James Halton

Roles and responsibilities

Quite early on in the deciding of individual roles for ISO, I decided to step up to the challenge and put myself forward as a project manager. I did this because I regretted not putting myself forward to lead our previous print auction and was quite confident I could do it based on my experience supervising large events for the college as a student ambassador.

The main tactic I used in project management was simplification and organisation. I made sure that everybody had a role in which they were competent and I made sure that each team had a competent leader. We made a group chat of team leaders and project managers so that we could communicate easily and concisely between all of the teams without chatter.

My responsibility as project manager was to oversee, delegate, and chase up. I found delegation difficult because, if I can do something myself rather than ask someone else to do it, I’ll always just do it myself. Of course, I can’t do everything so, in the future, I need to become more used to and comfortable with delegating tasks to other people. That being said, I had to chase people up on a lot of tasks that I had delegated them. For instance, the catalogue took a very long time to make despite my asking for it to be completed very early in the process. There were some real obstacles in fairness but I still feel it should have been completed much sooner than it was.

One of the things I didn’t particularly want to repeat from the previous year was having to step in as auctioneer. I had fun auctioneering but I felt that it was much better to leave it to a professional if possible. Not only might it be a more professional experience for the guests but a professional auctioneer would also be more skilled at selling items for higher prices.

I got in touch with as many auctioneers and auction rooms in Devon as I could. Some of them couldn’t help but had useful recommendations, others simply laughed through the telephone (such is life). Finally, I got through to a man called Paul Clark of Clark’s Auction Rooms. Paul agreed to do the auction for us free of charge which I was and still am unbelievably grateful for.

One aspect of the auction which could have been better was the number of prints and other items we actually had to sell. I think we had just about enough in the end but there really weren’t many. I think we definitely should’ve been not just emailing more people but phoning them, knocking on doors, going to galleries, etc.

We ended up getting just enough prints which, combined with our own donated prints*, got us through the auction and raised a fair bit of money.

*I donated two triptychs of 18x12” prints from my series Long Nights

The day of the auction

On the day of the auction, I spent most of my time on the ground in the SU getting it set up and looking good for the evening, collecting and organising prints, and making sure everyone knew what they should be doing and was doing it.

Just before it all began I got dressed into something a bit smarter and got ready to start welcoming our guests. The most important guest who I would be in charge of looking after would be the Deputy Lord Mayor and his wife. They were both very lovely people and I was very glad to have met them.

When Paul arrived I walked him through the prints (he had already seen them over email but not in person) and asked him if he had everything he needed. When he was ready I took to the stage, welcomed everyone, and introduced Paul to take over.

My main tasks thereafter were to write down which lots had been sold to whom and for how much. This proved a pretty hectic task and I really wish in hindsight that I had assigned a few other people to do it (but we’ll get on to that). I was also asked by a couple of members of SLT to bid on their behalf on some items they were interested in, which I did.

After the event was all over it was clear that there were three major ways in which we could have done much better.

Firstly, the main feedback we received was that the prints were almost all far too small. This I can totally agree with. I’m surprised I didn’t notice this before the fact but I suppose hindsight is 20/20.

Secondly, the method (or rather lack thereof) we used to document who had bought what, for how much, and how they would pay at the end, worked awfully quite frankly. After the bidding closed there was a panicked effort to make sense of scribbled notes made during the auction (these auctions move quite quickly) and to make sure we didn’t give the wrong prints to the wrong people or charge them incorrectly.

Was I to manage such an auction again, I would ensure there was a pre-determined and well-organised method of noting this really important information. I would also make sure that there were at least two people noting it down, in case one missed something, got something wrong, etc.

Lastly, I was given some great advice from Paul:

A marketing suggestion if I may for future sales. Local solicitors, dentists & similar highly paid professionals may well be interested in good prints to decorate their offices & workplaces. An email with details about yourselves & an attached catalogue with lot numbers may encourage commission bids or even attendance in person. I've known solicitors to pay hundreds of pounds for art work from artists/painters that are not listed &/or have no proven sales pedigree. Photographs by creative people like yourselves can have tremendous appeal as decorative art.

