Exercise 5.6: Context and meaning.

Exercise 5.6: Context and meaning.

This a précis of John A. Walker’s essay ‘Context as a Determinant of Photographic Meaning’.

• The meaning of an image changes according to who views it and where it is viewed.  The subject, photographer, the depth of interest of the viewer, and the nature of the viewing space all influence the meaning to that viewer.
• While photographs contain non changing subjects contained within their frames the meaning and context may change according to who views it, where it is viewed and what emphasis is put upon an object in the image.  The viewing of two images placed together may also influence how they are read.
• The progression from a single painted image to multi photographic images allows an image to be seen in many different places and in many ways simultaneously.  The same image may be seen as a news item in a daily paper and as a work of art when displayed in a gallery.  
• A photograph fixes a place in a particular time.  When viewed later it is sometimes necessary to shield the image from the present.  
• The life of an image depends on its circulation and currency.  An image will be used and reused in various contexts.  While relevant and in circulation it has has currency and when interest wains it dies.  
• Circulation:- distribution and transmission of an image.
• Currency:- the value of an image while in circulation.
• Views about photographs are personal and depend on the viewer’s preconceptions and memories.  Their background will influence what they see.   Only language can limit the way they can describe it.
• Photographers influence what is in an image by what they include and how an object is portrayed.  Peter Marlow’s images of the National Front marches in New Cross seek to show the weak and pathetic side of the marchers rather that of their tough and aggressive one.
• Evaluating how people view images is more difficult than evaluating the image.  We all bring different experiences to a viewing but are limited by language in how we describe our feelings.
• The power of a single image to influence us is diluted by the many other images we see every day.  It is said by some that images now have no effect while others say they represent a view of the norm.
• When social context changes,as in revolution, then the view of past imagery also changes.  The old norms are seen, sometimes, as representing the old ideals and as such are swept aside.
• Photographers working on the left try to retain control of the context of their images so that the viewed will see only what the photographer wants shown.
• The idea that everyone sees an image in a unique way is not possible and is disproved by the fact that many viewers will view it from the perspective of similar experiences.  The language available to them will also limit divergence.
• How an image is encountered adds to the ambiguity and complexity of it.  This adds a mental context to how the image is read.  Viewers will have their own opinion of an image but are able, through discussion, to share their view and hear others views.
• The influence of context has spread and grown over time and is now found in architecture as well as in art.  
• Thoughts on context and meaning.
• I looked through Peter Marlow’s images of the New Cross/National Front confrontations with some interest as I was there at the time.  Not as a marcher or as a protester but as a Police Officer.  The National Front seemed to think that just because we were protecting them from the anger fueled mob we were on their side.  The left wing agitators were, as usual, looking for a fight with the Old Bill and doing their best to provoke us, and assumed, wrongly, that we were on the side of the National Front.  This was the first time I had met National Front members and still remember them as some of the most odious people I have ever met.   In the grand scheme of things there were few arrests as every arrest took officers away from the action.  Those that did get arrested worked at it.  It was interesting to to see us as others saw us.  We were there to keep the two waring factions from harming each other while allowing both to have their democratic say, yet looking at the images we are seen as the oppressors. As usual at these events it ended up with both sides hating us so I supposed we had done our job fairly.  
• It was also interesting to see the attributes of toughness, masculine virility, aggression, and latent power were laid at the door of the National Front during the New Cross confrontations.  This was largely bluster and carried out from the safety of a Police cordon. These traits were displayed far more menacingly by the miners during their futile support of Arthur Scargill.   Any working miner who dared to cross a picket line felt the full force.  
• We can all put different interpretations on images.  In the case of pictures published during the miners strike the strikers and pickets will see themselves as justified defenders of their jobs.  The miners who wished to work will see the same strikers as thugs and bully boys who were stopping them earning a wage.  How the public saw the events varied hugely depending on which paper or publication displayed them.  The approach of The Telegraph and The Socialist Workers Party to the same pictures was going to be very different.   The context in which they were shown was the deciding factor.   
• We are told a picture is worth a thousand words but without some words the picture will lack context and its meaning may be lost.

