Part Five: Learning Log

Exercise 5.3: Draft book

For the draft book layout I reviewed a number of books and decided that I wanted a simple,

clean look with minimal text as I wanted the images to speak for themselves. I reviewed the

following:

Jussim, E. and Lindquist-Cock, E (1985): 'Landscape as Photograph'. Yale University

Press, New Haven

Kenna, M.(2010). 'Images of the Seventh Day'. Skira Editore, Milan Italy

Sense of Place: European Landscape Photography. Bozar Books, Prestel,

For me the single image with a white boarder and placed on the right hand side page made

a strong impact. Each book and others that I reviewed had varying amounts of text but I

found that the images from the three listed above had a lasting effect as the page was about

the image and not the information.

I reviewed books both photographic and non to see how the layout effected my impressions

of the book - what drew me to, colour v B&W, text, size and layout. To me it was important

that I selected a front cover that captured the feel of the location and gave enough free

space around the image to add any text.

Initial images considered were:

Although I liked the image any text would cut through the image and I wanted a clean

surround as this would help focus the viewer on the image without distractions.

Others considered were:

I considered this but thought that it portrayed more

about the economical influences rather than Sami people as a whole.

Considered to be too social, although as a standalone

image I thought it did demonstrate a strong cultural and environmental story.

This gave a feeling of the environment and conditions but

nothing about the Sami. Great for space to write text.

The image finally selected I thought offered a comfortable amount of free space for text and

told a story of harsh conditions under which the Sami live and their main form of livelihood -

the Reindeer.

Final front cover image showing the conditions and

the livelihood of the Sami. I think this has the ability to standalone as an image if printed.

To me the story is clear, the herd moving off into the distance of the vast open planes - the

nomadic life of both Sami and Reindeer.

The main theme for both the self directed project and following exercises were the external

influences that the Sami were experiences and so the plan was to divide the book and the

slide show into sections around these themes:

Economic and Government;

Lifestyle/income

Environmental

I had decided that all the exercises and the final assignment would work best in B&W and

the absence of colour would help to focus the viewer on the story of each image. The aim

was for each image to standalone as an image but also contribute to whole story.

Most books I reviewed had an inside cover with either an image, text or both. I really

wanted the images to tell the story, to let the viewer form their own opinion and so I

offered only a short introduction with an accompanying image. The following were

considered:

I liked this image as it clearly showed the environmental conditions

and a hint of the location but it didn't really link with the front cover.

I think this would have worked better if it were Reindeer tracks and

not those from a vehicle.

The images selected for both the inside introduction and the back cover I think link and

close the book:

Final inside cover introduction image

Back cover image. For me this just shows the importance of the

Reindeer to these people. On review I would have tried to get a cleaner image without the

trees or branches.

The aspect of the book then fell into sections, the first around the Communist influence and

forcing the Sami into a more sedentary life of high rise apartments which are all the same

with no character. The images I selected highlighted the flat lifeless structures dominating

the background with the original housing in their shadows. A story I hoped demonstrating

the 'big brother' watching over them. The village still showed evidence of resistance as

depicted in the following:

The influences of the West were seen in both the modes of transport (faster form of travel

across the ice as the main family now remain in one location) and communication (mobile

communication was seen everywhere from the Moscow underground to the winter sites in

the form of satellite dishes for tv and communication):

The Sami seem to have been selective in what they embrace and still make use of the old

Russian vehicles - why throw away something that works best in these conditions:

The section on the remote winter locations was aimed to demonstrate this two modes of

living; the town 'modern' way and the continued requirement to stay close to the herds as

possible with a rotation of herdsmen to protect the stock. The accommodation is basic with

the family living in one main room - less fuel needed to heat just one room. The stove

seemed to act as both the main form of cooking and heating. There was little evidence of

personnel effects, everything had a use and often seemed to be used for more than its

intended purchase:

