Video Tutorial and Written Feedback 3
On the 9th of August 2022 I had my third video tutorial with my Tutor.
Between the second and third tutorial I completed two more drifts,: there have been two different experiences, referring to the first drift as well.
Since, in the next few days, I will be leaving for a vacation on a Greek island, my Tutor suggested that I reserve a period of time to experiment and open my mind in a different place from the object of my project, looking for to use other visual and technical schemes ( I should say: out of my comfort zone).
This is a topic that we will return to later in the tutorial and which, after reflection, I thought as an opportunity to enrich my main project.
Together with my tutor, we examined my notes on some topics, including the "Ley Lines".
This topic was brought to our attention by the book, by Alfred Watkins, "The old straight track" of 1925. but which has reinterpretations that go as far as nowadays, of an archaeological, historical, esoteric, cosmic, mysterious nature.
Naturally, in view of my project, the theme of the Ley Lines must be interpreted in a psychogeographic key, and we agreed with my Tutor that the eventual recognition of a Ley Line during my drift must be originated from a personal, emotional, perceptive and intuitive process.
We then moved on to my analysis of Patrick Keiller's psychogeographic film "London".
The stimuli that come to me from this film, from its content, from its particular structure based on "still video recordings" are numerous, and will be useful to me both for the next drift (the jump from the panorama view to the detailed view, the urban points of view) and for my critical review, when I will develop the theme of conscious drift versus unconscious drift.
There is also a book version of this film. Drawing inspiration from the particular shooting technique used in this film, my Tutor asked me if I am considering introducing in my project not only photographic shots but also video fragments: given that the outcome I thought for this project has the structure of a photographic book, composed of text and shots, I also sincerely expressed my lack of feeling for video shooting, whether they are made with the "London" technique or with the traditional ones.
Behind this idea proposed by my Tutor, there are also other implications: the need to use a tripod to shoot exposes me even more to the attention of people, whose reaction I fear.
But even this is an exercise that would make me grow as a street photographer, which is what I honestly want to be.
From these considerations arise the suggestions of my Tutor to be, in the next drift, a bit "playful" and to experiment with new shooting techniques and points of view (for example with the camera on the floor or long exposures).
This reminds me of an author, Daido Moriyama, and his particular way of doing street photography. Therefore I thought of getting his book "How I take photographs".
Another author, remembered by my Tutor, who took pictures out of the classic "point and shoot" schema is Walker Evans, with his shots in the New York subway.
We then talked about the relationship between the type of equipment used to take photos and the type of photography that is done when engaging with the surrounding environment.
In this regard, I referred to a post, in which I analyze the change in my role and my behaviour as a photographer linked, taking the concept to the extreme, to the size of the photographic sensor.
Using smaller equipment, even a mobile phone, can introduce a question of the technical quality of photography, but we agreed that at this stage in the project it is not so much the technical quality of the photo that matters, but experimentation and trying different techniques to support of my new ideas.
Another valid reference for examining an approach outside the classic photographer-camera scheme is Joel Sternfeld, with his work "iDubai", in which he has published photos of everyday life made exclusively with the mobile phone.