Exercise 5.5: Create a slide show.

Exercise 5.5: Create a slide show.

As I said at 5.4 with three of the suggested items not working it is difficult to comment on how they looked or sounded.  

The Duckrabbit piece was a mix of still and video with appropriate sound.  I'm not sure what the message was.  Was it the lack of interest in their local fauna with the killing of the lizard, or the fact that the men seemed to little but dance while the women work.  Whatever it was I found the Presentation repetitive and failed to hold my attention.  

The piece from the New York Times was very atmospheric with the sounds of the city backing each presentation.  The short introduction of each character left me me wanting to hear more.  A thoughtful piece well done.

Bongo Fever was the strongest presentation.  It showed what happens when Government ceases to exist and all hope of a brighter future fades.  The powerful pictures with local background sounds backed up by a flat factual commentary brought home a message of a lost and forlorn population.  

As I had no files suitable for a slide show show I took my inspiration from the work done by artists using Google Earth as a starting point.  

I took a stroll along Beach Street, Deal and took a picture of every building from North Street to Oak Street.  With the exception of a couple of builders I excluded all human activity.

I loaded the 54 images into a program called Fantashare only to find it was not yet compatible with Mac OS Yosemite 10.10.  I reverted to using Lightroom.  I will send the link to my tutor in due course.

A copy of this slide show is included in my submission box.

Exercise 5.4: Online exhibitions.

Exercise 5.4: Online exhibitions.

What a pity that the Jesse Alexander, Motorway and Foto8 links failed to work.

I have not added any comment to the post but place my thoughts here.

The exhibition is interesting only in how stuck in a rut American photography appears to be.  It contained no image that had not been seen before, and had it come to the UK I would have spent little time in the gallery.  

The presentation had a strange effect in that it forced me to ponder images that held little interest but at the same time allowed no additional time to study those that I would have enjoyed more time with.  The lack if narrative and direction did not help.

The Bongo Fever show was far more compelling being both depressing and frightening by turns.  Such glimpses into Africa in its post colonial collapse

is seldom permitted.  This format drove home the message in a most forceful way.

With three of the slide presentations not working it is not possible to draw any conclusions on what may have been good work.

Exercise 5.3: Print-on-demand mock-up.

Exercise 5.3: Print-on-demand mock-up.

For this exercise I tried the suggested method of downloading the Blurb plug and play and using it with Indesign.  Managed to design the cover and download some images but each time I tried to put it together it crashed.  Went to the main Blurb site and used their in-house  publisher.  So much easier to use.  Couldn’t save it without buying it so tool screen shots of the result.  This is not meant to be a finished book but an example of what could be with further images and work.

Exercise 5.2: Print quotes.

Exercise 5.2: Print quotes.

The exercise was to find three print firms and obtain quotes for both C-type and giclee prints.  A trawl of the net brought up many print firms but only a few met the requirements.  The three sets of quotes are below.

I selected a RAW file of an image taken inside the Western Redoubt in Dover and changed it to a jpg/RGB file at a dpi of 240.

Giclee

C type.

The only true photograph is the one taken from the camera without further manipulation.  This limits us to positive images such as slide film , the Daguerreotype or a RAW file.  Not very useful.  Any additional work must alter that original image and make it an interpretation of what was seen through the lens.  As long as one is true to that original view then the resultant picture must be seen as a photograph, no matter what the medium of reproduction is.  The C type can be manipulated to the same extent as the inkjet so each is capable of untruthful reproduction.  The further from that first view the manipulation takes the image then the further it is removed from photograph and changes it to art-work.  

Exercise 5.1: Origin of the White Cube.

Exercise 5.1: Origins of the White Cube.

In the second paragraph McEvilley comments on O’Doherty’s description of gallery space; that it should exclude outside distractions and allow the exhibits to speak for themselves.  The lack of windows or decoration allow the observer to concentrate on the images.  

