Earshot uses a combination of both digital and analogue, something that has been influenced by photographers, Dafna Talmor and Idris Khan. Both of these artists are similar due to their work in manipulating images in one way or another using intricate techniques that require attention to detail and thought about placement. Talmor’s work “engages with contemporary issues of manipulation, and the analogue/digital divide” (Meadow Arts. 2018) which has shaped my work by exploring both mediums as well as working physically with the materials created. Talmor’s practise in dissecting her landscape negatives that were taken as “mere keepsakes” (Talmor. 2018) differs from my work in that the documents used in Earshot were important as they were people’s personal information however I chose to physically manipulate the portraits produced. Working with something you’ve produced makes it more personal and allows the photographer to be ever more so present without being in the image. Talmor reworks her negatives to create "a…space that opens up behind the surface” (Talmor. 2018), a prominent phrase that informed Earshot because the idea of removing an individual’s disability aid (hearing aid, cochlear implant) shows that there is much more than what we see: there is a person and their story beyond this particular disability and the documentation to prove it. The aim of Earshot was to demonstrate the amount of evidence individuals have to provide to prove a visual disability whilst simultaneously giving off ‘noise’ through the grain – almost onomatopoeic which is contradicting the issue around deafness.
Overlaying each individuals’ documents digitally in Earshot replicated similar techniques to how Khan produces his works, for example ‘Every Page of Camera Lucida’ which starts to “[blur] place, memory and time” (Talmor. 2018) as Talmor does with her Constructed Landscapes. RCA (2017) explains how “Khan appears to suggest that our linear experience of time and place has a more shadowy relationship with memory and the subconscious, and that they cannot be so easily grasped”, the documents used have provoked memories for participants in Earshot and was an unhappy time for those having to prove their disability. Creating these condensed documentation images collapsed a length of an individual’s lifetime into singular moments as well as simultaneously depicting the layering and accumulation of their experience with deafness. Constructing “a collection of words rather than something that makes sense,” (Khan. 2015) allowed the documents to become mostly unreadable which removed the issue of data protection but remained impactful as words on documents are usually experienced sequentially however have been compressed visually to allow an essence of each person’s disability journey through the documentation. Khan (2015) also said that this is “the beauty of the abstraction of the words; they become meaningless, but really powerful. The fact that you can only see fragments at the end of the sentence or the start of the sentence, the viewer can put whatever they want into it.”
Wooldridge (2018) questions Talmor’s Constructed Landscapes, asking “are they interesting or revealing enough within the contexts of our current image world?” which can apply to Earshot – does the documentation supplied and photographed reveal enough about the issue that’s trying to be shown? Earshot perhaps would have made more of an impact if each document was printed onto its own piece of separate acetate and created a block of documents much like you’d find in reality however Talmor (2018) considers her “ongoing body of work to [consist] of staged landscapes” which can relate back to my collapsed images of documents and the fact they could potentially be considered as ‘staged’. Creating one single image of multiple documents can show the length individuals go to, to gather such a large amount of evidence for each Personal Independence Payment case – just to be looked at once or twice and then disregarded.
Wooldridge (2018) continues to think about Talmor’s work, asking “do they contain sufficient traces or semblances of event or narrative?”, again relating to Earshot in the way it portrays a narrative. Each document a person owns is a part of their story and journey with their disability which has been compressed into a singular image, but viewers are able to decipher parts of said documents to determine what they mean. Talmor, too, positions her viewers as constructors as Wooldridge observes “the photograph may appear flat, but the image becomes tangible and animate in Talmor’s actions and the constructive gaze it calls upon”. In Earshot, although as a photographer I have arranged this documents in this way, it is now down to the viewer to re-arrange the documents to create a context.
Influenced by Khan’s work ‘Overture’ and considering “this idea of deconstruction, displacement, those thoughts, feelings, and also other people’s notions of coming out of something like that” (Khan. 2015) this relates to issues that inspired and that are demonstrated throughout Earshot. Approaching this issue with empathy and sensitivity was the correct way to pursue this project as a vast amount of people throughout the nation that experienced similar stories to those shown in the project. Khan aims to “address the displacement of millions of people and ongoing conflicts around the world” through his project in which Earshot’s aim is similar too, but on a national scale. Although Earshot is a national issue in regards to applying for Personal Independence Payment as a deaf person, finding participants in the local area proved difficult and only further research into this area would have improved the chances of finding people.
Fusing the techniques of slicing and removing a part of a print like Talmor and creating a superimposed image of documentation like Khan allows Earshot to be its own individual work whilst influenced by the techniques of manipulation through a mixture of mediums.
Bibliography
McDermott, E. (2015) Into the Abyss with Idris Khan. Available at: https://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/idris-khan-sean-kelly-overture#slideshow_47987.5 (Accessed: 2 January 2019).
Meadow Arts (2018) Constructed Landscapes. Available at: https://www.meadowarts.org/Installations/dafna-talmor-constructed-landscapes
(Accessed: 2 January 2019).
