Reflections on the photo project workshop with Sebaastian Hankeroot (of the Hague - The Photobook), 20th February 2017.

The purpose of this photography workshop was to help students bring out the 3-dimensionality of photographs, by bringing out light, establishing the correct focus, and removing distractions. By revising the contrast of photographs and combining the activities above, it can create a new expression in the finished works.

It is perfectly acceptable to change an existing "poor" photograph by changing it and refining it. Do not be afraid to do so, simply because you will always have a backup of the original in any event. Creating a sense of three-dimensional's is essential to good photography.

Ask yourself why you originally made the photographic shot? Keep coming back to that question and critically analyse the work that you do.

Before embarking on photographic adjustments it is essential to calibrate the screen on which you are viewing and adjusting the shots. There are a variety of applications on the open market such as "Spider, Colour monkey, or T-one"

It is also important to consider colour spaces that do not exist on the actual screen, but yet we know that the camera can record. CMYK is a very much smaller file size and range of colour space than what the proprietary Adobe RGB pallet is capable of, or is even more, what our own human eye can see.
S-RGB is an even smaller colour space than either CMYK or Adobe RGB; so the lesson learned from this in itself is to simply forget about sRGB as the colour space is so narrow that it is not worth using.

An important tip when calibrating the screens is to use natural light. Do not allow direct sunlight to hit or reflect onto the screen been calibrated. As a rule of thumb, Gamma can be set to 2.2 and White 26.5. By doing this, this, stops extra warm tones appearing on photographs. With regards to colour adjustment within the camera, try a setting of 200 red 150 green, and 100 blue. Within the camera, the output must be consistent!

By adding other colour filters, such as for example in a photo with a strong magenta cast, this can be corrected with a green filter and so on, choosing the complimentary colours of the actual cast.

The story told by your image changes the way that you edit and feel about it. Create enough density in your image before you do anything else.

Like a painter, build up layers of information when composing a photograph in order to to create an illusion. The photograph can then be manipulated by under exposing and then adding exposure (a recent book by Christopher Edwards shows this technique very well). It turns a clearer three-dimensionality to establish curvature and depth. The light within photographs creates atmosphere.

Organise the process and the work! Take these steps seriously so that you are well-positioned for postproduction. For example, the choice of a book cover, its hardness or its softness, its size et cetera; even the smell, makes a massive difference to your output and the finished artefacts.

A practical explanation of Sebaastian's work was then shown;
the first step using Adobe Lightroom, is to create a picture by reducing the exposure of the original image. Generally this should be no more than about 1.25 to 1.3.

Then by using the Lightroom's feature of "tone curve" it's possible to change the shadows in the image, but these should be adjusted gently. It is also possible to change the quarter and half tones as well. It is at this point that it is possible to change contrasts too, and by doing so, the detail of the image can start to be brought forward, and overexposed areas can be subdued.

We then conducted a practical analysis and adjustment of some of our own work.
We started with a piece that Sam had created which was an image of Hull docks, with two people sat on a bench overlooking the run-down docklands. An interesting feature of the image was Sam's capture of a kind of triad which included the union Jack flag on the left-hand side and then the two individuals people. Within the whole frame, the two people looking at the shipyard (which is now redundant), holds some irony in the union Jack flag also being displayed. The inclusion of the two people makes the viewer ask questions. Is it boredom? Probably not, - is it Britishness? Possibly.

Liam observed that there was a lovely low light to the image, and there is a lot going on within it.

• Do we want to bring attention to the union flag? 
• There is a misty quality and some "dead space" in the layers of the image, for example the bottom left-hand is a little too dark.
• By attempting to pitch a triangle, the light on the side of the ship in the centre right of the photograph helps to create the triangle with the people, which is also shown within a portion of focus.
• There is a tension of banality and unusualness, a little bit like the famous Turner painting of "The Fighting Temeraire".
• The desire to crop the image is towards the left-hand corner, to place the triangle of the people and ship in a position to retain it.

We then analysed a photo that I had created, perhaps some eight months earlier during the summertime. My intention of this photograph was to create three-dimensional layers by the use of a foreground wall and layers within the landscape and hills beyond. The foxglove provides a link from the foreground wall to the scene and then to the sky. We debated whether this was an important feature of the photo.

Some practical observations of adjustment would be to change the light within the sky area by bringing this forward to emphasise the detail. On the right-hand side of the image, the wall needs to be lightened in order to make a richer engagement.

However the foxglove creates a focus which is a suitable subject. Nevertheless in contrast to the dark area on the right hand side, this dark area becomes a distraction.

The wall itself can add expression to the final print and the fronds of each of the branches on the left-hand side can be brought forward through the appropriate adjustment in exposure and contrast to become more detailed. Before and after effect can be clearly seen.

In the analysis of Tim's work (which was a hot sulphur spring that he photographed somewhere in Italy), there is an interesting juxtaposition of focus which is elusive as to being on the water and the face of the person on the left-hand side. This creates a mystery and it takes a while to figure right what the photograph and image is of. The colours are beautiful and so can be brought out to full effect. There is also a sense of chaos in play; the contrast is interesting too. As Tim said, the smell, that foulness of the sulphur and the misty-ness adds to the theatre. There is a sense of the magical, the person emerging on the right on the left-hand side seems to be coming through the gloom.

