Categories
Personal Projects Sophistication (Mastery)

Collaborative Photography – The Morse experience

https://uniofglos.blog/hiddennarratives/2020/02/08/2020-conference-truth-crime-and-true-crime/
This is the fourth annual one-day conference organised by postgraduate research students at the University of Gloucestershire in association with the Being Human Research Centre. It is part of an initiative to improve the research environment, explore the human condition, and build interdisciplinary links. The conference is sponsored by the Being Human Research Priority Area at the University of Gloucestershire.

Abstract:

The Morse TV series has, perhaps unwittingly, created a fictional parallel world in and around Oxford where crime, truth and true crime cross over one another. 

It has been suggested that around 30000 visitors are drawn to the city for Morse alone.  Many come from China and SE Asia where the series has become a cult phenomenon.  In Oxford, an industry has grown to support them (guided tours, memorabilia, websites, maps and guidebooks, guest lectures, and so on).  Many of the tour companies have tapped into a perception among the tourists that Morse’s Oxford is what Britain is like today.  For the last four or five years, this has even led to coachloads visiting the domestic idyll of a small (relatively affluent) housing estate in Kidlington to photograph themselves against the backdrop of suburban gardens and 1960s bungalows.  At least one estate agent has reported difficulty selling property on one small road where Morse investigated both a murder and a suicide! 

This project involves four local novice photographers, supported by a retired Detective Superintendent, researching, visiting, interpreting, and photographing a selection of the original ‘scenes of crime’ from the series.  The learning from working with this team will inform my own practice and major research project.

Bionote:

Graham Wilson has a PhD from the University of Bristol in Behavioural Science and is a part-time Tutor in Psychology and Counselling at the University of Oxford. He is studying part-time for an MA by Research in Photography at the University of Gloucestershire. His research is exploring the ability of imagery to affect the behaviour of communities.

Categories
Journalling - Reflective Practice

Nigeria

A brief reflection… My trip to Nigeria was arranged months ago, and I’d planned to have a day in front of the training and a day afterwards. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen. The day out was taken up with a riot on the outbound Lufthansa flight. The return was initially extended to allow for a repeat workshop for the local Government, which then didn’t happen and my flight was brought forward by three days!

I did get to ride through the slum areas in the daylight; albeit it in torrential rain. It wasn’t the kind of place that you would probably want to venture by night, but I think I would have been a little more comfortable by day. While my anxiety levels were not particularly high, they weren’t helped knowing that I was carrying a fair bit of cash as the organisers paid my fee in used £20 notes! That said, for future reference, I would probably be happier to have a “fixer” with me to help with language etc.

Potentially to be expanded….