Supervisory Meeting - 11/12/2013 @MMU

Present - Simon Faulkner / David Brittain / Gavin Parry

The meeting presented the opportunity to deliver an update on project and research developments to the entire supervisory team.  The presentation lasted approx 40 mins and covered aspects of the project including Context / Methodology / Output. The meeting also discussed the RD2 transfer process and highlighted issues that will need to be addressed, including further clarity about how different aspects of the project connect to each other.

In response to this discussion it was suggested that the following be addressed for the next meeting:

• Further consider how the different elements of the project connect to each other.
• Establish a clearer use for the database in terms of how it powers the practice.
• Consider establishing date parameters for the database, instead of digitising all the studio register data from 1923-1966.
• Progress more case study Artist Books, paying close attention to the design and layout, trying different variations. (IE: No Text / More Text / Size / Shape etc)
• Try to establish a clearer understanding of the theory in relation to the project, looking at both 'Photographies' journal and Georges Perec (Species of Space and Other Pieces)
• Allow time to respond to any findings or recommendations that arise from scrutiny of the RD2 transfer submission.

The next meeting has been scheduled for 29th Jan 2014 @ 3.00pm (MMU)

RD2 - Transfer to PhD - 28th November 2013

The transfer stage from MPhil to PhD requires the submission of a formal report known as the RD2, which was submitted on 28th November 2013 to MMU (follow link below to request the full PDF version).  This report will then be scrutinsed by the Faculty Research Degrees Coordinator.  If the report is of an appropriate standard, the FRDC will trigger a 'Transfer Stage Viva', which will consist of a 20 min presentation based on a specific aspect of the research.  It is at this stage that the research is either recommended with or without further requirements, or deemed unsuccessful.

The abstract for this report is as follows:

Edward Chambré-Hardman was a Liverpool based commercial portrait photographer, practicing between

1923 to 1966.  He left behind a vast collection of photographic work including portraiture, landscape and cityscape works which are now stored within the Central Liverpool Library.  The focus of this project concerns the portraiture component of Hardman’s archive, which consists of approximately 140,000 individual sheet negatives. This report explains what steps have been made to develop this project from MPhil to PhD, including an evaluation of the existing aims, as compared with the revised aims now being proposed.

The first section of the report details the original project aims as specified in the RD1 report, it then goes on to list the revised aims as driven by the research conducted to date.  The initial aims are then elaborated upon, with a rationale being proposed in relation to the new aims.  The second section details all the research conducted to date including the difficulties experienced with accessing Hardman’s archive and the subsequent development of a database designed to drive the process of archival intervention.  The second section will also address the practical output of the research to date in terms of both technical testing and case study development.  The third section explains the research to be conducted in order to complete the doctorate.  This will include the mapping of the archive and the completion of the database and will also propose a future work-plan and timeline for the forthcoming two years until completion.  The final part of this section will detail the provisional layout of the thesis and also explain what format the practice based component of the project will take. 

 The last section of the report will make reference to existing literature in relation to both archival intervention within contemporary arts practice, the artist as archivist and the use of typology in photographic practice. This section will also elaborate upon discourse surrounding the use of the archive within photographic and arts practice.  It will then go on to define the meaning of ‘typology’ in relation to the classic use of the term, as compared with the definition specifically determined by the research.

 The report will demonstrate how the research will represent a significant contribution to knowledge, as no detailed scrutiny or catalogue of this component of Hardman’s archive currently exists.

 

 

 

 

RD2 Tranfer Report - 28th November 2013