Research Methods

This is a short intensive module where you will study a broad range of research methods.

The primary learning objectives are;

• Access and apply a range of appropriate learning resources.
• Evaluate theoretical approaches to research.
• Identify relevant methods and strategies for research.
• Produce and present a research proposal.
• Communicate creatively and effectively to the standards required by the discipline.

The major outputs of the module will be;

• A researched proposal for a design based project
• A presentation to your peers supporting and exploring your proposal
• A supporting blog evidencing your research, practical exploration, study skills and relevant activity.

23/01/2014

Sources Of Research

Primary and secondary research differences.

Primary Is current and up to date, secondary can be out-dated or false.

Qualitative and Quantitative

Quantitative research will measure- eg statistic/ numerical information.

Qualitative research looks at the why/how/would eg: Descriptive

We put together a list of possible sources of research:- Both Secondary and Primary examples.

Journals 

Publications

Contact Photographers

Contact Professional Bodies: eg AOP

News Archives

Live interviews

museums

Library's/Books/Micro fish

internet eg: Wikipedia

Magazines

Visit to location

Exhibitions

Bloggs 

Television

Historians

National Geographic

Surveys

As a team we designed a chart to follow for secondary and primory sources and assertaines if they were Quantitative or Qualitative.

Finally we looked at each of the research methods for it's advantages and dis-advantages.

Reading Week

Watched the whole of the Karl Taylor Photography Masterclass. Am amazingly informative DVD set that teaches various techniques in Landscape,Product and commercial photography, also very in depth photoshop tutorials.

Homework

Task 2

Fizzy pop.

Seascape- Research (Secondry/Qualitive)

 The visual strength of a photograph and it’s emotional connection.

Ever since being a child I have had an affinity with the sea, an emotional connection that comes from the smell, sound and beauty of the sea. I believe good seascape photography can capture that emotion and those same feelings come from the visual and emotional impact of a good photograph.

Fine art photography can have a powerful impact on all of us. But what gives an image this power?

There are many technical aspects to seascape photography, good composition is important and the ability to be unique. My research is based on understanding all of the elements required to produce something with a powerful emotional result.

Inspiration

Thinking outside the box----Hiroshi Sugimoto

I found a very interesting project by Hiroshi Sugimoto, This qoute from him I found very inspiring and fitted my research perfectly:

"Water and air. So very common place are these substances, they hardly attract

attention―and yet they vouchsafe our very existence.

The beginnings of life are shrouded in myth: Let there water and air. Living phenomena

spontaneously generated from water and air in the presence of light, though that could

just as easily suggest random coincidence as a Deity. Let's just say that there happened

to be a planet with water and air in our solar system, and moreover at precisely the right

distance from the sun for the temperatures required to coax forth life. While hardly

inconceivable that at least one such planet should exist in the vast reaches of universe,

we search in vain for another similar example.

Mystery of mysteries, water and air are right there before us in the sea. Every time I view

the sea, I feel a calming sense of security, as if visiting my ancestral home; I embark on a

voyage of seeing."

http://www.sugimotohiroshi.com/seascape.html

Classic Seascape- Joe cornish
Well known for his landscape work in and around Northumberland and Yorkshire, Joe Cornish has a great eye for natural beauty. Typically classical in composition but draws on the natural landscape to provoke emotion in both himself and the viewer.

Seascape Proposal

“Seascape has a powerful strength to create an emotional response from the viewer; this response is created not just from the creator’s motive but also in the technical ability to produce an image that stirs emotion.”

The research I am undertaking is to show how using different technical aspects of photography, can determine how an image is emotionally received by the viewer.

Lighting, movement, composition, colour and time of day can alter the perception and understanding of an image, Seascape creates a natural emotional connection that may stem from many different situations including the viewer’s past, dreams or even spiritual beliefs.