McEvilly compares the effect of medieval church buildings where the outside world was also excluded so as to concentrate the congregation’s mind on the glory of God and all his works.  This exclusion technique, he argues, has been employed from the earliest times and he gives the examples of Egyptian tombs and Paleolithic cave paintings.  The absence of stimuli from the outside world focuses the mind on the image and can allow deep thought and understanding.  

He states that since these spaces are cultural and tribal places their use reinforces the traditions and beliefs of the people who use them.  Their religious significance can link heaven and earth and may allow some deeper understanding of life and death.

The use of such places has been used as a way of the ruling class to subjugate and control the masses.  The unchanging nature of these places will act as a firm base on witch the users civilisation can be built.

The White Cube is an exclusive space with is designed to appeal to the members of a certain caste.  Its sheer blandness gives it sense of its own reality and magic.  It is not designed to appeal to those who do not understand it.

The second part deals with the Eye and the Spectator.  The understanding is that the Spectator has but one job and that is to allow the Eye to see and not interfere.  One subjugates normal function to allow the Eye to see.  Whether it is a church or a gallery one speaks and acts in a special way, refraining from loud conversation, or the consumption of comestibles.  The feeling one has in a church and a gallery can be similar with the needs of the Spectator coming second to the demands of the Eye.

The emptiness of the gallery was used by Duchamp in a very different way in his 1938 1.200 Bags of Coal, that has bags of coal suspended from the ceiling above a brazier, and his 1942 Mile of String, where he criss-crossed a gallery with string.  Various artists have used the empty space of the White Cube as a exhibition on its own.  Among these have been Yves Klein, Michael Asher and James Lee Byars.   

By excluding the outside the White Cube couldn’t accommodate history and wasn’t connected to real time.  Inside there is no room for what is outside and as such it lacks any real dimension and cannot represent anything other than it’s own space.  

Comment.

The quote, “The outside world must not come in , so windows are usually sealed off.  Walls are painted White.  The ceiling becomes the source of light”, is the perfect description of an IKEA store.  In a church the outside is brought in through the windows, whether by plain or stained glass.  Indeed what would the Sagrada Famalia be  without the white tree like columns dappled by the light from the stained glass windows.  Churches are full of references to the outside but the White Cube and IKEA exclude such references.

My nearest gallery is The Turner at Margate.  The galleries are indeed white spaces but as one moves around between them one is offered views of the outside so as to clear the mind before passing onto the next gallery.  A successful mixture of closed spaces within an open public place.

Galleries do tend to attract a certain public and are seen as alien places to many.  When the Jerwood Gallery opened in Hastings it was seen as elitist, there was a lot of local clamour about it being too posh for the area, about it being a waste money, about it not fitting in with the local buildings.  The gallery is a quirky space with odd shaped viewing areas and constant glimpses of the outside through the windows.  It is definitely not a White Cube.  It is an inviting space and far less intimidating the the claustrophobic Cube.

I recently displayed some photographs in North Deal Community Centre and because they were placed where they were readily viewable they raised lot of comment and interest.  A friend of mine exhibited in the entrance of Folkestone Town Hall but because of poor placement they went unseen.

The paragraph on the Eye and the Spectator described nicely how a critic or connoisseur may view an image.  The average visitor to the Louve heads straight for the Mona Lisa and takes a phone shot, largely of other people doing the same, and leaves.  They show no interest in the rest of the museum or its other exhibits but go there merely tick off another landmark.  All this is done in the ultimate White Cube as there is nothing but the Mona Lisa on view.  This noisy throng certainly do not seem to understand the purpose of the White Cube.

The White Cube is an elitist, exclusive, and barren space that was designed to intimidate and threaten.  It was not designed as a space where one can go and enjoy art.  Either that or an IKEA store.

Having just published this  noticed in The Telegraph today (10.10.14) an article about a work of art, Pietro Manzoni's Achrome, that is expected to sell for £7 million.  It consists of white paintings displayed in a white room.  The ultimate White Cube?