Paul clearly knows what he is talking about and I think this is great advice. Too late for us of course but another print auction in the future would really benefit from this kind of advertisement.

I spoke about all of this with a current second-year in the hopes they could learn from my mistakes and not make the same ones.

So it has come time to actually start exhibiting the images that I’ve taken during this project. I chose six final images from my most recent and final shoot.

These six images, to me, represent the final result of my journey during PHOT301. All my research has concluded that what I want to shoot are ‘abstract landscapes’, and this is what I plan to do.

I had them printed at the PCA Digital Print Bureau on their ‘professional’ lustre paper. I was advised to go for lustre to bring out the colours somewhat but not so much that they were too saturated. These are bleak images, after all, so it wouldn’t make sense for them to be very saturated/vibrant.

I printed them at 16 x 12 “ because I thought this would be quite large. In hindsight, it’s really not that big, and I think the images might look a bit underwhelming. Therefore, I plan on the final exhibition result being much larger than these.

In fact, I plan on my final exhibition being a slideshow projection akin to Nan Goldin’s Ballad of Sexual Dependency. I think this would be the perfect way to exhibit a personal and emotional series of images. When I think of slideshow image presentations, I think of family photo albums, holiday images, these are things that can be incredibly emotional, especially if they capture something that has since passed yet you still long for (e.g. a past lover, a family member who has since passed, a time when you were happy/content).

In addition, the slideshow will be accompanied by headphones playing music selected by me. I will select the most personal and emotional music to me, which will help to convey the feelings of the imagery. 

Anyway, I came to the conclusion (with the help of one of my lecturers) that it might be better to only use one-half of the images. The top three images are very different from the bottom three and this might be a bit confusing and/or jarring to the viewer. I decided that I’d quite like to showcase the road images as they’re the most emotive to me.

Location: Long Plantation, Tor Royal, South Hessary.

Equipment used: Mamiya 645 PRO TL w/ 55 mm Sekor C f 2.8.

Film used: medium-format (120) Lomography Colour 800. High-speed for late-afternoon/dusk usage.

Methodology/plan: to shoot primarily landscape images but to focus more on abstract/emotional scenes than previously. Less sweeping vistas and more abstract, ambiguous, experimental shots.

Inspiration/s: William Eggleston The Democratic Forest, Nan Goldin The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, Robert Darch The Moor, concept of Wabi-Sabi/low-fidelity/abstract photography.

During this shoot, I experimented with a couple of different shooting styles and shoot locations. Firstly I experimented with a style akin to Robert Darch’s The Moor. I found this part of the shoot really satisfying. The atmosphere and lighting on the day was really moody and interesting, and this paired really beautifully with the Lomography Colour 800, which I hadn’t used before until this shoot.

I used the Mamiya 645 system for the first time during this shoot. It handles very well but came back to bite me when I realised I hadn’t loaded the film on correctly the first time and, therefore, the 15 images I had ‘taken’ didn’t exist. Luckily I was able to see where I went wrong and I don’t think that’ll happen again. I managed to shoot two rolls (30 images) in about 2 hrs on this day anyway, so I don’t think it dampened my spirits.

I enjoyed playing with the idea of a dystopian Dartmoor such as in Darch’s series. I also shot quite differently to him, I feel. His series focuses generally on deep woodlands and human elements, whereas mine showcases a variety of landscapes with no humans in them at all. I do think that in the future I might include people in some of my shots, as I feel this will increase their ability to evoke emotions.

I’m happy with this half of the shoot. I think it showcases my ability to find and extract emotion from bleak and natural landscapes.

