opinions&thoughts.

This will be my university-based blog, centred around the Photography & Situated Media course. It will include my responses to the "Image Studies" Sub-Major "Photographic Context 1" lecture series.

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16/o5/11 Lecture. Conor O'Brien.

Being someone who has, prior to this course, close to no art nor photographic education, listening to Conor O'Brien was a much needed, for want of a better word- break. A break, not in the negative sense, but rather with a sense of relief. This is largely due to the fact that unlike previous artists in the lecture series, Conor did not have much, if any, art education, and so his lecture was steered in a very honest and pure direction, speaking of his fascination with photography in which he began to explore during his travels from Vancouver, Canada to Perth and Melbourne, Australia. Taking us through his works over the past decade, we can see that a lot of his work is created through documentation, capturing those intimate and happy moments with friends. It is seen that most of this work is fairly relaxed and not restricted to any particular or set content, but rather, he shoots what he believes is relevant for his work.

Exhibition and presentation wise, O'Brien has a very DIY attitude, mentioning that a lot of the times he would hold exhibition and print copies of his work and give them to his friends and family in the format of a simple booklet.

Personally, I found his talk to be incredibly refreshing and a great end to the lecture series, as out of all speakers, Conor has gone through what I think most aspiring photographers are, or would hope to be undertaking further down the track.

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o9/o5/11 Lecture. Hayden Fowler.

Unable to attend Monday's lecture with Hayden Fowler, my knowledge will be fairly limited, with this blog post relying heavily on a lecture recording and Fowler's website.

Being an artist since the late 90's, Hayden Fowler has been practising with sculpture, performance, photography, installation art and video.

He has taken a very strong interest in, and has been working and developing ideas upon the exploration of the human relationship to the natural world, along with the unravelling overtime as a way of understanding civilisation as we see it to be, today.

Working with animals as metaphorical substitutes for humans in his earlier work, Fowler achieves a sense of quality between humans and non-humans within such imagery, dissolving the boundaries and false dualisms between the two subjects mentioned.

He leads to the investigation of human nature, rather than the investigation of human and nature as two separate ideas, looking subjectively at humans as an animal. This connects to his interest in rituals- what makes a human, and what makes an animal.

One such idea which one touched lightly upon in the lecture recording was the idea of tattooing as a body ritual which some choose to partake in.

His project Call of the Wild explores this ritual, through a series of photographs taken from his website.

Interested in the project, but speaking with very little knowledge, this idea of tattooing, placing something permanent onto one's skin, becomes something much more personal than simply an artwork. It is shown as an expression of one's emotions and ideas of particular aspects of life, death, or any other interest which lies within the human.

This shows a very direct connection between humans and nature, consequently commenting on human nature and its relationship to the natural world and the earth. The ritual of tattooing to my understanding in broad terms, relates to the connection between what is being tattooed and the body which it is tattooed upon. It creates a spiritual sense of linkage, connecting the two forms together, creating one new subject, one new being.

Continuing on, another such idea which stood out for me personally in the recording was the idea of a Utopia being present within Fowler's works. This idea of a "no place", or a "fantasy place". A place that is unrecognisable and possibly a view of the future or a parallel reality. This idea of a Utopian society or another reality falls neatly into my interests of living in the ideal place, or a place that is "perfect" to one's eye.

Not much was spoken about this, however viewing his works online, this idea of an unreal place is clearly evident in many of his projects, illustrating something extraordinary and more often than not, something incomprehensible at first glance.

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18/o4/11 Lecture. Gregory Crewdson.

"Every artist has a different story to tell"

That in itself would sum up Monday night's talk by Gregory Crewdson.

To be honest at first I was a bit hesitant when it was mentioned that he would simply take the audience through his works, obviously very wrongly assuming what would be in the content of the lecture. I'm glad I was proven wrong.

Crewdson spoke not only of his more recent works, but also of his early work, about his studies, influences, experiences and even about his childhood and background, which was ultimately what led him to his 'signature' photographic style when it comes to framing and creating his photographs.

I've always been interested in human nature and the idea of the mind, which is definitely what had me hooked once I even learnt of Gregory Crewdson over a year ago.

