Category: Coursework

Showing Not Telling – Text and Image to Form Diegesis

~ Johnathan Hall ~ 3 Comments

Kris Belden-Adams in Beyond "This-Caused-That”: The Temporal Complexities of Before-and-After Photographs (2017) re-articulates the account of how a diegesis works in a comic strip in Barthes' Rhetoric of the Image (1964). When both text and photographs supplement each other under the same idea, a diegesis is formed (Belden-Adams, 2017). A diegesis is a kind of overall narrative consisting of the like-minded fragments that make it up.

Showing Not Telling Using Google Maps/Street View

~ Johnathan Hall ~ 5 Comments

As I alluded to in the post Showing Not Telling, I have decided to make a post detailing how I make a map-based approach to titling the diptychs for my body of work. One of my concerns with map-based titling was that the project should have something to do with a map in the first place. I feel in retrospect that this isn't necessarily true. The concept that drives the project doesn't have to start by drawing a circle on a map for instance in order for the project to be titled this way. Instead the map can be a tool that embellishes the project, by inviting the viewer to delve deeper into the map or coordinates that point to the map.

Showing Not Telling

~ Johnathan Hall ~ 6 Comments

My photographs in the past have been quite literal; not leaving much to the imagination. In other words telling, not showing. Often I’ve left the text anchor out because I thought it wasn’t necessary. For me if text is there as an anchor it should help inform the viewer, inviting them to dig deeper, without just describing the image. Conversely, if text is there as a relay it should have a rapport with the images, bouncing back reflexively. I feel I am quite an imaginative person and strangely this reflects back to the viewer as not leaving much to the imagination. Perhaps because I have tried to squeeze a lot of information into the image, there isn’t much more room for interpretation.

The Logistics of My Project

~ Johnathan Hall ~ 1 Comment

I have decided to make what seems will be a pretty boring post concerning the logistics of my composite making and the selection of location from which to photograph from. I feel this is necessary because it is useful firstly as a reference point to remind myself of why I’m making the choices I’ve arrived at. Some of these reasons are practical while others are more thought out. The other use for making this post is that I might arrive at realisations I hadn’t conceived before writing this down.

Chance

~ Johnathan Hall ~ 2 Comments

Since developing a strategy for photographing change (specifically regeneration and everyday change in Deptford) in a documentary style, I have been aware of one way that chance is affecting my images. Therefore I am interested to address the factor of chance in photography and to see whether chance can or is affecting my work in any other way.

Personal Journeys and Fictional Autobiographies

© Lena Aliper (2012) - Jack and Jill Story no.12
~ Johnathan Hall ~ Leave a comment

I am quite intrigued by the photographs produced by artists working in this genre although I’m not sure how they are so incisive in their picture-taking. I have a diary like most people who own a smartphone of photos but it is sporadic at best. I am part of a large family but when I take photos of them its usually at formal occasions in groups or they pull a funny face! Working more seriously with a visual diary or getting a deeper perspective of my family’s lives intrigues me. However, I am aware that I would need to exhibit such work in an exhibition of some sorts eventually so I would need to be comfortable with the content being displayed publicly.