Tutor report (2) - Assignment 5 Challenging the interpretation concept ....

P682

The image above is a recapture of a photograph of my Dad working in a greengrocer's taken by a passing professional photographer sometime before decimalisation. The original was placed against a black background to bring out the lovely customer friendly quality that Dad had, so expertly captured in the original image. The image below (P681) is an attempt to recreate the original photograph  by a modern version which conjuring up the same sense of my Dad...

My 'model' here was a very patient and obliging Portsmouth market stallholder happy to help try to create the same pose...

P681

Tutor : The problem is will the reader realise it is a more or less random stall holder? Does this matter?  A very helpful and insightful comment. Looking back again at these two images I think it matters only in that the sequence of reading the images is perhaps the wrong way round which suggests a stronger link between the two men that was intended. Reversing the images would underline the idea of the modern image conjuring up the 'memory' i.e. the eye travelling left to right from the modern  to the 1950s picture and be more consistent with the rest of the work. Another reason for reworking the images into a new version and reviewing the captions.

P686

 'Amateur artist on honeymoon...'

An unexpected side of my Dad was an artistic streak that stretched way back to before the war. P686 below shows the earliest example that I have - one of two pen and ink drawings that he made on honeymoon.
I used a heavy grain to give an impression of a painting. Tutor : Do you think this is necessary? Has it worked?

 Here's the original  image without the heavy grain ...

                           

         I prefer the heavy grain version - it works for me as I think  it refers back to the 'artist' in that it looks more like a painting. However, the question being asked suggests that it might not work for  other observers. Should I then make a change here? My instinct is to stay with my original choice but I will revisit this when I review the concept of achieving a 'constant' look to the photobook. 

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