Above is my tutor report relating to this assignment. I have to say I’m pleased with Matthew’s comments. Of all of the assignments I’ve undertaken so far this has been the most engaging and rewarding in terms of outcome and experience. I know I still have much work to do regarding linking my work with critical thinking but regarding the images I am happy with my development to this point.
I understand Matthew’s comments regarding the addition of text. Text is something that I haven’t really engaged with before in developing a narrative thread and perhaps I was a little naive with its usage. I guess my reasoning regarding text came from a two-pronged point of view. The first was due to the amount of aural testimony that I gathered from my sitter when making the portraits and the emotional responses he gave me, I felt it was important to include as much as I could without it becoming the focus. The second point was to use text as a way of bookending and marking a separation line between the portraits and the metaphors. With reflection this now seems heavy-handed and I take the point that the work needs to stand on its own without becoming described by text. I still feel that I want to include some testimony, but as the adage goes, show, don’t tell.
Thinking about the MMA gloves – I probably did shoe horn them in and they do seem the odd one out in the set. At the time, my thoughts were about drawing a happy conclusion to the work with the aid of linking it to the text regarding Martin gaining strength through his martial arts experiences, I realise now that perhaps the work is weaker for the images inclusion.
Context and Narrative 