My photographic research intends to locate and document signs of climate change within the landscape of Pevensey Levels. This is significant in that within the relatively temperate climate of South East England, the phenomenon of climate change does not initially seem to be noticeable to the human eye. The project aims to integrate theory and practice in order to generate a reciprocal dialogue between the two endeavours. The photographic fieldwork has informed my choices of theoretical texts and I have then analysed these in order to further consider the notion of climate change visibility. In turn, the theoretical framework has informed the photographic practice by creating the focus of my visual investigations within the landscape. These concepts include the notion of the landscape as a cultural signifier, phenomenology and perception, geomorphology and the idea of a photographic archaeology of the landscape, narrative, mnemonics, and indexicality. The photographic practice reveals how the landscape is managed and controlled to mitigate climate change. The marshland is drained with the use of pumping stations, sluice gates and networks of waterways. Water channels are enlarged to increase their capacity in order to prevent flooding. These act as conduits to channel excess ground water to outfall pipes at the seafront. Barriers such as shingle beaches are maintained as a consequence of rising sea levels and winter storms. There are five chapters in the thesis. Chapter One considers the landscape of Pevensey Levels: its geology, geography, history, occupants, management agencies, and character of the land. Chapter Two explores the issues around the phenomenon of climate change and in what ways it might be perceived and represented. Chapter Three presents the context of landscape photography and some photographic representations of climate change, and I have situated my own photographic enquiries in relation to these examples. Chapter Four outlines the concepts that contextualise my photographic practice. Chapter Five considers examples of the photographic images in terms of their narrative and the ways in which climate change is indexed. The research finds that it is possible to photographically document the presence of climate change, and concludes that its visibility is situated in three characteristics. First, in the control and management of the landscape, which results from scientific research on climate change. Then, in the intensive utilisation of the land, which consequently causes water and air pollution. This hinders recovery from the effects of climate change. Finally, plants respond to fluctuations in temperature and rainfall, which causes abnormalities in their growth patterns. The research shows that photography's ability to index and act as a mnemonic device aids the search for phenomena of climate change. Furthermore, documenting these phenomena photographically can intensify the spectator's perceptions of the landscape. The culmination of the practical element of the research is a collection of 97 landscape photographs presented on CD Rom. 51 of these photographs have been selected for inclusion in a prototype photobook (Appendix 15), in a limited edition of ten. The photographs are grouped according to their attributes related to climate change in the landscape under four general headings: Mechanism, Flux, Damage and Regeneration, each of which has sub-headings. This provides the narrative structure for the body of photographic work. The photographs are annotated with their place names, OS Grid Reference and short description. This information has relevance for future observations and photographic research at Pevensey Levels. The title for the book and the portfolio of original colour photographs is Unveiling Climate Change At Pevensey Levels. A portfolio of fifteen original photographic C-Type prints, size 16 x 20 inches, has also been produced (see Appendix 14).

In this research dissertation I argue that Pieter Hugo's body of work titled Rwanda 2004: Vestiges of a genocide (2004) can be read according to notions of the sublime, in particular those of terror and the unpresentable. I begin in chapter one by tracing within the discourse of the sublime themes of terror and the manner in which certain sociopolitical events can be understood as sublime instances of terror. The essentially unpresentable nature of such occurrences is another important concern. As my focus is on the aesthetic produce of a visual artist in regards to such sublime notions, I make reference to various other relevant artworks and appropriate art theory. In chapter two I argue the case for the Rwandan Genocide as a sublime political event, an instance of incommensurable terror. In an examination of Hugo's Rwanda 2004: Vestiges of a genocide I outline the manner in which his work, as an aestheticization of such terror, thus embodies notions of the sublime. Via the facilitated experience of witness, I note the manner in which the art spectator, in response to such work, experiences something of the shock and horror associated with the sublime. As a contemporary artist, engaging with genocide in Rwanda, I am careful to posit Hugo's work within the appropriate context of the postcolonial, as well as (in regards to sublime theory) the postmodern. Chapter three examines a personal body of work, Murder on 7th (2009) – an investigation into the neurosis generated by the pervasive influence of violent crime in South Africa. Having already argued the case for the sublime political event, I propose for consideration certain social disorders like violent crime, as well as HIV/Aids, as social incursions capable of precipitating the sublimity of terror

