Assignment 2 tutor feedback

My tutor must have been champing at the bit to get his hands on my work as it was assessed and back in less than 24 hours, thanks.  So what can I say... my hopes were realised and my fears came true!

Firstly I asked a few questions and they were kindly answered, in that YES it is better to stick to the required number of shots and not put in additional images as it is important to show that one can stick to the brief.  The choice of subject is also important so that there is both variety and a visual link to tie the shots together.

Good comments were made on the assignment as a whole collection and the Mail Boxes in particular.  I was complemented on an ability to look beyond the surface of a location and find interesting details in a place.  There was certainly no criticism of any particular shot so I take that as a positive point.

This is a learning experience and I was glad to receive a number of points on ways I can improve my skills.  It was mentioned that the assignment is about conveying a sense of a particular place and most of my images were too generic to fulfil that need.  I should have tried to convey more of the cities individuality.  I don't feel that the brief made this quite clear enough and I was approaching the task from a more practical direction, whilst still trying to produce pictures of technical and aesthetic quality however, I see now that hadn't quite gone the extra mile.

My blog included some of my editing rejects and, as I feared, my tutor thought that some of my assignment choices weren't the best on offer.  This is an area that I find difficult.  To give an example: I chose a chain and padlock as an example of an implied triangle...

     ... whereas it was thought that a couple shots that I rejected (the Grace building and the girls being sketched) had better qualities. 

The reasons I rejected these are in my blog but I must now reconsider my thoughts.  Although I really liked the Grace building I felt that it was too much like a real triangle and not an implied triangle. I must work through my notes to see why I made this error or perhaps the quality of the shot overrides the doubts I had on the graphic design feature I was trying to illustrate.  The picture of the girls was one that I was excited about as I was shooting it and I always felt it was going to be an interesting image... I just didn't like the expressions that I captured.  This obviously wasn't a strong enough objection.

Finally, it was mentioned again how important it was to reference my work against other photographers and to see as many exhibitions and shows as possible to widen my knowledge base as it is a really important aspect of the formal assessment.

So how do I feel about this one.  I guess I feel that I should trust my instincts and try to pick the shots that I really like and not the ones I think will please someone else or better match a brief.  I do have a tendency to come back to a portfolio again and again to re-examine my choices and perhaps I should just go with my first gut feelings?  

Still, I am now reading up on the next module and although I am going to start shooting the exercises soon I am going to ponder on this work and try to think through my concerns.  Wish me luck!