Crewdson's father was a psychoanalyst, and so from the start he had been conditioned around a relatively different childhood than most would experience, which turned out for the better. Speaking of how he was more interested in the psychological side of a photograph definitely echoed throughout his talk and his works, along with the interest of documenting specific places, and creating places that have been formulated within his own mind.

His approach of "creating images of the unseen" and also having "the ability to explore the forbidden" is something which I think every artist strives to achieve. Creating images of the unseen, being able to illustrate what's in your mind onto film, onto the canvas of photography- that's certainly a difficult task and something which grasped my attention.

Speaking about photography and photographers in general, Crewdson stated that:

All photographers are drawn to the medium through a voyeuristic sense ... to detach oneself from life through the lens.

After hearing such a statement, I found myself agreeing with it completely, as being a learning photographer, that was my initial reason as to why I was so drawn to the medium, even if it did begin as simply an obsessive but carefree hobby.

This idea of voyeurism is something which I've always struggled with and thrived upon. The idea of capturing a moment from a third party, from a distance. Whether it's for documentation's sake or constructing a new image, it will always come from a position of power and viewing as ultimately what comes out of it is created by the photographer as an individual.

Crewdson also spoke about photographing for your own sake, and photographing with your own intentions in mind and no one else's. This again referred to the psychology of the mind- us as creators need to explore things that intrigue and fascinate us. We need to use this curiosity to our benefit, to:

follow a compulsive desire that doesn't make sense to the world in order to make sense of the world.

And with this, Crewdson began to speak about a few of his works, including his famous series Twilight and Beneath The Roses.

This notion of the psychological and exploring things that don't make sense to the world is carried out well throughout the Twilight series in particular. Being withdrawn from this 'cinematic' view, the audience is able to question and wonder about the carefully crafted image presented to them. Playing with artificial light was a key element in Crewdson's work, and with this, it has helped to once again create a further level of depth to his pieces, giving off a somewhat eerie feel and a sense of paranoia, not to mention leaving his audience slightly disturbed and uneasy.

Finishing off the formal part of his talk and transitioning into a small Q&A session, Gregory Crewdson mentioned that he aimed to create dislocation. To create places between places.

Being able to understand the reasons behind Crewdson's creations was something unimaginable and definitely eye-opening to say the least.

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All photographers are drawn to the medium through a voyeuristic sense.

Gregory Crewdson, 18/04/11

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Every artist has a different story to tell.

Gregory Crewdson, 18/04/11

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11/o4/11 Lecture. Liza Statton.

Video curator Liza Statton was definitely a good speaker.

She had a very likeable nature and spoke fluently, gaining the listener's attention from the beginning.

Her talk about Contemporary Video Art had me interested from the start, speaking about the exhibition at Artspace in New Haven from November 11 2010 through to January 22 2011.

What I found engaging was her ability to speak well and confidently, going through each artist's works thoroughly, giving the audience insight into what concepts, what thoughts were put into creating the piece, and also a brief summary of what was used to create the video or installation presented.

Being a video curator, it was something a lot different to what has been presented to us throughout the past weeks' lectures, as we are dealing with a different medium, with moving time. With video, Statton spoke about the different spaces within the gallery and how precise organisation and ordering of videos was crucial for the exhibition, taking into account video content, sound and surrounding environment to create a particular atmosphere.

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This Is Gonna Hurt: The Documentaries - Episode 3

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Empty Walls - Serj Tankian

Pretentious adventures, dismissive apprehension. Don't waste your time on coffins today When we decline from the confines of our mind. Don't you see their bodies burning? Desolate and full of yearning. Dying of anticipation, choking from intoxication. I want you to be left behind those empty walls. I taunt you to see from behind those empty walls. I loved you yesterday, before you killed my family. I taunt you to see from behind those empty walls. From behind those damn walls. Those walls, those walls. 

I couldn't help but relate Prudence Murphy's talk on roleplaying and violence with Serj Tankian's music video Empty Walls.

This video includes a re-enactment of September 11's destruction of the Twin Towers, it explores the idea and general nature of war with tanks, trenches, mutiny and destruction. It shows people of higher power capturing people and keeping them as hostages and also involves suicide bombings and mass killing raids from family homes.

