Gallery Vist: Roger Palmer 'Latitude'

I visited the PSL gallery in Leeds and saw Roger Palmer's exhibition entitled 'Latitude'. In 2008 and 2009 Roger Palmer travelled to the three continents which are situated within the southern hemisphere where the Tropic of Capricorn passes- Australia, Southern Africa and South America.

His intention was to develop a project where he could link these places through a constant approach to making photographs.

On each continent he arrived at an airport close to the tropic and then travelled by car for twelve days, crossing the Tropic of Capricorn at least once.

In the exhibition I saw a group of gelatin silver prints all focusing on Palmer's observations of cultural, climatic, and topographic details all found in the public domain.

Each triptych aspires to be both a group of related images and yet also a composition of individual pictures with are nevertheless components of a larger ensemble.

The photos are about the hopelessness of trying to represent places, all the photos look the same which is why Palmer hasn't bothered to label them. They are more about bringing different parts of the world into one location.

The projects title 'Latitude' suggests the connection between these places by their position in a zone of climatic division around the earth's circumference. The pictures are displayed for the first time in Leeds, which is located in the northern hemisphere. 'Latitude' therefore might suggest an exploratory open ended approach to photography for both the artist and the visitor.

There were also two videos shown on monitors in the exhibition, 'Canal' and 'Spring Water'. They were both filmed on the Leeds and Liverpool canal in the Armley district of Leeds. Palmer also made a sign work in-situ titled 'Botany Bay' which can still be seen on the canal roughly one kilometre from the PSL gallery. Through a static camera 'Canal' presents this sign as a reflection on the surface of the canal.

Whilst filming 'Canal' a plastic bottle drifted in and out of shot, this provided Palmer with an idea for a different piece of work, 'Spring Water'. In Australia Palmer picked up several items from the beach near where the British Colonists first landed at Botany Bay. One of these objects, a plastic bottle from Fiji, was later thrown into the canal by Palmer as a way of re-establishing a link between Botany Bay, New South Wales and a section of the Leeds and Liverpool canal.

I liked Palmer's work in the PSL gallery. His photographs were all shot in black and white making all the images look similar, like they were all taken in the same place. The images were grouped in threes on the walls as triptychs, and although you know that the photos were taken on three different continents you have to question yourself as they are not labelled, so it's unclear as to where each image was taken. I like the way Palmer has managed to create a link between these places via something as simple as photographs.

Action Plan

One of my current strengths and skills is being organised. I always keep my folders and notes organised, making things easier when it comes down to writing essays. I keep everything in folders which are clearly labelled, making finding notes easier and quicker. I have also never missed a deadline whether it’s for a simple weekend assignment or for a whole terms unit of work. I think this is down to the fact that I’m so organised.

Another one of my strengths is that I am always willing to try new things and to have a go. I will experiment with different photography techniques for example before I evaluate everything; this gives me more to write about and debate.

My main weakness is that I’m not very motivated, I can organise all my notes and work but I’m not very good at actually sitting down and writing an essay and putting everything together. I also need to improve on my written work, my vocabulary is very limited and I struggle to structure an essay properly. I think this is due to the fact that I don’t plan, I take my notes and jump straight into it without thinking about where I’m going to start or what the main point of my essay is.

I think to improve on these weaknesses I should make a study timetable, which should help to motivate me. I can look at it and think right I’m going to do one hour of revision, or spend 20 minutes writing the introduction to my essay, this should also help me organise my time even more. I need to also make a plan before I start writing an essay so I know what I’m going to write about and what I aim to prove in my essay. I should also look at examples of essays and how they are structured so that I get an idea of how to structure my own. I think I will also improve as my course goes on, and I write more and more essays.

I will know when I have improved simply by my grade, as my essay writing become clearer and more structured then I will be achieving better grades, and also I will find writing an essay a lot simpler, it won’t take me as long. I will also become more motivated to do things and writing essays will become easier.

I’m not going to set a deadline for these goals because I think that I will slowly improve throughout the two years I am on my course, it will be a gradual thing. I can check back at the end of my course or as I am going along just to see if an improvements are being made.