Film Review 'Accident'

I've become a bit of a regular attendee of the Coventry University East Asian Film Society. They make a point of showcasing some of the varied original cinema of East Asia, rather than the typical Western expectation i.e. martial arts and anime. They also hold a review competition, in which I recently partook after their latest showing of Accident, and successfully won. Please read below.

By all accounts this is a relentlessly tense film, delivering an original plot, and making evocative use of attractive compositional photography. It is also very refreshing to have such a succinct screening, which I believe strongly contributed to the power of its tension.

The film follows the ingenious (and sometimes unbelievable) exploits of a group of assassins, who succeed in posing every murder as a freak accident. When it seems that they have fallen victim to a similar scheme, the leading character Brain, takes on an intense and unforgiving search to discover why they were targeted, and who by. Delivered as an intelligent and uneasy thriller, this is a film which engrosses the viewer with mystery, conspiracy, and fear – aided by its clever application of cinematography.

I do feel however that the film lacks something, and I think it is character empathy. If we take it that one of the basic aims of cinema is to convince the audience of a story, and of the characters’ plight within that story, then I think this is where 'Accident' slips a little. Think of Fatty’s death – the audience could have benefited from some more character developing scenes, so as to encourage more sympathy towards him. Such scenes, or even moments, could be added without damaging the film’s tight edit. In cinema, a lot can be conveyed in very little time. These scenes would help to break up the continuous moments of tension, and provide more of a balanced pace regarding the suspense of the film, as well as involving the audience with the characters on a deeper emotional level.

However, it may well have been director Soi Cheang’s intention to keep this film almost entirely plot focussed (after the initial scenes, the story solely concentrates on the protagonist’s relentless drive to solve the mystery) in which case it should be regarded as a very intriguing piece of cinema, with its challenge to the etiquette and expectations of screen delivery.

By George Rippon

I'm keen on cinema, and having the opportunity to write about it critically and then receive appreciation, was very encouraging. I intend to continue.

Thanks to Coventry University East Asian Film Society for screening this and many other excellent films. http://mcopenmediacoventry.org/cueafs/

Life Drawing

With the award winning painter Paul Wright, we had a days life drawing workshop. The idea behind it was not to improve our draftsmanship, but to develop our capacity at looking, without a camera.

At first we were asked to simply have a go at drawing a pose, without any advice or tutoring –  We did a variety of exercises: drawing without looking; drawing in one stroke; drawing just outlines; just shadows; highlights; drawing poses with a decreasing amount of time for each; drawing with our back to the subject - look then mark; holding the pencil loosely; using charcoal; standing back from the paper; and eventually we brought it all together with a 20 minute study 'final piece'. Looking at this compared to our first drawing, and I was quite amazed at the progress in just one day. The improvement for me came with an increased consideration to the marks I was making and their ability to represent, to portray, and most importantly to communicate the form of the subject. And this meant having to really study and absorb the form of the subject matter – learning to look harder. I don't know if the skills in observing human posture will transfer directly, but there is definitely a benefit to my skill of 'finding' a photograph.

The workshop was very enjoyable. It was so revitalising to work with the delightfully simplistic process of pencil and paper, to just scribble away, allowing expression to carry itself, and being free from wrestling with cameras and light and framing and computers and memory cards and focusing and tripods and cables and ... zzzz. Having said that, I returned home with a real creative buzz and immediately started taking pictures.

Interesting to pick up on – I can see now why artists use the naked body for a subject so often. A bowl of fruit, will most of the time just look like a bowl of fruit, not very dynamic. Whereas the human body has such massive potential for variety in its form, so much there to study, to look for, and so many ways of depicting it.

Intimacy and Privacy

This was the first topic of the Picturing the Body module, which we students tackled individually, and then came together for a group review; as well as a discussion and a lecture from Jonathan Worth, where we looked at numerous photographers' works which we're relevant to this discourse.

My own approach was to work in a similar vein to my previous style: documentary of those close to, or known to me. But this time, whilst photographing them as they behave 'naturally', I would stop them and ask for a look. "Just a look to the camera, to me, and don't smile." I might also throw in the word "contemplate" or "serious", but nothing more, I didn't want to direct them further than that, and I was hoping that they would 'give' me something significant/symbolic to our relationship.

I suppose the thought was that in the first instance the photographs look at their privacy, their behaviour occurring without direct input from a photographer (although obviously altered by me lumbering about with a Mamiya & light meter). And then in the second instance, I really wanted to convey the connection happening through the camera, hence - intimacy. This can be just as quickly turned on its head if I argue that when these people are behaving more 'naturally' that is a better reflection of their true intimate character, which the viewer observes. And then when the interaction is forced, the viewer enters into a 'private' moment between photographer and subject, they are included rather than watching. And now we're back to the old familiar argument of definition - I'll leave it there.  

