home © Lloyd Godman

Perceptive Vision - Developing a Personal Style

Continue to research.
Nothing is conceived in a vacuum – so while you might want to engage in work which is highly creative, original and personal, you also need to have an informed position about the many facets of your project. While you might not want to be influenced by other photographers you also need to know what other people have done. Look at other artists who work with similar ideas, techniques and aesthetics. Instead of simply copying another artist’s work, look how you can adapt aspects of it for your project.

Continue to research technical aspects of the medium – and look how you can adapt them in a specific manner for your work.

Continue to research design and aesthetic – experiment with them to see what is useful to your work.

Continue to find out about the subject you are work on. If it is a wilderness area, are there any aspects that are unique, is it under threat, if so what threatens it.

Use all the resources at you disposal, the internet, library, second hand and retail bookshops, video tapes and DVDs, exhibitions.

Remember that work in art collections at public institutions are not impenetrable vaults - the work can be accessed for research purposes - it just takes time to find out what is in the collection, what you want to see and who to contact to access it - its your collection - you are part of the public.

Simple Texts - If your work demands learning about something new - find a book that gives a quick overview of the subject - For instance the children's section of the library often has great books that give simple and clear overviews of a subject - they have large text and even PICTURES - Over the years I found many art students struggled with contemporary art theory - the recommended texts were mostly dense and difficult for them to follow - the dialogue assumed they already had an understanding of philosophy. However many students found the book A young Persons Guide to Philosophy gave a simple introduction to the subject - an overview that opened up the more specific texts.

Two other texts which are very good and give a more in depth overview are:

Fifty Key Contemporary Thinkers - from Structulism to Postmodernity by John Lechte

Critical Terms for Literary Study - by Frank Lentricchia and Thomas McLaughlin

Artspeak - A Guide to Contemporary Ideas, Movements, and Buzzwords, 1945 to the Present - By Robert Atkins

and also - ArtSpoke - A Guide to Modern Ideas, Movements, and Buzzwords, 1848-1944 - by Robert Atkins

Photospeak- A Guide to the Ideas, Movements, and Techniques of Photography, 1839 to the Present by Gilles Mora