Pennywell project

 Steven Hope was good enough to send me a link to his Pennywell project.

I hope he doesn't mind me displaying it here.

After seeing a talk at Stills by Luke Watson on the work of http://www.tarynsimon.com/

it struck me that projects that document a place or process, such as the dismantling of Pennywell, benefit from some detailed factual information to help put the work into context.  Another thing that struck me was the editing down of her work so that each image tells a distinct story. Also, the images were painstakingly crafted and many had a formal aesthetic quality that was often beautiful, although in a disquieting way.

Looking at Steven's shots, it looks like he has found a clearly defined subject - the dismantling of a housing estate, a community. Many of the pictures are strong, compositionally, and the monochrome, documentary style suits the subject well. Monochrome has a historical association with documentary photography that helps to convey an authority of truth; and stripping away colour has an aesthetic role in simplifying the scene, removing the distraction of colour and resulting in the image being distinct and separated from everyday reality. 

I would view the online set of pictures as a draft, from which an edited down set of around 20 would be chosen. Generally speaking, less is more and all projects benefit from the painful stripping down process. To help in the editing process, you need to be clear in your own mind what you are trying to convey, and the visual style or mood that you are aiming for.

In the Oxford University Press 'Very Short Introduction to Photography' (a superb series of short introductions to all sorts of ideas), photography was presented as being on a continuous line, stretching from 'documents' at one end to 'pictures' at the other. Documents being pure, neutral facts with minimal input from the photographer, and pictures as being creative, aesthetic images which are a product of the creator's imagination and practice. 

So some of these pictures look like documents that accurately and factually describe the location. Others look like Steven is using more careful composition and framing to isolate visual elements and create a slightly abstracted, graphically designed picture, which I think are the more successful ones. 

If he has the chance to shoot some more, my advice would be to develop this visual style and also to try to identify and clarify what is being communicated - is it something factual or is there an emotional resonance to be explored - pictures of abandoned dolls and the  flotsam of people's lives suggest there could be.

Looking at what other significant photograhers have done is invaluable.

Joseph McKenzie documented the dismantling of the old Hawkhill area of Dundee. I'll try to remember to bring in the book.

Josef Koudelka, the Czech photojournalist has effectively lived as a stateless exile from his own country. Some of his work, such as his book 'Chaos', explores the hidden, overlooked corners of industrial Europe in a brooding, dark and quite magnificent style that is (I think) uniquely his own vision, and has been described as 'industrial picturesque.'

More quietly and intimately, David Williams, who works at Edinburgh College of Art has produced a series of formally very beautiful, almost abstract images that have have personal symbolism, influenced by his way of thinking as a musician. The Ecstacies 1-XX11 might be most relevant here.

There is an arts centre at Pennywell, who could be interested to see these pictures.