18/9/14

In this workshop, we worked on the structure of reviews, and how to write them. This involves the fact that all reviews have a beginning, middle and end. We identified these sections, and identified the opinions, in two reviews, one of Dorothea Tanning: Web of Dreams written by Freire Barnes and one of Late Turner: Painting Set Free by Chris Waywell.

We then watched a few short videos, giving feedback on them. One was about Richard Mosse and his exhibition 'The Enclave'. This is my written review after seeing the video and a few of his images.

Richard Mosse, an Irish photographer, uses a discontinued military surveillance film, to create the works we see as 'The Enclave'. The first things that hits you when you see these images is the blast of pink, being picked up on the film being used, which registers an invisible spectrum of infra-red light. You look at it as if it is a beautiful landscape, altered to create the colours you see. However, you then realise the true subject of the images, the rebels of the Congo, going through an 'invisible', ongoing battle. The images then become hard-hitting, seeing the faces of these soldiers, almost as if they are staring right at you in some images, through the camera lens. Although you can see the strength and aggressiveness in the poses and faces of these men, you can feel a sense of vulnerability coming from behind it. With the use of the film, previously used in military warfare, that reveals this invisible light, to reveal the warfare that is going on now, unbeknownst to us, is what I find as a really interesting point, and has been worked together in a really clever fashion. This collection of images is a reveal of such a horrible subject, presented in a beautiful way.