Yesterday I had a tutorial about my progress with Littlestone Wood and of how to progress further with the project.

The deadpan aesthetic will feature strongly in the project. After visiting Hammer Forest and then returning to Littlestone Wood and then experimenting with the DSLR on the aesthetic showed what was possible. The end result of the discussion is to produce 5 large format images of LSW but as self portraits. The idea being, after visiting the monastery the work is very much about finding that “quiet space” that we all need to reflect and, basically, to meditate. With this in mind, LSW has become that place for me now, it is somewhere that is familiar and a place that I feel connected to. Consequently it will be good to produce a series of self portraits that will show that connection to the place, but to make these photographs with me being small in the frame, as it’s more about the place than myself. An image that springs to mind is Alec Soth’s photograph of the monk in the forest, pictured above. It will be about that sense of solitude, a place to retreat to, to be able to reflect.

These images will need to be shot on large format because the extra detail that this particular format offers is unrivalled and adds an extra level of denotation. Also, the large format will need to be colour rather than B&W, which will add to the realism of the image whereas B&W could distract and add a level of unwanted connotation. I will also need to decide of where these 5 photographs will be taken within LSW. One can be up in the north end surrounded by the hazel trees, another in the southern part near the uprooted tree. A third can be on the western entrance but as to the location of the other two I am unsure.

As well as producing the photographs, I will also be making either one film or a series of films about the place. Currently I am thinking along the lines of just a single film with about 5 scenes that are of the places where the self portraits were taken. The thinking about making a film and the photographs is to make the end result more immersive. The film will add a sense of the place, there will be the sounds of the forest and the trees swaying in the wind, and the still images will provide a more contemplative element to the end product.

So, I am going to visit LSW tomorrow morning. They forecast a clear sunny day which could make LSW look more stark, but at least it is not going to be raining and blowing a gale! I have also acquired a photobook by Thomas Struth, which is proving to be inspirational and I’ve also been pointed in the direction of reading Gerry Badger The Pleasure of Good Photographs, which has a chapter on The Quiet Photographer.