There is a good sense of three-dimensional reality in the image. It is balanced, but that may be improved by throwing it off balance? The picture itself is a question. There are no distractions, but it could be enhanced.

In analysing Liams photograph (which is actually an image taken by Natasha), of a person sitting in a pub in Hull; this is very interesting as it is clear from the image, that this is a regular customer who has a particular seat that he always occupies. The subjects gaze is accepting and arguably intimate?
The background is interesting too, for example there is a picture of Linda Lusardi who is appearing in a pantomime poster on the back wall. This helps to place the social context of the photograph and where it is. Perhaps some further detail could help?

Overall the composition is balanced. The viewers eye is drawn to the subject eye in the image through good focus. There is a distraction in the glare on the top right-hand, but overall it is non-judgemental which is a good example of good photography.

Perhaps some visual enhancements can be made through postproduction on the gentleman's coat by under exposing it a little bit further.

When we compared all the photographs we asked ourselves if there were any similarities? It was found that the depth and cropping were necessary on the first two photographs, however on the third and fourth photographs the use of shadows is key to these enhancements here.

If it seems that there are dominant colours of an image, it then becomes a question of density, colour balance and tonality. It is critical to reduce the exposure of an image if useful postproduction is going to be used. The workshop was very useful and seemed to imply that exposure reduction was the most important lesson learned from the activity.

Conclusions

• Creating a sense of 3D, 3-dimensionality is essential to good photography.
• S-RGB is a smaller colour space than either CMYK or Adobe RGB; Forget about sRGB as the colour space is so narrow that it is not worth using.
• By adding colour filters, say, in a photo with a strong magenta cast, correct it with a green filter.  Choose the complimentary colours of the actual cast colour.
• Narratives of images changes the way you edit and feel about it. Create density in images before any post-production.

Further thoughts;

• Thinking about layering in my own work, how can I manifest this through the appropriate use of proximity and composition to help form Gesthalt?
• What are the boundaries of perception an recognition that can be transposed to a Peregrine falcon's sensory experiences?
• Thinking about the 'deep fovia' found in almost all raptors, how can I apply these thoughts to the drawings I am making?
• There's much to do, and lots of experiments to take place!

Discursive Documents - Exhibition Opening; Reflections of the first event

The discursive documents exhibition held at Huddersfield art gallery, Princess Alexandra walk, Huddersfield opened its doors this evening to a curated framework of three exhibitions.
Gallery space provides interaction with artefacts that encourage viewers to discuss and debate both the artists work and the issues that have been highlighted by their work.

There are three sets of two artists (six in total).
The first pair of artists explore the difficulties faced by individuals and families who are seeking asylum and safety after fleeing various threats to their lives, persecution and war from around the Middle East and North Africa. The artists engaged in this exploration are Seba Kurtis and Alex Beldea. These two photographers have adopted very different approaches to presenting the challenge that refugees and migrants face when attempting to find a safe refuge within the continent of Europe and the United Kingdom.

The second pair of artists is Richard Mulhearn and Richard Higginbottom. Both of these photographers will present their work that explores how the 'quotidian' or everyday gestures can relate to photography and vice versa. They are interested in the unspoken conventions that humans tend to conform to and gesture.

And the final pair of artists are more sculptural and visual media users. They are Sara Eyers and Leila Sailor, who provide an exhibition that explores the representations of objectification of femininity and fashion.

The show was opened by Dr Liam Devlin who introduced the agenda for the evening.  This included an overview of the curatorial framework of the exhibition together with a short contemporary performance dance piece, organised by Gerry Turvey.

The whole show is set up to 'situate' art spaces to interrogate and instigate debate.

How people respond to Artworks is through various discussions, however, in this case, the interpretation can also be made through movement, which Gerry Turvey's team of dancers were able to articulate through gesture. They created a piece in response to each artistic point, and each dance piece provided a snippet of reflection against the artworks presented.
The dancers moved around the gallery space a great deal and so, the audience were requested to position themselves in between the dancers and the artworks. However, it was necessary for the public to also move continually so that the dance was unencumbered.
The curatorial framework of the exhibition really is set up to explore the fascinating and ever-shifting subject of blank spaces, which in a way this gallery space is.
Photographic practices and ideas of social agency discuss the idea that photographs and cameras are now everywhere; they are ubiquitous.
In Dr Liam Devlin's words, "we have cameras now where we don't think we even have cameras. We carry around smartphones, for example, which are perfectly adequate, and yet highly sophisticated and complex tools in themselves for the recording not only of photographic records but also audio and video files.
The photograph has become embedded into our society, in ways that we don't always fully appreciate. They are used in almost every aspect of life including documenting events, to constructions of identity. For example Snapchat amongst other applications, giving immediate access to photography and global communications. Photographs now circumvent the globe in virtually unquantifiable amounts. This is why the understanding of photography has expanded beyond recognition.
A lot of the critiques of photography in the 1970s, attacked perhaps, that photography needed to record only "events of reality". It challenged its authority to speak of this. At the time this was very useful, but having said that, it is necessary to understand that photographs still operate pretty much as visual documents. They are therefore immensely important in how we structure and in some ways limit the way that we see the world and this in itself raises the question "what is seeable". What is invisible?... What is not photographed and what is not photographable.
Equally we need to consider what can be said, what is sayable; audible, and so this becomes intensely powerful, because it is political.
The aesthetics of photography are fundamental to politics (with a small p), as arguably, any photograph is a political act.

