Assignment 2: Submission

I finally made it, finalized the images, the narrative order and the write up.  Now waiting on feedback from my tutor.  Previously I have added the complete narrative to my blog, I am not doing that this time.  It is long and in any case will be submitted in my assessment pack.

I do, however, want to reflect on the process that brought me to this point.  Normally when working on an assignment I spend a considerable amount of time developing the photo selection, working my way through a number of candidate sets prior to arriving at the final choice.  This time around the development and finalizing of the book, "FEST", replaced that process, in effect I used the book as a means to refine my narrative flow and to reduce the number of photographs to a manageable set.  With over 70 in the final volume this was still many more than the 12 or so needed for the assignment; there still remained some tough choices.

Working on the book familiarized me with the images and provided a schema for ordering and presenting them; a narrative that started positive, dipped in the middle to show the negative and then finished on a relatively high point.  I have retained this flow for the assignment.  I appreciate that the order of the images need not dictate how each is seen as an individual entity, however, I still feel that the photographs build upon each other.  There must be a logical flow, I cannot simply gather a bunch of photos and submit them randomly.

The final choice, whilst not easy, was not overly difficult.  Each photo had to fit into a narrative but also have enough strength to stand alone. Within the book I had no constraint regarding the need for the photographs to show interaction, this created a gate that eliminated many photographs.  I also decided to retain the punchy colour of the book, I did debate inclusion of B&W for the grimier elements, to emphasize the downfall some suffer.  However, I feel that this would have made for a disjoint set and I am still wanting to be upbeat, but realistic in the narrative.

I have arrived at a personal view of the Oktoberfest, capturing the colour and chaos of the event, accepting that not all is good, but ultimately that this is an enjoyable and integral part of Bavarian culture.  I have avoided a voyeuristic eye, and hope that this set is respectful of the people involved.  This is not the Oktoberfest as the Munich city government would like to project, but it is equally not condemnatory. I had imagery available to tell pretty much any story I chose, I have told my story.

There is strong influence from Martin Parr in these photographs, his use of colour and portrayal of ordinary people enjoying themselves informed the development of both the books and this final set.  My use of flash to punch some colour into the photos was inspired by Bruce Davidson's work on the New York subway.  Using flash seemed somehow to be cheating, I really thought that artificial light should not have a place in documentary photography, I was wrong.  Flash has enabled me to add colour and depth into photographs that would otherwise have been back lit and dark.  Watching Joel Meyerovitz shooting in New York was also very influential, in a sense his technique and ability to blend into the crowd gave me security to work that way.

I have learned a great deal from this assignment, more than any other so far:

1. Selecting and editing the images provided a very clear demonstration of the ability of a photographer to craft their own message by what they include.  If this was the only view someone had of the fest I could decide how they saw it, good or bad.
2. I was far more involved with the subjects of this project than ever before.  I could not stand back, I had to get in close and take risks. 
3. The development of the narrative was a constant activity, before, during and after shooting.  I entered the event with a story in mind, it then morphed as opportunity and experience kicked in.

Let's see what my tutor thinks!