Overall Comments
Rich, I can see you have worked hard on this assignment and it can be quite a challenge to produce a set of images that incorporate the various colour theories. To be honest it often depends on the theme, some photographers find it easier to work thematically and then struggle with an open brief. With this particular assignment there is an abstract feel to the majority of your shots, and the mix of locations helping to ground the images rather than distract from the overall feel.
Feedback On Assignment
Complementary Colours – The first shot of the bus behind the hedge works well, at first glance the image does have an abstract feel, possibly due to the text on the back of the bus as it seems to disorientate the viewer, which I think works well.
Similarly with the shot of the floral display in Portugal where the light and colour of the curtains help to create a good background, the composition and small depth of field bring the image to life and we can see a definite style to both of these opening images.
The rusting boat provides good subject matter for the third image and although it is a more straightforward shot it combines well with the other photographs in this section.
Similar Colours – The shot here of the same boat works a lot better, there is more range in the colours and the cracks in the paint give the image a kind of mosaic feel. The shot of the shelter is one of my favourites from this assignment, the formal style of the image keeps all of the focus on the colours and to a lesser extent the actual design of the shelter. As with many of the images in this assignment, the shot highlights your observation and pre-visualisation skills really well.
The violet flower with the red background is an unusual image because it is very rare to see a combination of these colours; again this is down to your observation skills which do seem to have come to the fore in this assignment. The shot of the lemons also works well although I would have been tempted just to crop out a little to show the viewer more of the actual scene.
Colour Contrast – I can see what you trying with the shot of the narrowboats, but I think you need to get closer to them, the composition is little cluttered with the text on the boats being a little distracting too. We are naturally drawn to text within a photograph as it immediately satisfies our curiosity.
Interestingly the text in the following image actually becomes part of the image and it works really well. The reflection of the lady in the green/turquoise dress finishes the image off excellently because it draws the attention away from the text although not the actual colour which remains integral to the success of the image.
The shot of the balloon works to an extent but seems out of kilter with the rest of the images in terms of style, the evening light helps to keep all the colour elements quite compact, but possibly a longer focal length lens would have helped.
The image of the marina entrance building is a good architectural style of shot, the perspectives are all correct and this leaves the viewer to concentrate on the colours which again are quite rare in this combination. I would tend to replace the shot of the narrowboats with the one of the pallets as this one works a lot better.
Colour Accents – The shot of the childs coat (is it a costume?) is excellent and here we can see how a colour accent can add uncertainty to an image, the shot also asks many questions which the viewer has to unravel.
The sign on the wall reminds me of a similar William Eggelston shot, I’m not sure if you looked at his work, but here we can see how strange colour combinations can work in a photographic context. The shot of the warning sign on Dartmoor is a good spot, it is really quite a subliminal accent that does catch our attention but in a kind of exclamatory manner!
Learning Log/Blog/Suggested Reading/Viewing/ Pointers For The Next Assignment
Your blog remains quite integral as to an insight into your own working methodology, although if you could bring other photographers work into your own research I think this would be helpful to the assessors when they come to grade your work.
The fourth assignment can be a good opportunity to test your creative and imaginative areas of photography, the success of which can often depend on the actual object that you use, and your resourcefulness. Have a look at a couple of my students’ assignments, where George used a piece of waste gas pipe and Leonie used a chair that she is very attached to.
A couple of interesting blogs worth a look are: Alec Soth (a great photographer who also runs a photo book publishing compant):
And an interesting article on documentary photography that may help you in the final assignment.
And finally some shameless self promotion, here’s my blog which I recently started in preparation for my own photo zines and books.
http://petefdavies.wordpress.com/2013/08/25/who-what-where/
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