My interpretation to this proposal is simple, each day we spend our time and energy in the mundane boring necessities of life, working, studying and raising families. I like so many have always had a strong emotional connection with the sea, but my daily routine seldom allows me to communicate with the real essence of that emotion unless it is in a photograph and I’m sure many others do not get the opportunity to visit as much as they would like too. I believe we all have the ability to emotionally connect with an image; this connection may come from our past, our future aspirations, good and bad experiences. The sea provokes calm, anger, upset, loss, joy and sadness because of the variety of forms it takes. I am keen to find out if a selection of seascape images can provoke emotion in people who live their day to day life’s in the urban sprawl and can these images promote calm and emotional well-being. 

I intend to create a series of images, taken at various locations, times and weather conditions, using varied technical aspects and compositions to create a set of photographs that can convey and create different emotional reactions. I would like to exhibit these images in a body of work to show in cities across the country to promote and convey the emotional attachment people miss in day to day life.

Rationale and background research-

“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything”

Aaron Siskind(Good Reads.com,2012,Para1)

Sadness, happiness, hurt, sorrow are just some of the emotions we can all relate to, in the form of a photograph these emotional reactions are obvious to the viewer if the image is prevalent to any form of connection to their memory. As photographers we can’t second guess what mood the viewer will be in when they see an image, but one thing we do know is different people will connect with a photo for many different reasons.

Technical differences can alter the whole aesthetics of an image, those differences can alter the mood and feel to an image and the way in which an individual perceives it. I have looked at the work of Hiroshi Sugimoto, Gerhard Richter, Robert Adam and Jose Ramos. Each one technically different,  capturing stunning seascape images that convey different emotional content. Composition, lighting, ISO, shutter speed and F-stop are primary in any capture, but for me the photographer has to feel emotion and belief in the image they are trying to create to truly be able to convey emotion.

More urban living locations are more widely known for promoting stress related illnesses. People who live in the city often find it difficult to visit the coast for a number of reasons, as a social experiment I would like to showcase seascape in these areas. Using a questionnaire on arrival and departure to see if a change in mood is reflected when viewing seascape photography.

Organisations,bodies and practitioners-

I have chosen the following four practioners to use as examples of seascape photography, each with a different view and each producing different images that in my opinion creates different emotions form seascape.

Hiroshi Sugimoto(1948-)

“Water and air. So very commonplace are these substances, they hardly attract

attention―and yet they vouchsafe our very existence.

The beginnings of life are shrouded in myth: Let there water and air. Living phenomena

spontaneously generated from water and air in the presence of light, though that could

just as easily suggest random coincidence as a Deity. Let's just say that there happened

to be a planet with water and air in our solar system, and moreover at precisely the right

distance from the sun for the temperatures required to coax forth life. While hardly

inconceivable that at least one such planet should exist in the vast reaches of universe,

we search in vain for another similar example.

Mystery of mysteries, water and air are right there before us in the sea. Every time I view

the sea, I feel a calming sense of security, as if visiting my ancestral home; I embark on a

voyage of seeing.”

(SUGIMOTO, Hiroshi, 2011)

Gerhard Richter

Composition is a side issue. Its role in my selection of photographs is a negative one at best. By which I mean that the fascination of a photograph is not in its eccentric composition but in what it has to say: its information content. And, on the other hand, composition always also has its own fortuitous rightness.

Robert Adam

(21, Art, 2001)on is that seemingly almost demented search—moving a little this way, moving a little that—looking from a little higher, a little lower. The effort is to find that perfectly balanced frame where everything fits. It’s not exactly the same as life. It’s life, seen better.

 (21, Art, 2001)

Jose Ramos

A 31 year old photographer from Portugal. "When the aesthetic power of nature meets a man's vision of the world, creation takes place and images become the crystalized hybrid product of this encounter. Travelling and endlessly searching for the light, the silence and the lessons of the landscape, here I present you my vision of the world as seen through my eyes and soul, hoping I can at least take you there just for a moment, to the moment which lies so intense in my memory..."

