An Inquiry into the Perception of our Home through Practicing of Photography
Project Description
This is a participatory pedagogic project to study the power of practicing photography as a way of perceiving the world. Years of teaching photography provided me with the proficiency to design a course, “Photography as a tool for perception”, which may lead them to a better understanding of the world. By practicing photography, I mean a kind of pedagogic practice which was introduced by Viktor Burgin in his book “Thinking Photography”. In this method “the student is asked to consider photography in its totality as a general cultural phenomenon, and to develop his or her own ideas to what direction to pursue” (Burgin, 1982).
Background
In my hometown (Bandar-Abbas/Iran), I founded an educational institution to focus on photography as an art form. The different projects/exhibitions which I did as participatory pedagogic projects were efforts to study the power of practicing photography as a way of understanding the world. For instance, one of the projects/exhibitions I did in collaboration with my students was to investigate the significance of “home” within the students’ personal experience through practicing photography.
In this project, we should not follow the traditional idea of spectatorship in art. As Clair Bishop suggests in her book Artificial Hells, we need “a new understanding of arts without audiences, one in which everyone is a producer”(Bishop, 2012). It means, in this project, participants are audiences and at the same time, they are producers. Although the participants are the main spectators who may feel the changes in their perception toward the concept of home through practicing photography, I would like to have an exhibition of their works at the end of the project. According to my previous experiences, there is always a second chance that may happen through the exhibition, this would mean that the audience of the exhibition may experience some level of this alteration in perception through the shown photographs of the participants. In Iran, I did the same, and some audiences admitted they experienced a new perspective of the shown objects/subjects.
How I see it
“What we perceive is determined by what we do”(Noë, 2004). Proustian Perception is not a common term in arts and literature. Nevertheless, there are lots of articles and books about a kind of perception which Marcel Proust in his famous masterpiece À la recherche du temps perdu introduces and indirectly encourages people to practice it. James Elkins has a book named “How to use our eyes” which is on the same subject on how we should see the world. I am looking for this kind of perception in practicing photography. As Alain de Botton in his book How Proust Can Change Your Life: Not a Novel states, there are differences between the one who has read Proust and the one who has never read it. Proustian Perception helps us reconsider the world in a new way, far from all propaganda in lifestyle and false merits. It let us find the little virtues in every single moment of life. Like the moment of pouring milk in The Milkmaid painting by Johannes Vermeer -No wonder why Vermeer is Proust’s favorite painter - or Mouchette in the movie Mouchette (1967) by Robert Bresson. After reading Proust can rid us of the obscure and opaque coverings of our eyes. In other words, reading Proust could be acknowledged as a mindfulness practice. I believe there are differences between those who have practiced photography and those who have not practiced photography. Practicing photography in the way that I designed could work as an epistemological journey through self-awareness; practicing photography could be a cognitive exercise. A. Kawakami states in her book Photobiography: Photographic Self-writing in Proust, Guibert, Ernaux, Mace that photography has influenced the ways in which these photographers perceive themselves (Kawakami, 2013). This is exactly like the way that Proust -and recently James Elkins- encourage us to see the world.
Summary of Process
This participatory pedagogic project takes place in 3 phases: First of all, I would launch a course in photography. People who are interested in photography (people who have not engaged with arts already) would register to participate in this course to learn photography. While they work on composition they practice seeing with limitation. In other words, they would practice seeing just one specific subject each session to exercise seeing explicitly. For instance one session they would be asked to take photos of lights, later they would be asked to take photos of reds. These practices helped them to see precisely. In the second phase, participants would be asked to take a series of photos of the same subject (home). They share and discuss their photographs weekly. After practicing to see explicitly (in the previous phase) and during this process of repetition of taking photographs of the same subject, as has been my experience in Bandar-Abbas, the meaning of “home” would probably be redefined for the participants. A specific perception about their world, and obviously about their home which is individual would appear in their minds, as well as their photographs. We go far enough to help each participant capture the essence of their idea about the subject. They are asked to write about their induvial experiences each week to keep a trace of their thoughts and introspection toward the subjects. The major part of the project happens in the second part, but the first phase is as important as the second phase because it provides time for the teacher to build trust with the students. As I already mentioned, in this project the participants are the first audiences and producers concurrently. All the experiences and influences occur during the second phase; there is no limitation in the artistic goals. Here in the third phase, at the end of the classes, the works which have come to a point of presentation and would be displayed in an exhibition. This part aims to try to communicate through the demonstrated photographs to the second audience (the Exhibition Audience) to investigate the impacts of the altered vision or perception of participants. In my previous involvements, some of the audiences of the exhibition experienced some level of change in their perception when, through the photographs, they see the world differently than they usually do.
