Collecting

Final Images

“Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves” – Abraham Lincoln

“What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal” – Albert Pine

The Burghers of Calais

“Live life as though nobody is watching, and express yourself as though everyone is listening” – Nelson Mandela

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever” – Mahatma Gandhi

“Courage Calls to Courage Everywhere” – Millicent Fawcett

“Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness” – Napolean Hill

The Spirit of the Crusaders – Gertrude M Williams (National Museum of Wales)

Contact Sheets

Assignment Notes

My initial thought for this assignment was the result of two ideas. The first was a photograph of my niece taken in Edinburgh at the memorial to Scottish-American soldiers who fought in the American Civil War. The second idea arose after noticing a sign for Commonwealth War Graves at the local cemetery.

From this starting point I began to brainstorm people and groups that fought for the freedoms and rights that we have today. People like Martin Luther King, Emmeline Pankhurst, the Tolpuddle Martyrs came to mind.

To capture the images I wanted I began looking at Manchester and London as locations as I was going to be visiting both cities in the run-up to the assignment deadline.

Sackville Gardens in Manchester has memorials to Alan Turing and LGBT people. London has memorials related to slavery and the suffragette movement.

With these areas as themes I begain looking for quotes from people linked to each of the possible themes. I found a poem by Sylvia Rivera who was involved in the 1969 Stonewall Riots, Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech, a copy of a speech by Emmeline Pankhurst and a number of quotes from Millicent Fawcett.

Unfortunately the Manchester trip had to be cancelled and so I spent a morning wandering around London visiting a variety of memorials including the Slave Memorial in Fen Church, the Suffragette Memorial in Christchurch Gardens, the Buxton Memorial Fountain, as well as the memorial to Emmeline Pankhurst and the statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square. The last location provided the opportunity to take photographs of Nelson Mandela and Mahtma Gandhi, both individuals who fought for people’s freedom.

The majority of the images were taken with an aperture of f/20 or f/22 where it resulted in a well exposed shot. Some images needed an aperture of f/11 or less because of the available light.

Reviewing the images it became apparent that the best way to proceed was to put together a sequence of images that involved people, which excluded the Slave Memorial, Buxton Memorial Fountain and Suffragette Memorial.

At this point I was still short of an image but a trip to the National Museum of Wales provided the chance to photograph The Spirit of the Crusaders memorial. This is a much smaller memorial than the others and so in order to get a similar sense of scale I photographed the memorial from a low angle, aiming to fill the viewfinder with the memorial as much as possible.

What I have aimed to develop is a set of images of representing groups who have fought for the freedoms and rights that we have today but which weren’t available to certain groups at some point in history.

Freedom from colonialism
Inability to vote
The fight to abolish slavery
Sacrificing your freedom in able to gain others their freedom
The willingness to fight for what is right and to stand up to those who would take away our freedoms.

Each of these I hope can be seen in the images, and the chosen quote that is associated with them.

With regards to presenting these images I would envisage a short description about the person or group depicted and what they were standing up for.

Going forward I would like to add to the sequence by including Alan Turing, I know that there is statue of him at Bletchley Park. Turing represents the way that the LGBT people in this country were treated and how people have fought for the freedoms that community currently as. Turing is seen as one of the fathers of the modern computer ages as a result of the work that he did decoding the German Enigma code during World War 2. As a gay man, after the war he did not get the recognition he deserved, was convicted under the countries archaic homosexuality laws and eventually took his own life. Similarly I would like to add something that depicts the Civil Rights Movement.

In parallel with this series the images of the Slave Memorial, Suffragette Memorial and the Buxton Memorial Fountain could be developed into a similar set of images with the inclusion of the Sackville Garden’s LGBT memorial and the memorial to the Tolpuddle Martyrs.

With both series of images I aim to get viewers to realise that there are people who aren’t lucky enough to have the freedoms and rights that the majority take for granted, that there are still battles to be fought, and that it is the normal, ordinary person in the street that can enact changes, if they have the will to do it.

Reflection

Demonstration of technical and visual skills

I think that these images show a good level of composition. The addition of the Nelson Mandela and Mahtma Gandhi figures, the Burgers of Calais and The Spirit of the Crusaders demonstrate a good level of observational skills and visual awareness as it would have been very easy to have missed these opportunities.

Quality of outcome

At the moment I think that the images demonstrate the realisation of my ideas from concept to execution. I’m not totally happy with all of them, the Emmeline Pankhurst image I plan to revist when I next have an opportunity to visit London and have some spare time. The image is slightly blurred and there is a spot of lens flare that stands out.

Demonstration of creativity

My sketchpad and contact sheets show a good level of creative thinking with regards to this assignment. I feel there is a clear indication of how the work developed and the impact of decisions made that resulted in the end series of images.

With regards to personal voice I feel that it is developing. I feel that there is a social aspect to how my photography is developing. Whether that is with regards to our impact on the environment or societies impact on our fellow human beings, my photography is drawing upon topics in these areas.

Context

I think that with regards to my research I am getting better and finding out about the suggested photographers, as well as finding out more about areas that I wish to include in my photography. I feel that my own personal interests and causes, and my photography are slowly aligning. My knowledge of photography is growing and I am trying to develop my critical thinking/analysis skills, which I hope have improved since assignment 1.

I do feel that I still have a long way to go in all of the assessment areas and there is plenty of scope for improvement.