Final Evaluation and Next Steps

Overall I am happy that I my images reflect the main ideas behind my project. The images show the change in purpose of these mental institutions but some are still in use and how the main structure of the hospitals are still there without need for demolition. I think that these are stronger images as the focus is on the buildings that stand out against a plain background. I have learnt more about these places which has lead me to interesting places that I hadn't been to before creating new opportunities to keep the project going.

If I were to do this project again I would explore a wider range of areas as I want to continue taking pictures of these places to make a strong series. I would also research into different artists to get a better understanding of what is out there in regards to what artists work is similar to mine so that I am able to get recent inspiration to make my work more current and contemporary. Planning out where I want to go in advance is also important as I will have more time at the places and I will be able to do more research.

I will now be focusing on getting my work seen by people that are interested in my images and continuing my volunteer work with the National Trust. I will be attending the private view of the White Horse Hill exhibition in Plymouth Museum and Art Gallery that is happening in September, which will be help me to network and gain some interest which can lead to work as I am interested in working with the museum. I will also continue to look for photography jobs in Cornwall so that I am still able to take images.

Mark Power

Mark Power's work consists of strong elements that draw the viewer into his images. The main focus changes from a set of buildings to a barren wasteland highlighting the change in landscape and how man has affected it. In his series 26 different endings, there is a variation of subject matter that are linked together through a similar theme. The images appear slightly dead pan that emphasizes the lack of human presence, although it is clear that people are in that environment as they have left traces behind in the form of cars, rubbish and graffitti.

148 South, 26 Different Endings, Mark Power

 In this image the eye follows the road from the bottom of the image up through to the top where the houses and sky appear. There is a lack in colour that draws attention to the mundane and emphasizes the emptiness of the houses. Although there aren't any people in the shot there is still a human presence as there is a car just visible near the top of the image and the foliage has been well kept showing that people have been here. Having the sky as a neutral colour keeps the focus on the houses and the feeling of calm as there isn't any movement in the image, it could have been taken during the middle of the day whilst people are working to draw attention to how empty places like these can be.

 6 North, 26 different endings, Mark Power

Unlike the previous image, not all of the buildings appear to be lived in as the house at the back seems to be boarded up. The viewer is led through the image by the road in the center of the image, that is emphasized by the red sign above the road. The red and orange signs are the brightest part of the image that draw attention to how dead pan the buildings are as they are all the same and are rather dull. This image focuses on the mundane of housing estates and how they all look the same as the next one. Keeping the theme of a neutral sky draws the focus to the main subject of the houses.

Trengweath Unit, Redruth

A small mental health unit that specializes in supporting young people and their families as well as children who have learning disabilities. There are  also seperate buildings that are used to treat people with behavioral difficulties. They also provide support for people in need of housing, it is part of the NHS that provides care across the south west in different areas. Part of the main struture is said to have belonged to a well known banker, Robert Tweedy, who belonged to the Tweedy family which was well known in Cornwall as they were very wealthy.

 

 Main Building, Trengweath, Redruth

Victorian Building, Trengweath, Redruth

Digby Park - Exeter City Asylum

Exeter City Asylum was opened in 1886 which was designed by Robert Stark Williams a local architect who made the 'asylum' into 2 main ranges with the northern part being made up of service areas, administrative facilities and accommodation for laundry workers. The southern part of the hospital was made up of occupations for the male inmates with the central parts being separate wards for male and female patients alongside open land with the wards being separated by a recreation hall. In 1929 the Asylum was renamed to Exeter Mental Hospital and was used in the first World War to accommodate patients from Bristol City Asylum when it was taken over for military use.

Exeter Lunatic Asylum, 1886

The hospital changed name again in 1949 becoming Digby Hospital, to then become Exe Vale Hospital, Digby Branch in 1962 before it's closer in 1987 a year after Devon County Asylum with 301 beds left in 1971. Similarly to what is now Devington Park, Digby Hospital became housing and is now known as Digby Park, earlier plans show the hospital was to be completely demolished to be replaced by a supermarket and a new housing site but the plans were declined as the main hospital and smaller buildings linking to it are Grade 2 listed. There is still the chapel and the gatehouse visible on entry to the main building with the majority of its features still in place.

