Well, it's finally completed. The last session was on Thursday and it was hand-in everything you had completed and then await the marking and feedback. But this session was particularly cruel and unusual - you had to put your six (or more) themed images up in class for everyone to look at critique!
Such fun! I was really blown away by some of the photos that had been produced. Images that displayed a lot of talent and natural ability across a wide variety of subject matter and styles. Some were 'better' than others for me, but everyone had a few finished pieces that just looked lovely. Now, I knew when I was completing the work on my own missive that it was very different to that being produced by others. But when I had to display my own work - and by happenstance I was last - I did feel a little sad that my idea was less involving, less impactful to my classmates than their had been to everyone. Why? Well, mine is about the idea as well as the shape and images produced. My group of 5 monochrome images taken in a panorama and then cropped into individual images that have a connection to those on either side, display the connected world inside an overarching 'Nature in Silhouette' title. Take any one image away and the group collapses - it is an ecosystem in and of itself and even though I'd used colour, different crops so that each were isolated and a variety of iterations; the one I finally chose had branches encroaching into the next image. But, to look at, its perhaps fairly bland - just 5 monochrome images of a landscape with some trees in it. It's not got a colour sketch effect, no deep colours or reflections, no wildlife or dogs, no poses on the beach or near the pool, no refraction of water or spoons in glasses and no people on a seafront or near the sea - it is simple yet (for me at least) very complex at the same time. I could have produced - indeed do have some lovely images I took with Ed on our day out - landscape and silhouette photos rich in colour and texture. Yet for me, this course has been about finding another avenue into 'my' style, my perspective on things. I wanted to have produced something that was me. I'm not decrying anyone else's work or talent; I just wanted to know that what I had produced could only have come from me. I did that and I'm pleased and proud of what I achieved. So, this will be the last blog post for a while on this page as I turn my attention elsewhere. I'll still be taking photos and hope that Ed and I might go out again soon somewhen. There's even talk of the course participants setting up a WhatsUp messaging group and perhaps going out once in a while en masse to terrify the local populace. And, of course, there's my 'harem' of fellow Level I friends aka 'The Maldon Camera Crew'. We try to meet regularly and Pip, Kerry and Anna are blossoming as photographers, and it is something that I cherish. But I've spent so much time on my photography that my writing and musical endeavours have been neglected. I still have to complete my second collection of short stories ('Past Horrors') and have not done any real singing or lyric writing for months! Keith has kindly sent me his latest piece of music and thus, next week, I'll settle down to have a listen and hope that an idea for a lyric will strike from out of the blue. I'll still work on this website as I do on my other one; just not as often perhaps. I will try to hone the pages a little, reduce sections and upload a few newer photos where relevant and bring the photos on the site up to date. But that won't require a blog post - maybe just a quick entry into the 'News' section. So, if you want to keep in touch and join the other 100 or so visitors this page generates a week; try popping over too arcmwriting.weebly.com/ and keep in touch there. In the meantime, take care, keep safe and keep taking the photos! Alan
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Alan MitchellI'm always trying to capture that fleeting 'moment' in time -whether by taking a photo or writing a poem. My attempts to capture that illusive feeling, sight, sensation or sound in some way is, to me, magical. Archives
March 2023
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