Evaluation

For the current module, we were based around the idea of re-photography. Before this I didn’t know what this meant, but after some research I was excited to see what I could create. We were split into groups and given an area of Salford to focus on. My group was given Swinton and a small part of Pendlebury. I have never been to that area before, and knew nothing about any other area of Salford to be honest. We first went to the archive at the Salford Museum and Art Gallery, Duncan directed us to where we should look for the images. We had a lot to choose from as we had 2 large filling cabinets to look through. Looking at the old 1950s map, it was clear to see the landscape had changed at the current day. We were able to find a lot of images, and decided to go as a group to the location.

When I got to the location it was obvious that it was going to be more difficult to find anything recognizable. The area had been developed as a council housing estate, and most of the houses had been changed or completely demolished. I was able to find the mill, but even that looked very different, the angle wasn’t correct and over all couldn’t find the shot I wanted. After a few more shoots, I was able to find the areas I waned and was able to edit my images together how I wanted them. I wanted to show the main street in Swinton, I aimed to show the main shops, bus stops, and public buildings. I wanted to show Swinton to the people who hadn’t ever been, as well as the people who live there.

But after collecting my edited images, I felt they didn’t show Swinton in the way I wanted. I wanted to show something people may not see, even if they lived in the area. I chose to use some images I took in the St Augustine's church I found in Swinton. The interior was beautiful and atmospheric. I spoke to the leader of the group that looks after the building; he talked about the community aspect of the church. I wanted to use these images for this project, even though the images weren’t what I first intended them to be, I felt they showed the area at its best.

Over all I enjoyed this module, it was challenging, but also every interesting. I enjoyed visiting the archive, looking through the old images of the area, and finding out more about the area. I found carrying out the work experience at the gallery very rewarding, the end result looked great and the curator of the gallery expressed her gratitude and said it looked great. I thought that was a great part of the module, because other wise I wouldn’t have taken the opportunity up. I am happy with my final images; I feel they show the great areas hidden in Swinton. 

Final Images

After collecting my edited images, I felt they didn’t show Swinton in the way I wanted. I wanted to show something people may not see, even if they lived in the area. I chose to use some images I took in the St Augustine's church I found in Swinton. The interior was beautiful and atmospheric. I spoke to the leader of the group that looks after the building; he talked about the community aspect of the church. I wanted to use these images for this project, even though the images weren’t what I first intended them to be, I felt they showed the area at its best. I found lots of interesting things in the church and wanted to show what the church in Swinton was about. I loved the colours, and the glass windows. The lighting was beautiful, this is why I chose to use these as my final images. 

Work Experience

As part of our Re-Photpgraphy module, I was able to take part in a day of work experience at the Salford Museum and Art Gallery. We had the Bluestairs Gallery to hang our work in from the 3rd May to 29th June. As a group of 5, together we collected the work from the university building, we all had to get our images printed into foam board and satin finish with specific measurements. We took them down to the gallery, and with help from David from the gallery we were able to hang them all. 

Firstly we unwrapped all the images and placed them on the floor to asses the amount and the types of images we had. We had two walls leading up the stairs, so we decided to split the images up into 2 groups. We chose to put the images together that had a complete image over laid in one group, and the other would be images that had a mixture of an old and new image in one. Some others did not fit into these groups, so we chose to put them in a group that suited best.

We measured the space, and decided to put the images 15cm apart from each other, with a 28cm space underneath the images. The images would be horizontal, even though the board is on a diagonal. We added 4 small pieces of velcro to the back of the pictures to enable them to stick to the wall.

We spilt up into two groups when we had established the best way to do this. We used pencil marks to make sure we had them all correct. We used tape measures and sprit levels to makes them 100% straight and correctly placed. I found this to be difficult at first, with the board being diagonal, it would put you off and sometimes the images didn't look straight. But in the end they all looked great together.  

We felt the images we had put together all worked well, and decide the order of them being placed on the wall in a certain place. This side of the wall was the group of images with a full image placed over the top on the new one. We chose this order from the more severe image over laid, to the most opaque over laid image. This showed a gradient in the images, and looked really good together. 