Not that the results we're anything smashing, but I really enjoyed exploring this level of communication, and direction with my subjects, something I hope to grow.

There were a few other quotes/points of inspiration that came about from the lecture and discussion. Something that got me thinking was when we compared the different modes of titling of these intimate life works, i.e. Arbus would label and categorise her subjects whereas Goldin names and identifies them. The title of a photograph can have quite an impact, even alteration, to the viewing of it. Does "Gilles and Gotscho Embracing, Paris" invite the viewer in further, convey something of the photographer's tenderness? And does "Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, New York City" encourage the viewer to stay put and observe, judge, from a distance? In other words how dependant is the the title in the process of connecting the viewer? And what is the photographer hoping to achieve with their chosen method of titling? Which leads to:

"The more specific a photograph is, the more general it will be." Lisette Modell

I'm not sure that a photograph can be placed on a spectrum from specificity to generality (unless we're talking the basic clarity of representation of the subject) but I suppose in certain contexts, from certain perspectives, this will apply. I suppose in the sense of the intimacy privacy discourse, this relates to how universally recognisable a photographers individual opinions/bias/emotions are to the viewer, and the impact it therefore has.

"The point is that you can't get at the thing itself, the real nature of the sitter, by stripping away the surface. The surface is all you've got. All you can do is manipulate the surface - gesture, costume, expression - radically and correctly." Richard Avedon

"familiarity is complexity" Elinor Carucci

Some definite 'thought feed' to be had here. More coming soon, the topic for next week is: 'looking from the inside'.

Natural Light

I started a new module this week - 'Picturing the Body'. We began with a workshop on 'working intimately with natural light'. For this we used a large meeting room, which is a good 20 feet high with a wall of north-facing windows to match. I've always found light from tall windows wonderful to work with, especially if the room goes back a long way. I think it's because when close to the windows the light from above is particularly strong, and then as you move back its intensity is comparatively less (for the camera that is).

In such a large and largely lit space there was lots of potential. Our tutor showed us a tip to see how light falls in any given spot in a space. Originally demonstrated by William Eggleston, you can simply hold up your hand and look closely at the changing quality of light reflected by it, as it moves within the area. By quality I mean the strength of light, the harshness, and the temperature. We worked in pairs, considering how we could use the light around the room and where we could make use of reflectors, and then tying this together with an application of framing.

Below is the contact sheet. I always find editing my work and choosing the 'best' pictures to be difficult – I am often indecisive. Our tutor encouraged us to build a frame, and then using a tripod keep that frame, and allow the subject to move/react/pose/communicate within it. I recognise this to be a reliable way toward producing a strong portrait, but I failed to identify this strong frame until after the shoot rather than during it. Consequently I only had a few images to choose from for my 'best' picture. Practice makes perfect. 

A Discussion

An update on my 'lecture' on Fashion Mgazine by Alec Soth. The presentation went down well with the group (I think), it certainly evoked a lot of discussion, of which I will try to sum up here.

The main point, or rather question, that we kept coming back to was: 'Is this fashion photography?' Fashion photography is primarily there to sell, it is an industry tool. But then it is entitled to an artistic appreciation, although personally I would question the depth of the creativity. And then there is the rather vaguely categorised 'high fashion'. And now we're entering into a much larger debate, of which I am barely informed.

But to bring it back to 'Fashion Magazine' - Soth's sensitive pictures of Minnesota teenagers, are not as candid as they first appear. It would seem they have been dressed/styled in designer outfits, the photographs then carefully arranged, and then perhaps even poses asked for. So would a viewer, from this style of image, be spurred into purchasing the product. Well potentially yes, they might be. They would not at all be familiar with this mode of advertising, but may be encouraged by its originality. So this means that the categorisation of 'Fashion Magazine' lies entirely with the viewer - is that right? I suppose its all subjective anyway and we'll only end up in circles arguing the definition of 'fashion'. A good debate then I'd say.

It felt like we ended up with two options in our attempt to 'classify' this work. Fashion, against social documentary - or rather a comment on fashion - both we're equally defensible. We are aware of Soth's dry and ironic humour (watch this video now), but I really didn't feel that there was any cynicism with 'Fashion Magazine'.

Soth seems to be party to our inconclusive debate when attempting to define this work:

"...I love the idea of borderlines - of walking a tightrope. This is the best place to make pictures. I would never claim that this magazine is documentary photography. But I'm not really sure this is fashion photography either."

And this brings me back to my thoughts on Soth not pushing boundaries, but redrawing them. Through the group's discussion, it seemed to me like we found this borderline that he speaks of, some of us found ourselves strongly on one side of it, some close to it, and some pondering it laterally - "I'd hardly even call it photography, more that he is a conceptual fine artist."