The notion of an aesthetic aspect of the political debate is not a founding rationale for the documentary practice in particular; that is, socially concerned photography, but initially, photography relied on their imposed voracity.

However, there is now a much greater opportunity for photographic images to be used in a much more explicit, and yet a much more refined way, as a reflexive articulation of an idea, or point of view; Rather than an old and "only" claim which was, 'to represent reality'.

Therefore this exhibition is a call to arms if you like, to bring together practitioners and audiences together to discuss, and to test. It is a formulation of a photographic discourse that frames the photograph as an object of debate. And as "Discursive Documents".

Reflections on a 1:1 Tutorial, Digital Media Processes, (UoH), Friday 17th Feb

I had a really useful tutorial and one-to-one discussions with my tutor, Richard, on Friday, after which I quickly made as many notes as I possibly could because I found the session so valuable!
We opened the discussion by my explaining that I was now "trying to keep it simple," in the sense that (as one of my feedback points that Richard made at the end of the Christmas term), I was perhaps over-complicating things previously.
By referring back to the previous module feedback (which was highly useful), I have been able to create a "single page brief".  This will help me to try and focus my attention, over this next term. I felt that Richard was very supportive of this approach too. I also think that my tutor took on board the fact that I seem to be adapting my practice at the moment towards writing. While this is acceptable regarding the module brief, (where there need to be approximately 4000 words or the equivalent created), I recognised that it is equally critical to address the issue of artistic practice itself, as almost a separate mindset from the act of writing. It seems clear that the physical and visual method is what is of particular importance here.
I recall that I also explained the very successful workshops that Stella Brackley and Sara Nesteruk had carried out in which, in reflection, I found both of their practices to be very stimulating, and their enthusiasm and encouragement has certainly helped me move forward. This is not forgetting another workshop (by Dr Anna Powell) around post-production which I also found of equal importance, but I can separate out as an almost theoretical workshop, whereas the other two engagements were much more practice focused.
The act of writing and then going forward to "making and producing" something in itself seems to be an excellent exercise that I have begun to adopt. While it is early days, I am confident that this approach will give a richer and more fuller account of my creative visual practice.
I also recall that we discussed this approach of the theoretical writing taking place first.  I think I explained to my tutor the reviews that had begun to delineate around the core of my chosen subject matter, which continues to be "how I can use drawing" (as the primary form of expression) through digital media and collide it with the philosophical construct of speculative realism?
I also further explained that I am continuing to use the book by JA Baker entitled "the Peregrine" (1968), as a backbone narrative to help me position my work. By creating a visual reinterpretation of the above, and staying with the initially chosen book "the Peregrine", I used an example of a piece of work that recently came to my attention. A visually stimulating idea from a fantasy / other world views, and explained that by creating something that "isn't the normal thing" for humans to see is what I'm interested in.  I'm committed to re-articulating this through drawing and sketching by taking passages from Baker's book.


I'm also thinking about how biology can provide an understanding; That is, the idea of how falcons can see. The eye itself is like a camera which I particularly like.  The idea of the image being transferred to the back of the retina: the fact that peregrines eyes take up most of the cavity within the skull: their ability of their binocular vision. All these start to act together to provide new concepts and thoughts about how the Peregrine's perception can be very different from the human's.
I was really pleased to feel that my tutor seemed to 'link-up' with me and appeared to join into these ideas. I also picked up a genuine interest from Richard which I found truly encouraging.
I went on to discuss some details about the structure of the Peregrine's eye and how the retina is composed of two different parts of the fovea. - Recalling too, my explanation how the Falcon is entirely reliant upon its eyesight and without it, it is unable to find any kind of "reference". This is the reason why falconers use a 'hood' to put their bird of prey into total darkness; because quite simply, the birds will not attempt to fly without the faculty of sight.
I was able to articulate how Stella was able to describe her research and the concept of "Pixel".  Her paper was really precious for me as I've been able to awaken my knowledge of the retina's construction; namely the rods and cone receptors on the retina itself.
Taking that idea, one step further, (the rods and cones within the retina) and comparing it with the charged coupled device (CCD) that is found in the photographic sensor, completes the circle really well. Therefore, in a digital sense, the eye and its retina together with the rods and cones that make up the organ are very similar in philosophical terms, to the digital camera!

I seem to remember that at this point I also brought in the subject of Egyptian mythology and some of the work that I have been recently studying around the myths of Osiris and Isis and their son Horus, who later became the god of the sky. Horus is depicted as a God in human form, but usually, with a Peregrine's head. I have already blogged elsewhere about this research, so I'm need not delineate it any further here.

