inadmissible evidence:new strategies for the photographic document

A project funded by the Art, Design and Communication Learning and Teaching Support Network (ADM Subject Centre) -

End of Project Report

Inadmissible Evidence was proposed by the Centre for Lens-Based Arts at Swansea Institute (CLASI) as one of the key activities celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Swansea School of Art & Design. Working in partnership with cultural industries nationally and internationally, CLASI aims to encourage and promote inter-disciplinary research projects (theory and practice), which stimulate and progress research, innovation, and experimentation in established and emerging lens-based practices such as photography, time-based media, performed photography, digital imaging, and electronic arts. The Inadmissible Evidence project, supported by ADM Subject Centre's Learning and Teaching Project Fund, is the first of what we hope will be a bi-annual series of interdisciplinary forums in lens-based arts.

The aims and objectives of Inadmissible Evidence were:

to conduct an electronic questionnaire of HE institutions with an interest in the learning, teaching and assessment of the photograph as 'document' (practice and theory), seeking responses to contemporary strategies for the teaching, learning and assessment of documentary and photojournalistic photography in an increasingly fluid cultural context.
to convene a conference or forum to discuss issues highlighted and papers submitted as a follow up to the questionnaire that would identify examples of good practice which contribute to current debates on the notional hybridity of the photographic document, and pedagogic strategies for communicating these debates and their outcomes throughout the ADC community.
if possible (subject to internal funding) to follow up the forum with an edited publication and/or paper to disseminate the outcomes of the forum.
to construct a dedicated area of the CLASI web-site to initially disseminate the electronic questionnaire and to post summaries of the debates post conference.

Project Outcomes

Electronic questionnaire

This was the least successful part of the project with relatively few forms being returned. Following up on why this was the case it was clearly not through lack of interest or relevance but was due to the usual suspect - the sheer volume of administrative work that those of us in the ADC community are now forced to handle. The responses that were received were useful in informing the agenda for the forum, and revealed a consensus of opinion regarding the status of contemporary thinking on the photographic document, that the photographic document and the photograph as document (a subtle but crucial distinction discussed in a paper by contributing speaker lan Walker, writer and lecturer from Documentary Photography at University of Wales Newport), need to be considered as distinct and with their own cultural histories and agendas.

The Forum

This was the most successful part of the project and will undoubtedly yield the most useful outcomes in terms of dissemination. The academic year 2002/3 was an exceptional year for conferences on photography and it was generally agreed by those in the photographic community that what was needed was more of a discussion forum rather than another prestigious event with big name speakers and little, if any, time for relevant and in-depth discussion on issues that directly effect those of us actually engaged in the teaching, learning and assessment of photography in HE.

This view was supported by the members of the Association of Photography in Higher Education at their 2002 AGM hosted by the Swansea School of Art & Design in February. At the close of the conference the Inadmissible Evidence co-ordinator presented a brief paper outlining the aims and objectives of the project and seeking responses towards the form and content of the September 2003 conference. It was unanimously agreed that a discussion forum or symposium would be most appropriate. It was also agreed that delegates should attempt to keep papers and presentations short allowing plenty of time for questions and discussion, and that we focus the themes of the forum around issues of direct relevance to the ADM Subject Centre photographic community.

Key Activities

The forum was the key activity of the project and took place on the 15/1 6th of September with 35 delegates attending, 8 of which gave papers or presented visual case studies. The speakers were as follows:

Helen James
Project manager for education at Photo-Works Brighton. Helen has previously worked across photography as a practitioner and educator at various gallery's and photographic associations. Her presentation was based on her current PhD research at the LCP, into the public agenda for photography from 1968-2001.

Kate Newton
Director of IRIS, International Center for Women in Photography, Staffordshire University. Kate presented a fascinating case study of the Ta(l)king Pictures -Thinking Through Photographs project. An IRIS and Sapere (Society for the Advancement of Philosophical Enquiry and Reflection in Education) collaboration bringing photography and philosophy to education to stimulate debate surrounding how photographic images are 'read' and the belief of the authenticity of the image.

Paul Jeff
Head of the MA arts program at the Swansea School of Art and Design. Paul introduced his latest collaboration with Teresa Dillon as photographic interrogators Paul & Paula . Created recently for the international 'Practice as Research in Performance' conference at Bristol University, the Madeleine Project looks at the elusive quality of translation in the wider context of how practice translates into research and is subsequently translated into pedagogy.

Jason Shenai
Head of Millennium Images in London, and lecturer at Westminster University photography department. In a world where the boundaries between the different genres of photography have become increasingly blurred are we still preoccupied with documentary and the real? Jason explored the ongoing relationship between book jackets and photographs and in particular how in this medium fiction and photography fuse.

Andrea Liggins
Dean of the Swansea School of Art and Design, Andrea used three case studies to explore the notion of the photographer as 'enabler', questioning the position of power and viewpoint of the images which has be transposed in each case study from surveyor to surveyed.

Ian Walker
Photographer, writer and Head of MA Documentary Photography at University of Wales College Newport. Ian's paper was entitled 'Documentary photography or the photographic document?' and examined the different connotations of the two terms 'document' and 'documentary', their histories and contemporary use.

Greg Lucas
Greg is a photographic lecturer at DeMontfort University and is well known for his ironic and humorous photographic meditations on photography, story telling and rock climbing. His photographic meditations effortlessly fuse photographic fiction and fable as he obliquely questions the notion of documentary truth and subjective narrative.