Royal College of Art (2017) Becoming: Private View + Talk with Idris Khan. Available at: https://www.rca.ac.uk/news-and-events/events/becoming-private-view-talk-idris-khan/ (Accessed: 2 January 2019).
Talmor, D. (2018) Dafna Talmor. Available at: http://www.dafnatalmor.co.uk/constructed-landscapes-text.html
(Accessed: 2 January 2019).
Wooldridge, D. (2018) Dafna Talmor, Constructed Landscapes. Available at:
http://www.1000wordsmag.com/dafna-talmor/
(Accessed: 2 January 2019).
Overlaying each individuals’ documents digitally in Earshot replicated similar techniques to how Khan produces his works, for example ‘Every Page of Camera Lucida’ which starts to “[blur] place, memory and time” (Talmor. 2018) as Talmor does with her Constructed Landscapes. RCA (2017) explains how “Khan appears to suggest that our linear experience of time and place has a more shadowy relationship with memory and the subconscious, and that they cannot be so easily grasped”, the documents used have provoked memories for participants in Earshot and was an unhappy time for those having to prove their disability. Creating these condensed documentation images collapsed a length of an individual’s lifetime into singular moments as well as simultaneously depicting the layering and accumulation of their experience with deafness. Constructing “a collection of words rather than something that makes sense,” (Khan. 2015) allowed the documents to become mostly unreadable which removed the issue of data protection but remained impactful as words on documents are usually experienced sequentially however have been compressed visually to allow an essence of each person’s disability journey through the documentation. Khan (2015) also said that this is “the beauty of the abstraction of the words; they become meaningless, but really powerful. The fact that you can only see fragments at the end of the sentence or the start of the sentence, the viewer can put whatever they want into it.”
Wooldridge (2018) questions Talmor’s Constructed Landscapes, asking “are they interesting or revealing enough within the contexts of our current image world?” which can apply to Earshot – does the documentation supplied and photographed reveal enough about the issue that’s trying to be shown? Earshot perhaps would have made more of an impact if each document was printed onto its own piece of separate acetate and created a block of documents much like you’d find in reality however Talmor (2018) considers her “ongoing body of work to [consist] of staged landscapes” which can relate back to my collapsed images of documents and the fact they could potentially be considered as ‘staged’. Creating one single image of multiple documents can show the length individuals go to, to gather such a large amount of evidence for each Personal Independence Payment case – just to be looked at once or twice and then disregarded.
Wooldridge (2018) continues to think about Talmor’s work, asking “do they contain sufficient traces or semblances of event or narrative?”, again relating to Earshot in the way it portrays a narrative. Each document a person owns is a part of their story and journey with their disability which has been compressed into a singular image, but viewers are able to decipher parts of said documents to determine what they mean. Talmor, too, positions her viewers as constructors as Wooldridge observes “the photograph may appear flat, but the image becomes tangible and animate in Talmor’s actions and the constructive gaze it calls upon”. In Earshot, although as a photographer I have arranged this documents in this way, it is now down to the viewer to re-arrange the documents to create a context.
Influenced by Khan’s work ‘Overture’ and considering “this idea of deconstruction, displacement, those thoughts, feelings, and also other people’s notions of coming out of something like that” (Khan. 2015) this relates to issues that inspired and that are demonstrated throughout Earshot. Approaching this issue with empathy and sensitivity was the correct way to pursue this project as a vast amount of people throughout the nation that experienced similar stories to those shown in the project. Khan aims to “address the displacement of millions of people and ongoing conflicts around the world” through his project in which Earshot’s aim is similar too, but on a national scale. Although Earshot is a national issue in regards to applying for Personal Independence Payment as a deaf person, finding participants in the local area proved difficult and only further research into this area would have improved the chances of finding people.
Fusing the techniques of slicing and removing a part of a print like Talmor and creating a superimposed image of documentation like Khan allows Earshot to be its own individual work whilst influenced by the techniques of manipulation through a mixture of mediums.
Bibliography
McDermott, E. (2015) Into the Abyss with Idris Khan. Available at: https://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/idris-khan-sean-kelly-overture#slideshow_47987.5 (Accessed: 2 January 2019).
Meadow Arts (2018) Constructed Landscapes. Available at: https://www.meadowarts.org/Installations/dafna-talmor-constructed-landscapes
(Accessed: 2 January 2019).
Royal College of Art (2017) Becoming: Private View + Talk with Idris Khan. Available at: https://www.rca.ac.uk/news-and-events/events/becoming-private-view-talk-idris-khan/ (Accessed: 2 January 2019).
Talmor, D. (2018) Dafna Talmor. Available at: http://www.dafnatalmor.co.uk/constructed-landscapes-text.html
(Accessed: 2 January 2019).
Wooldridge, D. (2018) Dafna Talmor, Constructed Landscapes. Available at:
http://www.1000wordsmag.com/dafna-talmor/
(Accessed: 2 January 2019).