Research

Whilst researching narratives within photography i found an interesting quote by Allan Sekula which i feel sums up narratives within photography.

The photograph is an incomplete utterance, a message that depends on some external matrix of conditions and presuppositions for its readibility

I feel this quote is saying that you cannot predict what message your images will say to each individual person and you have to accept that people will have their own perceptions of your photography. He states it is 'external' which says to me that you are not in control of the message the viewer takes from the image.

I love the thought of people making their own assumptions and creating their own story and narrative to your images. You can set a theme and an atmosphere to your images and try to guide their narrative but you will never know how an individual will take it. 

Recieveing my starting image...

To start off we have been given an image, which will be the starting and ending image of my series.

I was given image nine which is the image seen below...

My initial ideas for the circuclar narrative of this image were to do with the two doors shown in the image, the door which we can see which is closed and the reflection of the second door which is obviously been left ajar and has the light on inside the room.

I wanted to try and create a narrative for each of the rooms/doors seen, hopefully showing them in contrast, the open/lit door's narrative being several people making noise either having a party, playing music or making some sort of loud noise, and the closed door's narrative being that they are unhappy and severley dislike the noise being made.

My next idea was much more sincere and a negative narrative which i do not normally do, so i thought it would be interesting to see how i can portray a negative, upsetting narrative through photography.

My idea was behind the closed door was a police officers flat where he was sat watching telly, and  behind the ajar door with the light on was little boy/girl being abused in some way by their parents/carers. 

As we have to have a minimum of five additional images i would tell the narrative through these images, using zooming in, zooming out and using viewpoints from each of my actors/actresses.

I feel this idea could become a campaign advert for childline/NSPCC etc, as the message being that authority and people who could stop this become oblivious at times and sometimes don't see whats right in front of them.

I would like to carry on with the black and white theme throughout the series to help it flow and set the scene for the narrative.

Circular Narrative : Research

After recieving this brief today i thought i should start off with a little research into circular narrative and how it is percieved in films and other media.

At the most basic form a circular narrative is one in which ends where it began, although it does adhere to the traditional plot structure in most cases, exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. Although the exposition and the resolution must mirror one another completing the circle.

Another common theme within modern circular narratives is the transition between reality and an imagined world or a cartoon then back to reality. This often happens in fairytales such as 'Jack and the Beanstalk'

Circular narrative can also be portrayed in the theme of the film. As seen in 'Wizard of Oz'(1939 version), the story begins in black and white Kansas following onto the technicoloured land of Oz and finishing in black and white Kansas.

I hope to extend my research further and finally have a clear idea of the circular narrative i want to create within my photographs.

Narrative Structures:

Todorov:

Todorov suggested the main function of any narrative was to:

- Solve a problem
- The characters pass through a series of stages
- Following a linear narrative
- Events follow a chronological order

1. The narrative starts with an equilibrium,
2. An action/character disrupts the equilibrium
3. A quest to restore the equilibrium starts
4. The narrative moves to a climax
5. Resolution/equilibrium is restored

This is a simple typical structure that most texts fit into/follow.

Non-linear narratives:

A key aspect of this narrative is its ability to manipulate time and space.
Many narratives are circular in their structure and/or move around in time.
The narrative can be complicated and can challenge the audience - due to its structure.
In non-fiction, such as sports programmes, time and space is manipulated and we often accept action replays and repeats at different camera angles.