Sustainable Prospects
Sustainable Prospects // Week Ten // Instagram
When it comes to Instagram I actually have three accounts. One that is personal for friends and family, one more work-related (stevi.mcneill), and one that’s a collaborative project (Dust + Grit) . The latter I post to every so often, as I feel no rush to build a large audience there.
When it comes to my stevi.mcneill account I go back and forth with keeping it up to date and posting nowadays. At one time I felt I had a strategy, knew the best time to post each day, kept an eye on my stats (hashtags, etc.), and had a focused goal of growing my audience. However, I found I was spending far too much time on there and started "shooting just for likes’’. And honestly, this just wasn't the kind of work that I truly wanted to share. After taking a step away from the platform I feel I'm now able to come back to it with a better, more intentional focus on what I actually want to share. My follower count and engagement rate have gone down in that time spent away, but I also found that I now have a consistent set of followers that do engage with the images that I really want to show. To me, that is far more rewarding than an audience number consisting of real or fake users or arbitrary likes on a photo.
I've found that if I do want to broaden my audience with more substantial content and users who are more engaged in my work that I needed to adjust my strategy I had before, the hashtags I use, and my patience/expectations. This approach has been working for the outcome I want, but definitely takes more time. Additionally, I do find that posting to stories and saving to highlights helps with engagement, and by posting more video content it allows me to take my time and be really be particular about what I post to my feed.
Sustainable Prospects //Project Development // Contextual Research
Over the past few weeks, I have come to realize, more and more that my project is very much a way for me to take stock and evaluate my life back in America. I still feel that this land is very foreign in some ways and am very intrigued by the multiple layers of life that you will find here, especially in the mountains and open desert landscape that you will find further west.
This refection has led me to find Mike Brodie. Brodie lived the life he documented, a life that was mostly lived on trains, resulting in images that reflect the outside world in a blur, the ground and outside world flying by in a blur, while in contrast Brodie and his friends are so comfortable, and calmly going about their day on the train, in their own world.
What draws me into his work he is colours, tones and ability to compose beautifully ordinary and imamate moments, that is apart of everyday life for not only for this vagabond family but for everyone, making these his images of a somewhat chaotic and grungy world relatable, personal and full of wonder.
When reflecting on the ascetic and direction of my work, I take quite a bit of inspiration from Brodie. Its made me realise that I need to take the time to reflect on my surrounds, or rather allow my self to apart of them more, not just as an observer with a camera. I’m allowed to slow down and take time with the quieter moments rather than having the perfectly orchestrated photo every single time.
source: https://www.vincentborrelli.com
Danny Lyons has also come to my attention. In very similar ways to Brodie, he allowed himself to wander into a life that was with a group of people living an unconventional life with the Chicago Outlaws motorcycle club and fully embracing it and I find his dedication to the pursuit of documenting the lives of the people from multiple parts of society and cultures motivating and encouraging, and again makes me raise that taking the time to understand where you are and who is in front of your camera import and will only help build a better and fuller narrative within a body of work, that leads to connecting people beyond the photograph.
With Brodie and Lyons in mind, I have been slowly exploring parts of Jamestown and experimenting with different types of film, trying to find the one that fits most with the aesthetic I want for this project.
Unlike Brodie Lyons shoots mostly in black and white, which I very much like because they have a simplicity and cleanness to them, compared to the business colour can add to a photograph, especially when shooting a cluttered landscape. I also very much the classic archival style of black and white, however, there is depth and a layer of life colour can provide to an image, so I have been trying to find a balance of black and white and colour within my own work hoping to create my own aesthetic that will help to truly portray the life I am living and documenting. Looking over my work from the past few weeks, I feel that I am heading in the right direction and excited to continue refining my visual language.
Sustainable Prospects // Week Eight // Website
This week we have focused on maintaining and updating our websites. With my recent work in my MA project, I really felt a need to update and reorganize my galleries.
A few changes I've made are: culling through my work to ensure I have a slimmer selection of images, so the galleries are not overwhelming. And as I have been focusing on different areas in each module, I wanted to separate each trip, so they would have their own space much like a new chapter in a book. I felt having all the work in one place was a bit too much and made the gallery feel cluttered and chaotic. Though I really like this template because it's simple and easy to view on an array of devices, the customizations for the galleries are very limited and I wanted to reduce the number of times the user would have to click through images or links to view specific parts of the project.