I think that in reflection, I was touching on my concepts of the all-seeing eye, and then comparing it to the notions and research around speculative realism?
This is a general concept of looking at the world from an entirely different angle. I seem to recall that I said something like "this idea of looking at the world from a completely different viewpoint is at the heart of speculative realism". Or something similar to that, which I was delighted to see Richard jumped on and made notes to the same effect!
I can't quite remember the precise words I used but it was something along those lines, I also seem to remember that I put an alternative phrase together which included "looking at the world from a different point of view (reference point or perception) is at the heart of speculative realism." But the original phrase was more succinct!
Then, with a further recall, I became a little bit tongue-tied in my explanation of my "artistic problem statement". As by trying to explain the ideas of speculative realism through a verbal/linguistic medium "in itself", might lose some of the magic of translation. It makes it tough to explain the theory; by using words is limiting.
In terms of the work itself; the practice has been chosen as the drawing because drawing is a whole and overarching language in a way. I also seem to recall my tutor agreeing with the concept that drawing is a perfectly acceptable medium.   I think he said " it is the method of the mind and of the eye," which is a really brilliant reference for him to make.
My idea of drawing the world according to this specific Peregrine, the one that JA Baker wrote about some 50 odd years ago, is what lies at the heart of the reason why I want to use his book as a backbone. What was important to that Peregrine, would have likely have been something completely different to what was important to Baker at the time.
 Therefore any image of Baker is likely to be quite insignificant as far as the Peregrine was concerned at the time too!

It is interesting therefore that there are now two viewpoints; one human and one Peregrine. I think that Richard was also keenly interested in some of these thought processes that I was having. I was very encouraged by the feedback that Richard was giving me and it seemed that we had 'connected' with a joint understanding. My previous attempts to articulate my ideas have not been quite as successful as this one-to-one meeting, and I was delighted that we seemed to be of one mind.
Overall, to close, my tutor was extremely helpful in making some additional recommendations for further reading; In particular the work by Liz Wells and the book entitled "Land Matters".  The ideas of landscape photography and cultural identity are what Liz Wells articulates in a particularly elegant fashion. I'm glad that I have the opportunity to read this book through an online resource within the University. The chapter entitled Time, Space, Place & Aesthetic;  and another detailing 'The photography Journey and Memory' are also crucial.
Another book which was recommended (which I have a copy of already is by Rebecca Solnit). A copy of "The Field Guide to Getting Lost" which I need to dig out and read again, as I recall this was one of the books I found very useful during my first year of undergraduate study.
However, the book that my tutor was keen for me to review was a series of writings by Rebecca Solnit (that has been edited by Marcus O'Donnel). Entitled "Walking, Writing and Dreaming. Polyphonic voices".
see http://ro.uow.edu.au/lhapapers/1729/

(The book "Wanderlust" is also particularly useful resource as there are further dissertations and essays by a variety of philosophers practitioners and artists including Roland Barthes).

Conclusions;

• The idea of working with two viewpoints seems to be of particular interest to Richard, which I want to expand upon too. It is through this that I think that I understand the concept that was being put forward, in the idea of "proximity".
• Through this concept of proximity, what I choose to put in the foreground versus what is in the background, in relation to the visual experience is what is important in order to engage the viewer critically in relation to who is seeing what where and when.
•  This becomes a visual language, in the concepts of proximity and composition, the place is also important to consider; the idea that the physical place formerly in Bakers book, was the Essex marshes, much of which is no longer there.
• Whilst this is interesting, as an artist, it is possible to make up the landscape in the absence of any real world scenes. I'm glad that my tutor Richard, explained that the "veracity of location" is something that can be mutable.
• I need to develop the language of how I can draw, and how I can relate this the imagination and the language of my mark, concerning how our Peregrine might perceive things.
• How I represent "things" in how I draw, is the critical challenge set for me to try to define.
• The idea that the work is experimental works well with speculative realism because in direct terms the "speculative" part of Speculative Realism is about the unknowable and, how, we as humans engage within a space?

Further Conclusions (Updated)

• I've been really enthused and inspired by the conversation that I had with my tutor, and I understand the importance of continuing my practice without deviation from the elements of proximity, composition and drawing through digital media.
• The closing remarks that were made have given me a strong challenge to address in how I want an audience to see through my drawings a relationship in space between Baker and the Peregrine.
• To articulate this, my work needs to develop through much more drawing practice and those ideas that are being incubated at the moment will start to flourish.
• Quite simply put I must draw, draw, draw!...

Reflections on the Rotor event meeting held on Wednesday, 15 February.

I felt reasonably energised after the previous meeting on the on 8 February, and bearing in mind the exhibition opening night was only one day away, I was keen to make sure that the whole group were aware of their expectations and responsibilities, but sufficiently relaxed not to worry too much!

Unfortunately, as is always the case with a larger group of people, a sizeable number were unable to attend this meeting prior to the event opening night. Sometimes, this might be a good thing in reflection, because those who do attend, seem to bond together just a little bit more. Anyway, a number of decisions were made, which I think again in reflection, were right and proper.

One of the main decisions has been to remove the artificial segregation between group A and group B, as it is clear that we will all need to support each other, in various ways by working on our individual strengths within the team to help it move forward.