Preparation
For this participatory pedagogic project, I need to stay connected with a small group of local people as participants and practice photography with them. It usually takes 48 hours of classes, meaning 16 sessions of 3-hour classes. I need a space with a laptop connected to a projector or a TV to be able to teach photography, and some attentive people with cameras to participate in this project. The main goal of this project is to let people experience a new way of seeing which needs patience, exercise, and liberation. Or as Minor White defines: “an openness of mind which in turn leads to comprehending, understanding everything seen. The photographer projects himself into everything he sees, identifying himself with everything in order to know it and to feel it better. To reach such a blank state of mind requires effort, perhaps discipline”(Lyons, 1966). This experience may alter their vision and their perception of the world and help them broaden their experiences from what they have been involved in before. This perception may be different from whatever is being encouraged and advertised through media nowadays. It is a kind of mindfulness practice through the act of photography.
Result
Participants redefine the concept of home for themselves in a new way and they would be able to find a connection between the place they have chosen as home and themselves. Some of them also ignite a new conversation with their home mates; for instance, a family decided to renew their mother’s home instead of reconstructing it after one of them participate in this project.
References:
Bishop, C. (2012). Artificial hells : participatory art and the politics of spectatorship. London New York: Verso Books 1st [edition].
Burgin, V. (1982). Thinking photography. Basingstoke, England: Basingstoke, England : Macmillan.
Kawakami, A. (2013). Photobiography : photographic self-writing in Proust, Guibert, Ernaux, Macé: London : Legenda, an imprint of Modern Humanities Research Association and Maney Publishing.
Lyons, N. (1966). Photographers on photography: a critical anthology. 1966: 1966.
Noë, A. (2004). Action in perception. Cambridge, Mass.: Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press.
This is a participatory pedagogic project to study the power of practicing photography as a way of perceiving the world. Years of teaching photography provided me with the proficiency to design a course, “Photography as a tool for perception”, which may lead them to a better understanding of the world. By practicing photography, I mean a kind of pedagogic practice which was introduced by Viktor Burgin in his book “Thinking Photography”. In this method “the student is asked to consider photography in its totality as a general cultural phenomenon, and to develop his or her own ideas to what direction to pursue” (Burgin, 1982).
Background
In my hometown (Bandar-Abbas/Iran), I founded an educational institution to focus on photography as an art form. The different projects/exhibitions which I did as participatory pedagogic projects were efforts to study the power of practicing photography as a way of understanding the world. For instance, one of the projects/exhibitions I did in collaboration with my students was to investigate the significance of “home” within the students’ personal experience through practicing photography.
In this project, we should not follow the traditional idea of spectatorship in art. As Clair Bishop suggests in her book Artificial Hells, we need “a new understanding of arts without audiences, one in which everyone is a producer”(Bishop, 2012). It means, in this project, participants are audiences and at the same time, they are producers. Although the participants are the main spectators who may feel the changes in their perception toward the concept of home through practicing photography, I would like to have an exhibition of their works at the end of the project. According to my previous experiences, there is always a second chance that may happen through the exhibition, this would mean that the audience of the exhibition may experience some level of this alteration in perception through the shown photographs of the participants. In Iran, I did the same, and some audiences admitted they experienced a new perspective of the shown objects/subjects.
