Documentary progress…

Wow, what a day…have been walking the streets of Brunswick asking people to participate in a documentary on the community of brunswick. That is if they they think there is a community. Im not sure yet if I like the footage Ive obtained. I will be combining information on the Holga camera as mentioned previously and Brunswick. The Holga part will be a series of landscape/urban images from around Brunswick, and the Brunswick component will address the question of community. I address the concept of community via interview and image. I approached probably around 8 people today, mostly strangers and a couple of people I knew. I am also going to film myself as I am also a part of Brunswicks community. 

Clarification…

For all those people that are following the progress of mondovisions there are a few points that require clarification dating back to the second entry I made (a long time ago I know). Courtesy of Seans feedback I have realised that I was a little muddled in regard to my understanding of hierarchy in media, and public vs private. I discussed hierarchy in respect to a media organisation, rather than addressing it in the context of media content. That is the inherant differences of publishing on the web versus print. Both can be linear, and non-linear. An example of a linear print publication is National Geographic, and non-linear is Adbusters. National Geo. would more than likely design their articles in a basic layout, where image and text lay side by side. Adbusters on the other hand often design their articles where the viewers attention jumps all over the place in a non-stuctured manner. Im not sure which one I enjoy more, I guess it is dependant on the subject. I do like photos to override any written material and not be disrupted though, which may be leaning towards favouring linear structure. 

I also need to clarify my understanding of public vs. private. I will discuss this in regard to the differences there are in publishing photos online rather than in a magazine or newspaper.  Recently I explained to a friend that anything in my folio thats been published in a magazine is worth ten times more than images on the web. Even if I present something that is torn and maybe a little crumpled, it has more impact and credibilty than a beautifully printed photograph. The fact that someone else has made the call and 'accepted' your work, sets a precedent and allows others to also approve and utilise your work. I have been told this numerous times and have experienced it myself. I dont believe at this stage images published on the web have the same impact on editors, or gallery owners as work that is published in print. 

Further to this I enjoy seeing my work published and the appreciation I have of anything that is tactile. This being said I am enticed by the opportunities the web presents for future publishing opportunities. I guess longterm it would be ridiculous to be an advocate of one and ignore the other. Both are necessary and both will continue within to the future.

‘community’ breakthroughs!

I have decided finally, without an inkling of doubt, to do my online documentary on the HOLGA community. Now you may ask what exactly is this HOLGA. Well, it is a small, cheap, plastic, medium-format camera. It was initially introduced as a camera for the working class to capture their social events and family. In this digital photographic age the Holga is a rare entity, especially considering its ridiculously cheap price. Its plastic construction, including a plastic lens, produces images with trademark vignetting, blur, and lightleaks. Characteristics that each Holga enthusiast is mad about. Comparitively theres many advantages of a Holga camera with other more expensive and big cameras. I have found in my own practice that as a result of the Holga looking like a toy camera, the subject is often not intimidated and therefore more able to be captured in a natural and comfortable pose.

The Holga is an interesting camera as it is not only utilised by 'amateur' photographers but by 'professional' photographers. There are quite an array of Holga images created by prestigious and prominant photographers. I will attempt to locate these and link them to this entry. I have found a few blogs dedicated to the Holga and its magnificance. A few worth a look at are Always Arriving, Dave's Holga Page, and many more links to an plethora of pages at a Toy Camera database. I have a few images as well that I will post shortly. You will notice in many of the images the trademarks mentioned earlier.
Now, the question of the grand Holga and community. How do these both interact? It is simple really each Holga user is a passionate advocate of their camera and without probably being aware are inextricably linked to a community of Holga users. This is the community I wish to tap into and create a database of their images, their thoughts and opinions on the Holga. I want to facilitate a community that is wholly and utterly dedicated to the Holga. I will do this by emailing people who already have a Holga web presence, I will advertise through camera stores and other possible places Holga users may hang-out, and I will film people on the street and ask them if they are aware of this camera phenomenon. By these methods hopefully I will create a broader community that just may maintain a web presence post this subject.