Exercise 4:5: Proposal for the self-directed project.

Proposal for the self-directed project.

I live in a part of Kent that is famous for its picturesque views, its golf courses and its unspoiled, and largely, empty beaches.  Post card images abound.  Behind this image lurks its ugly side; the abandoned building projects, fly tips and other eyesores.  It is this darker side of the area I wish to portray.  I want to show how an area is misused by people who have no pride in it and seem to find their behaviour acceptable.

The work of  Keith Arnatt, I'm a Real Photographer, and Fay Godwin, Our Forbidden Land, have been influential in my images and the way I will present them.

I will record the images in colour but will present them as black and white.  This will give me the opportunity to fine tune the contrast by working in the colour channels.  I have already started to take the pictures for this exercise and will keep seeking more.

I have recently displayed, at the my local community centre, a set of pictures showing the picturesque side of the area.  A display of this body of work would act as a sharp counter balance.  A case of beautiful and the beastly.

The only resource I require is time.  I need to get out and hunt down the images I require.  Google Earth is a help but is of necessity out of date by the time it is made available.

This is an open ended project as I can only photograph what I find when I find it.  With luck it should be ready by the end of the year.  I will be working on it alongside other projects.

This project stalled as a result of ill health but will be back on the road shortly.

Reading.

Reading.

A Dream of England: Landscape, Photography and the Tourist’s Imagination. John Taylor.

Having read the essay, “Landscape for Everyone”, from, “A dream of England: Landscape, Photography and the Tourist’s Imagination”, I thought the book would be worth examining further.  It proved to be worth the effort.  

It gave a neat history of not only the mechanics of photography but also the social development and democratisation of it from early pioneers, using glass plates that produced themselves, through to Eastman Kodaks easy to use box cameras.  

The examination of the work by the then modern practitioners was also useful if somewhat dated.  We are now more used to seeing politicised images of ruined landscapes and don’t find them as challenging and shocking as perhaps we ought.

Since the book makes no challenge on the claim that the coal mining industry was ended by Mrs. Thatcher I would point out that more mines were closed under the stewardship of Harold Wilson.  Wilson 272 against Thatcher 154.  I show no source for this as neither did the claims in the book.

Although now dated I found the book an absorbing read and an interesting insight into how political photography can be.

The Photographers Eye. John Szarkowski.

It was good to open a book that presented brilliant images without further explanation.  All one gets by way of information is the title, the photographer and the date.  I particularly enjoyed the sections The Detail and The Frame.  

Too many photographers to name but not a poor print in the book.

Viewfindings. Women Photographers: “Landscape and Environment.    Editor Liz Wells.

First published in 1994 his book seems rather dated, reflecting as it does on attitudes of “them” and “us”.  I would hope that these boundaries, although still felt by some, have softened.  Ingrid Pollard’s section on the acceptance of black people seems particularly dated as this country has opened it’s doors to the world and people of different colours and beliefs can be found in every town and city and in all walks of life.

Reading this book has helped me in differentiating between masculine sublime photography and feminist picturesque photography. 

Landscape and Power. W. J. T. Mitchell.

I read this some time ago and on picking it up to record my thoughts I realised none of it had stuck other than a memory of a tough read.  Taking it with me to Spain next week for a re-read.

Seeing, Observing and Thinking.  August Sander.

One of my favourite photographers.  The way he engages with his subjects is lesson to all.  No flattery or pretence here, just honest portraits of real people. 

I noted that, with the exception of river boats, his landscape images show little human activity.  Roads and bridges are devoid of traffic and footpaths empty of walkers. These pictures are obviously well researched and beautifully taken.

Landscape and Western Art. Malcolm Andrews.

A very readable history of western landscape portrayal showing its progress from landscape images as background to religious and mythical figures to the wrapping of islands in plastic.  It introduced me to the work of Richard Long which led me to me led me to the work I submitted for Assignment Two where I took a walk round my home town taking a picture of whatever was in front of me at three minute intervals.  This may be the basis for a future submission using a camera mounted in my car.  I have already carried out a couple of dummy runs.