I don't want to be ignorant by saying "this video shows that role playing violence is terrible and that it should not be allowed", but rather, say that this video in fact shows how effective role playing can be, and so it's difficult to differentiate between, or even know how children are understanding violence through these role playing sessions.

About half way through the video, we also see the children acting as officers leading their troops, having a meeting with the words "Mishin Ackomplishd" on a board behind the leading man. This again shows that they very much do understand the concept of war and violence, and what comes with it.

These actions within role playing can possibly infect their minds and, for want of a better word, corrupt them at a young age. This video shows what children really are capable, and that age clearly is not a problem.

This idea of watching and seeing everything 'from behind those empty walls' also demonstrates a sense of frustration within the person, being a bystander or someone who is ultimately 'helpless' when it comes to these situations of war and violence. It projects feelings of anger as well, being a back-bencher to all the violence happening around them.

Linking this back to Prudence Murphy's talk, we can see that in fact, this role play does in fact conclude with a death & funeral in reality, 'behind those empty walls', thus supporting the point made about children using violence as a form of coping with what has happened in real life.

So in fact, what I'll be concluding from Monday's lecture, along with this video, is two general points, that role playing violence:

can have a negative impact on children, if they understand it wrongly, or if they become so absorbed within violent antics.

can be a positive, as instead of dangerously acting upon their anger due to unfortunate incidents, role playing allows and provides them with a safe outlet to voice their emotions and deal with the trauma being faced.

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o4/o4/11 Lecture. Prudence Murphy.

The content of Prudence Murphy's lecture this Monday was about her recent works and the exploration of basic human activities, (walking, running, washing, brushing, etc) weaving us into her latest work, yet to be presented, titled Boys With Guns, 2011.

What was spoken about during this section of her lecture involved that "fleeting moment" in a child's development, where they learn to experiment through curiosity, and allow their environment and visuals influence how they act and see the world.

The main focus of this particular series deals with young boys and their exploration and fascination with toy guns, or even just the idea of a gun. The object of a gun symbolises power and strength, whereby the boys roleplay certain scenes from movies, create new games, or even learn from news stories.

Murphy speaks about and raises the question of whether these actions with guns are valid, or whether they are projections of adult desires, and rather, more serious than initially imagined. Her understanding of these actions are that, boys or young children are influenced by what the see, however the way they play and act out scenes is moreso a learning process rather than a form of stronger violence. She believes that it is a child's absorbtion in character and play, and rather than frowning upon such actions, she encourages children to do this, as she continues to stress the importance of role play.

A video that was shown to us involved young children renacting the suicide bombings, had some play the 'bad guys' and others play the innocent public who get killed, thus acting as 'dead bodies'. Prudence Murphy sees this as a way of dealing with the trauma as it is current and for some, it is reality, whether it's because the war is happening within their country, or whether they have lost a loved one due to the bombings.

This is where I believe you need to draw a line between playful roleplaying, and in a sense, 'serious training' due to the conditioning of human behaviour and how the critical learning stage is within young children. This so-called 'aping' of violence shouldn't be seen as something acceptable for children, not because we 'don't want children growing up without knowing about violence', but rather because whilst roleplaying, different children can understand things differently, hence leaving some growing up to become 'the bad guy'.

Sure, kids need to learn about violence, however, it also needs to have a limit as to how serious the situation is. I recently came across a photograph of a young girl holding up a sign which read "We are taught not to get raped, but we aren't taught not to rape." Which I think is mirroring, to some extent, this issue of roleplaying and violence. this is because by roleplaying, children are taught about violence, but they are not taught how to prevent violence, nor are they told not to be violent.

As mentioned in the Q & A part of the lecture, Oliver questioned the series by raising a quote spoken by Walter Benjamin, wondering whether or not this act of roleplaying is done with no thought, hence 'killing with no conscience'.

This act of roleplaying could in fact, also be the process of gradually leaning to violence as time goes on, having children become consumed by power, strength, leadership and the urge to kill.

Personally, I wouldn't be encouraging the act of roleplaying violence, however I also wouldn't want to prevent the act of roleplaying violence either. There just has to be a limit between acceptable and over the top, where someone needs to step in and voice what is right and what is wrong.

