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.

Laura Knight Portaits - Plymouth City Museum and Gallery

In this exhibition that is currently showing at the Plymouth City Museum and Gallery there is a wide range of portraiture that depicts a large amount of people in different scenarios. The images have been painted with the smallest a lot of time and skill going into each piece. Due to the amount of detail within these images, a few look like photographs with the focus drawn to the many elements that make up each image. 

Ethel Bartlet, 1914, Laura Knight

By researching into different practitioners I was intrigued by Laura Knight's work as the focus is on the subjects in their own environment showing how they work and what their craft could be in such paintings of the dancers and women working in the factory. She has captured aspects of people that the viewer might not see if the subjects were painted in a different way for example having them in a studio environment without any objects that could hint at what they are interested in.

 Ruby Lotus Screwing a Breech-ring, 1943, Laura Knight

Laura Knight first started painting in Cornwall in 1907 when she moved there, where in 1908 she had an exhibition in the Newlyn Gallery. In 1913 Knight her first nude painting was shown which was a self portrait that at the time was scrutinized by the public but has since been seen as a key piece in the story of female self portraiture and symbolic of the wider female view. She later went on to paint WW1 and Circus folk in the 1920's, her most dominate work is that of WW2 focusing on the people and where they worked in such images as women working in factories and pilots in aircraft. One of her most prominent pieces from the war is the image The Nuremberg Trial.

Nuremberg Trial, 1946, Laura Knight

"In that ruined city death and destruction are ever present. They had to come into the picture, without them, it would not be the Nuremberg as it now is during the trial, when the death of millions and utter devastation are the sole topics of conversation wherever one goes - whatever one is doing" - Laura Knight

In Laura Knight's later life she painted dancers, dignitaries and well known people such as Jean Rhodes the 'Mighty Mannequin' that lead to further portrait commissions. Knight died on the 7th of July 1970 aged 92 3 days after a large exhibition of her work was to been shown in Nottingham Castle Art Gallery and Museum. 

Michael Andrew's 5th Annual International Photo Contest

For this contest I have also entered the image of High Tor, this image is for the landscape category as I want my landscape images to be seen by people so that I can improve my network and be known as a landscape photographer.

The image stands out as it isn't one that you can easily get, through editing and exploring different areas I was able to create this image alongside others that link together.

Entering A New Competition

After looking into what competitions are available in at this moment in time, I decided to enter the Print Space's competition 'Give Us Your Best Shot' which is open to everyone with no specific theme. This meant that I could choose any image that I preferred to show my work.

View From High Tor, Dartmoor

I have chosen this image that I took whilst exploring Dartmoor for a previous project, which involved researching into prehistoric and Iron Age areas in Dartmoor.

Looking for volunteer work

After looking at what areas of photography I'd like to go into, to further my CV and to improve my skills I have decided to look into volunteer work with the National Trust and possibly Plymouth Museum and Art Gallery. Through working for these institutes I will be able to expand on my knowledge of the area whilst improving on my people skills. I will also be able to work on my networking skills so that I am able to get more work in the future.

My interests are landscape and the history of the land with historical landmarks that have affected the landscape. Through documenting these places I will create bodies of work that can inform and educate people about the landscape that they live near and may be interested in. I also like to explore new areas as I am inspired by new areas that I haven't been to before.

Final Evaluation

For my work based learning it took me a while to get properly started on it. I find it hard sometimes to talk to and approach new people, which is why I started it late. One way that I tried to get over this was by going to Focus on Imagery and trying to speak to fellow students that were there and see what work they were doing. Focus on Imagery also helped me to solidify my ideas and what I wanted to pursue as a professional career and showed me what competitors are out there that can challenge me. I also learnt about new equipment that is available and different companies that do book making and normal printing.

After speaking to a lecturer about what I was interested in doing and that I wanted to focus on getting my confidence up around new people I decided to get in contact with Fotonow. After a meeting with them and getting to grips with what they do and who they work with, I was asked to do 10 days’ work in the records office doing picture research for a current project they are running about the Pannier Market and its history. On my first day in the record’s office I was shown around and shown how to request items that I wanted to look at, I was also allowed behind the scenes where the public aren’t normally allowed into and was shown the oldest item they have which is over 900 years old and an item with Queen Elizabeth’s seal on which I found very interesting. Whilst at the records office I looked at items such as photographs of the market area from 1959 and 1960 when it was being built, plans of the building itself and newspaper cuttings that were about the market to show what people thought about it at the time and how important it was. I also looked at a large document called emergency minutes but found that the item was related to my research and couldn’t find anything useful in it. Overall my experience in the records office and working with Fotonow has been very positive as I was able to do something I hadn’t done before and didn’t know about the records office until now which means that I am able to go there myself if I wish to for personal research or research that could help with my projects.

