The Genius of Photography - Episode 2

I am home with my daughter at the moment as she is off school sick so I have made the most of the opportunity and watched another episode while she sleeps.

This episode was entitled documents for artists and the write up is as follows:
"By the end of World War One photography had become the central medium of the age. Photographers began to turn their lenses to the plight of rural victims of the American Depression and minority communities. Alexander Rodchenko and August Sander found their artistic skills put to another use by the state – as propaganda. Documents for Artists focuses on the first few decades after World War One when the potential of photography attracted the attention of artists and governments alike."

Documents for Artists examines in detail the work of some of most influential modern photographers: Alexander Rodchenko, August Sander, Man Ray, Eugene Atget, Walker Evans and Bill Brandt.  It also discusses the precise, objective, rational and apparently machine-like photography that took place during this period.

I found the episode very interesting to watch and yet again I now feel I want to look a little further into the work of some of the mentioned artists.

The Genius of Photography - Episode 1

Until I can get to the library to get a few books to read, I thought I would watch this BBC series that viewed in 2007, I cannot remember seeing it the first time round, but thought that it sounded like an interesting series that I may benefit from seeing. 

The first episode was entitled "Fixing the Shadows" and covered the history of photography from Ancient Rome to The Great War (1914), although I thoroughly enjoyed this episode, I did find it skipped backwards and forwards a little. It highlighted the challenge facing the photography pioneers, was not in fact how to capture an image, but how to stop it from over-developing, or to “fix the shadows”. I found the types of photos very interesting, I had come across the term daguerreotype processing previously as another of my hobbies is family history and when searching for photographs of relatives from that period of time this came up. It was nice though to learn more about it :-)

I now have a couple of photographers that I really like their style of work and want to look into a bit more, namely André Kertész and Jacques Henri Lartigue, once I have finished watching this series that is!

Over the past few years, I have had  a tendency to flit between things when I find something that interests me, which although good to broaden my knowledge, it does mean that it can take me longer to get the simple things done. I have decided that I will try and change this for this course. I know I am able to do it as when I did my first degree many years ago, I was very focused, it is only now that I have found subjects that I am "really" interested in that I find myself wondering off in tangents to learn more.

Contemplating a new course

Well both my previous endeavors at writing a blog have failed, so I am hoping that this one does not suffer the same fate (hitting the big delete button!). As this one is for a learning log I think it might actually stand a chance.

I have been contemplating doing the OCA Photography degree course for several months now. I completed the Open University course T189 in May 2010 (doing really well), which I thoroughly enjoyed, I just found it too short and it has left me wanting to learn more.  I needed to find a course that was challenging and interesting, something that would take me out of my comfort zone again and get me out there with my camera. I am currently doing a 365 Project (my second year), in which I take a photo a day. I know that my photography has improved since doing this, but I know there is just so much more to learn, hence looking at this course.

I am hoping to start the course at the start of July 2011, after I move house, and closer to the end of my 365 (which I do not want to give up on). I'm quite nervous but also really looking forward to it, I just hope I will not be "biting off more than I can chew"when I have two young kids and work full time in a pretty stressful job :-o