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o1/o4/11 Blair French Tutorial.

This might be out of sheer blindness or complete ignorance, but it's most likely due to loyalty and frustration.

I'd just like to make a few things clear behind the comfort of my computer screen which is purely directed at the second half of our tutorial, discussing the idea of music.

If music should be free, and musicians shouldn't be making music with the thought of earning any money, how is it any different to being a photographer, or a painter, or a fashion designer, or anything else?

How can it be reasonable to say such a thing? To broaden the statement, you may as well say that all talents should be provided to others for free, sharing everything, however that would be ridiculous and not at all realistic.

The point made about Radiohead letting buyers choose the price they pay for an album and still being able to survive in the music industry would be because (personal opinion, but also backed up by obvious stats) bands and solo artists these day earn most of their income through touring constantly, making TV and guest appearances, along with interviews. Heavily stressing the time and energy spent on touring universally, for months at a time.

This may be an assumption, however it's because of the heavy reliance on touring as a source of income that ticket prices have risen so much even within the past 6 years (going by personal experience, though of course, inflation will always be a contributing factor).

The above statement is what I find highly unfair, as most dedicated fans attending these concerts would be the ones actually still buying the bands' CDs and DVDs, and it's the lack of payment by all the other listeners which make these few attendees have to fork out a hell of a lot more money to go to one concert for one night, to listen and experience a set which could last from 1 to 3 hours along.

Nothing much related to Blair French, however this was what stuck with, and inflamed me from the tutorial last Friday.

My blog. My thoughts!

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This Is Gonna Hurt: The Documentaries - Episode 2

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This Is Gonna Hurt: The Documentaries - Episode 1

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Lies of the Beautiful People. The first video off Sixx: A.M.'s 2nd album This Is Gonna Hurt, which is a follow-up concept album to their debut The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack.

This is probably the furthest thing from my uni course, but I'm feeling the need to include this here because of Nikki Sixx's talent, as a lyricist, bassist, writer and photographer.

This is Gonna Hurt: Music, Photography & Life Through The Distorted Lens Of Nikki Sixx.

This Is Gonna Hurt: Music, Photography And Life Through The Distorted Lens Of Nikki Sixx, is part photo, part journal- but all Nikki Sixx. It is a collection of compelling photography and stories that capture the rage, love, optimism, darkness, and determination that shape his work. Combining the raw authenticity that defined his New York Times Best Seller The Heroin Diaries with a photographic journey, This Is Gonna Hurt chronicles Sixx's experiences- from his early years filled with toxic waste, to his success with Motley Crue, to his death from an OD and his eventual rebirth through music, photography and love.

Love story, bad-ass rock tell-all, social commentary, family memoir, This Is Gonna Hurt offers the compelling insights of an artist and a man struggling to survive, connect, and find a happy ending- a search that fuels Sixx's being.

If you've seen his photographic work, you'll know that he's got the perfect eye when it comes to producing and creating honest work. As mentioned, it's all raw, and it's all incredible. Definitely something that will get everyone talking. Besides a performer and a photographer, Sixx is a writer, and has kept journals for who knows how long. His writing is pure, it's dirty, it's the truth, and after reading This Is Gonna Hurt's predecessor, you sure as hell know he writes detailed and more often than not, horrifying entries on what's inside his mind. His demons, his battles, his life. The book comes out April 12.

I honestly can't wait for both book, and album to come out. If this album is anything like The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack, it's going to be on repeat for days. It's set to be released May 3. Very high expectations.

I finished reading this book shortly after I bought it in 2008 and it's one of the very few books I've ever finished, so that must say something in itself already.

Three main things I remember from it are these: "My heart's like an open book, for the whole world to read" "The struggle for normality normally isn't a struggle" "It feels like music raised me, adopted me, saved my life" and it's stayed with me since.

