I have now received a very comprehensive formal review on assignment 2 from my tutor. Usually I find a face-to-face feedback (via hangout or similar) more helpful, but that was not possible this time, however the amount of information given was extensive.

Overall, he seemed pleased, but with some caveats.

The tutor’s comments are blue, my responses black

The assignment:

• However, (taking sentiment out) I do feel that better planning and a more considered use of the set-up would have resulted in a more consistent series of images.
  • I totally agree with this. I ended up taking the images in a rush, partly because of the endless delays on the shoot due to illness and weather, partly because Sam was clearly getting bored. I had planned on trying to redo them, but again this was delayed and then became impossible
• I know it isn’t your assignment submission but I feel that the project you also worked upon with the autistic couple and baby is really interesting and shows great potential. I’m not sure how much you have shot (70?) and you decided against inclusion as assignment due to the studio brief but personally I find these images (potentially as I can only see 12) stronger and more engaging. They feel like they are born out of a more collaborative process and less intrusive, there is empathy but also distance and rawness to the images
  • I also felt that these images were stronger, I had a good, but not too close, relationship with the family. I didn’t use them initially in the assignment as I was trying to keep to the ‘studio’ part of the brief. I will have another look at them and work them up as a set.

Research:

• A positive response here. Helpful to know that the ‘regular reflections’ make sense.

Learning log:

• My only concern is that there is so much of it in different folders and the future assessment team would have difficultly viewing it all. Make sure that the more relevant folders such as research are kept up to date with the most relevant information
  • I struggle with this. Maybe everything that is directly related to the assignments should go in the ‘research’ folder, and everything else divided up.

Suggested reading:

• Lots of useful links given here. More reading!

Thanks to my tutor for his helpful advice.