OCA Thames Valley Meeting 22nd November

Yesterday I attended an OCA Thames Valley meeting. It was a very worthwhile event. Sharon Boothroyd, my tutor, was there providing help and advice. The meeting largely concentrated on reviewing work by the students present – a  form of critique. This is extremely useful and motivational as it can be very lonely on a distance learning course and this form of interaction with other students is invaluable.

Eddie Lerpiniere showed some of his recent portraiture which is exploring the relationships within his family – Eddy has three sons. John Umney showed some of his recent work in which he is working with image and text to create open narratives. Sharon showed work from two series including They all say please  in which she takes prayer cards posted onto the internet and constructs images showing her interpretations of the prayers. John and Sharon’s work with image and text is of particular relevance to my Lifting the Curtain project. We share common concerns about how to present the image and text and so on.

I had the opportunity to present my ideas on presentation for Lifting the Curtain.  I gained valuable feedback.

• the larger images were perceived as much more impactful and the way to go – I should present 4-6 images in 60×80 cm format for assessment, along with A2 sized copies of all images.
• presenting the text as a framed document or on a sheet on a clipboard alongside the image were seen as good ways to present the text and avoid it becoming swamped by the large colourful image – the size of the text frame and font do not need to be too large – I should remember that the source for the material is a book. An A5 sized sheet floating mounted in 10×8 inch frame is probably large enough as a companion text frame for the 60×80 cm images. I need to experiment with different forms and sizes when I construct my mock up — see below.
• Framing the images full bleed  and back mounted in a spacer frame would enable me to maximise image size for a particular frame size and is a more contemporary presentation – emphasising the modernity of the images

• My plan to produce a mock up of a gallery installation in my home and rephotograph it for assessment was seen to be a good idea.
• The book might more appropriately be presented without a brightly coloured dust cover. A cloth cover with silver or gold foil blocking would work very well. This would feel more like an old book – referencing Booth’s book. I will probably make two copies of the book in this form for assessment – it will be more expensive to have the books foil blocked.

• The photo paper version of the book was generally seen as much more impactful than the matt paper version – the photographs in the latter were very flat.
• The image of the Royal London Hospital does not seem to fit well in the series. The frontal symmetrical viewpoint and the seemingly daylight conditions (actually it was made early in the morning after sunrise) seem out of place – I will think again about whether to include this image.
• I really liked the paper that John Umney used for the images he showed. Canson Baryta Photographique. I plan to experiment with this paper for my assessment printing.