For the second half of the shoot, I decided to focus on roads. This didn’t really come from inspiration from anyone in particular. The idea just sort of struck me as I was slowly driving along and enjoying the scenery. I thought that, if I’m trying to make a diary about my experiences and emotions on Dartmoor, and the most time on Dartmoor I spend in a car looking out the windscreen, wouldn’t it make sense to somehow document this too?

The lighting used is my car’s headlights which, to me, is perfect for the images. Not only is it a really warm yellow-orange light which contrasts the cold blue fog, but it relates back again to my experiences of exploring Dartmoor from the driver’s seat. The concept of cars and transportation always makes me think of isolation and departure. There’s nothing more lonely than driving alone through the dead of night.

Eggleston, W., (1970-1973). Untitled. [Online]. Available at https://www.tate.org.uk/art/images/work/L/L03/L03912_10.jpg

Eggleston, W., (1973). Untitled. [Online]. Available at http://egglestonartfoundation.org/assets/img/gallery/red-ceiling.jpg

Goldin, N., (1983). ‘Nan and Brian in Bed, New York City’. [Online] Available at https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1651 [Accessed on 14th January 2020].

Goldin, N., cited in Higgins, J,. (2013). WHY IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE IN FOCUS. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd. p.57

Jamie Windsor, (2019). Wabi-sabi: When BAD PHOTOS are BETTER. Youtube. [Online]. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyCumQ78ZoI [Accessed on 14th January 2020].

Powell, R., cited in Oppong, T., (2018). Wabi-Sabi: The Japanese Philosophy For a Perfectly Imperfect Life. Medium. [Online]. Available at https://medium.com/personal-growth/wabi-sabi-the-japanese-philosophy-for-a-perfectly-imperfect-life-11563e833dc0 [Accessed on 14th January 2020].

Segal Hamilton, R., (2014). Photography theory: a beginner’s guide. The Telegraph. [Online]. Available at https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/photography/10753112/Photography-theory-a-beginners-guide.html

TimJongUn11., (2019). ‘Dusk’. [Online]. Available at https://i.redd.it/2w762dnuuo731.jpg

White, N. J. R., (2011 - 2013). ‘Accommodation Blocks’. [Online]. Available at https://www.nicholasjrwhite.co.uk/militarisationofdartmoor/

While looking for a way to put my photographic stylistic preferences into words, I came across the concept of ‘Wabi-Sabi’. This Japanese movement embraces and celebrates imperfection and impermanence through three main rules: ‘nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect.’ (Powell, cited in Oppong, 2018).

The concept of Wabi-Sabi far pre-dates photography. However, the two work well in combination, in my opinion. An example of this being done successfully is the work of Nan Goldin, specifically, The Ballad of Sexual Dependency.

Nan and Brian in Bed, New York City. (Goldin, 1983)

Goldin’s images are what would be described nowadays as ‘low-fidelity’, or ‘lo-fi’, meaning that they do not try to be, nor do they place any emphasis on, technical perfection. In fact, within this genre, the imperfections in the images are their best features. The slightly-out-of-focus subjects, that they are sometimes underexposed/overexposed, the motion-blur that is occasionally present, or the garish shine from a camera-flash. These features, to me, destroy feelings of literal documentation and replace them with those of emotional story-telling.

Goldin describes this project as ‘the diary I let people read... I want to show exactly what my world looks like, without glamorization or glorification.’ (Goldin, cited in Higgins, 2013)

The photographs take you on a journey through an emotional, personal, but, above-all-else, human story. Humans are not perfect after all, so why should our art be?

‘If all these images had been well-lit in crisp focus with well-balanced composition, they would have delivered a clear view of a literal representation of a scene, but they would have lost their emotional resonance and their sense of spontaneity. Unblemished technical flawlessness would’ve distanced the viewer’... ‘The emphasis of the work shifts from providing the viewer with a literal visual representation of a place to communicating an evocative feeling.’

