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As I work my way through Context and Narrative ideas for projects come along that don’t immediately fit into the course. I write these ideas down in my, ever present, note book but the list is growing so I want to note them here so I can add stray thoughts to them and eventually turn them into projects.

My inspiration here is Austin Kleon who said ” You are allowed lots of different ideas – you are the common theme”.

Italian Graveyards

Not even a working title just a memory jogger. I used to live in Italy and was always draw to the village cemeteries which, in the 21st century, still bear a sticking resemblance to the cemeteries favoured by the Romans and that can still be seen at Pompeii. They are aways outside of the village, another hardback to Roman times when it was illegal to bury people inside the walls of towns and cities. They are usually walled and inside the plots are often vertical, i.e. like stone draws in a huge sideboard. Many of the plots have a photo of the deceased and these photos age and decay over time.

The project would be to photograph these graveyards but more specifically to document the little grave photos.

Stitching

This is an approach used by Anna Fox. Ms. Fox takes a series of photographs from one place over a period of many hours, she uses complex lighting rigs and several assistants (I might have to ignore that bit). The locations that I have seen are all indoors but are places with a high volume of human traffic, a large store or an airport. She then elects people from different times of the shoot and in different positions in the frame and then stitches them together.

This gives a view of a location that is manipulated but simultaneously truthful. It all happened here but not at the same time. It is an exploration of how people use a space and and exploration of time and of truth. I have done this a couple of times (here and here) but have never really set a shoot specifically to do it.

Skips and Bins

This follows on from my Mannequin Project in TAoP. Complete a series of bins and skips behind retail fashion outlet to explore the waste in that industry.

Long Exposure

Explore the idea of using very long exposures in busy streets, ideally from high up. Boulevard du Temple 1838 – Louis Jaque Mande Daguerre.

Another exploration of time and truth. Long exposure hides people so the image is untrue but it is also true.

Layers of Space

Obviously explored in the Mannequin project but not exhausted. Shop windows offer at least three layers – the inside, the reflected outside and the seen outside. There are often additional layers both inside and outside. Shops reflecting shops etc.

National Identity

Why do people fly their national flag outside their house, to indicate where lay-by eateries are open, outside shops and hotels ?

What different meaning are there to these flags ?

A study of changing context – St. George’s Cross on a Church versus the same flag in the cab of a truck ?

Personal Archaeology – People’s Stuff

I’ve been here once during TAoP but only scratched the surface (here). Take a look at the objects left by the deceased and that outlast them for several years. Inspired by Simon Norfolk’s Archaeological Treasures from the Tigris Valley.

There is the opportunity to take the same approach just with found objects – perhaps after an event – a race meeting or a concert.

Abandoned Defences

Working on Assignment 2 of C&N I was reminded that we still surrounded by abandoned defensive works from WW I, WWII and from the Irish Troubles. A series of these could be interesting, especially where they have lost their original context and are strangers in the landscape.

Aircraft Gun Base in Aldershot

 

2.35 : 1

A suggestion from my C&N tutor to explore this ratio. It is the ratio of cinemascope  so is a way of exploring the relationship / crossover between still and moving images.

What we did on Sunday / Public Seating

What do we do at the weekend – especially when we just sit on benches and seats staring at a view.