And so, wondering what project we could set ourselves, this discussion topic led us nicely to a theme of 'genre challenging'. The idea being that, in a similar way that Soth has challenged our concept of 'fashion photography', we should ponder the same, whether it be through producing our own images, research, or even just comment.

What is exciting is the potential for this genre theme to continue, with varied project/discussions into the many different, and difficulty definable fields of photography. I look forward to the results, see you in a month.

A Lecture

I am part of the Fishbone photographic arts group, a monthly gathering held at the Fishbone Gallery in Longford, Coventry. It's a very diverse bunch of artistically minded photographers. Each month we set a theme, to explore individually, then bring back images the following month for a group critique. This worked very well, demonstrating a wide variety of photographic styles, creating a lot of discussion, and in the summer we held a solid and successful group exhibition 'f11'.

However, the themes were decided by picking people's ideas out of a hat (usually just a word - silence, twilight etc.)  and where this process was initially responded to quite enthusiastically, it has recently started to feel quite dry, and a bit naff. So, desperate for some inspiration with more depth/content I suggested we look to the work of contemporary photographers, and find a particular body of work, of suitable intrigue, to encourage some fresh ideas. I opted to do the research for the first one, and also suggested that I could deliver it as a short lecture to get the discussion going.

I went for Alec Soth's recent publication with Magnum - 'Fashion Magazine: Paris, Minnesota'. I came across this by chance whilst looking for christmas presents in Waterstones, and was surprised by its originality. It is technically an annual fashion magazine, and hence a collaborative piece requiring product advertising. But the photographer (Soth) is in control of every element, and with a 'free leash'. Consequentially, it presents itself as his personal body of work.

The title of the magazine refers to the comparing and contrasting of the high couture Parisian fashion world, with the 'fashionably' dressed of his home town of Minneapolis. Soth explains how this concept came about, in his interview with Marta Gili.

"As someone utterly removed from the world of Paris couture, how was I supposed to find my own voice? The more I thought about it, this sense of removal, this contrast between my world and Paris — this became the scaffolding to build the magazine."

"My favorite example of this involved Chanel. In Paris, I photographed Karl Lagerfeld at the Grand Palais. In Minnesota, I photographed a girl with a Chanel shopping bag in front of Sally's Beauty Shop. With this magazine, I'm trying to explore the distance between those two places."

Many of the pictures were very unexpected considering the context of their presentation. In Paris it's almost an ironic documentation, of the intensity and seriousness of that fashion culture. And in the more formalised/stylised portraits it seems to me as if the camera is very discerning of those models (of those people), rather than directing them. Then in Minnesota we are faced by awkward teenagers, staring candidly into camera. The photos here are almost intimate, the subjects vulnerable, but Soth does not appear critical, just observant. What surprised me further was glancing to the bottom of the page to read -  "POLO BY RALPH LAUREN wool suit and cotton shirt. DIOR HOMME shoes." All of a sudden these sensitive portraits bring you right back to - 'FashionMagazine'. Very good Mr Soth. Talk about pushing the boundaries, I'd say that he was more rearranging them.

So feeling that there was a lot of worth, a lot of discussion, and a lot of potential inspiration, I chose this magazine to present to the group. Believing that it could demonstrate the potential for a photographer to look at a recognised genre/style and then tackle it with a very unique personalised approach, as Soth has done.

I'm due to deliver this 'lecture' next week (of which you've essentially just had a sample of). I'll update with how it goes.

A Brick Wall

I crashed into one of these this christmas period, and not for the first time. Last go round I tried to brush it off, but on this occasion I think I'll have to admit it. And that is ... that er, I don't really want to be a photographer, because I kind of get fed up of it. I'm not able to sustain my enthusiasm and motivation towards it because - honestly, I'm not all that passionate about it, It's just one thing among many, which I enjoy.

So this is a bit of a problem really, a big one - made of hard oblongs cemented together. But hold on, when I started this course, I said I wanted to do a degree in photography, not that I wanted to be a photographer (it's important to distinguish and separate those two) with potentially ending up doing something related to/around/involving photography ..possibly.

Hence, my attempt to bounce off this wall, with something that has recently motivated me: teaching. This interest has stemmed from the peer review sessions, which, without my intention, led me to tutoring and mentoring some of the 'younger' students. And surprising myself, I found I was very enthusiastic towards the bettering of their knowledge, understanding, methods, and overall work. Dare I say I almost cared more about this than my own project work, which was (and is) steadily becoming more of a chore.

I've always enjoyed teaching - in the general sense of the word - explaining something to someone, and having them understand and then achieve because of it, has always derived a certain satisfaction for me.  Finding that I can apply this to a field I am interested in, and in a vibrant, progressive, creatively alive environment such as university, is very exciting. Consequentially I am looking forward, with teaching in mind.