I’m a Real Photographer.  Keith Arnett.

Quirky and rather self indulgent by never the less interesting.  The sections on dog walkers and gardeners are very August Sander like with the subjects square on and looking straight into the camera.  Miss Graces Lane is great document and I am looking to use some similar ideas regarding the despoliation of my local beaches.

Exercise 4.5: Signifiers-Signified

Signifier-Signified.

Before embarking on this exercise I read both Rhetoric of the Image by Roland Barthes and Decoding Advertisements by Judith Williamson.  Both went far beyond what is required for this piece but gave an insight into how adverts are constructed and aimed at their target audiences.

The Advert I have chosen is one for a new Dulux paint.  The picture shows a man mixing a tin of paint and adding new ingredients.  The man is not dressed as a shopkeeper in a hardware store but as a cocktail waiter and his surroundings are those of a cocktail bar.  The paint tin is plain metal and the added ingredients are pouring from the sort of beakers more normally found in a scientific laboratory.  On the shelves, instead of bottles for use in cocktails, are ranged glass test tubes of various colours.  

What is being signified by what signifiers:

  I’ll start with the space and its appearance of opulence.  It is clearly not a place where one would normally find paint being mixed.  What is signified is this is a place where one finds the finer things in life.  This is signified not only by the decor but also by the man himself, with the perfect cut of his clothes, his crisp white shirt, the real bow tie and the well manicured moustache.   

 The science behind the product is signified by the use of the laboratory glassware signifiers which are clearly labeled with the new ingredients, “Moisture Resistance”, and, “Soft Sheen”.  The plain tin signifies the newness of the product that as yet appears to have no name.

 On the shelves in the background are coloured containers that invite you to consider a connoted connection and think about what colours you might employ.  The shiny wood of the bar connotes at what is possible and the clean cut bar man denotes ease of use.

 Even the placing of the verbal massages is carefully thought out.  I have already mentioned the flasks so I will move on to the “Mix more than colour....” message.   It is nicely placed nearer to the paint can than to the flasks indicating the acceleration of the fluids as they fall.  The AkzoNobel logo is adjacent to the largest container in the picture and is a signifier of an industrial giant lurking benignly in the background.  The placing of the “Dulux lets colour” logo at the bottom right is deliberate as the western eye will most likely scan out of the picture at that point with “Dulux”  the last word read.  

On a practical level I would also point out the lack of protection in the way of clothing, gloves, eye protectors, and secure stands for the containers.  

The advert hints at much while revealing almost nothing.  All paints have moisture resistance; it’s the very reason we use them.  Soft sheen has about as much meaning as radiant hair or glowing skin.  All that is truthfully being said is that Dulux make a range of paints, the rest is fluff.

Exercise 4.4: Of Mother Earth and Marlboro Man.

Of Mother Nature and Marlboro Man.

At the time of her writing the above piece, 1985, Deborah Bright noted that landscape photography was extremely popular and that books featuring the subject were selling well.  In this essay she examines the reasons for this and the cultural meanings of landscape photography.

