My journey through the Manifesto project has been self exploric, giving me the time and space to question and answer my identity as a photographer. It began with a project that I was not passionate about and I soon realized that I needed some time away from this body of work in order to reflect on what I really wanted to get out of this photographic module. After having a conversation with Martina, she provoked me to think about the reason why I make the photographic work that I do. This is something that I had not considered before as I was in the mindset of finding a narrative to visual explore without thinking about exploring my own narrative. This change of directional thought has helped me massively reflect and critique my practice which has aided my development over this module.
This fostered a series of research that covered artists, photographers, philosophy and psychology. I wanted to focus on the concepts and not the visual aesthetic of the work. I thought if I investigated the reasons other people make art then that might help me collect a reflective and analytical answer for the reason why I make the visual work that I do. A personal inquiry on my life and relationship with the landscape as I have grown into an adult was a pinnacle part of answering the question that I set out to answer.
The answer will ever develop as I grow as a human and a photographer.
My relationship with the land is innate, personal and liberating. I spend time immersing myself in spaces with no civilization, away from the chaotic world that is built around our lives. This is because when I am out in the land I feel most alive, I feel like the land is giving me life and I want to be as connected as I can to that feeling. An inner silence, peace contentment and a true form of happiness is collected when I am in the landscape and that is something that I have conveyed in my body of work “Grounded Routes”
I have explored a new way of working within this body of work. Producing a moving image, a collection of photographs and two books which represent my identity as a visual practitioner. I feel as if I have successfully answered the questions that I set out to answer which I believe places my practice in a good position for the final year of my degree. The land will always be the center of my life and photographic practice and I look forward to venturing, exploring and visually capturing new locations as I develop my photographic aesthetic off the back of this body of work. On reflection, I have learnt alot about myself during the course of my second year of university and I believe that my photographic practice has become something that sits besides me and represents my identity as a photographer and a human in this world.