Sources, inspiration and goals as I head towards my essay...
So I have a deadline coming up in three and a bit weeks, for this module (and the other one, but let’s not panic about that), and I need to update this blog. My assessment in May will be an annotated bibliography which supports the essay I will be writing (Visual Representation and Horse Welfare: the power of photography’), and I have spent much of the last few weeks seeking out sources which I will be able to use.
I wanted to find scholarly/academic articles to reference, to add weight to the themes of the essay, but I have not been able so far to find any which relate specifically to my chosen topic. I have found some which relate generally to Visual Representation, but nothing which really helps. This has been my biggest challenge, and as been where I have spent most of my time, as I was unsure whether a lack of scholarly articles would count against me. However, as I can find none, then I have had to search elsewhere.
I have therefore done a LOT of reading around the subject and related subjects. I have read books by Berger, Moeller, Sontag, Mohr, Barthes... This has been the other challenge for me as I am by no means a ‘reader’. To be honest, I still haven’t finished reading the set books for my English Lit O’ level exam that I took in 1980... But I have adopted a scan-reading style, and sat with a highlighter pen and post-it stickers, and have actually found loads of usable references within many books. The authors are all highly respected and well-referenced sources, and so it is not an issue to use these in my bibliography.
I’m also using charity websites (again audited so perfectly ok to use), and at least one highly respected magazine, which I shall evaluate in the annotated bibliography.
The subject of the essay is one that I am passionate about; I have already been the photographer at horse welfare events (working free of charge), and I have carried out a photoshoot at a horse sanctuary as part of my degree, the images from which will be donated to the sanctuary for fundraising purposes. I hope that by finding out more myself, I will be able to further the education of others in the work that I do. Also, I will be looking into projects that are carried out for rehoming other animals, and looking at the feasibility of transferring these activities to equine rehoming projects.
Peer feedback has helped me with ideas for further reading, one student in particular gave me details of a book about Compassion Fatigue which has been really helpful. My tutor Gareth has been really helpful with his feedback. I am not good at essay writing - it is the module which worries me the most, and is the one which I get my lowest marks on. But his comments are always really positive, and his feedback is really on point and useful. I refer back to it often. He is actually making me start to believe that I can write this essay - that must be good!