For the other side, we chose to order them together with what the shot is, where the image is set and the colours in the image. We added the name plates 1 1/2 inches from the bottom of the images. We felt this was a good space, and all the name plates were easy to read. 

These images show the two ends of the wall, these images didn't fit perfectly with the images going down he stairs, but we felt putting them together worked well in this way. The last two images in the bottom picture aren't the same size as the others, but we felt putting them here they looked good.

We did have to make some decisions about some of the images. One image was badly mounted with a ver noticeable crease down the centre of the picture, and the edges were not cleanly cut. We felt as a group that if we put this picture in the gallery it would stick out, and would bring down the quality of the over all exhibition. This made us think about our professional practice, and if it was our own image, would we be happy to have it on the walls. It wasn't an easy discussion, but in the end I feel we made the right one. 

I very much enjoyed putting this together, and seeing the work that goes into creating an exhibition. Even thought we only spent the day in the gallery, I can understand all the processes that need to be taken to put something like this together. I would like to do something like this again in the future.

Exhibition Image

This is the image I chose to go ion to the exhibition at the Salford Museum and Art Gallery. I chose this because it fitting with my original intentions. I wanted to show some community, and the people on Swinton on the main road. I wanted to overlay this image because it had the same building in the image, and I really liked the people stood on the end of the pavement. It looks as if they are talking to each other, looking over at the people in the modern day image at the bus stop. I think this image works well with the re-photography brief. I feel the people of Swinton would be able to recognise where this is, and would be familiar to them.

Barclays Brief Problems

We gathered together the 9 emails of apprentices that were willing to come to Salford to take part in the planned shoot. Jade had the emails and tried to get in touch a few times, first asking when was the best time for them to come down, what days and if it was better for morning or afternoons. She initially got some replies saying that they were able to come down whenever and whatever time was best for us. She then emailed them saying a time and date that was good for all of us. Unfortunately she didn’t receive any replies, this was before the Easter holidays. So she was able to try once more to see if any would still come down. After emailing them all again, two days and times were given to see when was best for everyone. This is when people who had previously hadn't replied got back to Jade and said they couldn’t do it anymore. We did get one reply from one person, who said he could do it, but then didn’t reply after another email with further detail were sent .

Some of the Emails 

I was very disappointed with how this project was ended, as I really wanted to carry out the ideas I had. I felt these people were really interested and excited by the prospect, they fit the look I wanted really well. I felt it was a big opportunity missed for us, and feel that it should have more successful because we laid out the time we needed from them at the beginning. If we were able to do the shoot again in the future, I would take up the opportunity. But I would need to make sure they were 100% on board. We didn't send any more emails after this as we didn't want to sound pushy.

Micheal Wesley

In 2001, the Museum of Modern Art in New York under went a three year renovation and expansion. They asked Wesley to bring his style and create a piece for the expansion. Wesely setup his custom made cameras in four different locations around the museum construction site. He photographed the destruction and re-building of the Museum until 2004, leaving the shutter open for up to 34 months. The demolition and construction over the course of Wesely's long exposures gives the pictures a unique and ghostlike appearance. The streaks of white bands in the background is the sun tracing the sky hundreds of times over the 34 month period. He also used these techniques for buildings in Berlin. 

Final Visit to the Location

For the last visit to the location, I looked for specific buildings and streets, as well as shops and landmarks. I chose to concentrate on the crossroads, and the buildings around them. With this shape in the road it was easy to recognise which image fit with each other. I was able to get quite a few, including the building with the slanted roof, and the row of shops on the main street. I feel I can work with these images to create the over all picture I want. It also helped that the weather this day was so nice, all the images are nice and bright and clear. It will be interesting to see how the old images fit with these to create the re-photography image. I want to use one of these images for the gallery exhibition at the Salford Museum to show the people of Swinton. I hope they can recognise the area and think it works well.