Happily, good feedback from my tutor on this assignment. We also had a good discussion about Assignment 4, as a result of which I have decided to go ahead with my original proposal, though I think I have slightly revised and refined my ideas about exactly how the argument should develop.

The full report is below. I have though redacted out one paragraph that is not for general consumption:

“Overall Comments

As always, a detailed conversation which covered all aspects of the course.

In addition to the coursework and assignment, we discussed critical reflection*, identifying the photographer’s voice, your highly involved research and evidence of theory into practice and engagement with peers. *I will attach a pdf to the email.

Feedback on assignment 

Over all a good response to the Assignment brief.  The diptych arrangement worked well.  We did though discuss other possible means of presentation.   We agreed that given the relative lack of material other forms of presentation might well be difficult and unlikely to work well.  That apart, could the work be presented in book form, as a slide -show, or in some other way?  Does the format of landscape orientation work or could the images be arranged in some other way?  The experiment with the black and white film in square format suggests that the letterbox format does indeed work and having the extra height in the pictures does not add anything.  The letterbox format actually helps to emphasise the relative lack of (interesting) view from the vantage point of each bench.

We also discussed my reflection on the work and the difficulties of forming an objective view of how well it meets the assessment criteria.  Some further guidance from OCA on how this might be might be done more practically and consistently.  Subject to that, my response addressing the issue of development of a personal voice was a wholly satisfactory one.

Coursework

I am continuing to engage well with the course material.

Research

I am drawing on a wide range of sources and influences, literary and visual, and synthesizing it well, posting a lot of material on my learning log.

Learning Log

You have gone so far as to recommend to some of your other students that they might usefully read some of the material on my learning log.

Suggested reading/viewing 

Picking up a reference in one of my learning log posts to the book Shimagatari by Yasuhiro Ogawa, you recommended having a look at the Japanese film The Naked Island, about life on a small, remote island. (Having checked, it does appear to be on You Tube and I will follow this up.)

You also recommended, by way of further research on the ideas explored in Assignment 3, the work of Chloe Dewe Matthews, in particular her series Shot at Dawn.

Pointers for the next assignment / assessment

We discussed at some length my ideas for the critical review that forms Assignment 4, taking the subject of street photography as a possible means of exploring the idea of landscape phototgraphy.  We agreed that this opens up lots of possible avenues for exploration that it will not be possible to investigate fully, or indeed at all, within the confines of the set word limit:  for example, what is it that makes New York City more attractive to and productive for practitioners of street photography than so many other cities?  What is it about the form and physical structure that makes a difference, compared with, say, Paris or London?  How might thinking about the nature and creation of architectural space be brought in? What about ideas about design of architecture for people?  As a result your recommendation is that the review perhaps be treated more as an abstract, opening up possible ideas and themes for further enquiry in due course. It might also be useful to look at the work of OCA tutor Clive White and even to reach out to him.”