Carolyn's Creations: VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL REMNANTS or, “Signs of Life”

ASSIGNMENT No 2

This assignment is worth 30% of the total marks for this subject.
Currently we are covering the mechanical controls involved in making a
photograph. Soon you will know something about how the camera “sees” and
records our perceptions, and that 3 dimensional space must be compressed
into a 2 dimensional plane, and viewpoint and perspective will influence this
spatial organisation. To make a complete photograph though, we need to
harness the conceptual controls that can assist us in turning our ideas into
creative photo-images, thus this assignment seeks to combine technique with
creative expression.

The Conceptual

This is the important bit. It is the reason why we learn all that technical stuff.
It is about expressing our ideas, about giving our images meaning, about
giving the viewer something with substance to look at. It is here that we
consider our purpose in creating an image, and utilise the principles and
elements of composition to achieve that purpose.

Your assignment, or purpose, is to make photographs of scenes that attest to
human intervention, and to interpret this intervention by illustrating the
remnants. That is, do not document the activity itself, but a residue of that
activity. It is up to you what subjects and/or environments you choose to
record, as long as your photographs:

appear to substantiate that the subject and/or environment has been physically influenced by human presence, and
utilise aesthetic and photographic skills to draw attention to this evidence.

Remember, your subject matter is entirely up to you. It can be real or
contrived, artificial or natural, shot on location or out of context. It could be
anything from skywriting to a clipped poodle. Try to exercise a fresh visual
approach and avoid clichés. For example, subjects like pollution visualised by
means of rubbish by the side of the road have been well documented, and
cemeteries have been “done to death” also.

Addressing this theme, submit four (4) “straight” (ie un-manipulated)
photographs.