At the state fair, everything comes in candy colors, everything is bright, shining, blinking, glowing, popping, chirping, everyone wins! Even the carnies, dried and brown and tired, push shy teenagers towards each other like smoke-stained Cupids. Why don't you win that pretty girl a rose? How can you help but smile? Laugh? Spin and shriek on the rides, get your hands and face sticky with funnel cake and giant hot dogs and win your girl a prize? The fair is its own world, designed and built to please. But what happens when it isn't being enjoyed? When all its color and flash fail?

Through acts of preservation my work deals with perceptions of identity and tradition within family structures while also addressing our expectations of photography and the ways in which it fails. Photographs continually promise what they cannot deliver. They are a physical object denoting the possibility of an infinite existence yet represents how ephemeral these experiences and we are. They represent our memories, good or bad, without empathy, serving as hatch marks on our lives, forcing us to always look backwards for the answers. With a slight sorrow, we reflect on past realities of ex lovers, relatives, vacations, and all of the other moments we deemed worthy enough of documenting. We build catalogues of our lives, which become seas of anonymity for future generations. This work is about the failure in our perceptions of infinity and the medium we've come to rely so heavily on to represent us as once being present. Through photographs, film, and performances of familial traditions I examine relations of these acts and places to a sense of existence, creating a language of self-reference to map the past.

No description available.

archives@tulane.edu / 1 / Allison Beondé

Kristina E. Knipe

A place exists where memories and daydreams are allowed to mingle. This place is safe. Away from judgmental eyes. Away from outside influences. This place is safe. Free from the constraints of time and obligation. This place is safe. Attach yourself to this small corner of the world. This is your space, claim this space, for This place is safe.

Ever since the camera was invented people have been using it as a tool to reflect and record the world around them. Photographic images have great potential to investigate different social practices and phenomena in the world. Photography, in its own right, is an extremely large area of study. Despite its relatively short history, photography has undergone a broad and complex evolution since it was invented in 1840. This paper does not aim to cover the comprehensive history of the development of photography in its many facets, it aims however to concentrate on a specific area of what has come to be termed visual sociology and the potential of the still photographic image as a primary tool within the field. Visual sociology is a marginal, experimental area of sociology, it is a field which has not been given due consideration by many sociologists due to its unscientific nature and one which remains unfamiliar to many social documentary photographers. This paper traces the history of visual sociology and explores its roots and links with social documentary photography. It explores the established methods of visual data collection that are utilised within the field of visual sociology. It also explores a further sub-discipline, urban sociology and the role of the image in investigation of urban phenomena. The resulting practical component of this research is an extensive urban photographic investigation shot over the period of one month in the city of Tokyo. The resulting series of images exist as a type of photographic visual map of ‘city creatures’ ubiquitous in the urban environment. The series aims to constitute as a visual, cultural survey about an aspect of social life within the Japanese urban context.

Passing Through, an installation of photography, encourages the nature of memory through an engagement with the materiality of photographic images. Considering memory as an ephemeral phenomenon, I am interested in exploring the emotional and psychological affects that images have on the body and mind. Strategies of collecting and tracing are employed as a means of forming connections between people, places, materials, objects, and images. Recounting personal history, storytelling and participating in the immediate present, I actively seek out images as a means for re-experiencing memory. Triggers reveal themselves during the collection and deconstruction of both personal and found photographic material. Re-assembling this information produces an archive consisting of real and re-imagined fragments of spaces and narratives. Together, these processes produce a body of work that considers the image as an experiential entity that is inherently memory based; triggering memory to create an emotive response in the viewer.