• Her first thoughts were that such photographs are seen as timeless, pure, and stand apart from the modern world.
• She next conjectures that this is too simple an explanation as such images are more that  what happens in front of the camera.  The whole construct of landscape is a modern one that has its roots in Europe and the tradition of showing, often imagined landscapes, as a background for religious and other mythical figures, or real landscapes as a frame for the owners to be depicted.  Only later would the landscape be painted and appreciated in its own right.
• Landscape will always reflect its cultural home.  Some will find comfort in these representations while others who have no stake in the landscape will feel out of place and not represented in them.
• Landscapes images record the changes in land use and the attitudes of both the photographer and the viewer.  She asks questions about the ideologies of photographers and their masculine eye.
• In America following the slaughter of the indigenous there was a popular movement for the now white population to discover their wild pioneer country.  The rapidly expanding rail network and later road network assisted no end in transporting into these now safe areas.  Pieces of wilderness were preserved close to towns.  
• With the parks came codes of conduct as to how to behave in the wilderness.  The camera was almost compulsory.
• These views became the standard that the next visiter looked for and became the backdrop for both the popular westerns of the 20th Century but also a means of selling beer and cigarettes.
• The western American landscape means different things to different people.  To some it  is a tourist destination neatly packed and marketed.  To others it represents unchanged wilderness, although it comes with permissions, passes and rules.
• The fact that landscapes change according to current taste and politics is not always reflected in photography.  
• Photography of the American School of the early 20th C was very much about what the photographer felt about the scene rather than a true representation of it.
• In the 1960s John Szarkowski introduced a new way of taking and viewing by using a new way of talking about landscape.  He applied these techniques when he view earlier works by the likes of Timothy O’Sullivan.  
• The accusation is made that the exhibition, Before Photography, and the book, American Landscapes, almost ignore the feminist voice or view.  A further complaint is made that, with the exception of Hilla Becher, all the New Topographic photographers were men.  This group concentrated on realism rather than style.
• The accusation is made that the way these Topographic landscapes were displayed and exhibited gave then a gravity they may not have deserved.  This tended to form a feed back process about how important they were.
• A number of these photographers, and Adams in particular developed consciences about their work, especially around industrial scenes but soon realised that his social conscience was not shared by those he deemed to be suffering.
• A comparison is made between two bodies of work, Power Places by John Pfahl and Three Mile Island Calendar by Lisa Lewenz.  The work of Phahl shows nuclear power stations as part of the landscape in such a way as to beautify then and make them look acceptable while the calendar by Lewenz displays the dark potential of nuclear power through the mishap at Three Mile Island with the possibility of collateral damage in the case of an accident.  

  A complaint is made that the environment is designed by men for the  

entrapment of women and asks how different it would look if designed by women.

• Even at the time of writing Bright sees little hope of women photographers breaking the mould and finding success in what is still seen as a male preserve. Men are judged as exploiters of nature while women are part of it.
• The way landscapes are exhibited, and reviewed needs to be re-examined with the view to examining what they represent.  Are they about the myths of a civilizations history and meaning, or do they stand for a timeless view of the world.
• Bright sees them as records of the societies we made at any given time that can be studied by future generations.

Before I started on this piece I read Decoding Advertisements by Judith Williamson with a view to understanding this feminist and left wing view of the world.  I found both to be thoroughly dated, equally biased and very predictable.  

This style of feminism was a product of its time and has little relevance today.  The battle for equality has been pretty much won.  The masculine voice and the feminine voice have achieved parity.  Yes they may be different, but both can now be heard.

A note on the “disaster” at Three Mile Island.  It has been estimated that there may have been two additional deaths in a ten mile radius due to the mishap at Three Mile Island. That’s two possible additional deaths over an area of more than 300 square miles.  I Googled both the above artists.  I found many images from the Power Places portfolio but only one from the Three Mile Island Calendar.  Despite the wide distribution of the Calendar no-one now seems interested.  Draw your own conclusions.

Exercise 4.3: A subjective voice.

A subjective voice.

My view of landscape is a simple one and consists of what I see in front of me when when I look beyond the confines of a building.  I could be the view from the the Turner gallery in Margate looking out to sea with the iconic yellow and black marker buoy framed by the vertical window frame.  It could Uluru at dawn or a Sri Lankan beach at dusk.  More likely it is the mundane changing seasons affecting the local fields,woods and sea around Deal where I live.  

A familiar landscape is never the same, as time, weather and lighting make both temporary and permanent  changes.  The Twelve Apostles, a set of sea stacks off Victoria in Australia, are now down to eight.  The storms of 1986/7 reduced a beech lined walk in High Elms Bromley to 15 trees with dozens of others felled by the wind. The local fields are turning yellow with rape seed with the red of the poppies soon to follow. 