Administrative Building, Digby Park, Exeter

Wonford House - St Thomas Lunatic Asylum

Wonford House was built on the 18th of October 1866 and was completed on the 7th of July 1869 with the Earl of Devon officially opening the hospital. This came after 1842 when there was a request to increase the size of St Thomas Lunatic Asylum that lead to the pauper 'lunatics' being removed from the hospital in 1845 as "the majority were incurable" Nick Henry 1980 pg. 58. Bowhill House (St Thomas Lunatic Asylum) was purchased in 1801 with the 'asylum' being established in 1815, before being moved to new grounds after the request of expansion. The main hospital consisted of 3 walled courts, 3 gardens and 5 indoor galleries as the design was similar to a french chateau. The hospital also had a billiard room, ballroom and a chapel that was aimed at entertaining gentlemen. There were 120 beds at the time, it is now park of Exe Vale hospital that accommodates the main royal Devon and Exeter hospital that was moved from Southernhay in 1974.

 Wonford House, 1866

Wonford House is now the headquarters of Devon Partnership NHS Trust, who provide occupational therapy services for those in need. As well as care for those with mental health problems, there are art classes as a form of therapy. Wonford also specializes in treating people with problems such as behavioral and eating disorders.

Front of Main Building, Wonford House, Heavitree, Exeter

Devington Park - Devon County Lunatic Asylum

The Devon County Lunatic Asylum was first opened in July 1845 with the architect Charles Fowler who had created such places as Covent Garden market. His design was that of the Radial design with the main administration building being the center piece and several wards radiating outwards that patients would've lived in. It was built in 1842 and completed in 1845, it was also based on the model of Pentonville Prison.

Engraving of Devon County Pauper Lunatic Asylum 1845

John Charles Bucknill was the first medical superintendent in which he campaigned to have people who were mentally in transferred into his institution. He also made publications to expose the abuse of unstable relatives that was inflicted on them from their families. Elderly people who were deemed unwell were sent to the 'asylum' and arrived in extremely poor conditions, some didn't need psychiatric treatment but Bucknill refused to send them back. In 1862 Charles Bucknill left the institute and was replaced by Symes Saunders where the institution began to go down hill. There began to be severe over-crowding in 1864, which lead to several patients being turned away in 1870 until vacancies could be made and admission decisions becoming more biased towards recovery. The number of patients remaining in treatment at the end of each year was around 590 in the 1860s which had risen to over 800 in the 1880s that contributed to the over-crowding.

John Charles Bucknill

It's first peak of patients was in 1915 at 1,421 but the population eased slightly in the next 7 years before growing again from 1923. In 1929 the Devon County Lunatic Asylum became Devon Mental Hospital, with a separate sanatorium being built in 1877 and further extensions in 1906. The patient numbers peaked again in 1951 with over 1,500 patients under treatment in the hospital there were still issues with over-crowding a there had been no further extensions since 1906. In 1961 the hospital had changed names again to become Exe Vale Hospital (Exminster Branch) to be combined with Digby Hospital and Wonford House, the hospital was also expected to half its beds by 1975. It then became Exminster hospital in 1981 with it being sold in the late 1980s to be closed in 1985. The roofs of the main wards were striped with the site being turned into housing bringing it into the present day and Devington Park.

Adminstrative Building, Devington Park, Exminster, Exeter

Redruth Union Workhouse Asylum - Longreach and Barncoose Hospital

Built in 1838 the Union Workhouse Asylum was designed by George Gilbert Scott and William Bonython Moffatt who had designed many building throughout Cornwall. It was intended to accommodate 450 inmates with an expansion in 1897 with a new infirmary block for women being added. It then became part of Barncoose hospital that it linked to Cambourne and Redruth Community Hospital.

Longreach Main Build, Redruth

Longreach was added to the original build in 2003 to house people with mental illness and problems such as eating disorders. It has been closed this earlier year due to the building being unsafe leaving 26 patients in need of re-housing who were staying in Longreach. There is refurbishment work going due to the lack of fire-proofing in the roof of the hospital.

 

Original Workhouse Building, Longreach, Redruth

Royal Naval Hospital Stonehouse

The Royal Naval Hospital in Plymouth was built opposite Stonehouse Creek in 1791 during the 7 years war. It was intended to be primarily accessible by water. The building of the hospital began in 1758 and was completed in 1762. Extra blocks were added in 1905 to house 'lunatics' and alcholics with the blocks being numbered which was changed to names and letters in 1924. Within each block the wards were numbered 1, 2 or 3. The quadrangle in the main part of the hospital was detached from over wards to stop the spread of infection.

Royal Naval Hospital, Stonehouse, Plymouth

The hospital has been converted into housing with Devonport School For Boys at the rear of the site, the quadrangle is still in place with the majority of the original buildings as it is Grade 2 listed. The extra blocks are that were used for housing 'lunatics' have also been converted into housing. The hospital is now called Millfields.