My biggest concern at the moment is a lack of what appears to be, an understanding within the group of the grading criteria, with respect to the necessary academic rigour that we need to apply to our practical tasks and obligations. This is particularly evident in the production of the website, as it is now two weeks since the original meeting that we had, and there is a lack of designs and critical reflection having been documented in order to help the group select the most appropriate format for the website.

It seems that my request for some group members to create evidence of their decision-making and research is falling on deaf ears. Whilst I am conscious that this could affect potential marks for the group activity, I'm also conscious that with the correct back filling (that is supplementing any lack of work through the absence of those team members who are appearing to choose not to engage), we can, try to resolve these shortfalls. (I recall after the meeting, saying something like "You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink to Dr Bailey)...  However, this puts greater pressure on those members of the team that are conscientious, and wanting to try hard to achieve the best of their ability.

This is a classic example of group dynamics operating, and it appears that this exercise, and these interactive situations, we are no different to any other group. Part of my role is to recognise this, understand blockers and shortfalls, and put plans in place to circumvent, or at least alleviate potential problems, as we move forward.

Nevertheless, as is always the case, various people have their own unique and individual issues to deal with which must always take priority for themselves. So, with a group size of 12 people (that we now have), there is sufficient resource to level out peaks and troughs of productivity demands and requirements.

Further thoughts;

I'm delighted that there was a large number of students that attended the opening event on Thursday, and our previous meeting of the 15th helped to prepare and make sure everyone knew what was expected of them.

Conclusions:

• The group is beginning to gel together.
• There are clearer and more defined roles and responsibilities which helps people to focus on what is expected of them.
• We still have another two weeks to go before we present our ideas back to our client, and so I think it is vital that at our next meeting on 22 February there is clear evidence (from an academic standpoint) to show and to articulate that we have not only researched our ideas, but have collectively selected and chosen the most appropriate recommendations for Dr Devlin.
• We have replayed our own interpretation of the explanation given to us by our client Dr Devlin in a number of different ways within the group. I have been able to document this to a sufficient level to be able to provide him with the confidence that I think he is seeking from us.

Reflections on a lecture by the BBC, creative innovation and entrepreneurialism, and the art of Pitching.

I've really enjoyed the lectures that the BBC have kindly given to the Master's group over the last few weeks, and these notes provide a review of the final session that we had on Wednesday, 15 February 2017. The lecture was delivered by Mr Dan Ramsden, Director And Head of Creative Experience at the BBC, supported by Tina Connolly, senior UX designer, and Laura Fletcher, a UX designer for "content discovery".

The lecture was entitled "Pitching", or "effective communication and the art of being generous and selfish"!

I liked the style of Dan's delivery of the presentation almost immediately, as I appreciated the first important step of any presentation, which is to get attention!
In his words, the whole experience of a good performance is to "sell the dream, but deliver reality", clearly an example of his vast expertise in the marketing and advertising industry.

The lecture and presentation was split into three sections, which comprised of;
1) understand your audience.
2) have a clear and concise structure.
3) tips of the trade.

In a nutshell and something quite near to my own heart, Dan was saying that before any presentation, "we need to create a plan!" He was saying, "Make all your messages through the presentation, sticky ones", in other words, messages should be easy to remember by the audience, and easy for them to buy into, both logically and emotionally.

Section 1 a) - Consider an approach through Generosity. Focus on the audience.

- As I think McLuhan once said, "the medium is the message" (Marshall McLuhan, 1964, in Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man).

• Whenever delivering a message, be "outcome oriented". In other words, don't bury a message in reams of text, but make it clear and explicit, have clear objectives or actions that are easy to find.
• I also like the phrase "you can win minds with logic, and hearts with emotion".
• Therefore, when considering the delivery of the key message, it is vital to understand the audience to define whether the message is either emotional or logical. Both of these have different methods of delivery. What outcome do you want to achieve?
• If you're winning hearts, use emotional persuasion, tug at heartstrings, or stroke someone's ego.
• If you're winning minds, use logic and especially evidence to convince your audience.

An overview of some audience centred techniques was then provided, which relies on the idea of people falling into personality profile types. Choose the correct type of language that suits a particular personality or profile type. For example;

• Emotive people are usually image orientated. They like change, are usually assertive and sociable.
• People who fall into the directive category, are usually goal driven, dominant, opinionated, perhaps somewhat intense as they have a keen focus.
• Reflective personality types tend to be thoughtful, considered and cooperative, but low in sociability; They tend to love the detail.
• And finally, the supportive personality type tend not to like change; They are loyal, steady, reliable and considerate.

The audience impacts on the message! It's, therefore, vital to work out what personality type they might be, in plenty of time before a presentation commences. How the audience decodes, a presentation, therefore, will affect the outcome.

From my own experience, however, although it is in support of this concept outlined above, in the real world what is important is how we tailored the presentation to each of the audience participants. It is this blend of our interactions, which makes a general approach to satisfy each of the personality types present. Nevertheless, it is just as important, if not more so, to fully understand who the decision-makers are within an audience to ensure that the "pitch" is properly directed to them, and yet also gets the corporate support from the others.