 (RAMOS, Jose, 2014)

Cultural and Ethical issues-

I don’t see any cultural issues arising in this project. Ethical issues may arise from the emotional concept I am trying to pursue, some may say it is ethically irresponsible to play with peoples emotions, my argument to this is that the emphasis of this project is to see if we can help to promote emotional wellbeing in heavily urbanised areas such as cities.

“It is my intention to present - through the medium of photography - intuitive observations of the natural world which may have meaning to the spectators.”

Ansel Adams (Brainy Qoute,2003,Para 1)

Methodology and predicted timescales-

I would anticipate this project taking approximately 8 weeks to formulate a catalogue of 30 images from around the Uk coast, using different times of the day to help create mood and context This would be a combination of taking the shots, editing, printing and framing.

Week 1- Shooting 5 images from the South East coast, different locations and different times of day including editing.

Week 2 – Shooting 5 images from the South West coast, different locations and different times of  day including editing.

Week 3- Shooting 5 images from the North East coast, different locations and different times of  day including editing.

Week 4- Shooting 5 images from the Scottish east coast, different locations and different times of  day including editing.

Week 5- Shooting 5 images from the Scottish North and West coast, different locations and different times of  day including editing.

Week 6 – Shooting 5 images from the South West coast, different locations and different times of  day including editing.

Week 7- image printing and return.

Week 8 – Framing.

Referencing-harvard

ADAMS, Ansel. Ansel Adams Brainy Qoute. [online]. [Accessed February 2014]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/anseladams110425.html>

READS.COM, Good. 2012. Aaron Siskinds Qoute. [online]. [Accessed 13 Febuary 2014]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/604495-photography-is-a-way-of-feeling-of-touching-of-loving>

SUGIMOTO, Hiroshi. 2007. Landscapes. [online]. [Accessed 10 March 2014]. Available from World Wide Web: <  HYPERLINK "http://www.sugimotohiroshi.com/seascape.html"   http://www.sugimotohiroshi.com/seascape.html >

RAMOS, Jose. 2014. http://www.joseramos.com/about. [online]. [Accessed 13 March 2014]. Available from World Wide Web: <  HYPERLINK "http://www.joseramos.com/about"   http://www.joseramos.com/about >

ADAMS, Robert. 2007. Art 21 interview with Robert Adams. [online]. [Accessed 10 March 2014]. Available from World Wide Web: <  HYPERLINK "http://www.art21.org/texts/robert-adams/interview-robert-adams-photography-life-and-beauty"   http://www.art21.org/texts/robert-adams/interview-robert-adams-photography-life-and-beauty >

Works Cited

ADAMS, Ansel. Ansel Adams Brainy Qoute. [online]. [Accessed February 2014]. Available from World Wide Web: <  HYPERLINK "http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/anseladams110425.html"   http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/anseladams110425.html >

READS.COM, Good. 2012. Aaron Siskinds Qoute. [online]. [Accessed 13 Febuary 2014]. Available from World Wide Web: <  HYPERLINK "http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/604495-photography-is-a-way-of-feeling-of-touching-of-loving"   http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/604495-photography-is-a-way-of-feeling-of-touching-of-loving >

SUGIMOTO, Hiroshi. 2007. Landscapes. [online]. [Accessed 10 March 2014]. Available from World Wide Web: <  HYPERLINK "http://www.sugimotohiroshi.com/seascape.html"   http://www.sugimotohiroshi.com/seascape.html >

SUGIMOTO, Hiroshi. 2011. http://www.sugimotohiroshi.com/seascape.html. [online]. [Accessed 13 March 2014].

Literature Review

Senses of Seascapes: Aesthetics and the Passion for Knowledge-Kathy S. Mack

This article was interesting to my own personal project, written from a personal point of view using primary and secondary information and the piece being qualative in its form. Exploring aesthetics and how a sense of place derives the artist to manufacture his or her art is significant to all who seek a career in the arts. Research and references are clearly visible to understand the effort placed into this piece of work, giving a great insight into how aesthetics are not only created but also how they are perceived by the viewer. Interesting and informative work that proves emotion is stirred by the aesthetic of the sea.

Power point Presentation