Under Construction
Welcome to the very first post of my new blog. On the contrary, I am familiar with writing blogs and I had initially decided to continue writing regular posts on my Photographic Critical Research Journal , to which I started writing at the beginning of my Masters degree at Falmouth University’s Institute of Photography.
Beverley Thomas, BA (Hons) MA
Since having recently competed my studies and successfully gaining an MA in photography, I have had time to reflect on many aspects of the industry. And after virtual chatting to my dear friend and fellow peer (Follow Nick’s work here. ) He told me that he had started a brand new blog as he could not get out of the habit of writing. I could emphasise, as I too enjoyed writing blogs ( fortunately I also contribute to SIP. ) However, my CRJ was extremely directed to academia and I after some thought, I have also decided to create another blog, that will focus more on my different aspects of work.
Under Construction
I have been a photographer for the past three decades and I consider myself a master of my craft, well I certainly am now after completing an MA. But just what does that mean for me? It means that now I have increased my photographic knowledge. It means that I can continue with my teaching role with confidence and know that I can academically help others in education. It means that I can understand and critical analysis other practitioners. Nevertheless, I have learnt that every good photograph needs intent. No longer do I believe that on its own “a picture is worth a thousand words”
The human brain can process images up to 60,000 times faster than words. The point is with a picture, you can convey so much more information than you can with words. In fact, it can take a thousand words just to describe what is in one picture and that is backed up by intent.
Indeed, it is easy to look at photographs of a stunning landscapes, beautiful people, creative advertising and not think to oneself how much work has gone into providing the final image. Quite often looking is easy, but there is so much more than just a photograph. As a creative photographer I think about the subject and concept, I build on lighting to suit the situation, I think about the camera settings and what I could achieve with the knowledge I have gained over the years.
However, during my studies, I felt that I was lacking convincing intent. To be honest, the story was unfolding in my own head. Knowing that I had originally fallen into contempt and left the photograph to become worth a thousand words on its own merit. As I approached the informing contexts module, it rapidly became evident that I needed to provide strong intent. With this still in my mind, I have since revisited my photographic library and I am now able to assign intent to each series. As you can imagine this collection of photographic imagery is a work in progress and now considered under construction.
What to Expect?
My work crosses into many different genres and at times I think that can often become misunderstood by others. This blog aims to showcase different elements of my practice and highlight the fact that I am far from your average snap happy shooter, I am a photographer, I am a photographic retouched, I am digital literate, I can even produce photographs without a camera in hand.