1b) The selfish aim; 

In this section of the lecture, Dan was suggesting that instead of just giving a series of words to make up a full presentation, state your intent early!

• Open the conversation by saying something like "to give you an understanding of…"
• Or perhaps start with "to convince or to persuade you that… XYZ".
• Be explicit in what you want, or alternatively what you want your audience to do, or to believe, or to go away to do, as early as possible in the delivery.

I remembered here, some of the beautiful words of a previous boss of mine, the legendary Scott McNeely, who used also use the phrase "Get all the wood behind the arrow"!

In other words, focus on the vital points you want to get across. Invite the audience to engage by asking "what questions would you like me to address to achieve the aim?"

Which are supported by bullet points, like feathers on the quiver of the arrow, with phrases like "how will you deliver the vital point actually?"

• Establish early in the conversation what your "vital" point are.
• Why are these critical to you?
• What resources do you need to achieve them, or deliver them?
• What will happen if you don't do this or that?
• And finally, how will this make life better (for you, for them et cetera)?
• Give your messages through questions to address each of the quadrants of the personality types.

So, -
In thinking about "my" audience, asking myself three fundamental selfish questions;
1) why am I bothering?
2) whom I talking to anyway (can they make a difference)?
3) what do I want them to do after this meeting/presentation?

An exercise that has been used with some success by Dan is what he calls the squid method. "Sequential questions and input diagram".

We were then divided into our groups to take forward some of the ideas that have begun to emerge in response to this whole module. The outcome of the "squid" session have been documented elsewhere, as it is not important in the flow of this blog. Nevertheless, it was a useful exercise and helped to establish and drill down each of the merits of our ideas.

In brief, the "squid" method helps to drill down, similar to the "five whys" method, and attempts to expose;

• what are the features that a client is looking for?
• How have we responded/done that?
• Why is that right for the client? What are the benefits, not only for the customer but also to ourselves?

Ultimately what we uncover is what are the unique selling points that we need to address as part of our presentation.

Instead of thinking about the client's brief and then coming up with an idea, think about the idea again and check that it fits with the brief.

• How are we going to communicate this to the client through the "pitch" (the what, versus the how)?

Some of the ideas that Dan was using were very similar to a simple method that I have been using throughout my professional career, which is based on AIDA, attention, interest, desire and action. The simple graph was shown as follows;

Start, introduction, the body of the presentation, conclusion.

The objective is to reignite attention at the end of the presentation to get action!

I recognised that this is similar to the classic idea of the narrative arc. A further graph was shown which I particularly liked that had the stages of:

exposition, inciting incident, rising action, crisis, climax, denouement, and ending.

Section 2: Structure;

"Introductions and attention grabbers."
choose one approach to grab attention right from the start of the presentation, which can be either
1) unexpected
2) emotional,
3) simple.

Or alternatively this could be through;
1) a quotation by famous author or celebrity.
2) a declarative statement such as "what's in it for me?"
3) a controversy,
4) humour or drama to induce an emotional mode.

Many of these ideas been taken from an advertising book called "Made to Stick" by Chip and Dan Heath, (2008),"Made to Stick" by Chip and Dan Heath, (Publisher: Arrow (7 Feb. 2008), who also have a web presence and website at http://heathbrothers.com/books/made-to-stick/

The Oxford English Dictionary's new word of the year is "post-truth".

2) again thinking about people, people are great at visualising things. Therefore consider, what is the pain that you are going to come to cure with your solution? And also, who will you fix with your solution?

Tell your audience about a problem, something that they can readily recognise and identify with, and turn your own problem into an issue for them; Capture their emotional hearts by tugging at their metaphorical heartstrings.

Relate your conversation to diverse audiences by selecting real or imaginary people who are different, but who the audience can relate to on a personal level.

3) Building a case
Consider the classical Greek rhetorical devices;

• Bring your facts to life.
• Statistics and evidence win a logical mind.

Compare statistics and if necessary exaggerate, by making big numbers digestible by placing them and juxtaposing them in context with something familiar and reducing problems down further and further, e.g. Reductio ad absurdum.

• Use vivid language to build a mental picture.
• Use visual linking to metaphors through props and images.
• Create these analogies and metaphors by making hooks to get above the topic or issue, by process of abstraction.
• Consider the use of third parties; that provides evidence of success, case histories validation, and credibility.

4) Convince!

• Use rhetorical questions. "Who doesn't love a rhetorical question?"
• Recap - Through the presentation, especially to if it is a long one, to give some space to the audience to allow them to think again.
• Use reiteration. Create a series, as a streamed reiteration, list the issues out.
• Use triples or the rules of three; human beings seem to have an ability to put things together in threes. Exploit this behavioural characteristic.

5) Closing.

• Never forget to ask what is next?
• Build confidence around your product or idea by including at least one of these themes as your final slide; 
• a list of short milestones; 
• some testimonials; 
• or a specific question 
• e.g. "what's next?"

Conclusions;

• Building a good pitch or presentation can often be quite daunting, particularly if it's felt that the outcome may be subjective.
• With a clear structure to a pitch or presentation, the tools that have been provided today will help a great deal in bringing confidence not only to a future audience but also to the presenter.
• Many of the ideas that Dan presented in this lecture can be applied in one-to-one discussions with people, and it should not be forgotten that critical conversations, if structured and planned beforehand can equally result in your own individual desired outcomes.