(Jamie Windsor, 2019)

I couldn’t agree with the above quote more, in particular, the idea of shifting from ‘providing the viewer with a literal visual representation of a place to communicating an evocative feeling.’ (ibid.) While I certainly don’t despise documentary photography (most of my second-year work was based on documentary photography), it does not stand with what I am currently aiming to achieve with my photographic practice. I am not looking to provide anyone with a document of what a scene looked like, I want to convey raw human emotion, and I think that Wabi-Sabi is the perfect way to do this not only conceptually, but also aesthetically, as I feel that it can produce some beautifully imperfect imagery.

I think, also, that it is important that my photography reflects the way I live. I shoot analogue film because I like things that are physical, challenging, and imperfect. Similarly, I resonate with Wabi-Sabi because I agree with many of its concepts. I’m not sure that anything perfect exists (other than the imperfect...), and I wouldn’t want it if it did.

I believe that the below images are my personal work most relevant to this genre. They are recent images (2019/10/06) and were, rather appropriately, shot on expired and pushed analogue film.

I’m quite proud of these images. Unfortunately, however, when I showed them to my class, a few asked why they were ‘so grainy’. This was a bit de-motivating, however, I wasn’t formally familiar with the concept of Wabi-Sabi at the time and so, in fairness, I probably didn’t explain why they look the way they do very well in the first place. It turns out informing people that your images are intentionally low-fidelity might be an important step to take, but I want to make sure I don’t do this too overtly as I feel that the viewer should be left to understand it themselves to a degree.

Powell, R., cited in Oppong, T., (2018). Wabi-Sabi: The Japanese Philosophy For a Perfectly Imperfect Life. Medium. [Online]. Available at https://medium.com/personal-growth/wabi-sabi-the-japanese-philosophy-for-a-perfectly-imperfect-life-11563e833dc0 [Accessed on 14th January 2020].

Goldin, N., (1983). ‘Nan and Brian in Bed, New York City’. [Online] Available at https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1651 [Accessed on 14th January 2020].

Goldin, N., cited in Higgins, J,. (2013). WHY IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE IN FOCUS. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd. p.57

William Eggleston has probably been the one biggest and most important inspirations to my photographic practice, and also the one that’s been around for the longest.

I remember first discovering William Eggleston when I was 17 doing photography in college. His spontaneous and organic photographic-style resonated through me like nothing else. I was immediately hooked and, since then, almost all of my photography has been, at least in some part, inspired by Eggleston.

In my opinion, Eggleston is almost completely unique from any other photographer. I think this could have something to do with how he applies philosophy and theory to his practice. For instance, he rarely titles his work, nor does he write on them the time/date/location they were taken. He sees these things as add-ons to photography and not necessary nor relevant. 

Additionally, Eggleston states that he will only take one frame of any one thing. This, in my opinion, is remarkably similar to the way of thinking of Henri Cartier-Bresson and his ‘decisive moment’. This is the idea that, once you take an image, that photograph is something which has never existed before and will never exist again in that exact form. Something will always be irreproducible. This is something that has inspired me heavily in my practice. I love thinking about the uniqueness of each frame.

In the same sort of vein, I also feel that taking an image is something not to be taken lightly. Each time you press the shutter you create something totally unique which cannot be identified or described with words. Was the image you took worth it? Did you take it seriously? When I put the viewfinder to my eye, I pause and fully exhale. I stay like that for a matter of seconds contemplating whether the image I’m taking is ‘worth it’. Am I capturing real meaningful emotion, or am I snapshotting? If the answer is no, the camera goes down to the hips again and the image is not made.

‘According to Cartier-Bresson, there is an almost magical split-second in which events in the world – interactions between people, movement, light and form – combine in perfect visual harmony. Once it passes, it is gone forever. To capture such moments as a photographer you must be inconspicuous, nimble and attentive; working on instinct; responding to reality and never trying to manipulate it.’

(Hamilton, 2014)

(Eggleston, 1973)

Eggleston was one of the world’s first colour-photographers and he has an incredible eye for colour theory.

