Some initial thoughts on the assignment (1^st August 2012)

I had read the assignment instructions several times before this point so it felt like I had been holding the list of contrasts in my head and thinking about possible subjects for a while. I started by looking at the published list and then listing my own ideas for each category – I soon found that ideas flowed easily in some areas whereas others needed more time to ponder. I also talked to family members and we played word association games with the various pairs.

I then went back through all the photographs I had taken since April to see what I could find there. A number of pairs quickly emerged and they also provided ideas for new images – particularly the canal in Birmingham. I found with a number of the categories I was already thinking in terms of colour and shape.

Once I started taking photos one idea seemed to spark the next, initially I thought  about using a lot of buttons or ribbons for the ‘many’ category, and that sparked me seeing the rug differently – as a possibility for ‘soft’ – I then moved onto its contrast ‘hard,’ and so on.

I also used it as an opportunity to experiment with my light tent and lights for the first time as a number of the initial ideas were relatively small subjects that would easily fit into the tent. I was however, also concerned with trying different styles and subjects and not getting too stuck in the small scale, close up, which I know is a preference.

Once I started the ideas and contrasts seem to jump out from all sorts of places. While I was out driving I spotted the lines of trees that have become the ‘straight’ contrast, they were so striking from the road. I am learning to have my camera with me as much as possible.

As the images and pairs were evolving it also made me wonder about the socially constructed nature of the categories and that their relationships with the visual were actually quite complex. So, for example, how do you see ‘sweet and sour’ they are after all in the sensory domain of taste, and is my sweet and sour the same as other peoples’? So even if I produced a representation of sweet and sour such as images of sugar and lemons it would not necessarily have the same meaning for every viewer. I could see how in future this might stimulate a project in its own right.