Another reason for separating my work by module is that my work has been evolving and the style has been changing throughout the lifecycle of this project. This made me feel that my work, especially form Sustainable Prospects, would be best viewed separately from the rest.
When it comes to work outside of my MA ( I have personal work on this website, and professional, work in collaboration with Mae Frances on Dust + Grit.) I like to keep very clean and simple galleries, that showcase my best work, which I will also update over the next few weeks.
Sustainable Prospects // Week Five // Tell a story
For this week's activity, I chose to tell a story of one of the residents of Arcosanti, Jona a designer, welder, and co-owner of Cast+Crew.
We met at a dinner that we were invited to and ended up next to Jona,and by the end of the evening, after everyone was long gone we were left chatting about living life as a creative, her experience living at Arcosanti, and everything in between and made plans to meet the next day and ended up spending a few hours in the apartment that she remodeled (welding and pouring the concrete countertops, kitchen table, and chairs) and time in the workshop, where we were able to get a glimpse of her creative process.
In the time that I spent with her, her passion and dedication shone through along with her grace in occupying a world that is still very male-dominated.
This week has also made me think more about my work last module, and though I was not overly excited about what I produced for my project, I have come to realise that there are quite a few elements that can be used across genres. As Dust + Grit, we contributed to Farm + Land a modern outdoor lifestyle online magazine.
Sustainable Prospects // Jamestown // Project development
For this module, I will be staying close to home and shooting right out my front door, exploring the Jamestown community and landscape.
This old mining town situated in the foothills of Boulder, CO was established in the late 1800s by James Smith, one of the early discoverers of gold. Since the gold rush days, this little town has been home to no more than 300 residents. I can speculate why this may be the case, but I can’t say for certain. Though I think this could be due to its location nestled in the lower part of James Canyon where many fear the winding and icy roads or it could be from the flooding that can occur. In its history, there have been three major floods that wiped out homes and land in the area. The most recent one being in 2013, resulting in most of the town being evacuated.
When I moved here in 2017 the town was still very much under reconstruction. Five years after the flood houses and roads were still in the midst of intensive repair or replacement. Debris from homes swept away could still be found along the river and brides. Over the past three years, as I have gotten to know my neighbours and others in town I have heard many stories about the flood and each of their experiences. What sticks out each and every time someone tells their story is how much it brought the community together and how everyone was so willing to help each other rebuild homes and lives, provide meals, help rescue animals and so much more. I would say now in 2019 most everyone has settled back in and is moving on with life, but with a sense of a closer, tight-knit community surrounding and supporting them.
Moving on with his project in Jamestown, I want to explore how some of these people have made their life here and why they choose to call this place home.
One reason I am looking forward to staying close to home for this part of my project is that I feel it really gives me the opportunity to concentrate on the direction and style of my work, and to focus this energy in a place where I find inspiration from not only the landscape, but the people who inhabit it.
The primary change I wanted to make from the last module was in how I was shooting. In using film now I find the aesthetics, clarity, and process are more fitting to the overall feel and direction for this project. And though I have been shooting film from day one, it has been some time since it has been my main shooting style. This shift in my project gives me the push and focus to really pay attention to the actual process of making a photograph to the standard I want to uphold myself to.
With that said, this week I started to put together a rough shot list and ideas of how I wanted to go about shooting here. I also shot my first roll of 120 and developed it at home. I was not overly pleased with the images, as the colours were not quite right and I think that between being a little loose with my metering and the need for fresh developer, the images could have been better. However, I feel this got me started in the right direction and ignited a renewed excitement and inspiration.
Sustainable Prospects // Week four // Refection
For some time before delving into my MA I had been doing a lot of thinking about which commercial environment I wanted to further my experience in and these past weeks have very much helped me develop a clearer vision of what I truly want to be doing. I have mostly been working on producing content for brands and small companies since returning to photography as my main focus. While I have enjoyed creating this work, as it's pushed me in the right direction and kept me shooting and learning new things, my work has always had more of a Documentary/Fine Art approach, rather than the glossy work that most commercial clients want. As I move forward with my research project, I feel that I am embracing the Documentary/ Fine Art side of my work more which feels so wonderful and yet a little intimidating. This has been a refreshing push that I have needed for some time and has made me eager to pursue this avenue further, though I know it may not be easy. Right now I am not exactly sure where this will lead me exactly, but I feel that I am heading in the right direction.