The above image is one of his most famous and depicts the ceiling of an entirely blood-red room. The vibrant red comes across as cheap and almost unnerving. Additionally, the wires stretching almost randomly from the light fixture only continue to unnerve the viewer. Finally, and probably most bizarrely, are the posters on the wall on the bottom-right of the image which depict various sexual positions in garish hues. What was this room, and why are we only seeing the ceiling. Was this just how Eggleston saw the image, or is something being hidden from us? I think the ambiguity of this image brings out the curiosity in us. It intrigues and even concerns us in many ways.

This sense of the uncanny is not necessarily something I wish to reproduce in my work, yet I think it is important to note how skilled Eggleston is at evoking it.

(Eggleston, 1970-1973)

This image also shows excellent understanding of colour theory. For instance, there are several separate and totally isolated subjects which share almost the exact same colour. They are the dog, the motorcyclist’s head and number plate, the car drivers arm poking out of the window, and the car’s number plate. This might seem trivial but, to me, this is an irreplaceable feature of Eggleston’s work. These little specs of similarity tie the image together and conjoin subjects that would otherwise be totally contained.

The idea of ‘gaze’ is very important in this image as well. We see the motorcyclist looking at the dog and the dog looking towards-but-behind the photographer. What is the dog looking at? Well, we have an idea of it given the rear-view-mirror which is slightly visible at the bottom of the frame. We can see here, then, that we have three completely separate entities all interacting with each other in some way. We can even imagine that the car driver is looking at the motorcyclist, which wouldn’t be improbable, and that would make four entities all relating to each other.

Additionally, Eggleston’s general composition is always on point. In this image, for example, there is an excellent sense of depth. There is a large and wide foreground moving gently and linearly into a far-away background. Even in the background, however, there are subjects of interest just as there are in the foreground. It’s possible to see a car coming around the corner, what will happen when this car reaches the subjects in the foreground, and why aren’t they looking at it? These are yet more ways in which Eggleston’s photography makes us consider the entire frame.

Another great thing about Eggleston’s imagery is how relatable it is. I’ve never been to America, and I’ve not lived through the 70s, however, I can really feel myself inside each image of his. I can imagine being there, and I can relate each frame to actual memories of my own.

On the 12th of November 2019, Nick white visited us again for a talk and subsequent group photo critical session.

Nick’s talk gave me a few things to think about.

Firstly, it gave me a few ideas of places to look for inspiration including ‘Adventure Journal’, ‘Royal Photographic Society Journal’, and ‘British Journal of Photography’. These are publications we have in our classroom and library, so I will look through them soon.

Secondly, he recommended ‘Another Place Press’ as a company to look in to for cheap but quality book printing, and the Royal Photographic Society environmental bursary as a possible funding source for environmental projects.

Thirdly, I asked Nick how he thought of titles for his projects. He said they normally just come to him during the project. I’m not less worried about coming up with a title for my project soon. I think just allowing it to come naturally is my best option.

Lastly, Nick discussed two themes that I found interesting and relevant to the themes that I am discussing in my Dartmoor project. These were the allure of distance and the allure of loneliness.

The first, I feel, is about distancing the viewer from ‘the answer’ of the photograph by keeping photographs vague and ambiguous in their meaning. This is something I’ve enjoyed doing for a long time, and something I enjoy seeing in other works.

Secondly, the allure of loneliness is something that I don’t think people talk about enough. A lot of people are terrified of loneliness and do everything in their might to avoid it. In places like Dartmoor and rural Scotland, the feeling of loneliness can be a beautiful thing. It allows me to gather my thoughts and recharge. When I’m in this mindset I feel that my images are infinitely better than when I’m rushing around and/or stressed. To be alone is not necessarily to be lonely, to be alone is to be calm.

Location: Bickleigh and Burrator Reservoir.

Equipment used: Mamiya 7II paired with 80 mm f/4 lens. All images are shot at apertures of f/8 and over to improve maximise depth-of-field and sharpness.