I think the only way I can relate this to uni is with the simple fact that this is Nikki Sixx's 'story'. (Relating it very loosely back to last week's talk by Stephen Dupont) Documented and told by the man himself, along with Ian Gittins. This is an honest story, yet even so, he is the decider as to what is and isn't shown. And so, sure, he is telling us his story, but there will always be gaps, despite stating that it's all there and it's all true. Though you can most certainly tell that everything included was done to help and most importantly, dispell the rumours behind his tough attitude. I remember him writing "but deep inside I feel nobody really likes me...nobody understands me. I feel like I am completely alone on this planet."

These journals outlines the toughest year of his life, ending with a heroin drug overdose and literally getting brought back to life from death.

This soundtrack acts as a companion to the journal, with each track relating to the relative chapter as it slowly, or rather, intensely culminates to an insane life of destruction, later leading to one of reflection and re-evaluation, hence beginning with "X-Mas in Hell" and concluding with "Life After Death"

Honestly, I have no real clue as to why I'm including this post over here, except for the fact that music and photography are incorporated within the character of Nikki Sixx, and if you're looking for something completely different, interesting and shocking, then you should definitely read The Heroin Diaries and look into his photographic work.

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28/o3/11 Lecture. Blair French.

Sitting down to write my response to Monday's lecture by Blair French, I can't help but stay puzzled and unsure as to how I would respond to him. The thought of what to write has been on my mind since Monday night, and not in a way that I need to decide what approach to take, but rather, in a way that I quite honestly did not gather much information from the talk.

I don't mean any disrespect towards Blair French, but coming into the lecture room on Monday afternoon, I was expecting examples of gallery space, exhibitions and other such works which he had been involved in. Perhaps even a conducting I suppose, a 'mini-curation' towards a work that he's previously spoken about would have been nice to get a basic idea of what I'm sure is a large and extensive background of knowledge from the man himself.

Looking through my notes, I'm simply met with unfinished sentences, dot points and not much else, despite the 5 pages of text.

"Contemporaneity and the Heft of Photography"

If I was to jot down what came to mind when I think back to the lecture, the list would be as follows:

Curator

Contemporary and contemporaneity after post-modernity

Documentation

Images

Objects

Media

The use of video

Biennale

Globalisation

What is Contemporary Art?

The idea of time, being time-based, having suspended time, losing time, etc.

The large availability of photography towards the general public and the decline in importance, or significance of photography as an art form. (Based upon the results and decline in number of photographs present in the two Biennales mentioned) The very commonly used phrase of "everyone is a photographer". (Relating back to the large drop in photographic work present in the two Biennales)

I know this is most definitely sidetracking from what Blair French talked about, however when the drop in photographs present in the Biennales was mentioned, and how photography is becoming more and more accessible to the general public, I couldn't help but link that point back to the on-going debate of how 'everyone is a photographer', because almost everyone can take a picture these days. I also remember this point being mentioned sometime early last year during class and agreed that it is, and always will be an on-going argument.

This notion of "everyone is a photographer" could have 2 arguments, in which it really can't be resolved definitely. To put it very simple terms that many may or may not agree with, the term 'photographer' can be applied to any such person that photographs, basically anyone with a camera of some sort. However, that's where the line will be drawn. Anyone can be a "photographer", but not everyone can be, or is, a skilled or knowledgeable photographer, which is how we differentiate between the two.

A question which I'll always ask, is when is the right time to be called a "real" photographer? When it comes to other professions, it's when you take on the role of that degree or craft, but when is the right time to be called a proper photographer? Is it when you're successful? Is it when you're famous? Or is it when you believe that you are one yourself? Personally, I think success and fame would be taking a very shallow approach to it all. Especially since good connections and other such ideas contribute towards that success and fame in some instances.

Being rather gullible, I had previously always viewed skilled photographers to be someone who not only knows their craft, but has also previously or are still working with film, as well as digital. Which would be stating it in very, very general terms.

Most definitely side tracking once again from the point of this blog, but I'd like to include a recent encounter with a, I suppose, 'photographer', middle-aged, fairly recognised and largely skillful. I had a conversation with this person, and despite really enjoying his photographs and all his works past and present, I was most definitely surprised to learn of the fact that he had never worked with film before and did not know much about it at all, with him replying with "You know a lot more than I do about film!" Prompting me to re-think my previous thought of whether or not being a skilled photographer had to include both film and digital or not.