Another project that has been in the back of my mind for a while now is a community darkroom, that will allow the analog community to gather together and learn from each other. One of the reasons I started shooting digital, was the lack of analog resources I had when I moved back to the US. I tried to build darkrooms in each home I've lived in, but they were mostly in the bathrooms and was a long and somewhat expensive process that I did not have the funds for at the time. Now that I am finally in a place that I see myself being in for a while, I would like to start looking into what it would take to start up a community darkroom up, one very similar to The Portland Darkroom. I have reached out to one of the founders, Lauren Masterson, and we ended up having a wonderful phone call. She was more than happy to share her experiences and thoughts about the process of creating The Portland Darkroom, and I can see her being a great connection and resource for my future darkroom community.
After our conversation, I was very much inspired and felt my idea was positively reinforced. This excited me to get started on research, talk to other creatives in Boulder and Denver that have set up creative spaces as well, and start getting the bare bones of a business plan drafted up. I feel my network and community are already expanding and from them, I've already heard this similar desire which deepened my passion to do this. I also feel that at this point in my life I have the experience and understanding of how to apply my time and resources to this project to make it happen.
Sustainable Prospects // Week four // Contextual Research // Katrien De Blauwer
I have spent the week evaluating the direction of my work and asking myself what inspires me to create.
This has always been a hard question to answer as I feel that I have been creating since I could remember. Visual communication has always been a natural part of my life, and when it comes to breaking it down, it’s not always easy, as I have found over the years the balance between creating as an artist and creating as a professional photographer has been an overwhelming path at times. It can be easy to get stuck on work, without taking the time to connect with what really inspires and motivates me to pick up my camera.
I came across an article on Artsy and this quote resonated with me. I feel that for some time now I have had set my vision and passion aside to create for the sake of others. I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing, but I feel that I let go of my own style, and therefore direction in my own work; and I feel that is why I have been lacking in a direction with this project.
“I just had to let go of the audience and just started thinking about what I wanted to see.”
-Lucy Liu
However, this week I have been discovering the work of Katrien De Blauwer. Using found/recycled images (she calls herself "photographer without a camera") she beautifully creates an atmosphere around her work that is intriguing and intimate, and you can’t help but be drawn in.
‘‘The collage effects a kind of universalisation, emphasizing the impossibility to identify with a single individual, yet allowing to recognize oneself in the story’’ - katriendeblauwer.com/about
She draws from her childhood, and the absence of her father, which I can relate to. Though my father and other family members were absent not by choice, but of circumstance I started to collect and make photographs to stay connected to my roots and help sort through how my new landscape was shaping me.
I feel High Desert is very much a look at life in the American West, a life that can me very romanticized and full of wonder still, but what I am also realising it is a way for me to take stock of my life. Though I have been here for almost 12 years now, I feel that life here is familiar, but it’s still a foreign land to me.
Sustainable Prospects // Week Three // Reflection
This week we have been asked to reflect on the importance of the personal project and the mix art and commerce. Personally, this has been something I have struggled with so I have enjoyed delving into this and looking into ways others have found a balance. I particularly enjoyed the talk with Felicity McCabe, where she breaks down her process, inspirations, and the journey that has led her to where she is now.
When it comes to my own work and methodologies I feel that I have kept the true art of my photography very separate from paid work, which I struggle with and feel is limiting my full potential as a photographer. However, over the last year and especially since starting my MA, I have been more intentional at merging the two and truly defining my style, which I feel is letting me discover and develop a new side of my work leading more toward a fine art documentary style.
Sustainable Prospects // Week Three // Contextual Research // Alec Soth
In the last few weeks, I have revisited a book called "Sleeping by the Mississippi" by Alec Soth. I am drawn to this project of his in particular because he embraces the loneliness, learning, art, music, death, religion, and sex that he comes across and is not afraid to embrace it or to take his time to truly convey his surroundings.
Though he was doing what has been done many times before and will be done many times again, he allowed himself to produce work that truly reflected his journey and experience leading to a deeply reflective body of work.
Much like Soth's work, I aim to produce images that are carefully thought out, which not only reflect the subject's life but the moment that they have allowed me to be apart of. In the years I have been photographing people I have learned a lot, but have stayed on a very surface level with most of my work, and I find myself wanting to dig deeper to produce work that has more substance and give myself the time to so do.