When I visit or, even better, revisit a location I try and pick out what has changed.  The closed factory, or public house and the changing fortunes of houses and streets. 

I have visited Sri Lanka twice, once before the tsunami and during the island’s war, and again in 2012 with the war over and much of the tsunami damage still visible.  On the first visit the impression was of a rather tired and time locked  place.  The tsunami left scars on both the landscape and the people but the end of the war made for the largest change.  Sri Lanka was open for business again and had built itself new roads and an infrastructure and was no longer stuck in the 1970s, where the effects of the war had held it.  The driving was as bad but the roads were better.  The country’s change of fortunes had wrought many changes that were mainly for the good and has brought in changing attitudes to how they use their land and how they want the tourist to see it.  Same place but very different landscapes.

Exercise 4.2: The British landscape during World War II.

Landscape For Everyone.

The British landscape during World War II.

This essay is an attempt to view national identity and the history of WW II through landscape. The main points of the essay are:

• The use of landscape was a safe and ready way of building a feeling of common purpose in the British public without employing the fervor of the fascist enemy.
• In 1926 C, F. G. Masterman asked that England be viewed as a series of views each showing the steady development of the  country.  The industrial Revolution was seen as a dark period that threatened the countryside.  This attitude is still with as current commentators view and write about the modern world and the changes within it.
• WW II and the fear of invasion, with the possible ending of rural England as it was, was used in propaganda to unite the country behind the myth of an unconquerable Britain that was based in that mythic rural idyll. 
• Writers at the time compared the the rural strength of England to the industrial madness of Germany.
• In May 1940, as a device to confuse any invading army, all rural sign posts were removed.  This include names on building and delivery vehicles and all reference to distances.  (German civilian aircraft and German “tourists” had already successfully mapped the country but the effort made for a feeling of being at war). 
• Petrol rationing brought a halt to pleasure motoring.  Troop trains, often traveling by night, were send endlessly round the country.  A trip to the country was no longer seen as a pleasure but as just a break from the dangers of living in the more dangerous town or city.  The ideal rural scene now had to be remembered and much was done to not only help the recall of that memory but to also remember the differences between the various areas.
• There grew up two views of the country; the one remembered and the one as seen and altered by the war.  By highlighting this effect it was hoped that the country would be driven to the victory that would unite those two views again.
• The country was displayed in a way that illustrated its variety as well as its differences and one that was achieving success in the war.  This worked on three levels: it linked the past, the artist view, and the recent social reform.  Thus combining three different concepts that were aimed at guiding the country to victory.
• As early as 1939 press photographers were encouraged to mix war themes with landscape by, for instance, depicting child evacuees in their temporary rural setting and backing them up with the message that this is was an opportunity for them to discover beautiful England.  The aim was to show that despite the social dislocation of war England would unite and win through.  Pictures of pre-war England without social content served little purpose and were not encouraged.
• Prior to the war a visit to the country was seen as a healthy pursuit.  Mass trespass movements had started to open up more of the land to ordinary people, despite objections from landowners.  This feeling of joint ownership was encouraged by government as a way of uniting the whole population.
• Picture Post, which before the war ran stories about class struggle in England, pursued stories about the differences between the German fascists and England.   Comparisons were drawn between English boy scouts and the Hitler youth, and a formal Hitler to a relaxed Churchill.  The captions were “Totalitarianism” and “Democracy”. 
• The paper set out demonstrate what the country was fighting for in the way of the accepted freedoms of a civilised country.  Photographs comparing the English society and German society drew upon the stereotypes of a free and pastural England and a rigid propagandised Germany.  This backed up by reference to England’s glorious past of repelling invaders. (The Romans, Saxons, Vikings and Normans not withstanding).  Dover Castle was used as an example of Britain’s steadfastness.  
• At the same time pictures were being published of England beaches with their barbed wire and other defences and closed to the population for the war.
• The White Cliffs at Dover came to stand for England defence and as welcome beacon to returning combatants. 
• During the Battle of Britain pictures were published showing both gun crews and civilians looking skywards.  This was meant to show how the population was united in both the war effort and in looking forward to a future after victory.

