The pasting table, lining paper and biros took a trip to the photography studio at college yesterday. This was not a stress free experience – half an hour of country roads followed by a full carpark at college, three trips back and forth carrying everything to the studio accompanied by unpredictable gusts of wind. My carefully folded roll of lining paper became more precious by the minute and my anxiety about folds, tears and creases grew.
Once in the studio itself all was well. I had a lot of help from our studio technician/tutor. Photography is not my strong point. It was interesting to see the work in a different place and to have it scrutinised under the studio lights. This process of displaying work via photographs, online and in presentations is something I want to explore more after the degree.
As part of our professional practice module, we are in the throes of preparing a presentation about our work – hence the photographs and the studio time.
I know that this is not just a requirement for the course but one for pursuing any sort of career in the arts. It’s not only what you do that’s important, it’s how you present it to other people, peers, colleagues, funders….the list is endless.
My work is not particularly photogenic. It’s monotone, repetitious, mundane. It’s not going to make a big splash on a page. For me, that’s part of the work. I don’t want to do ‘show and tell’, the big ‘ta-dah’. I suppose what I’ve done by reducing my activity to making lines and grids, I’m trying to present a question about activity and how time is spent in daily life. Why choose one activity over another and how do we value our time?
