Micro History

I recently switched to the new OCA website and took advantage of the free courses to help students navigate the new website and provide advice, suggestions and ideas for studying. When working my way through these courses I came across an interesting article about Micro Histories, these are recorded events of small insignificant moments mostly

Photography A Very Short Introduction

Stephen Edwards, Photography A Very Short Introduction, 2006, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN: 978-0-19-280164-7 (Kindle Edition). In my opinion, this is a very good book and a very important book to read for any photographer. Notes/Quotes: Documentary is said to provide its viewers with direct access to truth. In his pioneering book on the subject,

Assignment 4 – Essay

Other Than You. By Shaun Mullins (512659) Assignment 4, PH5SAO – The Self and The Other. Word count without quotations and footnotes: 2563.  Including quotations and footnotes Total: 3931. Sources: Barthes, 2000; 1977; Kelly, Self Image, Personal is Political, 1979; Kuhn, Remembrance, The child I never was, 1991; Ritchin, 2010; Spence, Facing Up To Myself,

Reading Photographs – In Our Own Image, by Fred Ritchin

Peter Kennard and Cat Phillips created the image, titled: Photo Op, in 2005. From Fred Ritchin’s book, In Our Own Image, his essay, Reading Photographs, (Ritchin, 2010) discusses the authenticity of a photograph. He asks, …after all that is happening in computer imaging can one safeguard the integrity of the photograph in its populist role

The ‘Mona Lisa’ by Leonardo da Vinci 1503/06 – 1517

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci (1503/07 – 1517) This portrait is now probably the most famous portrait in the world. Painted by Leonardo da Vinci, he started painting this from around 1503 – 06 and is believed to have continued working on it until as late as 1517, close to his death. It is

Uses of Photography (1978) by John Berger

Quotations from Uses of Photography by John Berger. “Through photographs, the world becomes a series of unrelated, free-standing particles; and history, past and present, a set of anecdotes and fait divers. The camera makes reality atomic, manageable, and opaque. It is a view of the world which denies interconnectedness, continuity, but which confers on each

Assignment 1 – Written Feedback

Above is attached a WordDoc for my Tutor’s written feedback for my first assignment. Overall Comments A successful piece of work based on good preparation that meets the brief. Feedback on assignment Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity Notes on, and in addition to, video tutorial [You need to

Summary for Part 3, “Look at Me!” – The Representation of Self.

In section 3, “Look at Me!”, I studied the subject of ‘self’ and how it has and is used and interpreted in the portrait. I learned that the idea of the ‘selfie’ goes back beyond photography. Originally the early selfies where exclusively for the rich and powerful to express wealth and more importantly, power, examples

Over Her Dead Body: Death, Femininity and the Aesthetic

Elisabeth Bronfen, (1992) Over Her Dead Body: Death, Femininity and the Aesthetic, Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN:0-7190-3827-8. Written as a critical analysis of the subject of the death of a beautiful woman in western art and literature, Bronfen has examined how an apparent fascination to death and death of a beautiful muse has fascinated artists

Research Point – Propaganda in an image.

Photo by Eddie Adams/Associated Press ‘Execution of a Viet Cong officer’, Saigon, Vietnam, 1968. South Vietnam National Police Chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan executes suspected Viet Cong member Nguyen Van Lem, on the second day of the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War. The act was stunning in its casualness. Associated Press photographer Eddie Adams was