In my own case, I often fail to think carefully about my desired results before engaging in conversations, and I particularly like the idea of considering your own selfish aims (perhaps this itself is controversial?), before making a pitch.

References;

• Lecture bt Dan Ramsden of the BBC, University of Huddersfield, 15th February 2017.
• Heath, C & D, "Made to Stick" (7 Feb. 2008), Arrow, London. ("Made to Stick" by Chip and Dan Heath, (Publisher: Arrow (7 Feb. 2008),)
• http://heathbrothers.com/books/made-to-stick/
• See also http://heathbrothers.com/ for a great resource on Decision Making, Change Management and "Sticky Ideas".

Further thoughts the lecture and workshop by Sara Nesteruk (Friday, 10 February 2017) University of Huddersfield.

Thinking a little bit more about the ideas of inspiration and creativity, I recall that one of the questions that Sara posed to us was how do we create our own productive space?

The moments of insight often occurs when we least expect it.

In Sara's case, she referred to a book by Rainer Maria Rilke, in which she gets lots of inspiration from. Ostensibly, within the book, he's asking and pointing out "do not look outside yourself for inspiration, but keep looking inside for it is there that you will find it." For example, Sara randomly picked a page from the book which read;
"I would like to beg you to have patience and consider problems like locked rooms waiting for some translation".

I particularly like the idea of using text to find inspiration, this fits nicely with my own practice at the moment and my choice of using JA Baker's "the Peregrine" (1968), but equally I understand the point that each of us needs to find inspiration from any source.

A further suggestion was made to consider the book "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell. This is a book about intuition and where we seem to find that component of our lives. Our immediate responses to situations, whether they are spontaneous bringers of joy, or alternatively situations that require some form of problem thinking, are what Gladwell explores. He goes on to say that our immediate responses are usually the most effective.

Therefore quite clearly, when one needs inspiration, the active "doing" provide us with inspiration in itself. In other words, make work for yourself!

On the subject of readings, another recommendation was made called "The Artists Way", which totally encourages the activity of writing, before picking up the paintbrush, or beginning to sculpt or make. This book is useful to help us get "into the zone".

Perhaps in thinking about this, it is useful to step backwards and ask oneself "what do you do when moments of inspiration hit you?".

Maybe, by processing thoughts from elsewhere, new ideas can come forth in entirely different manifestations.

Spontaneity is a vital step. The suggestion of writing before making can be inspired by simply thinking about three separate topics, things, or themes that generally inspire you. In my own case, the three things that inspire me and have full resonance are;
-drawing, particularly with a sketch pad and pencil.
-The drawings of Leonardo da Vinci, and almost all the other great masters.
-Open spaces. And what I mean by that are areas of land that do not have the regular and constant footfall of mankind. The Moors on my doorstep particularly fall into this category.

I also took time out to look at the TED talk created by John Kelly, which was his final video submission to the Royal School of Art, and then further submitted to the TED talks, entitled "Procrastination".

I found this to be incredibly insightful, he absolutely captures the artist's sense of fear of failure through "trying to avoid the inevitable", which is rooted together with the thoughts of being afraid to even finish something, once making has started! This video in itself is sufficient inspiration to simply get started! I think it is useful to make a direct link to it on this blog so that I can repeat it to myself, almost like a daily mantra, particularly when I'm suffering from procrastination.

Inspiration... The battle within! - Reflections on an interesting Workshop, (with Sara Nesteruk, UoH)

Friday's workshop was quite an epiphany; a magic moment for me!  It seems that the more I try to work out a process for my creativity, the more I am led to writing about it. Which is leading me to think that perhaps my real practice is in the writing of it, itself!...

Sara's workshop opened with a suggestion that when searching for inspiration, a first step that she finds helpful is to just start writing.   Write about anything from within!

The first step in the exercise Sara set, was for us to write for approximately 30 minutes, and then to pause, Step 2; go and look at something completely detached from what we have written, write about that, then Step 3; reflectively write up on the whole experience.  

So this is the outcome of these exercises below;

Step 1.  

Just looking out from within and writing my thoughts;

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[A title?] -  Winter

My mind is wandering through the valleys and hills of North Yorkshire. Or a typical English landscape with hills and meadows.

There is a Skylark flying high above, making its usual trill of random notes, which gracefully swishes across the canyons and lowland streams.  How is this tiny creature here at this time of year? – Where does it take shelter from these freezing winds and hailstones?

My heart is racing through the strenuous walk. The breath of my existence is tangible almost, through the vapour clouds that flow from my shivering mouth. My arms are heavy with the coat I wear, but my legs are strong and ready for the remainder of the climb.  Looking down, half way up the mouth of this valley, I see a child’s magical re-assembly of their image of winter. The Snowman seems to beckon me with his branching twig arms towards an unknown liminal space of white nothingness.

