This experience has enlightened and educated me about a place that I am vividly familiar with versus a location that I have never been to. It is a really an uplifting experience that adds on to the practice of introspection and noticing. 

While I have focused on tiny little aspects that go unnoticed in Brunswick, it is also important to also see the overviewing aspects of the place to truly capture what one would expect when visiting the town. I have never been to Brunswick so these images were taken from a fresh set of eyes and perspective; it is important to see any location with this type of mindset and point of view. This newly-found skill can definitely be applied to future projects and upcoming assessment tasks for Seeing the Unseen. 

In terms of making media, I would like to further refine these skills by practicing this type of noticing – this also includes the consideration of the angles, lighting, composition and so much more aspects that come with photography, filmmaking and media-making in general. By applying this type of perspective that was attained from my experience in this task, I hope to become a type of media-maker where I can immerse my audience in my perspective.

~ Queries and Questions ~ 

1. How can I further expand this new perspective that I have gained?
2. How can I use this skill to improve my artistry and use of the camera?

These are some of the questions that I have been pondering about before and whilst undergoing this task – within this studio, I would like those questions to be my form of motivation and my progression as a media maker this semester.

Lyreca.

What are the differences and similarities between what you expected to notice and what you recorded? 

Previously mentioned in my prompt post, my expectations of Brunswick were mostly of cafés and eateries that catered to the brunch culture in Melbourne. However, reflecting upon on the photos, it was clearly not the case. My photos seldom had any images of food, let alone cafès and eateries. It consisted of close-up shots of the objects and mainly bits of pieces of Brunswick:

An example of Brunswick’s little bits and pieces were these fabrics from the fabric shop. I was taken aback to come across shops like these. My expectations of Brunswick were of a modern image with newly-opened restaurants but in reality, it was an old town that widely contained run-down shops (this is not necessarily a bad thing), opportunity shops and so much more. It was like any other old suburb I visited, suburbs such as Niddrie, Fitzroy, Northcote, etc. It definitely had the atmosphere of an old, Victorian style town. That was the difference in my observation of Brunswick – what I expected to notice beforehand.

On the other hand, the similarities between my expectations of what I was going to notice versus what I was going to I recorded was very little – as I previously said, my expectations of noticing were going to be of cafès and eateries, however, I did not record anything that involved a cafè or better yet, anything brunch related. The only thing I can mention about the similarity that coincided between my expectations and what I recorded was capturing the culture of Brunswick – it was really the little details that encapsulated and therefore, fulfilled my aim of my expectations with my recordings.

Moving on, Lizzie’s form of recording versus mine was very different, proving the versatility of our ability to notice. We did not discuss how we would notice and record with a certain style except for what kind of tools we would use to notice. Thus, this resulted in both unique forms of noticing; Lizzie had aimed to notice Hosier Lane from one perspective of the location whilst everything around her changes.

(Courtesy of Lizzie’s noticing post)

On the other hand, I had decided to walk around a small area of Brunswick and capture whatever caught my attention. This was also proven in out videos – Lizzie wanted to highlight the traffic of people that were coming in and out of Hosier Lane, while I recorded places and objects that were unmoving and unapparent to the people around what I noticed (except for one of the footage with the woman walking her dog). This both displays our different ways of noticing and interacting the environment around us. Our collaboration helped us both see our places in a new perspective, broadening our capacity to be introspective.

In relation to the Bogost reading, I based it on Bogost’s theory on photography – he describes photography as “commonplace” that some or most media makers ignore its practicality. I agree with Bogost in this statement, seemingly as we sometimes want to photograph for artificial purposes. I believe that this project has led me to understand what Bogost was saying, and that we should not take the power of photography for granted. It presents so many dynamics and complexities that we have yet to understand about the world – it helps us see what cannot be seen by the naked eye. I previously would not have gone to the lengths of recording what I recorded in Brunswick but after this experience and Bogost’s reading, I will do more of it from now on.

At the same time, Patrick Pound’s exhibition can be partially acknowledged for the production of these images and videos. His hobby/work to collect has inspired me to be more aware of what was going on around Brunswick and the world in general. Each individual and item has so much character and story to tell in his exhibition that I wanted to capture what Brunswick had to offer.

Overall, my work has highly been influenced by Bogost’s take on photography and Pound’s extensive range of collection of various things. This has shaped the result of my work and has provided Lizzie and I a different perspective of Brunswick.

