from one to the other...

So, the day for handing in everything that I have done so far since September practical-wise - that's Professional Practice, practical log book and a portfolio of 10x8 prints - has been and gone. And it is safe to say that it was quite an anti-climax. Upon entering the "Assessment Room" - i.e. the Press Room with a new label stuck on the front - we were ordered to place our work on the pile and sign the sheet to make a note of the time (09:16am if you wanted to know). Very high-brow stuff. it was then only a matter of about one hour until we were to be given a new assignment brief, during which time I indulged in a wholesome and nutritional breakfast consisting of a peanut butter sandwich and a pint of coffee. 10:00am, and on to Seminar Room 3 in the Peter Lanyon Building. Following a wrestle with the projector to get it going, we were given our new brief: The Relationship.

Our task, should we chose to accept it  - which we should considering that if we didn't it would probably result in the failing of the course - is to create three more compelling images of three groups of different people who in some way share some kind of relationship. The groups of people can be anything from two or more people in the context of a family (not our own family, I might add), a community or a religious cult - Cornish Association of Satanic Worshippers anyone? A minimum of nine working prints must be ready for review by the Monday 20th February. The project will be shot on 35mm, black and white film and all processing/printing must be done traditionally. 

What immediately sprung to my mind, and indeed everyone's in the room (we were given a swift lecture on the subject) are romantic images from classic reportage work such as Eugene Smith's Country Doctor or Larry Towell's The Mennonites. But seeing as we only have a three week deadline, such complex stories will be difficult to come by. Thus, we are encouraged, as usual, to shoot stories which are achievable and to save the really meaty stuff for later in our degrees. 

So far I have been in contact with a country vicar and a gang of mass-knitting grannys... more on that to come shortly.

S