Jose, Author at The Open College of the Arts

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Jose

Best in Show

Posted: 06/08/12 11:16 | 14 Comments

Busy as I have been writing a new unit for the OCA, planning the logistics of a winter commission, mountaineering and breaking a toe, I had completely forgotten about the results of the photography show I entered back in June. A panel of experts that included Gerry Badger and Simon Roberts awarded Best in Show in […]

Why…?

Posted: 20/07/12 12:59 | 29 Comments

Why are the BBC showing this video? What sort of message, information, do they want to convey to the viewer? Why do they show subquality, smart(less)phone unverified footage from an unverified source? Why do the BBC find it appropriate to forward such rubbish from YouTube? Why, watching this video, do I have this sinking feeling […]

An exhibition entry

Posted: 18/06/12 05:37 | 11 Comments

It’s been four years since I contributed to a Foto8 Summershow exhibition. This year I submitted some of my work for the 2012 edition of the show, held at the Host Gallery in London. One of my images was selected and I thought I would share with the OCA community how I decided on which […]

Burtynsky: Oil – OCA study visit

Posted: 28/05/12 11:02 | 26 Comments

A beautiful photograph isn’t necessarily a photograph of something beautiful, someone said. OCA’s latest study visit to The Photographers’ Gallery in London was an opportunity to reflect on that simple but thought-provoking statement. Edward Burtynsky’s exhibition Oil proved once more that the tension between aesthetics and subject matter is still an unresolved conflict in photography. […]

Amber Online

Posted: 24/05/12 12:25 | 6 Comments

Every so often, while doing research for the OCA, I come across learning resources that catch my attention and that I add to my bank of teaching materials. These are primarily to do with documentary, my own area of interest. One such resource is the photographic collection on Amber Online. The portfolios in the collection […]

Two islands, two wheels, one camera

Posted: 18/05/12 06:03 | 12 Comments

If you ask an cycle tourer why they like cycling they will certainly tell you that they love the feeling of discovery and adventure that cycling affords. They will also tell you that they like the connection with place and people that cycling facilitates. If you ask a travel or documentary photographer the same question […]

The Ethics of Aesthetics

Posted: 24/01/12 02:14 | 80 Comments

The worst drought in the Horn of Africa in 60 years continues to show no signs of abating. Over the last few months several bodies of photographic work focusing on the humanitarian emergency in the region have appeared in national and international media. One such body of work is a portfolio of images taken by […]

Plastic Fantastic

Posted: 17/01/12 05:13 | 22 Comments

It’s not everyday that you ruin £260 worth of digital camera. But that’s exactly what I did to my Nikon P7000 in a winter blizzard on Rhinog Fach, in North Wales, a couple of weeks ago. It was a long time since a camera had died on me, the whole £25 of it: my Holga […]

What's Amano been up to?

Posted: 16/01/12 02:58 | 14 Comments

OCA student Amano Samarpan will be familiar to many students from his frequent attendance at study visits. He has recently had published a new edition of his successful award-winning book Birds of India. For this 4th edition Amano travelled to India to supervise the design and printing process. In this interview with Jose Navarro, Amano […]

Rethinking the stock market

Posted: 05/01/12 12:50 | 6 Comments

As you will probably know if you follow us on OCA-student forums, the OCA has become a partner in Alamy’s new student initiative. The scheme allows OCA students at levels 2 & 3 to become contributors to Alamy’s picture library and receive 100% royalties on their sales. Sounds good? It certainly is, considering that regular […]