Open sky: November 2013

Friday, 29 November 2013

The lie of the land

At this point it seems important to discuss a bit about where the process started, where it is at the present and what still may be done to bring the project to a close.

The beginning: The idea itself was born from interest in the sites I view frequently on my outdoor adventures. I began from a place of little knowledge about the sites but an interest in the architecture of the houses and castles. From my own viewpoint I found the sites also intriguing due to access available such is not available in my home country where privacy and trespassing laws are very prohibitive. Therefore being able to access these sites and photograph them has been interesting and enjoyable.

I was unsure of what information would be forthcoming from the photographs so in some ways it has been a grounded theory approach. Things began to become clearer after a few weeks and certain 'codes' began to appear.

The present: Though there were certain obvious differences in size with regards to the properties, the most interesting features began to be illuminated when I re-studied the photographs at various times. As is shown in the network modelling diagram in a previous post I decided to deal with the three most obvious discourses displayed in the photos: Highland, Core/Periphery and Status. These three discourses all overlap one another at certain points but each also have much to tell us about the lives of these houses and their inhabitants.

The future of the project: To bring this project to an end point I would consider further photography important. Aerial photography would be helpful in considering the impact and importance of the Core/Periphery discourse. Access to the inside of the larger properties, though hard to arrange due to health and safety concerns, would be beneficial for both the Highland and Status discourses. Access to the smaller properties is easy but the multiple story properties would be unsafe. This would be useful though as there may be much to document and compare in the interior of the grander sites.
Further, videos would be helpful to the project but due to time and equipment constraints I was unable to prepare any thus far. These videos would perhaps shed light on landscape, size and distance that photographs aren't able to provide.

So, in conclusion, I feel the project has provided good information and thinking points but that more may be done to pick out further codes and discourses leading to a more well balanced and conclusive visual research project.

Thursday, 21 November 2013

Network analysis model

The following model is an attempt to analyse the data provided by the photographs taken over the months. For each discourse described in previous blog posts I have attempted to pull out the salient points and explain thus far how I see them fitting together and how they may stand alone as evidence.

This should not be seen as the end of the analysis but rather as a preliminary attempt to describe what may be evidenced by varying features of the photographs.

The view from the seat of my bike - balancing objectivity and analysis on two wheels

When I began recently to consider the analysis of the photographs in my project I began to see that certain discourses were not as easily recognisable simply from the photographs taken. In particular the core/periphery discourse is a very important one but not one easy to see from ground level shots. To access the areas where the photographs were taken I was required to cycle or walk to the area. This provided me a good idea of distance, landscape and access issues that driving would not have accomplished. Even through cycling I could not judge the real scope of marginality as roads have improved immensely since the 1600s (in the case of Redcastle) and therefore what I could reach on my bike would have been much more difficult on foot on rutted or non-existent paths.So, in this instance, I really feel that aerial photography would present a clearer idea of this discourse.

Further, not once on my photographic excursions did I encounter another person at the sites. This did much to challenge my objectivity as this solitude brought about feelings of loneliness and even sadness at the neglect of these once inhabited homes. It would be possible to imagine the previous inhabitants felt the same loneliness and depression though that would be a dangerous assumption as I can only view these homes through my own experiences and prejudices and ultimately have no idea of how busy and engaged with the local estate and community they were. So, my own ideas of what makes a community have filtered through into my work and when analysing I need to be aware of such pitfalls.

Finally, I feel the subject matter lends itself to broodiness and a certain romantic and gothic notion that simply is not representative of what these homes would have been like during the time of habitation. From my own perspective as an American I am drawn to 'ancient' things perhaps from my own experience of growing up in a rather newer country and culture. The romantic notion of these houses appeals yet I must remind myself that these tumble down homes and castles were once busy and perhaps thriving communities. I wonder if my prejudices have affected how I have photographed the houses? Have I given a proper and unbiased account of the homes or have I focused on the areas that feed my sub-conscious desire to show ancientness?

This is my struggle at present.

In the following link I have begun to consider a how various discourses may work in a network analysis model. This is a rough idea of the early ideas of Status discourse and how they may be linked.

Preliminary network analysis