Main Assessed Brief - The Decisive Moment

Main Assessed Brief 

In todays lecture we were given our main assessed brief for the first time. This main project allows us as photographers to explore our creativity and also demonstrate our understanding of the various photographic techniques.

The Decisive Moment

In 1952, French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson published the book 'The Decisive Moment' in this he stated:
"There is nothing in this world that does not have a decisive moment. To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organization of forms, which give that event its proper expression".

The concept of the Decisive Moment suggests that there is a specific time in which the photograph will be at it's optimal strength. This could mean the composition, lighting, or the photographers timing. If the photograph is taken at it's decisive moment then it will create a more compelling and engaging photograph.

The brief itself:
'After experimentation with a range of techniques and ideas produce a set of four photographic images that individually capture a decisive moment. This means taking your shot at the optimal moment that best sums up the pictures content. The four pictures could have a related theme, concept or genre – what this might to be is up to you'.

In order for me to be successful during this brief i will need to develop good camera technique, a good workable and achievable concept and the ability to identify effective potential subject matter - i will need both creative thought and technical ability to fully achieve in this brief. 

Remember to consider the following:

1. Concept – What is your theme and does it allow you to be creative and experiment?
   
2. Technique – How are you going to create it, does it push your skills and is it achievable?
   
3. Audience – How are you going to convey your message effectively?
   

Developing Ideas

• Brainstorming potential themes that lend themselves to being portrayed through the use of The Decisive Moment using pre-visualisation (sketching, test shots etc).
  
• Be creative with your ideas – think about metaphor, context and the challenges of communicating ideas visually. Look for other artists and photographers who do this. This will help when it comes to evidence of contextualisation in your critical evaluation (see below).
  
• Think about what your pictures might convey about values and what you would like your viewer to be thinking about. Avoid it being too literal i.e. is it merely representational or do you want your viewer to be provoked or to reflect?
  
• Think about which techniques would be most appropriate to convey your concept. Depth of Field, Motion blur? Long exposures? How you use of available light? Portrait? Documentary? Action? These are just a few of the potential techniques/styles you could explore.
  
• Use post-visualisation to select the four most effective images in relation to your theme. This means taking many, many shots and then choosing the very best based on what you have learnt about photography. As Henri Cartier-Bresson said ‘Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst’
  
• Concentrate on developing the best camera technique you can to capture the decisive. Photoshop can be used to further enhance your shots if you wish but keep it subtle and photorealistic.
  
  

  Critical Evaluation (i.e. project report)

  We also need to provide a printed word-processed critical evaluation addressing the learning outcomes of the module and containing a bibliography using Harvard referencing (max 600 words).
  • The evaluation should be split into three parts:
  Context – what has influenced you? Historical influences and any critical theory employed
  Concept – What is it you are trying to say and are you doing it creatively? 
  Technique – How did you create it, did it push your skills and is it appropriate?