References : https://alecsoth.com/photography/projects/sleeping-by-the-mississippi // https://www.instagram.com/littlebrownmushroom/?hl=en
Sustainable Prospects // Week Two // Reflection
This week we have been looking at different paths you can take as a photographer and in the photography industry. For the last ten years or so I have been producing work that touches on a variety of styles such as, fine art, documentary, and more recently the commercial sector. I have gained valuable experience from each and have a broad understanding of what each avenue has to offer professionally as well as personally.
As I think of my work moving forward and as I reflect on what I want in my profession I find myself continually called to the fine art documentary sector. I find this style and type of work more fitting, exciting, and inspiring, but would never want to close myself off to other opportunities.
Sustainable Prospects // Week One // Reflection
This past week I have been putting a lot of thought into the importance of research in contemporary photography and how I apply this to my work.
I have noticed most of my research is done online where I find articles, videos, podcasts, and historical information on the areas that I’m interested in using as a location for my project. Books and magazines are also very important in my research, mostly photographic, but I also search for historical books and current lifestyle magazines that are relevant to my areas of interest in the high desert, such as Arizona, Colorado, and parts of California.
Toward the end of the last module, I stumbled upon the work of Ingrid Pollard in a book called, "Photographers and Research". Her works explore the romanticism of the English landscape, and the hidden history of Africa and Caribbean heritage. Her methods of research include a variety of sources ranging from literature, images, archives, and anthropology, giving her work a depth and richness that shows her passion and desire to, not only share the history but bring it to life.
As I move forward with my project, I would like to take a page from Ingrid Pollard's book and find myself digging deeper into the archives and history relevant to my chosen areas. I plan to dive into more historical books and to allow my fascination with human behavior from the past and present grow. Hopefully, undertaking research in these areas I will also be able to find engaging and relevant ways to connect people to my work.
Sustainable Prospects // Next Chapter
As we start Sustainable Prospects, I am excited to take a new approach to my work in both method and presentation.
At the end of Surfaces and Strategies, I felt that my work was not where I wanted it, and I was feeling a lack of inspiration. Overall, I think the work I produced was fine but lacking in depth and style; in part because I was not shooting or approaching the project how I truly wanted to which lead me to overlook a lot of details.
During our time off I took the time to rethink my approach and asked myself what I ultimately want from this project.
Do I want to be looking beyond digital photography? What are the pros and cons of doing that?
Yes. I think working with film, both 35mm and 120, will not only allow me to obtain the image style and quality I want, but it will encourage me to slow down and think more intentionally about my shortlist. It will also help me in how I approach my subjects by giving me more ways outside of the camera and computer to experiment and create which I very much need.
How do I incorporate a more physical aspect into my work?
By using film it will allow me to more tangibly interact with my work. Producing physical prints and experimenting with different ways of printing and utilizing a sketchbook will help me explore and play around with ideas to create a clearer narrative, improve my photo selection process, and give me a better sense of what I want to be shooting. In the end, all of this will help me better understand how my project will best be presented and consumed by an audience.
How many locations do I want to shoot? Will focusing on fewer (one or two) allow me to build better relationships in these chosen communities?
So far I've explored five different locations and after reflecting on this question I feel my project would be best served by narrowing my focus to three locations where I have begun to build deeper relationships to better tell the story I'd like to bring to life with this project.
I'll continue my work largely in Colorado. First, Jamestown - a small mining town established in the late 1800s with a neighborly vibe and a community mercantile where the town gathers. Second, Alpenglow Cohousing in Ridgeway - a more modern high desert community that is dedicated to the commitment of sustainable and intentional living.
I also plan to return to Arcosanti. The roll of film I shot while there last turned out better than I'd expected. However, it was not in line with the current aesthetic of my project so I chose to exclude these shots from my WIP. Seeing these helped me realize the intention and thought I want to be putting into all my work, and this reflection has helped me understand where and how I'd like to push myself and this project.
Over the break, I was able to get out a few times with this new approach in mind and I have been very pleased with the results. For these shoots, I focused on landscapes that have been changed or altered by people in some way.
I then developed (and scanned) my film at home by hand, which provided some interesting results. One of which being my tanks were not completely clean resulting in some bubble marks on the negatives, not something I would want moving forward, but I am not disappointed it happened.
Overall, I’m happy with how these photos have turned out and am excited to move forward and explore this approach. This time and experimentation has given me fresh inspiration and confidence in pushing my project forward into a new phase.
