My tutor's feedback concentrated mostly on how the photographs worked together (or not) as a cohesive presentation. I must say that I had concentrated more on preparing individual photographs rather than the overall portfolio. This I now realise was a mistake.
My tutor commented on each of the seasons in turn, but her overriding observation was that it was not apparent that I had an underlying theme about what each season means to me visually. She also made comments on how I had sequenced the photographs. In particular she pointed out that in some cases I had presented images side by side which do not work well together and are not linked by being taken in a single season.
Looking back the failure to consider the idea of identifying the key signifiers of each season was an oversight. This is clearly an important lesson for the long run and one which I will keep returning to as my work progresses.
My tutor also suggested that I look at the print submission guidelines before submitting my work for accreditation. This I have done and I am reviewing options for presenting my photographs. I intend to test several different types of paper to improve my presentation.
I have represented the portfolio giving greater thought to sequencing and cohesiveness. I have also added an explanation of how I am perceive each of the seasons visually and how my photographs demonstrate this. In the case of the winter images, sadly, I would like to completely redo the portfolio - this is a project for later in the year.
Spring
For me Spring is the season of rebirth. New growth appears throughout the landscape. The days get longer and the skies bluer after the darkness of winter. The predominant colours are pale greens, yellows and pale blues. The three images I have presented all show signs of new growth, brightening skies and have a colour palette of yellows, pale greens and blue.
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| SPRING |
Summer
To my eyes the English summer time is a time of abundant growth (of crops, meadows and pastures, wild plants and flowers and cultivated gardens). Greens and deep yellows are the most prevalent colours. Sadly the source of this richness is a less attractive feature of our weather - frequent and heavy rainfall. It is this ironic twist which I have tried to depict in my photographs. I have changed one photograph from my original submission, replacing a detail shot of poppies with a broad landscape shot of the Manger near Uffington (with dark clouds looming above).
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| SUMMER |
Autumn
In Autumn the sun gets lower in the sky, the shadows lengthen, the colours are rich yellows, reds and golds and the foliage falls from the trees and plants. My three images embody these elements.
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| AUTUMN |
Winter
In my set of images I have depicted Winter as a time of now covered landscapes and in two of the images blue skies. The truth is that this is a cliche of the English Winter and as such I now realise that my depiction is not really how I perceive the English winter. The reality is that winter is more about dark, cold, barren and sometimes foreboding landscapes! I need to redo my photographs completely to illustrate this more realistic theme. That said I am not able to do this until later in the year and so for now my depiction of snow clad winter landscapes with frequent blue skies will remain.
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| WINTER |
In this revision of the presentation of my portfolio I have drawn heavily on the comments from my tutor. I have learned a significant lesson - one which I plan to put to good use in the future.
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