The Frank Album

Alec Soth's "The Frank Album" is a project based on a photograph album he purchased. It was made by a Westerner whilst in Japan in the 1950s and shows 'Frank' with Japanese people in both formal and casual settings. Soth posts the images on his website and asks participants to create a story around each image. The final result is published as "The Frank Album". I haven't seen the book myself and other than the original production website (https://thefrankalbum.wordpress.com) access to it via the web seems to be difficult.

In this instance I am not particularly phased by ethical issues arising from using the work of a real person for a creative project such as this. It is almost 70 years since these images were taken. The fact that Soth was able to purchase the album means that it was more than likely discarded by the family and was part of the vast found photo market. Once a photograph album such as this is released onto a market for consumption it fails to become a private object. Although if this was my project and after publication the original family objected to its new creative use I'm not sure how I would feel.

Sophie Calle - chance encounters

I would have no problem using opportunistic encounters to make my own art. I think that the element of chance or accident can take an artist on incredible journeys of discovery. Chance encounters with strangers such as Sophie Calle's work "Suite Venitienne", whereby she followed a stranger she had briefly met to Venice and documented his and other's movements, can produce all sorts of unanticipated connections. There is a good reason for making art in this way. The element of chance makes for intriguing and unconscious art that can be dynamic and not laboured. I think to make good work an artist needs to be inspired and to remain engaged and in the creative moment.

Has Calle been deceitful? Well, maybe... In "The Hotel" Calle took a job as a chambermaid and rifled through the belongings of the people staying at the hotel. She closely photographed and documented what she found in meticulous, almost obsessive, detail. Although I admire her approach I can't imagine doing this myself. There are limits and boundaries to what each of us would be prepared to do in the name of art. What I do enjoy in Calle's work is the element of performance involved in the process of making the work. I think performance is an approach that Calle uses to keep herself engaged with her own work. It is a useful tool. At some stage I will be taking my triangle pieces and props to a woodland to set up and photograph as a kind of unknown memorial. There is an element of performance in doing this that may transfer to the photographs or be read into the visual narrative from the accompanying artists statement in the same conceptual manner as Calle's work.

Physical Learning Log Scan

Chance

"Is there anything that you feel compelled to do at this point in your work but you can't figure out exactly how it will fit with your overall project?"

My body of work is still developing (slowly). I know what events I want to depict and conceptualise from the book "The Men With The Pink Triangle", but how I will visualise those events and make them into art is still very much an ongoing process. I'm not too worried about this as I approach assignment 3. I have learned from previous course modules that it all works out in the end. I have plenty of ideas, I just need to keep plugging away at them until I achieve a desirable outcome. I've learnt after a number of assessments now not to get too stressed about the artistic/creative process - just relax, and let the ideas flow...

With regard to the above question, I do have a strong interest in making work from found photographs. I'd like to explore ideas and emotions using this technique to pull together a narrative from unconnected images. I already make exploratory work using props within constructed images and incorporating found photographs would create an interesting mix and match approach. I remember discussing this with Johanna Ward (a visiting photographer/artist at a Thames Valley group event) who created a body of work around old family photographs and her own accompanying images. I remember being quite enthused by her approach and the subsequent discussion led me to produce the Rubber Flapper work in a particular visual style.

While I've been typing this I've mused on the idea of using found photographs and I think I have a seed of an idea that could be incorporated into my body of work. I need to make some sketches in my workbook so I can pull the ideas together in the next few weeks.