Post-Tutorial Major Project Blues

Vanishing Coast - Images by Michael Barrientos

After our group tutorial with Mr. Easterby, I took his very simple advice in my editing dilemma: "make prints." It was a simple idea that I practiced daily for years, but one that somehow forgot all this time in computerland. I made small prints of my project and have been laying them out in various layouts or in my gallery set-up. I've been able to eliminate quite a few and clarify what I want to say.

Two aspect of this process that have been difficult beyond the several pending deadlines I have (printing, catalogue printing, and our final deadlines for the major project) are editing with individuals getting different verdicts and the absence of many people to work with in making a final decision. In my newspaper years, when I was presenting my own work or projects as a photographer, I ran it by several people in both group editing sessions or intimate one-on-one situations. As it went up the line different people got to hear the pitch and see the work. It sharpened you. As an editor, much the same type of situation existed with me as the advocate taking the work down the line.

This lack of layers of editors has been something in my process that has been a struggle. As I've noted before on several occassions, I'm not the greatest editor of my own work.

I'm still milling these picture over and 'living with them a while' even though I'm "sick of them" as John so rightly put it. I have to produce an exhibition catalogue and a poster for printing this week and start having my actual prints made by a printer in South Africa. I'm feeling more confident in what I've narrowed down to.

In my exhibition, I plan to display my photos in a linear fashion by going in geographical order in the areas of the 10 kilometer strip of coast it was taken. Last month, I hired folk artists to build a 3-dimensional map of the Marginal which I will display along with my photos in order to give viewers an idea of where various activities take place. I also plan to run a loop of recorded sound that I have recorded.