Front Left Wing, Stonehouse, Plymouth

Finishing the BA, showing work in London and looking for work

The summer show in London was very succesul, as I manged to speak to new people to create new connections that can help me to improve my work. Coming home from London my new focus is on finding work and getting ready for events such as the White Horse Hill exhibition opening in September in which a handful of my images are being used in. I am also looking forward to working with the community project in Bodmin to do with St Lawrence's that will introduce me to a wide range of people to do with the hospital and it's history

My work on display

Showing my work in such a large space has lead me to think about how I would like to carry this project on, as I want to photograph more people to create a larger body of work that emphasizes what I am trying to say. Through exploring new ideas and getting a range of feedback I am confident that I am able to create the work that I need to create an even better exhibition that could be shown in Bodmin for the people of St Lawrence's so see.

Photograph Featured on The National Trust Website For Wembury

Continuing my volunteer work for the National Trust, one of my images that I've taken whilst at Wembury point has been featured on the main Tourist Information page along with other photographers that have photographed that area. I am very happy to receive this recognition as it will lead to further interest in my work and achieve a wider audience. The link to the website is below.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/wembury/

Final Evaluation for PDP

Through this project I have increased my online presence and achieved more confidence in myself through meeting new people and gaining volunteer work with the National Trust. I have re-created my website through 4ormat that looks professional and something that I am happy for my clients to view. I have also enjoyed working with the college on the White Horse Hill project which has had a large input into new work that I have produced, relating to landscape photography that I am interested in photographing. By challenging myself to do new things that I wouldn’t do I have become more confident in where I want my work to go and the direction that I want to go in regards to possible work. As I am interested in historical landscapes and how man has changed it over time, I will continue contacting museums and working with the National Trust as they are one of the most influential contacts that I’ve made in relation to how I want to work in the future.

I think that my skills in promotion and creating an online presence have improved the most, as I have been keeping up to date with my blog and have successfully created a strong website that highlights the best of my abilities. I am happy with the contacts that I have made through my FMP work as well as my volunteer work for the National Trust, as I am able to carry on the St Lawrence’s project after the exhibition as I want to photograph more people so create more awareness of the building and its history. I think that I could have pursued a wider range of people to create work to get a stronger presence and more work that I can show on my website. I also could have created my website sooner so as to make my online presence better as I could continue to add more work to it. I will continue to write in my blog as I want to keep a record of the work that I do and I will be showing people what I am interested in that may lead to possible clients.

If I were to do this project again I would push myself further to make connections and work to show my best abilities as a photographer. I would also work on my website earlier so as to add more work and to refine it more to get as much out of it as I can. As I have become more confident in myself, I have been able to contact new people and gain volunteer work that I pushed myself to go for as that is the area of photography that I want to work in. Continuing to make work and write on my blog my online profile will be current and hopefully won’t stagnate as I pass my work onto more people who could be interested in what I do. I would also research into other website designers to see what can work best for me, as 4ormat is the easiest to use but there may be others that I’ve missed that can offer similar services whilst still having a strong presence and easy to use system.

Who to Invite to The Summer Show in London

As I have made new connections and gained new experiences, the main group of people that I wish to invite will be organisations such as Plymouth City Museum and Gallery which will be showing the work that I have contributed to the White Horse Hill project, the Records Office, the Cornwall Records Office, people from the National Trust who I've worked with and possibly the National Portrait Gallery. I want my work to be seen mostly by people with interest in history and portraiture as my current project is about the history of St Lawrences, with portraits of the people who used to work there telling their story. This can also relate to people who have worked in a similar environment that has been demolished or converted, with memories of that place still relevant to them.

I will also be talking about my landscape work as I have put some of the images from my last project in the catalog that we have made to show what I am interested in photographing, as I am enjoy photographing historical landscapes and visiting new places with a strong story behind them. By doing this I am showing that I can shoot portraits and landscape, that means I am diverse in how I can show my ideas as although I enjoy historical landscapes I can still show the history of a place through the people that are still connected to it. It is important for me to show these pieces of work as it is something that I am passionate about and hope to carry on through possible funding and confidence as I challenge myself more to do new things that are out of my comfort zone.

More of my work is visible here at my newly furbished website lrundlephoto.co.uk

Making an AboutMe Profile and My Free Range

Through creating my AboutMe page I am hoping to get a bit more attention and recognition for my work that could lead to possible clients and future work. I have chosen to show work that highlights my interests and main ideas that are present in my images.

Here is my profile for the Free Range exhibition that will be happening in London, along with my peers my work is visible under Plymouth College of art which is easy to navigate too. Being with other people shows how varied the work is from the college, which can draw more people in.

