Process v Product

As a response to a remark made by my Tutor in response to Assignment 2 I considered how much of the planning process needs to be formalised and whether recording it in a blog really had any value. I can appreciate that it gives more information to the tutor but I am left wondering where the value of this information lies. Early in the degree Course (Level 1) I was required to set out my plan for a project in some detail and I found this a generally useful exercise because it allowed me to test my ideas against those of my then Tutor. His response suggested that he was generally happy with my approach. I have not written down a general plan since. I have found no need although I do on occasion leave myself a 'sticky' if I think that I might want a piece of equipment that I do not normally take with me. Otherwise I go through the same mental exercise each time. In broad terms this is (a) what is it I want to achieve; (b) what location(s) is likely to provide the best chance of meeting my aim and (c) what equipment do I need to provide the best chance of getting the shots that I want. The only time I can be certain of what I will find when I reach the location is any existing building or structure and even then there have been occasions that I have been unable to, say, shoot the interior of a church because of an event that I was unaware of when planning.

I cannot see how recording the process in writing every time I am planning a shoot is going to help anybody and more importantly me. I wondered whether I was alone in these thoughts or whether there were others who had a similar approach. I was reading the June 2013 issue of the British Journal of Photography and came across an article about the work of a Graduate of the UCA (Bobby Mills). His project was the edges of the M25. He states that he went without any pre-determined plan for the photographs he wanted to take and worked intuitively picking out subjects that met the over-arching criteria for his project. I am guessing that there was a lot of pre-planning (he spent four or five days at a time in his van) but once he was at the location he followed his instincts to get the pictures he wanted. There are a couple of photographs of people shown in the article which he could have not planned for but portrays a great deal about the unseen elements of the M25.

In the article there is no mention of the planning that went into the project (this is not to say that he did not have to provide a written element to his work for his Degree) but it is not seen as essential for the purpose of the article which relies on a short narrative and four images to get across the story. The product of his efforts was the key element as one would expect in a Photography degree Course.

The question we have to ask is whether we are to be judged on our ability to provide a written statement of how we planned or is the end product the essential element. If it is the former that is seen as important then I feel somehow we have lost the plot. I personally would not mind as I am quite happy providing written work but would it add one jot to my ability as a photographer. The answer must be 'No'. What I need and want from my tutor is a critique of the images I submit both from a technical point of view and whether or not they meet the aims of the various projects. What I do not need, at this stage of the Course, is a discussion on the plans I formed. If the product meets the criteria then how I achieved that is irrelevant.

Photography is above all else an instinctive process as often we may have only a fraction of a second to get the image we hoped for. Even in the largely unchanging world of the landscape or architecture when we take the photograph rests not on some pre-determined formula but on the quality of the light we face when taking the photograph. Of course we need to plan if we want a sunset or sunrise shot but the planning there is to be at the spot at the right time. When the light is at its best is a matter of choice that lies solely with the photographer and no written plan will help that decision.

Academia seems to have an obsession with the written word as evidenced by the word count imposed on students as they work their way through different levels of a Course. Whether the quality of the dissertation in some way is higher as we move from 2000 words to 3000 words (or even for some degrees 10,000 words) is open to question and I suspect that it does not. I am sure that it does not improve the photography. Don McCullin did not write the articles that accompanied his articles and William Eggleston seems neither to have written or said very much but their photographs are seen to be a cut above the rest.