In this second Practical Assignment, we will help you analyse the message and intent embedded in your images.

Some of your images might have been made through a process of pre-conceptualization, that is, with a precise idea in mind. In these cases, the analysis of their message and intent might be easier, since they were the trigger to the creation of the images themselves.

In other cases, however, you might have made the images through an intuitive process of reacting to a certain subject matter, environment, event or situation, without really thinking about the reasons why you did so. In these cases, we are typically reacting to more than what we see, and it is particularly interesting to stop, reflect and try to figure out what we really photographed, and most importantly why.

The advantages of doing so are many. By understanding the reasons that spurred us to create an image we can identify its message and intent and use it to guide us through the process of refining the composition, enhancing it through post-processing and later printing and presenting it. Therefore, we can very well identify overall ideas that might become the foundations of long-term photographic projects and identify universal concepts that drive our photographic work. This, in turn, can help us find, work and strengthen our personal vision, that is, what we find interesting about the world and worth of expression and sharing.

In this Practical Assignment, we are going to provide you with a “method” that will take you by the hand and help you analyse and define the reasons, the intent, the mood and the message encapsulated in your images. You will see that this is a rational and intellectual process that might seem counterproductive when it comes to the creative photographic process. Many of you will think: wait a minute, do I really need to fill up a chart every time I am shooting out in the field? I have never done that, I always let go and photograph what I like! Well, in fact, you are right, but there is a nuance. When we are in the field photographing, we are indeed in “creative mode”, and very typically engage in an intuitive process where we are not consciously thinking, but reacting to impulses, ideas, feelings and emotions that are taking place “at the back of our mind”. It is later, once back at the studio or during moments of “editing-thinking” in the field interspersed within the production time that we can engage our conscious thinking, using our most rational mind to analyse, think and conclude. Eventually, this will serve to reassess the reasons, objectives and coherence of what we are doing, and frequently changing or adapting the process accordingly. Then, we might resume the creative process again, switching off our conscious thinking for a little while and letting go for another while.

The main objective for this Practical Assignment will be to train your mind to get the habit of analysing and thinking in terms of message, reason, intent, mood and communication channels. First, this training must take place in a conscious mode, and that is why you are going to use charts and documents to analyse your images in a “rational” mode. Then, the more you train, the more “intuitive” this process will become. Sooner than you think, all this will have been integrated into your photographic process, seamlessly and naturally, and it will happen at the back of your mind, in autopilot mode, while you work. Ideally, this will happen not only while you photograph in the field (composition) but also when you work your images in post-processing, print them and also when you think about new possibilities, projects or images you would like to make in the future. This is the ultimate objective of this MasterCOURSE, changing the whole mindset, the whole way you approach your photographic process. In other words, triggering a change that for many photographers never takes place, or accelerating what otherwise would take many many years of practice.

MATERIAL YOU SHOULD HAVE STUDIED FOR THIS PA2 

In order to carry out this PA2, we strongly suggest you have covered and studied the following modules:

Module 1 – Introduction to Expressive Photography

Module 2 – The Photographic Message

Module 3 – The Photographic Message – Videos

Example of Practical Assignment made by Rafael Rojas - both PDF Document and Video (on this same page)

MAIN OBJECTIVES

The main objectives for this PA2 are:

• Analyse the reasons why you make your images, before or after making them

• Define the message of your images, before or after making them

• Analyse the different layers of signification that you embed in your images

• Define your objectives in terms of what images you would like to create

• Define the mood and register of your images

• Analyse the depth of the message and the balance between literal and metaphorical

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE ASSIGNMENT

For completing this Assignment you will need to use a PDF template document that we have prepared for you. You can download this document here.

For this Assignment, you should:

• Fill in this document for every image of the 10 images selected with your tutor during the PA1.

• The PDF’s can be filled in automatically by writing on your computer. You can also attach-embed the corresponding image to each of them. In other words, there is no need to print these files out, fill them by hand and then scan them. You can directly do everything digitally on your computer. Important: You will need to download the file, save it to your computer and then open it through Acrobat Reader. Only like that you will be able to insert the images into the template.

• When filling in the documents, please do not overthink. Try to fill them as quickly and naturally as possible, so that you go with your first ideas. It is important that you are as honest with yourself as possible when answering the questions. Do not worry if many of your images are not "deep" enough. Just realizing this is part of the learning process! Remember, you are here to learn and get out of your comfort zone.

• Save the filled-in PDF files, by giving the file name: “yourname_yoursurname_PA2_number 1 to 10”

• Send the 10 PDF files via email to info@essentialseeing.com. We recommend you use the free service www.swisstransfer.com or www.wetransfer.com.

• Along with the PDF’s, send the corresponding 10 images in two different formats: RAW (unprocessed) and also as High Res JPG (processed). Your tutor will use those files on the screen to make the different Video Assessments.

• Your tutor will review your Practical Assignment and produce a Video Assessment review, giving you personalized feedback and guidance. This Video Assessment will be posted on this website page.

• You will be notified when your Video Assessment is ready for you to review.

PA2 BY RAFAEL ROJAS

STUDENTS’ ASSESSMENTS