Sylvie Prasad
Sylvie is a Photographer & Lecturer in Media Production at the School of Cultural and Innovation Studies University of East London. Sylvie presented an analysis of her own cultural practice via a case study which examines two photographic works in relation to the construction of reality in the documentary form. 'Llamedos,' a community project on a Macclesfield housing estate looks at public expressions of individuality within the historical specificity of the 1981 governments' right-to-buy housing policy. After a fifteen-year gap, the second project - a work-in-progress - returns to the estate to document the changes. The two studies offer a point of reflection on the mode of documentary as a form and the ethical considerations and codes of practice operating in representing the'real'.

The event was programmed to allow maximum time for discussion and, indeed, the discussions were provocative and lively and demonstrated the need for this kind of forum to happen more frequently and for the debates to be more widely disseminated.

Learning & Teaching Implications

The conference brought together peer practitioners, lecturers, curators, and students, with an interest in the teaching, learning and assessment of the genres of photojournalism and documentary photography. The term documentary was used in its broadest contemporary context.

The conference considered how to research, develop, and progress emerging strategies for the photographic document, and how the practising of theory and the theorising of practice are implicit to a broader understanding of photography in general and the documentary genre in particular.

By researching and questioning a wide range of different approaches and philosophies for practising and theorising documentary photography, it's possible to identify examples of good practice from courses with different, and at times, competing educational and philosophical strategies, and to disseminate these practices within the ADC community and beyond. Over the past decade, photographic theory has radically transformed practice to the extent that in some areas the two are now inter-dependent. The project questioned if the locus of learning has shifted, and if so, do we need to bring theory and practice closer together on a student learning level, thus reflecting the increasingly multi-disciplinary nature of post-modern art and design?

There is a danger that in constantly theorising and re-inventing the documentary genre, we will diminish the (contestable) authority of the photographic document, ignoring (possibly at our peril), the very real complexity and emotional power of a photographically mediated world. With this in mind the project also considered emerging practices and teaching strategies that address this complexity, such as photographic meta-textuality and the performativity of the photographic act. The issue of how best to assess the photographer as subjective 'enabler' was also addressed by several of the forum participants.

It was a specific aim of the conference to allow ample time for discussion of the issues raised through open discussion forums, however, it was clear to everyone who took part in this project that there is simply not enough time available to do justice to the issues raised, and that there is a need for more projects of this kind on a more regular basis.

One of the most positive outcomes of the forum, and of the project overall, has been the decision by the APHE to continue the work begun by this project by holding more frequent APHE meetings and by including time for pedagogic (rather than purely administrative) issues and developments. The APHE chair and the Inadmissible Evidence coordinator also agreed to work together with the APHE/ADC community to try and raise funds to secure a dedicated and regularly maintained web-site to disseminate the issues raised at the forum and subsequent debates. For the present we will use the JISC mail service and the CLASI Inadmissible Evidence web-site as a temporary means of electronic communication.

Dissemination Plans

The web-site was the chief means of communication and dissemination of the project. We are now in the process of updating the site post-conference with examples of the papers presented (illustrated where possible) and with the new links built in to the APHE and JISC mail. Further dissemination will be in the form of attendance at the February 2004 ADM Subject Centre Scholarship Shared conference, the ADM Subject Centre web-site and, (subject to funding) an edited follow-up publication to include a range of illustrated essays from the forum speakers.

The web-site is currently under construction will should be updated and ready for access by the end of October. The link is www.sihe.ac.uk/clasi

Proiect Overview

Inadmissible Evidence: New Strategies for the Photographic Document project, supported by ADM Subject Centre's Learning and Teaching Project Fund, was the first of what we hope will be a bi-annual series of interdisciplinary forums in lens-based arts. The project consisted of an electronic survey of HE institutions with an interest in the photographic document (practice and theory), seeking responses to key research questions which investigate new strategies for teaching, learning and assessing the photograph as document, and identifying examples of good practice which reflect current debates on the notional hybridity of the photographic document. The forum took place on the 15/16th of September 2003 and brought together peer practitioners, lecturers, curators, and students, with an interest in the teaching, learning and assessment of the genres of photojournalism and documentary photography. The forum considered how to research, develop, and progress emerging strategies for the photographic document, and how the practising of theory and the theorising of practice are implicit to a broader understanding of photography in general and the documentary genre in particular.

There were 8 presentations, which ranged from the shifting public definition and agenda for photography from 1968-2001, to the different connotations of the two terms 'document' and 'documentary' (their histories and contemporary applications), to more philosophical debates regarding the reading and interpretation of representational veracity in project like the IRIS/SAPERE Ta(l)king Pictures project. The forum considered how alternative codes of practice operate when representing the 'real', and how these codes are translated and disseminated in relation to the often competing and contradictory practices within the teaching, learning and assessment of documentary photography. The majority of the delegates were members of the Association of Photography in Higher Education (APHE), and an outcome of the forum was the stated desire to follow the Inadmissible Evidence example by holding similar forums in association with the annual APHE meetings, and to utilise the JISC mail service and the CLASI web-site to disseminate and build on the findings of the forum until such time as a dedicated electronic forum for photographic pedagogy can be established.

End of Project Budget Summary

The following breakdown represents actual budget spending against original project projections. There are no discrepancies. £3,375.00

Replacement teaching costs = to £30 per hour (including 'on costs') for 45 weeks from September 02 - September 03.

Amount spent as above. £1 ,000

Web-site construction and update post conference. This amount was towards the web-site costs for internal SIHE construction and management. Amount spent as above.

Contact:

For further information on the project please contact Karen Ingham at the Centre for Lens Based Arts at Swansea Institute on 01792-481225 karen.ingham@sihe.ac.uk
Karen Ingham, project coordinator & Andrea Liggins, Dean of the School of Art & Design Swansea Institute of HE.