Free Day Sunday 25th March 2012 The Commission Critical Appraisal

Abandoned bunkers in the countryside, the silent witnesses of war.

An Exhibition

Final images

Exhibition Layout

The starting point for this project was a close examination of the brief, and the key words “produced in the local Medway area” I initially started to physically search the local area and the internet simultaneously for background information, not wanting to firm up an idea until I understood the area more. This led to some research on local military waste as an area of interest, which started off with a WW1 Submarine hulk in the Medway in the Hoo area, which in turn lead to further research on that specific area. I knew the sub wreck was impossible to photograph without a boat, but several forts in the area were accessible.  At this time (15^th February) we were paired up randomly and I got Edvardas Poska who was tasked by myself to look at “military detritus and abandoned forts and facilities” as my research partner. I noted Medway’s industrial history and its military history and took some further test shots on these areas of interest. By chance Edvardius’s previous Environment project turned out to be on military facilities (mostly on the South Coast), so his research was outstanding and pointed me in the direction of the work of Paul Virilio, English photography Jonathan Andrew and Erasmus Schroter.

So I looked inland and started to research Cliff fort and the Isle of Grain tower and dummy battery. A field trip to the Grain area lead me to recall my childhood experiences of WWII bunkers in the area, and I soon decided upon them as the subject matter for my project.

I was advised to look at Jane and Louise Wilsons ‘Sealender’, Erasmus Schroter bunker images and Tacita Deans ‘Sound Mirrors’ (and Jonathan Andrew also via Edvardas research).

Jane and Louise Wilsons ‘Sealender’ 

Jane and Louise Wilsons ‘Sealender’ 

Erasmus Schroter 

Tacita Deans ‘Sound Mirrors’. 

Jonathan Andrew http://www.jonathanandrewphotography.com/#mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=0&p=1&a=0&at=0

Jonathan Andrew  http://www.jonathanandrewphotography.com/#mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=0&p=1&a=0&at=0   

I have also independently researched John Becks writing of Bunkers (http://culturalpolitics.dukejournals.org/content/7/1/79.full) (John Beck teaches modern literature at Newcastle University).

I looked at the work Uta Kögelsberger  who has photographed German bunkers build in WWII http://www.utakogelsberger.com/work/bunker/index.htm

Uta Kögelsberger 

Uta Kögelsberger 

Also I viewed the work of Magdalena Jetelová who also photographs German bunkers from WWII, but who produces B&W images with text across the actual structures. http://www.jetelova.de/projects/atlanticwall/modul.html

Magdalena Jetelová 

Magdalena Jetelová 

Technical information relating to type and use of the facilities came from The book on Pillboxes I acquired.

My method of delivery will be an exhibition with the concept being thus; Galley space which you enter the door that leads to an enclosed corridor that replicates a concrete corridor. This takes you into a confined space with gravel on the floor (bunkers in the UK frequently have no concrete floors). This internal space would represent the inside of a decaying bunker complete with vision slits through which you would view the work. I have selected six images to enable the even spacing of the vision slits, the images would be very large (so the viewer is required to . The space would be dark and confined the images would be lit and mounted facing the slit. The viewer would engage with the experience of abandonment, the act of viewing the structures from an unfamiliar point of view. Engaging in the act of observation via the vision/gun slit and seeing the countryside as a space which has been marked by the threat of conflict, highlighting issues on heritage, conflict and waste, and the traces that still remain from this global conflict on our local environment. With regards references I took a more subtle and soft approach to shooting the structures, most (but not all) of the references concentrate on the mammoth imposing German bunkers on mainland Europe. The British structures are much smaller and I shot both close up and images further away, the latter seemed to work better at expressing the way these structures slowly slip into obscurity. This decision was an editorial one after the shoots and if it had been made up front I would have found the project easier in regards to artistic direction. Also the method of delivery to the audience wasn't decided fully until after the Lectures that related to this area of the project, had I been 100% sure of my delivery technique I suspect this would have made the image making process easier.




Dear All, posted previously and as a polite reminder for the Commission Unit, please hand-in the following, to the Faculty Office, Rm 401 on the ground floor, between 11am and 1pm.

The deliverables are as follows:

1. Your set of IMAGES, a minimum of 3 Prints. Please ensure the work is handed in either a print-box, or hard backed envelope. Do clearly labelled with your full name.  Task Complete

2. A PowerPoint on a labelled, CDR with the following the guidelines:  Task Complete
- Project Title & Name
- Preferred Output option: Newspaper, Fashion Publication, Exhibition
- Concept (The outline must be no more than 3 sentences)
- The images must be scanned in and be no larger than 1Mb each. Using Photoshop open the image. Go to ‘Image Size’ in the ‘Image’ menu and in the ‘Document Size’ boxes, changed the ‘Height’ to 7″ (inches). Change the resolution to no more than 96dpi. Then import the images into PowerPoint.