Lyreca.

Lizzie and I have decided to notice our locations based on the time limit and formula of 10 pictures in 10 minutes (thus, 1 image per minute) and a 10-second video of the chosen location.

In my mind, I knew this task was definitely going to be related to the Bogost reading where he describes ontography in great detail – “Ontography is an aesthetic set theory, in which a particular configuration is celebrated merely on the basis of its existence” (Bogost, 2012). In relation to noticing, ontography plays a crucial part especially in the collection of our thoughts and what we immediately notice. In this case, what we notice in the location chosen for us – Lizzie chose Brunswick as my area of noticing/observation.

I thought it would be a good idea to use this reading as a starting point and preparation for the task because of the reading’s segment of “Visual Ontographs” – Bogost, first of all, discusses the ontography in its simplest form – lists. He then implements its simplicity onto a different medium that is, photographs. This is highly relevant and helpful to our process of collection mainly because Lizzie and I will be utilising visuals as part of our task of noticing.

The process invites the artist to see the scene to be captured separately from the way the camera will see it.

Meanwhile, I ponder about Brunswick and its unique culture and wonder what it has in place for me to explore – having no experience with Brunswick, I was preparing myself to see this suburb of Melbourne and also set myself up some expectations. Here is a chat between Lizzie and myself, explaining to her some the assumptions I had about Brunswick, after exploring the area. I also included my conclusion of the place and how it proved me wrong about some of my earlier assumptions.

My speculations about Brunswick, without any research, was the thriving brunch culture. Both Instagram and word of mouth from friends showcased what Brunswick had to offer in terms of the foodie culture. However, I was taken aback with the other aspects once I arrived – that shall be explained in my reflection post. Overall, Bogost’s posts and our time limit to record the media assisted in the process of noticing our chosen locations.

Lyreca.

Whilst playing back the pieces of media I have collected, there is a reoccurring theme that I have noticed within the photos. Rather than an obvious ‘element’ within these pictures, it is the style of the photographs, the way they were taken that has a similar effect happening throughout these images. If it was not obvious already, the close-up shots are the similarities and are what connects these images from one another – I really wanted to capture the feel and culture of Brunswick and by utilising the power of a close-up, this has been achieved. A great example is the image of the telephone booth, more so the close-up of the phone’s buttons. I decided to pay particular attention to this “ancient artefact” due to the lack of attention it receives in this day and age. As smart phone users, we are all so absorbed in its convenience that we barely acknowledge the existence of a telephone booth. In relation to the town of Brunswick, I thought this dated piece of item would be a perfect fit to Brunswick’s culture – old-fashioned and nostalgic with a somewhat vintage twist. Of course, there are also medium and long shots (the tram, the mural on the brick wall and the historical building) in the series of my photos in order to get a better view of the overall location.

The following image depicts my on-the-spot analysis of my own collection as I showed my group mate, Lizzie my photos and video of Brunswick;

(Please click the photo to see it in a higher resolution)

On the bottom half of my notes, I point out the colours, shapes and texture that one usually would not notice on a normal day. I really made it a point to get the little bits of pieces in the town of Brunswick to get an overall feel and experience of this part of Melbourne that I have never been to. In a way, I am showing the audience more of the unnoticed details rather than the other aspects that are easily noticed.

My Location – Hosier Lane 

An aspect that I had not noticed but Lizzie focused on was the traffic of people coming in and out of Hosier Lane. We clearly both had different intentions when it came to visiting the graffiti lane – I would come in with an intent to photograph artworks and pose with the graffiti/artworks whilst Lizzie came in the lane with the purpose to photograph and deliberately notice what was going on within the location. Here is a list that Lizzie had noticed during her moments of ‘unfamiliar noticing’:

• The lane accommodated to both tourists and the locals, these groups were usually families
• The artworks and mural, of course – the detailing of the street art and how it constantly changes in comparison to the previous time Lizzie visited Hosier Lane.
• Restaurants and cafés

I would say that we both had a similar experience with Hosier Lane, relating to the artwork, restaurant and cafes. Otherwise, it was really about the people that Lizzie had focused on, people from all different backgrounds especially tourists and also families that were interested in Melbourne’s hotspots. With such a small location, there is so little that you can notice within the area, especially in a place both well-known to the locals and the tourists.

Lyreca.