1. (1) Conceptual
Practise
Julie
Blackmon
–
Domestic
Vacations
The
second
photographer’s
I
have
researched
also
focuses
on
domestic
life.
And
how
this
socialises
children
to
influence
who
they
become.
However,
instead
of
reflecting
back
on
past
family
events
as
an
act
of
self-­‐discovery
(as
Benitah
had
done),
Blackmon’s
body
of
work
‘Domestic
Vacations’
is
more
of
a
documentation
on
how
children
behave
and
push
the
boundaries
of
the
particularistic
standards
set
on
them
by
their
parents
through
primary
socialisation
which
influences
the
type
of
person
they
grow
to
be.
Blackmon
relates
her
work
to
the
Dutch
proverb
‘a
Jan
Steen
household’
which
originated
in
the
17th
century
and
is
used
today
to
refer
to
a
home
in
disarray,
full
of
rowdy
children
and
boisterous
family
gatherings.
The
paintings
of
Steen
helped
inspire
this
body
of
work.
ßBlackmon’s
photograph
<-­‐
Steen’s
painting

2. As
Steen’s
personal
narratives
of
family
life
depicted
nearly
400
years
ago,
the
conflation
of
art
and
life
is
an
area
which
Blackmon
has
explored
in
photographing
the
everyday
life
of
her
family
and
the
lives
of
her
sisters
and
their
families
at
home.
–
as
she
is
the
oldest
of
nine
children
in
addition
to
the
mother
of
three,
so
family
dynamics
has
played
a
large
role
in
her
own
personal
life.
These
images
are
both
fictional
and
auto-­‐biographical,
and
reflect
not
only
the
lives
today
and
as
children
growing
up
in
a
large
family,
but
also
move
beyond
the
documentary
to
explore
the
fantastic
elements
of
everyday
lives,
both
imagined
and
real.
Also,
in
this
body
of
work,
Blackmon
expresses
her
struggle
between
living
in
the
moment
versus
escaping
to
another
reality
–
which
in
terms
of
domestic
life
could
refer
to
living
through
the
undesirable
dynamics
of
family
life,
i.e.
having
to
cope
with
children
misbehaving,
versus
wanting
to
live
a
selfish
lifestyle
focusing
on
your
individual
needs
and
disregarding
that
of
others.
(2) Extracting
the
concept
in
2
images
You
can
read
the
concept
of
Blackmon’s
body
of
work
through
analysing
the
mis-­‐en-­‐scene
and
other
conventions
of
the
image.
For
instance,
being
as
Blackmon
documents
her
very
dynamic
family,
full
of
‘life’
so
to
speak,
her
images
are
high
in
saturation
and
feature
bright
colours
that
represent
this.
Also,
the
iconography
of
items
within
these
images
represents
the
characteristics
of
the
children
For
instance,
in
this
image
you
can
see
a
bathroom
with
two
teenage
girls
dying
their
hair.
This
represents
the
stage
of
vanity
in
which
the
typical
American
teenage
girl
(as
Blackmon’s
family
is
of
American
culture)
–
reflecting
in
the
way
they
have
been
socialised,
but
more
to
do
with
secondary
than
primary
socialisation
as
these
phases
of
vanity
are
influenced
by
factors
outside
the
home
–
such
as
the
media
portrayal
of

3. ‘beautiful’
people,
and
peers
of
the
same
age.
Therefore,
this
image
expresses
how
parents
have
to
go
through
the
struggle
of
gradually
losing
control
over
their
children,
as
they
progress
with
age
and
construct
their
own
identities
with
factors,
which
the
parents
have
little
influence
over.
However,
when
children
are
at
the
age
of
which
they
are
still
at
home
before
they
start
school,
they
are
only
influenced
through
primary
socialisation
–
so
parents
have
full
control
over
the
children.
For
instance,
parents
are
able
to
set
particularistic
standards
(which
only
apply
to
the
individual).
However,
in
wider
society
(through
secondary
socialisation)
the
individual
is
treated
and
charged
in
terms
of
universalistic
standards,
which
are
applied
to
all
members,
regardless
of
kinship
ties.
For
example,
your
teacher
or
boss
won’t
care
if
your
goldfish
died
the
night
before
if
you
lose
him
business
or
turn
up
really
late
for
a
class/meeting
–
thus
in
society
and
in
education
you
are
judged
by
Universalistic
standards.
Furthermore,
in
the
home
you
are
given
an
ascribed
status;
it
is
fixed
by
birth.
However,
in
wider
society
outside
of
the
home,
your
status
is
largely
achieved
by
meritocratic
standards:
for
example,
individuals
achieve
their
occupational
status.
So
you
can
go
from
living
in
a
shabby
home
to
having
a
better
house
through
your
own
individual
efforts
(even
though
there
are
other
factors,
such
as
class,
affecting
this).