Lastly, a classmate Kimberly is producing an online documentary on the LOMO, which could be classified as Holgas one and only competitior. Although the same company produces both cameras. Both are very similar and part of the wider toy camera community. Both our documentaries will compliment and assist each other in the objectives we are attempting to achieve.

digital TV revolution

I have to admit I was watching Rove the other night and was interested to hear that he was talking rather excitedly of viewers going to the Rove web page in order to access more of a story they had shot. They offered you a little preview of the story to entice you to access the web and watch more. Maybe I'm a little outdated but I felt pretty amazed by this blatant advertising of their website. Are people that involved with television that they would bother. I guess so! I guess its along the same lines as being part of a television audience. A phenomenon I have yet to understand.

I was discussing this 'crazy' deal with Lei-lani and she told me that with introduction of digital TV, there will be such a device that will allow you to view anything you download on your computer directly onto your TV. Hmmmm this ignites all kinds of ideas for any projects you may develop for the web. I shall research this a little more later on…

Fantastic new Endeavours

As an advocate of independent media I am pleased and delighted to hear that a publishing group called Breakdown Press has recently been launched. The group aims to provide an alternative to the mainstream media and publishing options. They are interested in any creative, politically driven or personal responses to our current times. Thus if you are an individual or part of a collective and wish to publish anything from stickers to books, Breakdown Press may offer you the means to do this. They also hope to facilitate a community where the exchange of ideas and knowledge is possible. A fantastically viable and liberating project that challenges the barriers that exist within the mainstream arena.

Comparatively the opportunities that become available via a project like this are very similar to those of the Internet. In regard to them both being non-hierarchical, less expensive, and probably most importantly overcoming the barriers that exist within other mediums. As a community by utilising one independent publishing group we are helping too establish their reputation and credibility. This may subsequently assist grant and funding applications, which is ultimately beneficial for either yourself or a collective.

flickr criticisms

After much consideration I have decided to articulate my criticisms of flickr. I only hope that I dont sound like a pretentious twat! By no means am I judging the quality of photography but rather the concerns I have that flickr undermines the professional photographic market. It may not have been their initial objective however flickr has been utilised as a stock-photo database. Individuals and businesses access flickr for images, which in turn impacts on the opportunities available for a professional photographer. By using images from flickr the quality of reproduction is often quite low, and the amount paid (if any) often undercuts professional standards. I read on one site a contributer to flickr had been paid $500 for the use of his image for one year within an advertising campaign. 

If flickr recognised their potential as a stock photo provider then they could insist on a price structure, image size options, and establish criteria that each image or photographer would need to meet, for instance model release forms. Flickr could potentially be a strong competitor to other agencys, such as getty's, as they are one of the more popular sites to upload your images to.  The fact that they dont have credible procedures in place bothers me. 

Pertinent reading!

Stumbled across what appears to have been an online doco called milkbar, it traced the history of Fitzroy through the impact of post-industrialisation on Australia's economy and the effects of globalisation. Unfortunately the site is down, which does challenge the notion of the web being permanent. However you can access some video clips from the site I believe at an intermedia site. The video you can access may offer some inspiration for our own online docos.

The author of the milkbar project Craig Bellamy, an ex-student of the old rmit, has a website of his own that within one particular post discusses the elusive concept of audience. I found this incredibly useful and in many ways felt like it encapsulated the issues and concepts that have arisen from this subject. Check it out and see what you think! An understanding of your audience is incredibly important when developing any project. Previously your audience may have been easier to define as you were aware of your chosen mediums developed niche. The audience that accesses the web becomes more elusive, as Bellamy discusses. He sheds light on who your audience may be, in terms of where they access the internet, for instance the differences between home and a cafe. Where your audience is geographically located, and considerations of how you construct your language. Whether it is parochial and not accessible to an international audience.

There is a point made that the 'sharing of knowledge is fundamental to the advancement of knowledge', in relation to the blogging world where a website exists within a network that is referenced and has websites that link back to it. Thus creating an on-line community. He notes how this is particularly important within academia, and very succinctly provides the perfect analogy. With many other points discussed from track-backing to meta-tags, I almost felt like Id stumbled across an article straight from the transient spaces dossier.