Ian's Peer Review

As I started to go through Ian’s presentation, from the first slides I wasn’t sure what the subject of his work was. I think starting with a title or a feeling would have been a better way to introduce what the subject is going to be about. The mood-board seems to be made of the photos taken for the project itself which is a bit unusual since the mood-board is something generally done prior to the project itself.

The slide after was a bit confusing, since I couldn’t tell whether it was inspiration or the photos taken for the project, I agree with the text in the slide, there was a conflict of emotions, the images do give sense of nostalgia especially with the lighting of the golden hour. He seems to be suggesting that the unfamiliarity of the place was reminding him of another location familiar to him, I guess referencing memory through the images which consequently add up to the context of nostalgia, thus making the photos effective in their intended purpose.

For some reason the photos which inspired him were presented half way between the photos he was presenting for the project. This was a bit confusing to make sense of, at times. From the inspiration photos he presented I could tell what he had in mind I understood that he was inspired by the aesthetics of the film Narnia, however they were not representative of what he achieved finally.

Overall the photos presented were not bad, the ones with the paths could have been edited a little to make them look more cinematic like the movie Narnia, since they were looking a little flat. To me the most interesting photos were the ones with the branches they really gave me a feeling of being trapped and anxious, the crowded frames of the photos with the branches going in different directions makes the viewer feel uncomfortable.  I would have probably explained them in different ways however. I think the branches being dry represent death more than they do anger and low spirits in my opinion, nevertheless they do give a feeling of confusion, and anxiety. The final image is quite serene in contrast to the prior ones and is accompanied by a quote from Carl Jung which roughly says that he who looks inside, awakes. This I think reflects the image very well, which maybe is representing a moment before sunrise, a new dawn or reawakening.

I think the ideas should have been delivered better and in a sequence that is more linear, to make the theme of the project clearer and easier for the audience to take in. I also think that the different images have little connection with each other and make for a difficult narrative to follow.  I would choose one or two elements of the human psyche and focus on them instead of generalising on many. And I would explain the reasons for the colours used and why you chose certain subjects to reflect the feelings mentioned.