.. Long, Lost, Liz ..

St. Patrick's Parade, Dublin

Liz (centre) with her friends and flatmates Steph and Marie

I know that it has been awhile since I have written a

journal entry, but the past two weeks have been rather

eventful – and not all to do with my studies. Firstly though,

I will update you one how my studies have been going.

.
Last week, practical wise, I had a refresher in the technical

side of photography. Claire, the photography lecturer,

spent the afternoon with me showing me how to set up

professional lighting, to do a meter, how to do effects with

brollies, etc. It was a very interesting afternoon, and

allowed me to think more about the technical aspects

of how to achieve my practical goals. At the moment,

with reference to my theory, I feel that using photography

as a documenting process for my ideas is the

way to pursue my prac ideas.

.
In regards to theory, I had another meeting with

Griselda, and discussion was raised in consideration to

the fine line drawn between identity and subjectivity. In the

Collins Online Dictionary, identity means – ‘the state of

having unique identifying characteristics held by no

other person or thing’, or ‘the individual characteristics

by which a person or thing is recognized’, whilst subject

(in reference to a person) means – ‘that which thinks

or feels as opposed to the object of thinking and feeling;

the self or the mind’, or ‘a substance as opposed to

it’s attributes’. Within my own research I view identity

as that with which I am labeled socially, such as woman,

white, disabled, short, etc; the subject, however, I

consider as being my self, my inside, the experience of

my embodiment. It is through subjectivity that artists

such as Hannah Wilke, Jo Spence, Mary Duffy and Alison

Lapper have managed to express the experiences

of their embodiment, the attempted destruction

of the object by becoming the subject.

.
I plan to begin writing my dissertation proposal these

holidays, as I am writing it I intend to contribute

more diary entries, in an attempt to draw discussion

into my work, please feel free to comment on

my research – I am curious as to what other

people think on the subject.

.
Now, onto the reason my journal entries have

not been frequent. I have gone into holiday mode

this past week and that included a weekend away

to Dublin, Ireland. I got to see the St. Patrick’s

Day Parade in Dublin, which was so much fun,

and of course, drink way to much Guinness. I

would recommend everyone go to Dublin – it is my

new favorite city. Whilst there I was also privileged

to see The Book of Kells, which is housed in Trinity

College, it was fascinating to see; the detail in

the illustrations and the neatness of the writing and

the age of the book gave me goose bumps. I am back

in Leeds now, and unfortunately am paying for

my all night Guinness binge, because I am

suffering from a cold. So lots of sleeping at the

moment and not much work done, Dublin

was worth every second though.

Liz