Rick Medlock
New member
Hi everyone
I thought it was time to add something to this forum. I am just coming to my end of year show for my final assessment and grading for the HNC photography qualification I am currently undertaking and I thought you might like to see what I have been up to. A description of the work follows so you have an idea what it is all about. Follow the link below which hopefully will open up a PDF presentation. Enjoy.
Anatomy. The science of bodily structure. The Oxford Reference Dictionary.
Island. Anything isolated Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
As the reference above states, the science of bodily structure really refers to human, animal or plant structure. Using the science of bodily structure as a working reference point, in this instance refers to buildings or roads i.e. the ring road. Anatomy is structure and form. The ring road is also structure and form. An island, in this case Coventry city centre is contained and isolated within the ring road. Being contained within the ring road is like being on an island. It is if the ring road is its skin or rocky shore line. On an island you can only go around, across or move off it. The ring road works in this way as does the city centre, with its subways and roads that take you to, from, around and across this structure.
What is also contained within the images is some of my feelings about this structure and how it relates to me. It is not always apparent why I take a particular image, not from just the technical point of view i.e. it looks right, it is more the feelings it generates within me as I look through the view finder. I don’t analyse these feelings as I work, it is only in reflection on a image that it sometimes becomes apparent. Ever since I was a child I can remember always been drawn to looking over distances, as in a long straight road. All my early attempts at art at school, were always drawings of roads disappearing into the distance, within wide open spaces and mountains in the far distance. I see a lot of this format in my work as a photographer. Why this is I have no idea, but it has a certain comfort and mystery to me. I don’t like being in enclosed spaces and would never be comfortable partaking in a sport such as potholing or being a submariner, so subways, although holding no fear for me, are not the sort of spaces I enjoy being in. It is a feeling of not being in control, or more to do with being controlled. You have to go where directed generating a feeling of a lack of freedom. For the general public, also being in subways or underground, holds all sorts of fears. Mugging, rape or terrorist attack are also why people dislike being within these structures and will go over ground, or around, in preference to using the subway. Coventry city centre can be a very violent place especially at night, so these areas under the ring road have to be approached with caution. There have been a number of rapes and robberies at knife point over the years. The thing about the ring road underbelly, is that depending which of the various islands you are using, it can either feel threatening or pleasant. The more affluent areas surrounding the ring road have a more pleasant feel and generally tend to be more well kept, with flower beds works of art etc. The poorer areas on the other hand have a dirtier look and feel although the access tends to be more straightforward, with not as many hidden bends. Is that a reflection on the people that use it or the council’s reluctance to invest money in repair? I don’t know. Judge for yourself. Anatomy of an island.
http://www.trickym.demon.co.uk/Images/Anatomy of a Island.pdf
I thought it was time to add something to this forum. I am just coming to my end of year show for my final assessment and grading for the HNC photography qualification I am currently undertaking and I thought you might like to see what I have been up to. A description of the work follows so you have an idea what it is all about. Follow the link below which hopefully will open up a PDF presentation. Enjoy.
Anatomy. The science of bodily structure. The Oxford Reference Dictionary.
Island. Anything isolated Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
As the reference above states, the science of bodily structure really refers to human, animal or plant structure. Using the science of bodily structure as a working reference point, in this instance refers to buildings or roads i.e. the ring road. Anatomy is structure and form. The ring road is also structure and form. An island, in this case Coventry city centre is contained and isolated within the ring road. Being contained within the ring road is like being on an island. It is if the ring road is its skin or rocky shore line. On an island you can only go around, across or move off it. The ring road works in this way as does the city centre, with its subways and roads that take you to, from, around and across this structure.
What is also contained within the images is some of my feelings about this structure and how it relates to me. It is not always apparent why I take a particular image, not from just the technical point of view i.e. it looks right, it is more the feelings it generates within me as I look through the view finder. I don’t analyse these feelings as I work, it is only in reflection on a image that it sometimes becomes apparent. Ever since I was a child I can remember always been drawn to looking over distances, as in a long straight road. All my early attempts at art at school, were always drawings of roads disappearing into the distance, within wide open spaces and mountains in the far distance. I see a lot of this format in my work as a photographer. Why this is I have no idea, but it has a certain comfort and mystery to me. I don’t like being in enclosed spaces and would never be comfortable partaking in a sport such as potholing or being a submariner, so subways, although holding no fear for me, are not the sort of spaces I enjoy being in. It is a feeling of not being in control, or more to do with being controlled. You have to go where directed generating a feeling of a lack of freedom. For the general public, also being in subways or underground, holds all sorts of fears. Mugging, rape or terrorist attack are also why people dislike being within these structures and will go over ground, or around, in preference to using the subway. Coventry city centre can be a very violent place especially at night, so these areas under the ring road have to be approached with caution. There have been a number of rapes and robberies at knife point over the years. The thing about the ring road underbelly, is that depending which of the various islands you are using, it can either feel threatening or pleasant. The more affluent areas surrounding the ring road have a more pleasant feel and generally tend to be more well kept, with flower beds works of art etc. The poorer areas on the other hand have a dirtier look and feel although the access tends to be more straightforward, with not as many hidden bends. Is that a reflection on the people that use it or the council’s reluctance to invest money in repair? I don’t know. Judge for yourself. Anatomy of an island.
http://www.trickym.demon.co.uk/Images/Anatomy of a Island.pdf