest to see how long it remains on the page.
This experience raises two issues. Are these two image worthy of being categorised as examples of Fine Art Photography? And why am I still so obsessed with how many likes my posted images receive?
Fine Art Photographs show subject matter in a way that originally only existed in the mind of the images creator using captured images processed using software. In both the images above I initially processed them as colour images but saw the potential for them to become more striking in high contrast monochrome, more closely cropped and framed than the originals. Is this sequence good enough to qualify as "fine art" or is it necessary to have a vision of an end product before the initial captures. I feel a need to get clarification on this point.
I am quite well aware that there will be a spectrum of quality going from poor examples of fine art photographs to high quality examples and am quite happy for these two images to be placed lower down on the scale.
On the subject of seeking to peer review my images by posting them on sites like this I am more clear. True artists produce work that they themselves believe have merit and do not need or seek the praise of others. I have not even come close to this state of mind and am still craving the recognition that comes from Facebook Likes. Maybe when I am further along my journey towards the goal of visual literacy I will be less dependant on likes.
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Post 31- "To share or not to share that is the question"
"To share or not to share that is the question"
I have thoroughly enjoyed writing the 30 posts in my blog over the past 11 months but until recently had not made them public.
The act of writing has been an end in itself as it has forced me to take stock of my progress on the journey towards some level of visual literacy. It has also enabled me to record my excitement at discovering new methods and approaches to photography.
During a recent photo field trip to Leicester Dave Vowles, Barrie Upton and myself got talking about the works of art on display at the New Walk Museum and I discovered similarities in the way Dave and I interpreted the works. We got talking about my blog and Dave said he would be interested in reading it. I sent him the link.
Since then we have exchanged numerous emails on the comments he has added to my blog posts. This process has enabled both of us to gain an appreciation of the views we share and discus the areas where our approaches are different.
This process has been very interesting and has made the whole process of blogging more educational.
Thank you Dave! I have thoroughly enjoyed the exchanges and learned a lot.
I intend to share my blog more widely but have yet to decide whether to cherry pick friends I think will take it seriously or broadcast its existence more widely among fellow camera club members.
I have thoroughly enjoyed writing the 30 posts in my blog over the past 11 months but until recently had not made them public.
The act of writing has been an end in itself as it has forced me to take stock of my progress on the journey towards some level of visual literacy. It has also enabled me to record my excitement at discovering new methods and approaches to photography.
During a recent photo field trip to Leicester Dave Vowles, Barrie Upton and myself got talking about the works of art on display at the New Walk Museum and I discovered similarities in the way Dave and I interpreted the works. We got talking about my blog and Dave said he would be interested in reading it. I sent him the link.
Since then we have exchanged numerous emails on the comments he has added to my blog posts. This process has enabled both of us to gain an appreciation of the views we share and discus the areas where our approaches are different.
This process has been very interesting and has made the whole process of blogging more educational.
Thank you Dave! I have thoroughly enjoyed the exchanges and learned a lot.
I intend to share my blog more widely but have yet to decide whether to cherry pick friends I think will take it seriously or broadcast its existence more widely among fellow camera club members.
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Post 30- Fine Art Photography???
Thanks to a comment on this blog by good friend Dave Vowles I had cause to look up an article on Fine Art Photography (FAP).
The article defined FAP as the creation of an image which represents something that exists only in the photographers mind. I like this definition as it seems to give free range to use my imagination to envision images and then attempt to create images. So HERE WE GO! The Sky is the limit.
It did not exist anywhere else but in my imagination before I created the images so it fits the definition. But is it Fine Art??????
I leave that decision to you Dear Reader.
The article defined FAP as the creation of an image which represents something that exists only in the photographers mind. I like this definition as it seems to give free range to use my imagination to envision images and then attempt to create images. So HERE WE GO! The Sky is the limit.
It did not exist anywhere else but in my imagination before I created the images so it fits the definition. But is it Fine Art??????
I leave that decision to you Dear Reader.
Monday, November 11, 2019
Post 29- Photographic Recycling
I have been unable to get out of the house much this week because Moy has been unwell with a serious cold. Despite this I have, this week, created more images than usual using the textured overlay techniques explained by Heather Burns at last weeks Ockbrook Photo Club.
I have found that I already have, on my computer hard drive, a massive number of images suitable to be combined into composite images. I have not needed to take any new photos to create these new images. This is truly a case of Photographic recycling.
Today being Armistice Day I have created a composite of two images, both taken 4 years ago. I have combined an image taken at the National Memorial Arboretum with one of poppies taken in Chellaston to produce what I hope is an image fitting of this significant day of memorial.
I am thrilled that Heather Burns has "Liked" this image on Facebook. She has also agreed to my Friend request and offered support should I request it.
I have found that I already have, on my computer hard drive, a massive number of images suitable to be combined into composite images. I have not needed to take any new photos to create these new images. This is truly a case of Photographic recycling.
Today being Armistice Day I have created a composite of two images, both taken 4 years ago. I have combined an image taken at the National Memorial Arboretum with one of poppies taken in Chellaston to produce what I hope is an image fitting of this significant day of memorial.
I am thrilled that Heather Burns has "Liked" this image on Facebook. She has also agreed to my Friend request and offered support should I request it.
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