And this is my ABoutMe page, that has a bio about me and my work, with a few images showing what I am interested in photographing. The text is easy to read, with links to my blog, twitter and Linkedin page for people to see and get in touch with me through.

Re-making My Website

After going over my original website, I decided to make a new one to update my pictures and to make it accessible for people to get to as the previous site wasn't as clear to navigate as I would have liked and felt that it didn't look as professional. I chose to go with  4ormat as my peers had used it and mentioned how simple it was to use with links to social media, one of my favorite features is that it can be viewed on a tablet or mobile phone meaning that I can check how it's working on my own phone while I'm on the move. In this post I have included a few screen shots of how I managed my work with information on why I chose those images.

 

In this section I have selected which images from my times on Dartmoor I wanted to show, as I enjoy visiting the moors and felt that I should include that as separate section as I have a lot of images from projects and my own work. The most recent images I have put at the front of the section to keep people interested and up to date, showing images from the White Horse Hill project that I am currently working on.

The next section that I have looked into is portraiture, as my most current project that will be shown in London is portraiture based. This section is one of the smaller ones which I am going to expand over time as I gain more confidence in myself with meeting new people and photographing them. I am hoping to carry on the St Lawrences project after the final hand in because I think that I could try to get more people and possibly show my work in a space in Bodmin where the previous workers are based.

This page is the first page that people will see when they look at my website, I wanted so showcase the best of my landscape pictures as I want to continue working in landscape photography. Having a mix of different work shows the different skills that I have alongside the different interests that influence my pictures. Along with these pages there is a page dedicated to my National Trust work and a page named Other, that has some of my film images alongside pictures that I have taken that don't fit into the other categories. There is also a about me page and a contact page for people to get in touch with me if they want to know anything about my work or possible clients.

Here is the link to my new fully running website lrundlephoto.co.uk

Images From White Horse Hill

After a very long trek and almost falling into the marshes, I have edited my images from just under 700 to about 30. Below I have put a selection of what I think are the best out of that small bunch to highlight the different parts of the Moors that caught my attention the most. Being up at such a height it indescribable, as you are able to see so much of the countryside and the surrounding area that it can make you feel small in comparison. I have tried to show this in my images by drawing attention to the way that the land flows and the dominate clouds that threatened to rain any second. There are more images from this series on my website lrundlephoto.co.uk

The Cist itself was something to be admired, as it has survived for such a long time and looked to be in really good condition. To be able to take picture of it and to see it myself I count myself very lucky as not everybody gets to see something like that up close and personal. The images below show the Cist in it's natural setting which emphasizes it's surroundings.

Contribution to Fundraising

To help with fundraising for the summer show, I have helped out with the pub quiz by contributing questions and by greeting people as they arrived. I’ve also done a few hours at the shop that we had in Drakes Circus alongside recently donating items to the jumble sale that we had in the lecture theatre. In regards to the promotion of fundraising I passed on the Kick-starter to as many people as I could, telling friends and family about it whilst promoting it on my Facebook page and Twitter to get as much attention as possible. As a collective we managed to go over our target but at times it felt like we weren’t going to make it as the days kept going by with little activity, if we were to do a Kick-starter again I think that we should have a lower target so that there isn’t as much distress if we don’t meet our target so close to the end date. 

For the planning and organisation of the exhibition I am on the design team, meaning that I can contribute ideas towards how we can lay out people’s work in regards to who can go next to whom and what works well together to get the best flow of work. I think that I can contribute more to this team as I’m more confident in organising work than contacting new people as I sometimes struggle to get my point across. I have good organisational skills as I’ve helped to layout an exhibition before and have a clear idea of what can work where. The next fundraising event is the gig night that will be happening at the Voodoo Lounge on Friday, which has been organised through students getting hold of bands and a venue that is local. The promotion has involved posters around the college along with a Facebook event to get more people to come to our event. This event will go well as it is the day after people’s hand-ins, so they will be wanting to celebrate. Also having it at a local bar with local bands helps them out as they gain advertisement and new fans. 

Through different ways such as events and e-mails to companies the summer show has been promoted well and will continue to be promoted right up until it happens. I will continue to pass on events and information to whoever I can in regards to the show, as the more people that know the better as this can lead to more interest and possible clients. As I am part of the design team I will be attending meetings to organise the work that will be shown in the exhibition as well as helping towards how peoples work should be shown as some want to be shown with a projection whilst others want to be simply framed and mounted. I have contributed a good amount to the fundraising in regards to ideas and help towards advertising events.