I feel I made good progress towards the end of Surfaces and Strategies and my voice and style is much clearer as I move forward. However, as I start my portfolio in my favourite season of autumn/winter I am keen to map out through a mind map, of course, what the opportunities and options might be!
I will need first, to take account of the feedback I get from my tutors in relation to my Surfaces and Strategies Portfolio. I also have feedback about favourite images from my local exhibition. This will be important in informing the future direction of my project.
As the move to Skye comes ever closer I will become a resident on the Island for large parts of the year. I am hoping psychologically that this will not only help me in terms of shifting my standpoint from tourist to local but also in terms of offering many more opportunities to photograph The Road to Elgol. I will have easy access to the Road, changes in weather and light and can allow myself the luxury of spending more time watching and experiencing the landscape and slowing down the photographic process. My change in status will also enable me to make more local contacts that can provide me with information about viewing points, local leads to access services such as hill walking guides and spreading the word about the project I am doing. In this regard, I am considering doing a local exhibition of my work on the Isle of Skye next spring.
As far as the direction of my work in Module 3 is concerned I will pursue producing images reflecting the de-saturated and muted and subtle tones of the landscape in the autumn and especially winter. I would like to consider going up into the Cuillin Hills to access different views, viewpoints and perspectives.
I will go further “off road” to find new subjects and with greater time spent on the Island will also pursue “micro projects” focused around the beach, seascapes, sky-scapes and capturing the dramatic weather on Skye. I am also thinking about how I might introduce or enhance the autobiographical aspect to my work into my images. This might include me being in the images, to give an alternative sense of scale, similar to the work of Elina Brotherus and Michal Iwanowski. I am also going to try out some abstract techniques similar to the seascapes of Hiroshi Sugimoto. I believe I may have found the words that might accompany my images in the Seton Gordon book The Charm of Skye. I will need to investigate any potential copyright issues in doing so.
Great ideas for furthering a very interesting project helping us see Skye through your eyes. Your B&W images have been spectacularly good and it will be very interesting to see how you translate the muted colours of Autumn, Winter and Spring into your images.
Thank you for your comments. I hope my “desaturated” images can evoke my experience of the Road like monochrome.
To help you ‘gofurther off road’ I have book that you can lend:
“The Cuillin – Great Mountain Ridge of Skye” by Gordon Stainforth. His quotes are highly relevent to your project.
“The edge of man’s spirit will be ground on the bare sharp summits of mountains”
Sorley Maclean,
“Far, far distant, far on a horizon,
I see the rocking of the antlered Cuillin, beyond the morass of agony,
I see the white felicity of the high-towered mountains.
Sorley Maclean
That would be great. Coincidentally, I had made a note of this book last week. It would be really useful to have a look at it before deciding whether to purchase.