Assignment 5: Planning

I've been in touch with the tutor with several possible themes and he's given his approval to all, leaving the decision to me.  He did note, however, a preference for color to monochrome.

I live on Dubai's main thoroughfare, a 10-lane highway, and had thought to do a series on the billboards that take up huge amounts of space and flash commercial messages to the thousands of drivers flying past.  The idea was to Photoshop in oppositional readings in the form of graffiti.  I still like the idea, and while shooting the images will be fairly straightforward, the manipulation will take more time than I've got if I wish to finish this course before July.  I'm also afraid of having to force certain images in order to meet a deadline, instead of waiting for just the right bit of text to run with an image.

I've therefore decided to follow on with a series of tree portraits.  Some of the stronger images from Assignment Three were of trees and this has inspired me to carry on.  I would dearly love to drive around the country and shoot all kinds of trees, but because of time I'm going to focus on my neighborhood and the adjoining areas, places I can get to - and get back to - easily.  So far I"ve shot a couple of strong images, so I'm already on my way.

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Which way to go?

I feel best about my photographic practice when I'm not reading the opinions of others.  Inevitably when exposed to these, I get anxious and distraught.  I think I should be doing something differently, that my practice is somehow deficient, that maybe I'll never learn anything and I ought to just give up and do something else.

Should I be planning my work, or should I let the work emerge from my time with the camera?  Perhaps there is some balance to be found here.  I tend to like working spontaneously, seeing what the camera reveals.  I don't like faffing about with all the dials and controls, but perhaps that's because I don't have a strong vision, because I don't see any images I want to produce.  Maybe it's because all that faffing about requires quite a lot of knowledge and practice to get right and having them only in small quantities I get frustrated and retreat.

This may also be part of my character and habit.  I don't spend lots of time on any one thing.  I move around a lot.  I change jobs.  I don't have a lot of long-term relationships. I prefer variety, uniqueness, spontaneity.  For me the camera has been a tool of exploration.  With it in hand, I have reason to get out and visit a neighborhood, a village, a landscape.  The process of creating images involves me in place.  It helps me look at and evaluate in ways different from walking around without a camera.

I think the key here is persistence.  Working repeatedly and diligently the knowledge and skills slowly accrue.  The key is to keep moving, keep thinking, keep exploring.

And not listen too closely to the gaggle of opinion.

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