Studio 1

Studio philosophy

hoard / record / collate: adventures in photography + text

commercial relevance:

Photography is the primary means of image-production within the commercial field of graphic design and illustration-practice –and the contemporary world-  it is so ubiquitous as to almost be invisible and has a crucial relationship to text  [and therefore] narrative- linear or non-linear.

To have a practical experience of the field of production, art-direction, dissemination, interpretation and use of photography within our field is absolutely central. Our industry critics last year, commented upon the importance of students being confident in working with text--- the authoring of written content, in relation to images and the understanding of language as a communication tool.

In this world of information overload, of rapid production and consumption –we have all become hoarders, recorders and collectors whether we want to or not.----clothes, e-mails, books, facebook profiles, bills, coke-cans, photographs themselves -image-banks of them- vinyl or digital music collections, databases, computer-files, dolls, piercings, scars etc . Collecting can be a delightful obsession. Hoarding can be a medical condition. Both have environmental implications. We are defined to a great degree by our patterns of consumption and our understanding of contemporary culture is refined through these collections.

You will take part in a series of projects :

a short intro project dealing with consumption and your own body [or discreet parts of it] –this will involve taking photographs of parts of your body bearing text statements, going to a print-house to see the photo-print process in action, getting a free print and then these forming an instant exhibition

Then a series of structured projects including :

• a photography / text / piece – as narrative / editorial based around
• a personal ‘collection’ [‘book’].
• a ‘persuasive’ campaign using photography + text aimed at a real life connected to the theme [ live]
• a photographic stills + text moving sequence [and/or ‘performance’] based around a song / music piece from your personal collection – this last project will result in some kind of collective public display/performance

• Level 6 will follow the early intro/research period whilst developing your own Final Major Project proposal under the hoard/record/collate/ theme – you can base this on the above projects or branch out from them- eg you might wish to deal with photography, text & sound in stills/text/motion sequences or music-packaging etc.

record-packaging has long been one site where photography, illustration, text  [ and sound ] have been in critical interaction historically, from the 12inch gatefold LP sleeve, through tapes, CD’s, the rise of video,  the ‘disembodiment of music consumption’ via downloading through to the ‘return’ of vinyl and even tape – this has been a rich commercial and conceptual field – imbued with contemporary myth and hidden narratives   

[ 1 project Level 5 / potential field for Level 6 FMP ]