Collaboration Project
This week has revolved around the ideas of authorship and collaboration. To collaborate with other photographer whom have similar interests and ideas. I started by posting fig. 1 as a starting point of inspiration. In choosing Hockney's piece, I thought this would be a great way to encompass a variety of different styles in a cohesive presentation style as long as the team focused on a se brief which there was room to add our own photographic finesse.
Fig. 1- David Hockney, Paul Explaining Pictures to Mie Kakigahara, Tokyo, 1983
I thought the image had potential for a strong collaborative piece, as a photographer whose interests lie within self portraits and self expression I thought the multi-layered effect could potentially offer a layering presentational style. With a set theme between the group, I thought it would be effective to have a group shoot from the same specification and come together to layer the imagery to create a cohesive single image narrative.
Hockney's use of crop and layer creates an internal narrative between each image, the infinite interaction between the images create a multi-fasciated relationship between narrative as well as enabling negotiation for the audience. The relationship between the variety of images could easily be adapted to a collaborative project.
Contact Sheets
The shoot was successful on the whole, ensuring that I shot in the afternoon as well as checking the weather has allowed me to capture consistent ambient lighting without any large casting shadows which could create inconsistency between the team and my work. The location for the shoot has enabled me to capture intricate detail and texture to add a sublayer of narrative and interest. The self-portrait element of the photo was effective as I managed to capture different angles to layer in the final presentational narrative, however, due to the weather conditions (windy) my eyes are shut in most shots. The closed eyes are not too much of an issues as the layering with both my images and the teams will shift some of the focus away from the portrait. Due to the short time constraint I am unable to reshoot the self-portraits so I will be moving forward with some of the images, I will crop into some of these to help with the layering in the Cubist/ Hockney inspired presentation style. By using the tripod this allowed me to keep consistency in the compositional elements of the photos, this consistency will enable me to create realistic scenery due to the horizon lines being level as well as the compositions matching allowing the images to be layered effectively. Deciding to shoot with colour has kept on brand with my photography, the slightly muted pastel colours of the seaside stops distraction for the viewer as well as keeping fluidity between the photos to create a stronger narrative. Overall this shoot was very effective, this is on brand with my personal style making it recognisable as one of my pieces of work in additions to being simplistic enough to fit the specification of the teams work so the photographs will not seem out of place against other photographer's styles.
Presentation
After shooting over the weekend, we decided to have a teams meet to bring our final images together drawing on the Hockney piece, Fig. 1- David Hockney, Paul Explaining Pictures to Mie Kakigahara, Tokyo, 1983, as our inspiration.
Using the software Miro, we were able to all edit the canvas simultaneously from where we were based. The software was a successful choice as we could set the live placement of images as well as move each other. In addition, we were able to communicate effectively our personal styles and preferences to enable our authorship as well as compromising to create a cohesive piece of work.
The final outcome was revisited the next day to ensure we were all happy with the piece as well as devise our written statement to present to our group.
Concept:
Considering elements of authorship and personal style as photographers our photographs transcend information of our socialisation. Drawing on influence from Hockney’s piece Paul Explaining Pictures to Mie Kakigahara, Tokyo, 1983 Figure 1, the cubist presentation was an interesting route to explore by encompassing each photographers’ individuality. The final piece is a commentary of portraits communicating the contrasting lives we all live and the places we come from with at least one commonality of photography.
Process:
Nikita suggested that we could use a Miro board to build the image and we were able to all access the platform while also having a teams video chat going. Between us we agreed that we would add one image at a time in rotation and we did that for a few rounds but then we picked up pace a little with each of us selecting images from our own shoots in response to what we were seeing. As the image started to take shape we were discussing how everyone felt about the sizing and cropping of the individual images, allowing others to adjust our own images to suit. Once we had the image to a pretty good place we agreed to leave it for 24 hours and revisit again to make some final adjustments. We did make a couple of key adjustments that really enhanced the final image and all agreed that it was a fun and informative exercise.
Collaboration:
The process overall was positive and the collaboration itself went better than I expected. I thought it may be difficult to match the tonality and subject matter across our images. Yet it somehow just worked. I thought our process when building the image together was the most interesting aspect. It started as a blank canvas with one person placing and manipulating their image at a time. But after about 4 or 5 images were on the page there was an organic shift in the pace. To me it resembled a cutting table or a inspiration board where everyone could work and install their own vision to the image. While adjusting and communicating in real time with no right or wrong answers. In theory, I agree with Hockney's statement that “objective vision is not fully possible”. However, this exercise of dealing with the concept of objective vision showed me an instance where it could be attainable.
References:
Figure 1. HOCKNEY, David. 1983 available at: https://www.thedavidhockneyfoundation.org/artwork/2740 (Links to an external site.)
Figure 2. MEEK, Nikita, Michael Samartzis, and Aaron Geis 2022
Evaluation
With the original concept coming from my knowledge of Hockney, I tried to keep the concept vague enough for the group to add meaning. Considering the previous weeks content, 'shoot first, ask questions later' (...) this concept resonated with me as I wanted to have a loose specification to fit everyone's individualism and add the deeper meaning when the work was completed. Using the software Miro had a great collaborative impact for the group. As photographer the Miro board was effective in relation to the manipulation of our photographs, as the concept of the work was very generic this lead the group to have no emotional connection to the images so we began to crop and manipulate each others imagery which was an interesting experience for me, as I am very controlling over my images. This new experience was effective as it allowed me to see my imagery in a different light. Moving forward I would possibly try this collaborative project again with other imagery, however, with more emotionally binding work this may become harder to complete.
The collaborative element really help in a variation of thinking. When problems occurred it was easier to overcome as a group we discussed possible solutions as well as working together on trial and error. As a group we worked well and respectfully when each other suggested different ideas, as a group the attitude was positive and constructive which helped with the final outcome, especially on the final look.
Considering the term collaboration according to the Oxford dictionary is 'the act of working with another person or group of people to create or produce something' the team work element of collaboration incorporates fundamental values of creative, communication and compromise. In addition, accrediting the work in a collaborative project is important as this recognises all contributions giving authorship to all parties. When looking at the term plagiarism this is defined as 'to copy another person’s ideas, words or work and pretend that they are your own' (Oxford, 2022) plagiarism considers no recognition of other parties purely focusing on one individual passing the work as their own. The lines can become blurred in collaborative projects, plagiarism could easily occur if all parties are not credited in the piece as well as not defining the source of inspiration for a piece as no idea is original, there will be ties elsewhere.