MEDI 236: Critical Evaluation

Documenting Destiny - The Tarot This project originated from my desire to document Paganism. However this proved to be more complicated then I had first thought due to; high costs and no budget, travel needed to get to willing models and in part a lack of time to cover the vast subject properly. I also suffered a lack of model interest and availability to further complicate things. Although it would be a very interesting project to attempt in the future when I have more time, more models and access to better funds. The project itself then evolved to focus on Tarot cards. It still fits within the theme of Paganism since a lot of Pagans use the cards as a divination tool or a method to seek guidance. I think the project benefited greatly from actually having something less vast to home in on. Although there is still a lot of scope within the remit of the cards I found it prudent to focus on one aspect, this being the art of 'reading' the cards. I have a friend who kindly agreed to share this experience with a camera and a Dictaphone. I was originally planning to have a transcription of the reading next to my images but I decided against this as it is a very personal thing for the client being read for and in terms of ethics I wanted to be ethically responsible towards my models like KayLynn Deveney, who's methods I personally agree with. I have researched artists that deal with ethics and although the images are stunning I can't personally agree with Paul Kransler's lack of ethics with regard to 'the Land of Milk and Honey' series, the images may be wonderfully shocking and eye-popping in their composition but I feel we are obliged to our models as responsible photographers. Consequently I had both the 'reader' and the client sign release forms even though in the final images only their hands appear, I also gave them control of the image selection process to a degree. Therefore I can confidently say that my images are ethically responsible. Lots of artists have influenced me and been inspirational but Sophie Calle is one of the main photographers I keep coming back to time and time again. Her images, I feel, really bring objects to life and tell the story of and give personality to objects. I would hope I have achieved this with my images at least to a degree. In terms of research I feel I have been quite thorough since not only have I researched artists and documentary makers but also I have researched my subject (Tarot) to a high level, enabling me to do my shoots with a very solid grounding in the subject. I feel this was very beneficial since it let me explore my subject in an observational style of documentary with some actual knowledge of the objects and the etiquette surrounding them. I chose to adopt an observational style of documentary since it is one of the styles that most grabs me personally, the factual way that they are often presented and also the sense of the person documenting being taken on a journey of discovery themselves, I personally find very effective. The other style that I find most impacting is the participatory style with things like 'Super Size Me' and one of the most jarring documentaries 'Bowling for Columbine' I however opted against participatory as I thought an observational style would do the subject more justice. For the images I used a Nikon D40 as I like the camera, I tried in a lot of my images to have one strong focus point with the rest of the image fading to a soft focus so that it emulated the 'shrouded' and 'mysterious' nature of the Occult. A lot of the images came out well however some, I do think, could use tweaking or re-shooting. I also wanted to give them a good depth of field to reflect on the nature of the cards, they are not just paper with pictures on to those that read them but they have hidden depth and a wealth of meaning. I also chose to have one very strong focus point to try and convey what happens in a reading, focus shifts and occasionally cards have been said to 'pop' and make themselves forefront. I wanted my images to be as true to life as I could get them so editing is very minimal the biggest change I made was to crop the images to give a greater focal point in each frame. In all I did a total of three shoots, each with a different card 'spread' I would have liked to do a lot more and would do many more shoots possibly with different readers if I could do it again. However the very personal nature of 'reading' means that willing models are very few and I am lucky to have found one. I would also if I were to re-do the project focus solely on one aspect as opposed to trying to give a broad view since I feel this would add to the overall cohesion of my images as a set. I was pleased with the over-all reception that the audience had towards my images, as I asked my course mates for feedback, most of them liked my images and had a few constructive points of feedback, in particular they seemed to like the depth of field of some of the images which is pleasing. Also both of my models were very happy with the images which I feel is important. I do feel I should have employed better time and resource management and know that in the future I need and intend to improve on this, I have learnt a lot from this module and will take forward a greater understanding of documentary practise. The overall project went well, although it is hard to negotiate around a lack of willing models but I feel with this in mind I did do my best to compensate. If I could do it over I would love to have a much wider selection of shoots to choose from. Also I may not focus on just one shoot and instead have the best images from every shoot, so that my chosen angle is clear and the images more cohesive. I am however satisfied with how the project turned out and believe there is lots more room for scope should I wish to re-create or carry on the theme.