For me the main section was the Reindeer herds and how the Semi looked after them and

interacted. The Russian Sami were very different from those photographed by Larsen,

Ferrari, Hagen etc, they didn't have a tourist agenda, they weren't paid to put on a show or

dress in traditional costume, this was the raw hard facts and I wanted my images to show

that. They made use of modern western technology but only to easy the conditions and

travel, to be able to spend time with their families rather than keep moving and sleeping in -

40 degrees. It was a difficult process to select the final images and I could have easily filled

a book with just these but I want to show just a snapshot and leave the viewer with more

questions than answers, to get them interested in other the people but also of the location

in general.

The final section was probably the hardest to show especially as I had selected the use of

B&W images. The effects of global warming and the changes of the seasons have impacted

the Sami dramatically. They have shorter but harder winters, summers are hotter with the

loss of stock increasing due to draught conditions. The breeding season has been effected

with noticeable reductions in birth rates. The lakes that would normally stay frozen for at

least another month (until the end of May) are now melting in early April. The Sami have to

keep move the herds to find food or buy in expense feed.

One thing I wanted to careful of was to ensure a consistent, minimalist design. Apart from

the introduction cover and the back of the book all images were portrait and a single image

to the page. Each image to tell a standalone story but when combined would take the

viewer on the journey into the life of a Sami herds man.

Exercise 5.5: Slideshow

Initial slideshow layout:

Exercise 5.6: Exhibition Layout

There are limited locations within the local area for exhibitions and so I selected one that I

was part with my local camera club. The room is large with high ceilings so I decided to

maximise that with a number of staked images but in a format that I thought told more of

the story.

The three walls followed the themes of the book layout but also introduced a number of

images that were not in the book, as with most exhibitions I have attended there are always

books, posters, cards etc that accompany the display.

For me I think the layout works, it's not crowded and I have tried to link each of the walls in

a theme but also flow to the next area. It's difficult visualise on a small screen and once

printed and matted the layout would/might change.

I found using MS PowerPoint a useful way to help place each of the images and manipulate

them to form the display rather than providing a drawing.

Wall 1

Microsoft Office PowerPoint 97-2003 Presentation

Assignment Five: Self Directed Project

For me the self directed project was one of the hardest parts of this course as so many

things could go wrong. The overseas trip although planned and paid for months in advance

could have still been cancelled so following my tutors advise I did look for a back-up plan but

in the end that was not necessary. However, there were a number of areas out of my

control such as the weather and the ever growing political unrest between Russia and the

UK which started to grow about a month before my departure.

If photography has taught me anything over the years it has been that you need to be

prepared for anything. Not only did I research other photographers that had visited similar

locations but also read ahead of the course material to know that I would need to produce

images for Assignment five but also to produce a possible book, slideshow and to think of an

exhibition layout, which was harder than I thought. Trying not only to fill the walls but to

make the images flow as a story around the room and not make them seem crowded.

The theme for the trip and the exercises for part five were based around the external

influences I noticed on the trip; political, technological and environmental. Some were a lot

stronger than others but all seemed to have an irreversible effect on their lives.

Whilst on location it was easy to get carried away and try to capture everything, shooting

multiple images without any real goal or thought to the project, so several times during the

day and prior to the day starting I reviewed my brief and set my agenda based on the plan

for that day. It was important to shot, review, assess against brief and reshoot if time and

conditions allowed. For me it was important that each image could stand alone and still

form part of the brief - depicting the impact of external influences. Throughout the short

stay it came apparent to me that these people selected what they required to survive in the

harsh conditions and still used a large part of the traditional ways. I have tried to capture

these in the images I have selected, making sure I took images from multiple angles and

times of day to maximise the time I was there.

Kit list

I decided to take the following camera kit along with my laptop for down loading and

reviewing images:

Cannon 5Ds and 5DSr

24-70mm

100-400mm

16-35mm

I also took a tripod but this not used. It was important to keep batteries warm. I included a

number of heat packs, and thermals.

