The Oxford Trip:

14/09/22: The starting point for the whole of this course was a trip to Oxford, during this trip we got to see the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, the Pitt Rivers Museum and the History of Science Museum.

The task for the day was just to take pictures; no thinking, no process just to observe and document. At first I thought the idea avoided was crazy as it had no real focus if it was just random photos however after I felt it allowed for creative freedom and allowed me to have new ideas rather than ones structured by my previous more focused ideas. When walking into the Pitt Rivers Museum it was initially quite overwhelming due to the scale of the museum; many different categories which incorporated artefacts from many different years.

Below is a photo dump from the many pictures I took during my trip to Oxford:

From these images I then had to choose 3 to talk about in class the three images I chose are below and my reasoning to why I thought they were significant enough to show.

The first image: This art work is an arial shot of somewhere in Louisiana, USA and it displays the waste produced from phosphate fertiliser. I chose this photo because when I initially saw this artwork it captivated me, then when I realised the idea behind it I was shocked. The beauty within a horrible factor like waste that damages the environment was truly inspiring and I feel was a really affective approach to spread awareness of the damaging effects different industries can have. This piece was part of a collection which displayed many different forms of waste and all were just as impactful. I felt like this was a standout piece and something I wanted to share with others with is why I chose it. This photo also links to my idea of man vs nature as it shows the physical work between the damaging affects of man towards nature.

The second image: This photograph is of different tools used to apply makeup and other cosmetic products over the years. The reason I chose this is because I thought it highlighted the pressure that society has created for people to look a certain way has always been there. Beauty tools and trends have always been ingrained into society and I feel that this collection of cosmetic tools really highlighted this. I also feel that the idea that this photo implies links to one of my potential ideas being the representation of women and the impact that trends and pressures can have, so I feel that they linked very nicely together.

The third image: This photo also links to my idea of man vs nature, the hives in the photo are wasps nests that are made from wood/paper fibres however scientists were involved in this process by giving wasps coloured wood/paper to see if the hive's were affected for which they were. The constant involvement in nature we have as mankind is extreme and is why I feel that it is a battle between the two. I also felt that it looked very pretty due to the colours and stood out as well as it being something not commonly seen which is another reason why I chose this photo.

21/09/22: During the class we had to discuss our thoughts about each others photos like ideas, emotions or concepts we feel associate with them. Because photography is very subjective there were many ideas discussed which allowed me to see things in a different perspective but it also allowed the group to get a sense of each others creative understanding which I thought was interesting and useful. This discussion of ideas was done before we shared our own views on the photographs which meant each photo was a blank canvas and others thoughts were fresh and un-influenced. I felt it useful to take notes about what people said about my photos and below is what was discussed.

-Ideas about the first photo: fluid, lack of control, light vs dark, arial photography, different angles, new perspectives, ambiguous, expected not to know, open to perspective, natural.

-Ideas about the second photo: tools rather than the finished look, lot's of things/variation, alters appearance, the process, the history of beauty.

-Ideas about the third photo: childish, bright, natural structure/geometry, expression, experimenting with the concept of nature.

After the session: After the discussion I spent time reflecting on the images I'd taken and decided to have a practical response to them. By this I mean create my own work using the images as a source. I decided to do this as a way to reflect on my understanding and to play with the ideas discussed. The work I created are shown below: