Personal Voice

In my feedback from my TAOP formal assessment, one of the comments made was that I have yet to find my "personal voice".  Well this is true, and also not surprising being as I'd only been going about a year and a half (at the time the work for the assessment was taken)... but none the less, it has got me thinking.  Although I'm surprised that this is a relevant factor at this stage of my journey, it must be important otherwise it wouldn't have been mentioned!

So, initially I wasn't really sure what this meant.  I checked with my tutor (who also helpfully gave me some pointers to some materials to read to help me), who explained that it's essentially what makes your images stand out from other people's? What is it that makes them different - what sets them apart?  Why are they unique?  What is the photographer trying to say?

I then checked with my aunt, Mary Biddlecombe, who is an artist.  Her advice was that personal voice is your personal 'message', the most important thing to you that you feel compelled to communicate.  The thing of the heart.

So I think that I did get close to understanding this, when I realised in around September this year, why I am drawn to and want to make ethereal, negative space landscapes - to find the sanctity and solitude that I crave in order to escape the daily and constant clutter, chaos and hectic lifestyle that the challenge of F/T work, commuting, keeping fit etc etc plus doing a degree P/T creates....for me in landscape photography, it's about creating peace, calm and tranquility.  So I took this one today, at Derwentwater during a storm...

However, I don't just want to take landscapes; I'm also very excited by wildlife/nature photography, but haven't had enough exposure to this yet, to even think about what my personal stamp might be. (see commentary on Jasper Doest in connection with the subject of personal voice).  I had brief dalliances with colourful puffins, and with black and white head portraits this summer, but at this stage, I think I would have to have a lot more practice at getting the shots right before I could begin to think about making them my own.   Similarly with Street and Travel photography, my other big passions; I'm still learning how to take the shots and find the moments, so making them personal will take some time.

I will comment on the reading material from my tutor as I read them.