Film used: medium-format (120) Kodak Portra 400 over-exposed one-stop to ISO 200 to further experiment with theory mentioned in previous blog-post.

Methodology/plan: to shoot primarily landscape images but to focus more on abstract/emotional scenes than previously. Less sweeping vistas and more abstract, ambiguous, experimental shots.

Inspiration/s: William Eggleston The Democratic Forest, Nicholas JR White The Militarisation of Dartmoor & Black Dots, Ansel Adams, Jem Southam.

This first image caught my eye because it represents the contrast between urban areas and the countryside and yet how they can also intermingle. The huge power lines running straight through a cattle farm show the old meeting the new, the quiet meeting the loud, the simple life meeting the rat-race.

What went well: Image has clear subjects and a relatively obvious message, image is sharp throughout and well lit.

To improve: colours are quite bleak and uninspiring, although I think this is more an issue with the scan than the negative itself. The Hasselblad software is 15 years old and difficult to use sometimes. I must work on improving my skills with it nonetheless as there is no alternative (the Epson scanners do not achieve even half the quality of the ‘Blads). Composition is slightly biased towards left-frame, would be beneficial to crop the right a bit to balance out the two power-line-pylons.

Next I moved to a sweeping vista of Burrator Reservoir and the nearby hamlet of Sheepstor. I wasn’t doing very well at avoiding documentary shots by this point...

What went well: sharp throughout and well lit.

To improve: colours are still (but slightly less so) bleak and boring. Subject matter is unclear in this image as the main two subjects (reservoir and hamlet) are far away from the viewer. I think this image could work well given a telephoto lens, but I didn’t have one on me at the time. The normal/wide-angle lens places emphasis on the fields in the foreground which aren’t very interesting at all.

These two images were the result of me forcing myself to look closer at scenes rather than shoot big landscapes. I don’t think they’re outstanding but I am quite fond of them due to their abstract nature. Neither image has a clear subject but I think that works in their favour in this case.

I spent a long time composing these images trying to find the perfect part of the pond to shoot with the most interesting patterns and reflections.

I think these images have a pleasantly ambiguous ‘message’ in comparison to my previous recent work. When I look at them I think of childhood and stepping in puddles with wellies and looking for fish. I’m sure other people would probably find other meanings, and I think that’s a good thing.

What went well: images look like paintings, shallow depth-of-field has pleasant impressionistic effect, compositions show interesting patterns and reflections in the water, images could work well as a diptych.

To improve: consider getting even closer with a telephoto or macro lens (would most likely need to be paired with a tripod).

The above two images I feel are weaker in comparison.

In the first image showing the trees, I was drawn in by the yellow and green autumnal hue of the leaves. They reminded me of some images I had seen before, I couldn’t remember which at the time, but I now remember that it was the photography of Ben Horne, of which an example is shown below.

Autumn Rain

Unfortunately I think Ben did it better than I did. I’m not keen on my image, I think there is too much contrast between the trees and the bright sky behind them. There was an odd light on this day which made this kind of image quite difficult.

I prefer the second image but only slightly. There is too much going on and nothing in particular to focus on. Furthermore, I don’t think the various aspects of the shot harmonise with each other well. The water in the foreground almost seems to battle with the grassy bank in the background for attention.

This is my favourite image from this shoot. It is bleak but not boring and interesting but not overwhelming. I would like to come back to this spot and shoot it again but at dawn or dusk as I think that a darker light would complement the subject. In fact, moving forward, I’d like to start attempting these shoots in lower-light in general. I think that Dartmoor looks most beautiful when the light is just starting to fade.

What went well: lighting is dynamic, contrasty, and interesting, subject matter is interesting and has its own message (lone tree surrounded by nothing).

To improve: consider taking images in lower-light conditions, consider using longer lens, lower third of image could be considered quite dull and/or distracting.