Contextual Practices

Task:

Map your own practice using the models of contextual practices.

Click here to see an example of how I map my own practice against models of contextual practice.

Alternatives:

To see this in PowerPoint click here

To see this in html click here

Reflect upon how this mapping helps you to locate the co-ordinates of your work. Indicate what you see to be the value and limitations of this framework.

This exercise has been useful. It is easy to think we know where we are as practitioners; we have a vague, ill-defined notion of what we like, what we do and maybe even why we do it, but a mapping tool facilitates marshalling these thoughts and beliefs into a more formal and coherent structure.

The task of mapping my own practice against models of contextual practice cannot be viewed in isolation: it is inextricably entwined with the Mapping the Territory exercise. Between the two, I have just about covered my personal and professional life as a photographer, and I feel now that I am in a position to make progress beyond this well-defined base and tread a less well-documented path.

I used mind-mapping software to complete this task, something I do as a matter of course in my professional life as an effective way of planning.

In order to do this activity, I used the framework of contexts suggested in the core unit presentation (Formal, Social, Political etc.) The value of this type of framework lies in its (flexible) compartmentalisation. The headings help one to focus on specific elements of practice, but they are in no way restrictive in that one can add, remove and amend the categories as appropriate. Using a mind-mapping program aids this process enormously as it lends the power and flexibility of graphical software to the thought-marshalling process.

Looking at the map, I can see that, whilst photography in general can be located in many or all of the contexts I considered, my core photographic interests and activities sit most happily in cultural/social domains. I am at heart a people photographer, and as such it is inevitable that my work is affected by the culture, ethics, mores and aspirations of my own social starting point and, where it differs, on the social context in which I take my images.

Click here to see the map of my Photographic Territory which links closely to the contextual practice mapping exercise:

An example of someone else's parameters can be found here Detlev Fischer 2004