Whilst working for Fotonow I received an e-mail from my auntie asking if I could take photos for her of my cousin Seth’s christening which I was paid to do. I was very nervous to begin with as I hadn’t done a christening before of worked with a large amount of people that I know for a whole day, I was also excited about the new experience and wanted to show her my skills so that she could pass my business card on to help me get more work. I think that the photographs that I took turned out successful but could have been better as I didn’t think to bring a portable flash which meant that, even with a tripod, I couldn’t get the lighting that I wanted in the church which meant that my images came out slightly orange. The images at the cricket club were more successful though as I was more comfortable and less nervous than I was in the church as I had already taken everyone’s photograph at least once. I was able to get people to be where I wanted and managed to take the group shots pretty easily without too much complaint, I was surprised at how well behaved Seth was as I wasn’t expecting him to last as long as he did and managed to get several really good shots of him. I think that the images that I created worked really well after a slight edit to the white balance and slight colour change to make the images less orange from the church and to make them slightly lighter in places in the images from the cricket club. My auntie was also happy with my images and I am waiting to hear back from her which ones she would like me to print as she is on holiday at the moment.

For my work based learning I also helped for a day at the exhibition, I could only do the single day as I was still working in the records office and went back to Cornwall the following week to shoot. On the day that I assisted I helped to choose where the images would be and what would go next to each other, although I was a bit particular about my image in the end I was happy where it was and thought that it worked well. I think that the organisation of who should have been helping what day as at the start of the day a lot of people turned up which meant that the space to work in was too crowded and people were sent away to come back in the afternoon, although quite a few didn't come back at all. The space was a bit small due to the amount of people in the rooms which sometimes meant that sometimes people were more of a hindrance than a help. Next time we orchestrate an exhibition I will make sure what days people are helping and how many people they need so that the working space doesn't get too busy. I will also plan my trips home ahead of time so that I am able to help out more.

As I sometimes struggle to get my ideas and voice across, work based learning has always been a bit of a struggle for me but through perseverance and help from lecturers, friends and family I have been able to create some new contacts through Fotonow and giving my business card to my auntie to pass on and spread around. Although I am still a bit shy with new people I feel that this has been a successful module and I’m happy with the outcomes that I have reached. If I could do it again I would broaden my horizons more by going to more than one place and try to see who I could work with to improve my career aspects.

Showing In an Exhibtion

The image that I chose to show in our college exhibition, "The Best So Far", I chose this image out of my finals as I think that this image is the strongest and can be interpreted in different ways which means that it has the biggest selling point. With regards to the exhibition itself I think that it was successful but felt that the space was a bit small at times when it was especially busy.

For my part of the exhibition I helped with the organisation of images and getting hooks needed to hang the images themselves. I also helped with hanging of some images and was a bit meticulous when it came to hanging my image as I was worried about it getting damaged or marks to be made on it which meant that I would have to clean it. At times it was slightly stressful as there was too many people in such a small space at times and sometimes there wasn't enough jobs for people so they left in the afternoon and didn't come back.

I know now for next time to plan my trips home more in advance so that I don't miss out on the exhibition so much as I was only able to work on the first day. I will also look more into when people are helping so that I can help to the best of my ability without being a hindrance and to get a better understanding of what will be put in the exhibition. This exhibition was successful as a wide range of people saw our work which was emphasised by the wide range of work that was on show.

Working in the Records Office

Doing picture research for Fotonow, I was shown around the records office on my first day there and was allowed into the archives themselves which the general public aren't allowed into normally. I was told how to look up items that would be of interest to me and that if I wanted to I could take photos of said items as long as they weren't copyrighted. In the archives there is everything from Royal seals to photographs and emergency committee minutes, I chose to start my research by looking at photos of the Pannier Market when it was first being built in 1959.

After looking through the photo album on my next day I decided to look at another album but this one was from 1859 which I thought was interesting to see how the city has changed over time. One of the images that stood out most was that of the rail bridge from Plymouth to Saltash, as the Tamar Bridge hadn't been built yet. It was also interesting to see how some of the city had hardly changed at all apart from a few new shops or buildings. The next items that I looked at on my next day in the archives were plans of the Pannier Market and some of the original market showing the war damage which ultimately lead to the build of the Pannier Market. These were intriguing as they had several family names written on them which may still be linked to the market or be trading in the market itself.

The following two days after I decided to read the emergency minutes, as there was a lot to get through it took me longer than I thought and most of what I read was irrelevant apart from the names of the committee and the people assigned to re-building the market. Although it was very interesting to see how the city coped with the war, I found parts tedious and hard to get through, but manged to read all of it and am happy that I kept at it. On the next day that I was in the archives I took pictures if the first photo album that I looked at for Fotonow to see and I found out that day that plans of the Pannier Market had been donated which lead me to looking at those the day after. Once I had had good look at the plans I took photos of them the day after, as there was a lot to go through and some of the plans were very large and some were only A4 size. On my second to last day I took pictures of the photo album from 1859 as I wasn't able to take photos when I first looked at it and wanted to focus on taking the images in to see what was relevant and what wasn't. With regards to my final day, I looked at newspaper cuttings that were related to Plymouth and took photos of the ones that were about the market, focusing on the years 1957-1961. Through this I was able to get a large amount of research that will hopefully help Fotonow in their project.