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THE RECTITUDE OF SOUND. My Self Portrait.

[: 

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21/o3/11 Lecture. Stephen Dupont.

"The Winter of 1993 is when the affair began, and the affair became a very dangerous game over the years, as I grew to love and hate the mindless Civil War around me."

With Stephen Dupont's insightful and interesting lecture very much still fresh in my mind, all I can think of when it comes to his work now, is his passion and genuine interest in documenting the tragic, and truth.

Tonight's lecture was approached rather well, starting off with a simple introduction and explanation as to what Dupont has been doing over there years, followed by a few videos including his dedication to the victims of the Afghan War and finishing off with a short but well answered Q&A session.

Dupont spoke and presented us with his approach to documentation through photography, journalism and film making. Also explaining that through his assignment on Afghanistan and the Perils of Freedom ('93-'09), he was able to see the journey of his photography, which saw him experimenting, and more importantly maturing, over the years.

I guess, the main aspect of Stephen Dupont's lecture that I want to focus on in this blog is, and not surprisingly so, his work on the war in Afghanistan for over a decade. The Massoud Wars and the War on Terror.

The main reason as to why I found Dupont's lecture so interesting, lies upon two points:

- The historical relevance of his works & his passion. - His striking photographs of documentation.

By simply summing up his lecture with those 2 sentences wouldn't suffice and does not make much sense if someone was to sit down and read this, which is why it's time to go further in-depth.

Historical relevance & passion Watching Dupont's video about his works and seeing life within a country constantly surrounded by war and destruction. Not being a huge history nut, but also being rather fascinated by the past, and factual information, I was really drawn towards his work. The dedication and goal to 'be the eyes and voice of the Afghan people' really shook me and made it reality.

With the common phrase of 'history always repeats itself', I found it rather interesting that during a section of his video showing testimonials from Marines opening with "Why am I a marine?", there were responses that were flashed mentioning "I didn't want to go to college, so I came here", one marine stating that they came to Afghanistan because they "wanted to make a change from a bad to good life", and another believing that going to war would be "fun".

How would this relate to past times? Personally, I draw the link between WWI during the early enlistment time with these responses, as this was the early 20th century, war was something 'new and exciting', and the thought of being able to travel to another country for a good few months was seen more as a holiday than a horrific war. This largely involves the role of ignorance, but also optimism, though for others, it was also seen as a way out from their own country's war, with Dupont stating that some saw escaping their own country as their only change of salvation.

The main echo in history would have to be the response of going to war and seeing it as something "fun".

You could see the passion and dedication Dupont had towards his works from the very beginning. His genuine interest and concern about the victims of the Afghan War was admirable.

Dupont's philosophy:

You don't take pictures, you're given them.

I truly love this statement. Why? Because I don't think it can get any more true than that, especially when it comes to capturing a moment, and documenting it. In other words, Photojournalism.

And with this approach, Dupont is able to create honest photographs. He mentioned that a lot of the locals will think that, as a person living in a safe and war-free country like Australia, travelling just to come to their -for want of a better word- 'hell hole', you're absolutely crazy and out of your mind. But at the same time, seeing you as a photojournalist on an assignment, and also personally choosing to take up the task and risk your own life by travelling there, you're seen with respect and admiration due to dedication.

That in itself, illustrates his passion towards this subject.

Striking photographs of documentation Yes, they're documenting the horrific insights to a war. Yes, the content of his photographs are graphic and confronting. Yes, they illustrate deaths of innocent victims.

And I love it.

No, I don't love it because "there's corpses, amputated body parts and bloodied faces". I love it because of how realistic it all is.

Dupont's work with the Afghanistan war hides nothing. And that's what's so striking and fascinating about it. It's honest, because he takes honest photographs.

What's more incredible about his work is that, as by standers in unharmed countries, the images being viewed as considered 'shocking' or 'horrific', because we are not exposed to it much, if at all. Whereas what needs to be taken into account is the reality of it all. It may not be reality for us, but it is for the Afghans, as to them, bombings and the constant fear of being shot is daily routine and has become human nature to them. It is their reality, and we need to be able to acknowledge that.