The stone wall; that black lichen covered permanence of man's presence thrusts itself through the snow. The black smog of two hundred years of toil and fires from the cities has engulfed the rock and grit so tightly in its grasp. Blades of frozen glass shards of translucent green, wisp and rattle against the base of the walls, the delicate grasses have the strength to endure the coldest of winter days and writhe in unison as flurries come and go.

The Skylark’s sweet tune is fading now.  My arms and hands are cooling in the blustering wind. Time to move.

Walking further on the mud trodden path, now frozen in staccato patterns of sheep foot holes of recent passage. My boots skid across the mesh of open treads, loosing grip, though, being unable to ride the leaf-thin film of wet thawing ice between foot and hardened mud.

The air is thin, my coat blows cold, it’s chip, flap, flap, flapping against my chin and red raw cheeks.  I pull my hat lower.  My head is light and empty of thoughts, just bearly able to make out a distant tune of the skylark.

Far below, the wisp of smoke rises from a remote farmhouse. I imagine the roaring fire within. Big armchairs; a dog lying across the hearth maybe.  

Warmth.  

Warmth is what I need. The cold air is biting me from above and from the end of my fingers, now numb with the grip of the salutation and greeting with Jack Frost.  The snowman looks distantly on at me, with indifferent curiosity.  Why would anyone be out here in this temperature?

We share something in common, that child’s nod to winter, and I.  We are both alone.  Far from anyone to hear us moan or curse this wretched cold.  I’m low and deep in thoughts of nowhere at all.   But then my spirit is lifted again.  The distant call of the Skylark comes back into zone.  Mood lifts and falls, and lifts again like the rolling of the sea.

I must keep going.  Where is my goal? – I have none. It is the journey that is the goal, my likely finishing point will be where I started.

It always is.

I will come full circle, but the warmth of knowing the journey’s nuances makes it all worthwhile. I will make some fire when it’s dark and start again when I have eaten and slept.

But where? Where can I sleep in this cold?

My sleep will last forever, but the journey is just a fleeting passage of time that I must savour.  Sleep will erase so much…

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32 mins.
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It took just over half an hour for me to write that short passage, no doubt influenced by both the time of year and my walk into the studio, and moreover, the quick sketch that I made while killing some time earlier at lunch that day.

 It's satisfying that I can imagine narratives quickly, but the process of drawing from imagination seems so much better if accompanied by writing too.  I'm pleased with this approach and will adopt it more generally.

And then on to Stage Two.  
I spent 15 - 20 minutes in the library, and semi-randomly selected a book by the Getty Museum (a Guercino Catalogue), I randomly found a sketch of a landscape with a sea jetty and stonework, that instantly caught my attention;

Guercino (Ca 1635), Landscape With a View to a Fortified Port. Pen & Brown Ink,
Los Angeles, J.Paul Getty Museum, 85.GA.408. 

Guercino – Sea Scape and Castle (Casa Gennari)

 Guercino’s use of subtle shading that brings out shadows and contours of light makes the line drawing effuse a sense of calm. The promenaders on the jetty are both captured in a moment of work in the foreground, but idle strolling in the mid vista.

The arches under the jetty are suitably void of detail, but provide a structure and scaffold for the drawing to rise out of the calm waters. 

The tower is skewed towards the right, suggesting that the artist was not necessarily directly in front of the drawing (pad or easel), but to one side; therefore unable to immediately see the perspective of the architecture.

The two boats in the centre of the picture are neither tethered, nor in motion, but an oarsman is clearly seen pulling a punt to stabilise the ship as his mate draws a rope towards the bow of the boat.

Under the central archway, the light of the outer sea creates a shadow filled silhouette of a recently arrived skiff. Strangely, though, there is no reflection from the water below the boat, yet there is a reflection of the archway above.  It is evident from this alone that the sketch was made 'in the moment'.

Stage 3.

(5-10 Mins);

Immediate reflections on the above writing:

The image was taken from page 71 of “Guercino, - Mind to Paper”, by Julian Brooks (2006), The J Paul Getty Museum (Catalogue), Getty Publications,  Los Angeles.

The response addresses how my interpretation of Guercino can be articulated from a critical view through Artistic discourse.  While it describes the picture’s contents, perhaps it doesn’t address what caused the original artist to stop his other activities and pause to draw this scene.  It highlights the transient nature of drawing as sketches, through the observation of missing details that speculatively may have been present, but are simply lost in time. The existence of reflections is an interesting theme that in itself suggests a temporal existence which may, or may not be present, or have existed.

The observations of social pastimes are also of interest in the drawing. There are both workers and ‘walkers’ in Guercino's sketch… Time (as in ca. 1635) was being used, but time was also being 'wasted'…

----------------

Conclusions;

In further consideration of the above, there's a strong influence of drawing being a transient, fleeting activity, in some ways, similar to that of traditional photography.  The artist's intentions to capture a moment in time is mediated by what they immediately see and choose to record; so a narrative can be both created through latent imagination or through a particular engagement. How a "scene" is described to 'another' is what is important here to me.   If a sentient being 'could' report through a visual description or narrative, how would they present such a response?

Sara's workshop was really helpful, it's a very succinct way to expand upon imagination and to create that elusive seed of inspiration.

Nevertheless, I have lots more to do, before I can say that I have achieved a level of mastery in this process!