Itinerary

Adobe Acrobat Document

Exercises and Assignment Feedback

The feedback from my tutor was mainly around Exercise 5.5 with a number of suggestions:

better planning via a contact sheet

check verticals

Add additional information at the start

obtain feedback

select a theme as there's too many ideas

reduce the number of images

I have to admit that I hadn't thought about using a contact sheet on the initial submission. I

was so concerned about getting the programme to work, finding and adding the music that

the order was not considered, which with hindsight and on production of the sheet clearly

showed the error of my judgement.

The mixing of both portraits and landscape images does not work, the themes are mixed

and the flow is wrong. The use of all the images from the book layout is clearly too much so

the following alternative have tried to focus on either a single or complimentary theme:

Option 1: The influence of Communist Russia

This is a possibility, there's more of a single theme. The start and end image has a fence line

which gives the impression of containing the images. The initial image is from Red Square

celebrations of the power of Russia, the second one of the world's most recognisable

individuals - Lenin, the father of the Russian communist revolution which leads onto the

Russian tank and a broken gun another symbol of power. The flow into the grey flat

characterless buildings another symbol of the communist way of thinking set against the

simple life of the Sami.

Option 2: The life of the Sami

For this option I tied to start and end with a portrait of the main reason for the trip, to get

up close and personal with the Reindeer and the Sami. I have tried to link this with showing

the environment - the vast open fields and the frozen lakes. Images of how the Sami hunt

for food and how they keep warm! and then their many form of income, the Reindeer.

Option 3: Reorder of original submission with reduced images

For me this is the strongest set, it follows the theme of the trip from communist influences

to life out in the environment and then the final effects of global warming. The set are all

landscape format which I think helps the flow, sudden changes in format can be distracting

to the viewer, a consistent format will be easier to follow. I have also added additional

wording at the start of the slideshow to explain the theme of the images. This set reduces

the image number from 40 to 27, duplicate or similar images have been removed. I have

also reviewed the vertical and these are all correct - some of the structures are old and

effected by weather so wont be vertical. I reviewed the use of music and demonstrated the

show to a number of people who confirmed that although the music seemed to represent a

Russian feel it was not necessary with this slideshow.

Assignment Five Feedback

As part of the feedback on my Assignment for part five it was recommended that I review

and compare my trip with the photographers I had researched and mentioned prior in

exercise 4.6 the project proposal. For me the most influential photographer from my

research was the work by Erika Larsen even though she travelled to the Norwegian Sami.

Larsen first travelled to the region in 2007, to a place called Gällivare. “I had always known

about the Sámi,” she says. “On a trip to Norway as a child I had seen a Sámi woman selling

reindeer meat on the side of the road. It had stuck in my mind.”

Today there are around 70,000 Sámi. Their nomadic lifestyle is similar to those of the

Russian Sami and is one of the last and unquestionably the best preserved instances of the

hunter-gatherer existence practised by our ancestors. Their language, which Larsen found

“hypnotic”, is tethered to the natural environment, with very precise words to describe

land, water and snow. Unsurprisingly there is also a rich vocabulary for reindeer. Fur,

antlers, sex and age can be conveyed in such detail that a single deer can be isolated from a

herd of several thousand.

Unlike my trip, Larsen stayed with the Sámi on and off for four years. “In the beginning I

would go for two weeks, then I began to visit more frequently and for longer stretches of

time. Eventually I took a language immersion course in Kautokeino, and this was where I

spent the majority of my time, living and working as a housekeeper for a family of herders.”

She sewed, cleaned and cooked for the family. “Reindeer meat was a staple. Blood pancakes

[reindeer blood mixed with milk and flour and fried in butter] were one of my favourites, as

well as cloudberries.”

