Photographing the invisible: A practice based photographic investigation of different environments using peripheral vision as a phenomenological narrative on the consciousness of space and place

Abstract

There can be a distancing effect in our interaction with the environment and it can be reduced to a spectacle rather than a multisensory experience through our use of photography. This practice-based research investigates the use of still photography to capture our peripheral interaction with the environment that we either do not notice or take for granted. The aim is to capture this invisible daily interaction with the world in photographic form as a participant rather than a spectator. Photographs that form the body of this research are constructed into visual narratives in order to consider an alternative way of understanding our interaction with space and place. This research uses a number of camera and printing techniques to capture the nature of peripheral vision and expand the notion of what constitutes a photograph. The results take the form of a series of field study investigations resulting in five photographic projects on peripheral vision, space and place that become visual surrogates for these interactions. In order to view a selection of the completed works the concluding exhibition installation uses a modified suburban house to provide a controlled light environment to trigger peripheral seeing through light and dark adaption. Show more