1

Scholarship – 2008Photography

Examples of Candidate Work

2

This submission utilises a photographic premise as its primary focus. There is a contextual awareness that frames this project; about the context that photo operates within. Research questions are pertinent - questioning the position of photography, led by incisive selection of artistic reference. Quotes are also well chosen and relate effectively to the central proposition. Inherent in the portfolio and actioned through strategic analysis is the decision to take learning from process and exclude the object, bringing the focus back to the pictorial. All shifts that are made; colour, black & white, material, medium, analogue to digital, relate strongly to specific shifts in concept – there is a logic to choices made. The restraint in the use of colour is astute; colour is tactically employed. Text is used both as a visual device and a tool/ element in conceptual thought process. This device is not reliant on the text to communicate alone, but rather acts as an image as well as text. Conventions of photography are employed to transport concept with a broad range of pictorial devices employed; these are well adhered to, ie the candidate is aware of how aperture/ shutter speed can convey ideas. This is a strength – it is an informative relationship. Again, the candidate documents installation/ performative aspects with cognisance that the outcome operates as an image, and is in effect about the picture, and thus is able to sustain communication of the idea. There is a consistency in the continual questioning of media and its relevance to the overall premise. The fact that this portfolio keeps moving is a real success in unfolding and extrapolating complexity of concept, eg. on board two there are 5 options explored that each build and broaden the dialogue about the investigation; a criticality is employed in deciding what to take forward. The last work – the performative aspect (burning); the act of burning is dealt with succinctly, and links back to the notion of the artefact. The workbook highlights the integration of artistic models and practice, and includes key ideas and concepts of relevance. The selection of work for the portfolio is well chosen; the portfolio is visually coherent and fluent.

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

OUTSTANDING SCHOLARSHIP

This submission examples an intelligent and highly independent pursuit. Early identification of a topic with such wide-ranging potential set this candidate up well for engaging in a sophisticated and robust inquiry. The topic has a lot of available information/ potential source; Wartime 1915 – the focus here on how war is depicted, the effect of it on young men; and specifically the notion that what is left behind of ‘young soldiers’ is – existence as an image (a name on a page). The candidate identified through both research and making how war was represented then (1915) – and how that then constructed a series of understandings. A major strength in this submission is that the proposition changes throughout the investigation; the more the candidate thought about what they were doing the more they personalised it. The revelation in the workbook, when the candidate realises the enormity of working with images of deceased soldiers and the loss they signify, underlines the heightened comprehension and mature contextual insight on the part of the candidate. Distance travelled is extensive and possibilities far-reaching. Being responsive to the act of making changes the candidate’s own place in their practice. This level of ownership of the topic and commitment to such an intelligent quest brings great depth and understanding. Parallels are set up between the dead soldier and use of their own brother as subject. In both the portfolio and workbook this personal engagement pinpoints a determination within the interpretative nature of the practice. Strategically the introduction of Dada-type devices opens up conceptual territory in useful and inventive ways. Photographic conventions are strategically employed to motivate new avenues; pictorial construction, introduction of colour, cutout, new motifs, etc. The experiential aspect involved in the making transports the conceptual element. Image-object-collage-installation-dioramic relationships are treated with inherent understanding of the power of photography to convey complex image language construction; this is a sustained pictorial investigation.

10

11

12

13

14

15

16