How I see it
“What we perceive is determined by what we do”(Noë, 2004). Proustian Perception is not a common term in arts and literature. Nevertheless, there are lots of articles and books about a kind of perception which Marcel Proust in his famous masterpiece À la recherche du temps perdu introduces and indirectly encourages people to practice it. James Elkins has a book named “How to use our eyes” which is on the same subject on how we should see the world. I am looking for this kind of perception in practicing photography. As Alain de Botton in his book How Proust Can Change Your Life: Not a Novel states, there are differences between the one who has read Proust and the one who has never read it. Proustian Perception helps us reconsider the world in a new way, far from all propaganda in lifestyle and false merits. It let us find the little virtues in every single moment of life. Like the moment of pouring milk in The Milkmaid painting by Johannes Vermeer -No wonder why Vermeer is Proust’s favorite painter - or Mouchette in the movie Mouchette (1967) by Robert Bresson. After reading Proust can rid us of the obscure and opaque coverings of our eyes. In other words, reading Proust could be acknowledged as a mindfulness practice. I believe there are differences between those who have practiced photography and those who have not practiced photography. Practicing photography in the way that I designed could work as an epistemological journey through self-awareness; practicing photography could be a cognitive exercise. A. Kawakami states in her book Photobiography: Photographic Self-writing in Proust, Guibert, Ernaux, Mace that photography has influenced the ways in which these photographers perceive themselves (Kawakami, 2013). This is exactly like the way that Proust -and recently James Elkins- encourage us to see the world.
Summary of Process
This participatory pedagogic project takes place in 3 phases: First of all, I would launch a course in photography. People who are interested in photography (people who have not engaged with arts already) would register to participate in this course to learn photography. While they work on composition they practice seeing with limitation. In other words, they would practice seeing just one specific subject each session to exercise seeing explicitly. For instance one session they would be asked to take photos of lights, later they would be asked to take photos of reds. These practices helped them to see precisely. In the second phase, participants would be asked to take a series of photos of the same subject (home). They share and discuss their photographs weekly. After practicing to see explicitly (in the previous phase) and during this process of repetition of taking photographs of the same subject, as has been my experience in Bandar-Abbas, the meaning of “home” would probably be redefined for the participants. A specific perception about their world, and obviously about their home which is individual would appear in their minds, as well as their photographs. We go far enough to help each participant capture the essence of their idea about the subject. They are asked to write about their induvial experiences each week to keep a trace of their thoughts and introspection toward the subjects. The major part of the project happens in the second part, but the first phase is as important as the second phase because it provides time for the teacher to build trust with the students. As I already mentioned, in this project the participants are the first audiences and producers concurrently. All the experiences and influences occur during the second phase; there is no limitation in the artistic goals. Here in the third phase, at the end of the classes, the works which have come to a point of presentation and would be displayed in an exhibition. This part aims to try to communicate through the demonstrated photographs to the second audience (the Exhibition Audience) to investigate the impacts of the altered vision or perception of participants. In my previous involvements, some of the audiences of the exhibition experienced some level of change in their perception when, through the photographs, they see the world differently than they usually do.
Preparation
For this participatory pedagogic project, I need to stay connected with a small group of local people as participants and practice photography with them. It usually takes 48 hours of classes, meaning 16 sessions of 3-hour classes. I need a space with a laptop connected to a projector or a TV to be able to teach photography, and some attentive people with cameras to participate in this project. The main goal of this project is to let people experience a new way of seeing which needs patience, exercise, and liberation. Or as Minor White defines: “an openness of mind which in turn leads to comprehending, understanding everything seen. The photographer projects himself into everything he sees, identifying himself with everything in order to know it and to feel it better. To reach such a blank state of mind requires effort, perhaps discipline”(Lyons, 1966). This experience may alter their vision and their perception of the world and help them broaden their experiences from what they have been involved in before. This perception may be different from whatever is being encouraged and advertised through media nowadays. It is a kind of mindfulness practice through the act of photography.
Result
Participants redefine the concept of home for themselves in a new way and they would be able to find a connection between the place they have chosen as home and themselves. Some of them also ignite a new conversation with their home mates; for instance, a family decided to renew their mother’s home instead of reconstructing it after one of them participate in this project.
References:
Bishop, C. (2012). Artificial hells : participatory art and the politics of spectatorship. London New York: Verso Books 1st [edition].
Burgin, V. (1982). Thinking photography. Basingstoke, England: Basingstoke, England : Macmillan.
Kawakami, A. (2013). Photobiography : photographic self-writing in Proust, Guibert, Ernaux, Macé: London : Legenda, an imprint of Modern Humanities Research Association and Maney Publishing.
Lyons, N. (1966). Photographers on photography: a critical anthology. 1966: 1966.
Noë, A. (2004). Action in perception. Cambridge, Mass.: Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press.
Hesamaddin Rezaei
Supervisor: Dr. Jennifer Eiserman
Supervisor: Dr. Jennifer Eiserman