Dupont also does what the TV did to civilians back in WWI- bringing the war home. He shows the truth. No tricks. What you see really is what's happening.

That's also what I think is so powerful about documentation and photojournalism. With a lot of media and news-related things, we are often, if not always, shown a bias view towards an event. It doesn't matter what it is, when reporting, complete bias is unable to be ruled out. And of course, a few hidden facts or tweaked information is OK, as long as it sells.

This is where photojournalism and documentation comes in. The photographer is there to simply document what is there through a lens. The lens knows no bias, and it can only show what it sees, which is then open for interpretation by the audience. Sure, the photographer can play the devil and only photograph what they want, possibly only showing one side to the story, or hiding the truth, but Dupont refuses to do as such. Which links back to his passion towards this subject.

Dupont only shows what is there, and displays the truth. If there's a lack of happiness in his assignments, that's because there's a lack of happiness within the country and within the war.

I don't think I can stress how much I enjoyed this lecture, or how much I really love how the truth was told through his photographs, with no tricks or lies.

No doubt I've repeated myself countless times, but hey, I can honestly say that this has been my favourite lecture to date.

I've always had an interest in photojournalism and documentation. The idea of sitting on the sidelines, away from the action and simply creating a memory or documenting and showing that something happened is what I enjoy doing, and I think tonight just did it for me.

Two photographs which illustrates what I'm trying to get at a lot clearer than what I've just thrown out:

http://stephendupont.squarespace.com/exhibitions/afghanistan-the-perils-of-freedom-1993-2009/7817732

http://stephendupont.squarespace.com/exhibitions/afghanistan-the-perils-of-freedom-1993-2009/7817776

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14/o3/11 Lecture. Anne Ferran.

Anne Ferran began her lecture by quoting poet and writer Dylan Thomas, naming her talk "Go quietly".

I hadn't known her, or her works until a few days prior to this lecture, yet regardless, I found her talk to be incredible interesting and insightful.

Anne Ferran explained that "Going Quietly" referred to the people in history who did not matter much to society, nor did they have much impact upon it. She explained that all we have to remember these people by are a few simple sentences that would sum up their life. An example that was given is as follows: "Margaret forgets her name. She believes she's living in Ballarat".

What information then, can we gather about Margaret? We can understand that mentally, her mind isn't in the right place, but that would almost be all. We can't understand her background, we can't understand her connections, or anything else. She is ultimately then, only defined by two sentences, and nothing more.

Anne Ferran spoke about her aim to create a portrait of someone anonymous, and by presenting to us 5 portraits of cloth photographed as headpieces of women, she not only achieved her aim, but rather, created a portrait of anonymity as a whole.

"Make an image that is strong enough to make a memory"

With this quote, I believe that Ferran's "Lost to Worlds" series highly supports it, as, when spoken about on Monday, she told us that many of the audience's attention was drawn towards what they believed they could see or discover in her photographs of the land where a prison once stood. Anne Ferran however, explains that despite this, her true intention behind creating this series was not to concentrate on what wasn't there, but rather, what little information was shown and presented within the photographs.

These photographs illustrate "the significance of a moment or time", which has now been lost in history.

Her work "In the Ground, On the Air" again refers to history, posing the question Where has the history gone? This is where her idea of paying attention to the "absences and gaps" come in. It's all about what's not spoken.

Anne Ferran mentioned that "when we disappear, our names are never spoken". Personally, I understand this as an approach which is rather unusual and quite the opposite of what most people would actually do. The common phrase of "gone, but never forgotten" in regards to family members or friends who have passed on is an example of how a memory is kept alive. And in order to keep the memories alive, we speak about the departed, and we remember things they would have done, what they would have said and how they would have reacted to any particular circumstance.

Her works circulating the deaths of children who lived for under two years continues to give a haunting feeling, as it is the simple action of watching these names fade away into the ground, never to be seen or spoken again, that gives it such a striking stance.

Ferran spoke about how in the past, photographers would see themselves on the outside of society, keeping a somewhat distance with the life around them. Being a photographer herself, her works show this statement at work, as she was able to research, understand, and even build a connection with the deceased, yet also approaching her ideas in a sophisticated form, somewhat documenting history the way she believed to understand it.