4. This
image
represents
children
when
they
are
at
the
stage
before
they
encounter
secondary
socialisation.
We
can
see
how
‘out
of
control’
the
children
are
behaving
–
which
is
only
the
expected
behaviour
of
children
of
this
age
and
culture.
However,
an
issue
is
presented
in
this
image
as
it
asks,
‘What
are
the
parents
doing?’
or
even
‘Where
are
the
parents?’
In
the
corner
of
the
image,
there
appears
to
be
a
female
relaxing
on
the
sofa,
waiting
for
her
painted
nails
to
dry.
We
cannot
conclude
whether
this
is
the
mother
of
the
children,
or
whether
it
is
an
adolescent
sibling,
but
through
the
research
of
Blackmon’s
body
of
work
I
found
the
statement
that
through
this
body
of
work,
Blackmon
expresses
her
struggle
between
living
in
the
moment
(which
could
refer
to
having
parental
responsibilities
within
a
family)
versus
escaping
to
another
reality
(which
could
refer
to
abandoning
these
responsibilities
and
acting
in
an
almost
selfish
way,
i.e.
ignoring
the
children
whilst
concentrating
on
relaxing
and
painting
nails)
Which
leads
me
to
believe
that
the
female
subject
is
the
mother
of
the
children
–
either
Blackmon
herself
or
Blackmon’s
sister
–
as
previously
mentioned,
this
body
of
work
is
about
photographing
the
everyday
life
of
Blackmon’s
family
and
the
lives
of
her
sisters
and
their
families
at
home.
(3) Demonstrate
understanding
of
genre
These
photographs
are
intended
to
be
shot
in
the
documentary
genre
as
the
purpose
of
this
body
of
work
is
documentation
on
how
children
are
socialised
in
modern
society
today.
However,
this
body
of
work
is
not
fully
shot
in
the
documentary
genre
as
I
found,
through
research
of
this
body
of
work,
that
Blackmon
had
to
stage
certain
shots
in
order
to
recreate
events
which
she
wanted
to
include
in
her
body
of
work
but
was
unable
to
shoot
when
they
actually
happened
as
she
was
not
anticipating
them
and
she
wasn’t
in
the
possession
of
a
camera.
Therefore,
we
can
conclude
that
the
genre
of
photography
in
which
this
body
of
work
is
shot
in
is
a
hybrid
of
documentary
and
staged
narrative.

5. ß
image
1
ß
image
2
(4)
As
everything
is
in
focus
within
these
images,
we
can
conclude
that
a
narrow
aperture
setting
like
f/22
was
used
in
order
to
give
a
deep
focus.
This
would
restrict
the
amount
of
light
entering
through
the
lens,
as
the
gate
would
have
a
very
small
opening.
Also,
there
is
no
motion
blur
of
the
subjects
suggesting
the
sue
of
a
quick
shutter
speed
such
as
1/100
-­‐
which
indicates
that
a
high
ISO
setting
would
need
to
be
used
–
although
this
could
be
altered
slightly
to
a
medium
setting
if
studio
lights
were
used
–
which
could
be
a
possibility
as
these
images
look
very
artificial
colour
and
light
wise.

6. As
the
locations
of
these
shots
vary,
so
would
the
ISO
setting
to
accommodate
the
other
settings
and
the
light
source
of
the
environment.
For
instance,
the
first
image
appears
to
be
a
basement
(judging
by
the
stairs)
in
which
there
are
no
windows
–
meaning
that
there
is
no
natural
light
getting
into
the,
only
candles,
a
lamp
and
an
unusual
blue
light
source
from
on
top
of
the
stairs.
However,
we
can
conclude
that
an
additional
light
source
as
added
as
these
sources
of
light
would
be
insufficient,
even
with
a
high
ISO
setting,
due
to
the
narrow
aperture
and
quick
shutter
speed,
and
also
the
photographer
may
wish
to
avoid
her
images
resulting
in
noise/grain
caused
by
a
high
ISO
setting.
Therefore,
we
can
conclude
that
the
ISO
setting
would
have
been
a
setting
such
as
400
in
order
to
result
in
the
correct
exposure.
However,
in
the
second
image
we
can
see
that
there
are
several
natural
sources
of
light
–
as
we
can
see
through
on
the
reflection
of
a
window
on
the
mirror,
the
window
in
the
bathroom
and
the
source
another
window
to
the
right
hand
side
of
the
bathroom,
which
we
can
identify
from
the
light
reflecting
onto
the
floor.
Being
as
the
subject
is
sat
very
still
and
this
photo
is
less
chaotic
than
the
previous,
we
can
conclude
that
a
slightly
lower
shutter
speed
setting
could
have
been
used,
such
as
1/40.
Also,
everything
is
in
focus
within
this
image
–
indicating
a
deep
focus
of
setting
f/20
–
f/22.