Following an e-mail conversation with a fellow PhD student, I have had cause to think about the format of my Critical Research Journal (blog).  The format and approach have remained fairly stable after a significant overhaul towards the end of the MA Photography I completed at Falmouth University.  As I considered my options post MA, I not only found it impossible to stop writing my blog four times a week, but also realised that my studies were not over, and I wanted to pursue my photographic practice to PhD level.  So, I continued writing, taking images, reflecting on my practice and posting my thoughts.  The current format has been in place since October 2019.

After hearing a presentation from a recently submitted PhD student (pending final viva voce examination) I listened to his wise words about how his journal had emerged through his PhD and how he wrote down his thoughts, made sketches and recorded actions and thoughts as they occurred.  My rather more formal approach started to feel a little contrived and restrictive, and I wondered whether I was missing some of my seedling thoughts, some of the things that had caught my eye but had not materialised beyond this point, events or courses I have attended, and images, quotations and practitioners I might like to review further down the line.  So, I have decided to write a less formal piece, once a week, that might capture some of these unfettered or possibly inconsequential ideas and thoughts.  My intention is that there will be no standard format, and I will endeavour not to make this informal post contrived or controlled.  The results of which remain to be seen!

So, watch this space. . . for the first Meanderings from Wild Reflections.