“In our earliest years we know a patch of ground in a detail we will never know anywhere again – site of discovery and putting names to things – people and places – working with difference and similitude – favourite places, places to avoid – neighbours and their habits, gestures and stories – textures, smells – also of play, imagination, experiment – finding the best location for doing things – creating worlds under our own control, fantasy landscapes.” (Professor Mike Pearson)
Photographers and artists have always found inspiration in their immediate location. There is a concept in Welsh culture called Y Filltir Sgwar (The Square Mile), described above by Professor Mike Pearson. It is the intimate connection between people and their childhood ‘home’ surroundings.
Brief
Make a series of six to twelve photographs in response to the concept of ‘The Square Mile’. Use this as an opportunity to take a fresh and experimental look at your surroundings. You may wish to re-trace places you know very well, examining how they might have changed; or, particularly if you’re in a new environment, you may wish to use photography to explore your new surroundings and meet some of the people around you.
Initial Response and Practitioners Researched
Reading the brief for the first time I thought it was quite an open concept and there were many ways to interpret it. I had quite a few ideas after reading about the concept and really wanted to capture part of my childhood. I researched the recommended practitioners and I was most fond of Keith Arnatt’s ‘A Walk in the Park’ series. It was a simple task he carried out everyday but through bringing his camera along he was able to pay more attention to nature and the things going on around him. The photos he produced were really eye-catching and I like how he contrasted between the two seasons, spring and winter.
Photography
I shot with my Canon EOS 2000D, I used this first assignment as a way to explore the camera and get used to it. I decided to keep it somewhat simple and capture the images from my back garden, I chose to do this because I’ve lived here for 10 years now so it’s capturing an element of my childhood, whilst also capturing my new surroundings and how much it’s changed since then. I chose to go and take my pictures on a sunny day so I could capture the true beauty of it, I wanted to especially emphasise the flowers and plants as this is what I have grown up around, my Mom and Nan were always growing and planting new flowers so that was a big part of my childhood. As this assignment was a way for me to get used to my camera, I wanted to try different perspectives and be as creative as possible. I tried to focus on composition with this exercise, using the Rule of thirds. As the eyes are automatically drawn to the middle of the image, I split the frame into 6 to help get a more dynamic set of images. The second image is an up close shot of the grass; this shot had a shallow depth of field, as the grass was the focus and background was more of a blur. I also shot the grass from a low angle to change the perspective.Although it’s still early year so not everything is at it’s fullest potential, the weather captured the garden beautifully which is what I wanted.
Final selection of images
OCA Photography Expressing your Vision 