Over time, she built up an exceptional trust, waiting months, even a year before she took a

photograph, I did not have that luxury. “I believe many of the people were wary of me to

begin with and rightfully so,” she says. “The Sámi I met have their own voice and their own

means of telling the world who they are. I wanted to show them I was there to learn. Often I

was just silent and would watch. What you see in these photographs is what they taught

me.”

For me her work captures the essence of the culture in a series of crafted and almost soulful

images. Beyond just the interactions with the Reindeer, Larsen for me has many images

that show the unique culture of the Sámi and that was my aim for the Russian Sami. Each

person’s face expresses exhaustion, sense of deep fatigue which is permanently etched into

their countenance. Through Larsen’s images depict mentally tough these people are in

order handle the weathering their bodies and minds take living on the arctic tundra.

Larsen’s images not only display a people of survival, and spiritual reverence, she reveals

the intrinsic connection between families passing down a proud heritage. Passing down

the skills of marking and herding the annual slaughter, one generation teaches the next the

understanding and purpose behind each individual event. Without a doubt there is a

powerful sense of family and heritage which resonate from these images. This feeling is

what influenced me to try and capture the same.

In a similar way to Larsen Argentine/American photographer Elisa Ferrari, had a project

about the Sámi. She spent a year observing and understanding the culture, and in doing so,

she discovered the challenges to their way of life. Elisa explores minority cultures and their

environments, including issues of oppression, migration and climate change. Her fascination

with telling these stories comes to life in images that instil not only a sense of place and

landscape, but also a feeling for daily life, ritual, and community.

http://moholyground.org/elisa-ferrari-the-sami-way/

Although the Swedish Sami aren’t confronted with many of the so­cio-economic concerns

that commonly challenge indigenous peoples throughout the world, such as grave health

problems and severe poverty or hunger, Ferrari was surprised to learn that Sweden had

been heavily criticized by the United Nations and other groups for its “failure to tackle the

most pressing issues for Sami, in particular those related to land and resource rights”.

In 1989, The United Nations adopted Convention ILO 169, the only legally binding UN

document that deals exclusively with protecting the rights of indigenous peoples all over the

world. Many countries have ratified this act, but Sweden, although it has signed almost all

relevant conventions on human rights that the UN has set forth, has still not ratified ILO

169. In Sweden, reindeer herders have some rights to the land for reindeer husbandry, but

the government maintains the power to take over the land – if it is in the national interest.

This competition for land traditionally used by Sami herders spawns from many different

fronts, including mining, hydropower, tourism, forestry, and wind power. This seemed to be

a similar case for the Russian Sami, although do seem to have embraced some aspects of

the western technology and influences such as tourism and satellites.

For me the images by Ferrari are more politically based rather than the more emotional

ones of Larsen. They do however show the influences of western culture.

Jarle Hagen, a Norwegian photographer, had the opportunity to immerse himself in the

Sami culture, an indigenous Finno-Ugric people inhabiting the Arctic area of Sápmi, which

today encompasses parts of far northern Norway. Jarle decided to focus more on shooting

the traditional side of the Sami people and their culture. They have endured a long and hard

history of ill-natured relations with the Norwegians but are now a respected and proud

people.

In Norway unlike Russia, the Sami have their own parliament, which promotes political

initiatives and manages missions and laws delegated to them by national authorities. As

with many indigenous peoples, the Sami in Norway have suffered a past dominated by

discrimination, particularly regarding their religious beliefs and language. According to

education laws from the end of the 19th Century, all schooling was to be taught in

Norwegian, a policy which remained in place until the Second World War.

The photos are fairly simple and follow all the standard concepts: plain background, using

colours and depth of field to make the person in focus much more effective in the scene

overall, etc. This is accented by off-camera lighting–evident in the eyes of the portrait

subject. By making the background very dark (yet still with details) and adding light to the

Sami person, they stand out even more against the environment. These stages images are

not the type I want to capture, they are staged and I wanted to capture the Russian Sami in

the raw.