the beginning of the end

Things have been fairly quiet on the post front recently and with good reason. February has been a big month for deadlines and these have occupied a large amount of my time. First off was the dissertation and this went in a few weeks back. But last week another deadline came and went. This time it was the rarely discussed research module. Briefly put this module has involved doing all the planning for what will come to be my major project and final piece at Westminster University.

A while back i mentioned that this project was going to be take the form of a series of outdoor projections. I actually did a test run of this project in my back garden:

The image is remarkably similar to the digital mock up I had done before doing it for real. Here is where we begin to encounter a problem. My original idea was to pick a series of locations then over the course of a month or so show a projection at each site. Ideally the work was to be encountered in situ and was concerned with creating a dialogue between the viewer

and the space they are in. Ultimately I hoped the viewer would temporarily be given a different perspective on their everyday environment. But when you view the photographs it is no longer possible to have the same encounter. You are not in the place where the projection was shown and it is impossible to have the same sort of reflective relationship with what surrounds you.

In an ideal world this is no problem. People could come and see the projections, or happen upon them, and have the sort experience I hoped for. But the question I had to ask myself is how many people would actually see this work? I am just starting out and do not have the renown required to encourage large groups of people to see my work. But what was more concerning was the fact that this project needed to exist in some form. Either as video of photographs there had to be some form of documentation. Equally i wanted this part of the project to be more than just a document. It had to stand alone in its own right and not just feel like the remnants of something that happened previously. This is where the photographs fell down for me. While I sat in my garden I enjoyed watching the film but the images were just not as interesting.

Before I had even done this test I had had an idea for a related if slightly different project. I knew I would be making a screen and thought that maybe the screen itself would make for an interesting image. This white space in the centre of the frame could act as a sort of void directing the viewers act to the periphery of the frame. What I liked about this idea was that it addressed the process of looking at images. We typically expect a photograph to have its subject clearly displayed in the middle of the frame. Look at newspapers or adverts and this becomes quite clear. So by filling this area with white the viewer would have to read the image slightly differently and consider how they approach the photograph. So before the garden test i headed to the beach with screen to do a few test shots:

As is so often the case there is difference between thought and expression. While this image came close to my original idea there is something fundamentally wrong and that is the screen. Simply put this does not look like a projector screen. Rather it resembles a windbreak but overall its function is not clear. As such it assumes an enigmatic presence and rather than directing the viewer to edge of frame actually becomes the focus of attention. I could not help feeling that something was being hidden from me when I looked at this image. What lay behind the white cloth and why were we not be shown it? As a result I had actually created an image that accentuated the traditional reading of the photograph rather than challenge it!

After spending time with the image it became clear that the photograph was not having the desired affect due to the nature of the screen. What I needed was a screen where the functionality of the object was immediately clear. The viewer had to recognise what the object was used for to prevent it becoming a complete enigma. It would be by giving the viewer a clear and direct answer to what the object is used for that would encourage further exploration of the image. So onto ebay and within days an old fashioned screen had arrived in the post for a bargain basement price. I returned to the beach and did another shoot:

This time i got what I was after. When I looked at the photograph the centre of the frame simply did not have enough information to occupy my attention. This left me with two choices. The first was to explore the space around the photograph. Secondly I could project my own thoughts and ideas onto the white space in the image. In this regard the projection screen acts as a recipient of the viewers imagination. It is this latter part that is of central importance. Having an area of white space is one thing but it is quite another to provide a space that can be activated by the viewer. For example a white door would not work. We would wonder what is behind it and try and see beyond the surface. The reason the projector screen is so effective is because this a place where we would expect to see information. When it is not present we feel a sense of lack and we have to use our imaginations to compensate.

I enjoy photography precisely because it can engage our imagination. Most photographs may not encourage this process but at its heart the photograph is an essentially ambiguous document. It gives us the opportunity to create our own readings and never lets us form a definitive conclusion. This is the relationship that i want people to have with my images and encourage this act of imagination.

So this is the project that will form my final project at Westminster University. It will be an exploration of blank space but crucially ones that offer us the chance to project ourselves into the photograph. It is going to be piece of work that will require much finesse and attention to detail. Throughout I am going to have to calmly consider the images i produce an reflect on what works and what does not. This reflexive way of working is not what i am used to and is somewhat daunting. But i am encouraged by the fact that somewhere in this project exists the potential for a body of work i can truly say represents me and my ideas around photography. What could be a more fitting way to end a degree?