Critical view proposal. Revised.

My first plan was for an examination of the effect of human occupation on Greenham Common, especially that of the RAF and USAF which eventually became the infamous nuclear missile site. As part of this study I looked at the effectiveness of the various peace camps and other demonstrations had on the camp, its closure following the collapse of the old Soviet Union and eventual closure of the camp and its return to civilian use.  That was the plan.

Two things caused me to abandon this exercise.  One,  the story of Greenham Common and the claims and counter claims of the various protagonists was too large to fit within the limits of this essay and the second was my distance from it, which made any worthwhile visit to the site impractical.  I made a number of attempts at this essay but found I was either running out space or becoming embroiled in the politics.

The project I chose was one nearer to home and far closer to my interests.  I chose the changing face and landscape of East Kent as a result of coal mining and associated industrialisation.

Assignment three: Spaces to places.

Assignment Three.

Spaces to Places.

Visit pretty much any city in Britain and its cathedral will be a prominent feature.   They are places of great beauty and significance occupying an important space in British culture and history. 

The spire of Salisbury Cathedral, sitting as it does on a flat plain, can be seen from miles around with an open approach across a wide lawn, Lincoln Cathedral is on a promontory in the centre of the city and has clear access on three sides, and Durham Cathedral standing on its rocky outcrop surrounded on three sides by water dominates its surroundings. 

Canterbury Cathedral is different.  It is built in the centre of the city but is hardly visible from any point.  It hides and teases, showing only glimpses of itself until the moment one walks through the main gate when all is suddenly and magnificently revealed.

It is this game of hide and seek that I wished to investigate by walking round the city and photographing the limited glimpses one is offered from street level.  Many images of the Cathedral are clearly taken from elevated positions or like the painting by Henry Earp at a time before many of today's buildings were erected.

The first image is from University Road up on the campus north of the city.  I went there on a Sunday morning arriving at first light.  A light morning mist shrouded the city and the Cathedral was very indistinct.   I took pictures for about two hours recording the changing light conditions and altering the framing.  The selected image was one taken towards the end of the session which allowed the dark of the building to stand out against the lightening sky.  This is a view that will not have changed since the Cathedral was finished in 1096.  It is the only picture showing the whole structure.

I drove down into town and parked by West Gate.  From here there is no sign of the Cathedral.  I had to walk down to Palace Street to obtain my first view.  The low sun gave a near silhouette which I softened in Photoshop to allow some additional detail. 

The next two were taken from north east arm of Broad Street and are are typical of the views one gets with the main tower with only hints of the rest of the roof area.

A walk into into the south east arm of Broad Street and the City Wall and its fortifications are all that stands between the viewer and the the Cathedral but still it hides from view.  The next two images illustrate this nicely.

I know from an exploratory visit the previous week that trying to see the Cathedral from Burgate or St. Georges Gate is a waste of time so I went up onto the Old Wall and obtained the next two very different images.  The first is what is visible over the bus station and is limited to just the tips of the main tower.  

The second is from the top of the John Dane Gardens Mound and shows all of the roof area but still nothing of the walls.  This as good a view as is available from within the city short of entering the precincts of the Cathedral.

Dropping down into Dane John Gardens gives the next glimpse if the main tower as it appears between two Georgian terraces.

A walk east along Castle Street and St Margaret’s Street takes one back towards the Cathedral and has it framed between the old buildings and shop fronts.  This was now late on in the morning and the crowds were building up.  The last three images were taken on this last part of the walk.

The penultimate image is the view of the Cathedral as one passes through the gate in the defensive wall.  It is the first hint one has of the true majesty of the building and a hint as to its size.

The last is the view one has on entering into the Cathedral Close and leaves one wondering how such a building could be so successfully hidden.

Maps of where photograph were taken from.  

I set out to record the limited views a visiter to Canterbury has of the Cathedral but include a feel of the power that this building has over the area.  It is both unseen and ever present.