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Peter Mansell - The Open College of the Arts

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Peter Mansell

This is a post from the weareoca.com archive. Information contained within it may now be out of date.
 

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Student work uncovered – Peter Mansell from Open College of the Arts on Vimeo.
Jesse Alexander and Sharon Boothroyd talk about Peter Mansell’s work for Photography 2:Landscape. In the video they refer to the work of John Davies.
The video is best watched full screen to fully appreciate Peter’s work.


Posted by author: Mark Lomas

41 thoughts on “Peter Mansell

  • Well done Pete, I really like “impact on the landscape” too. Certainly makes me reflect there are no excuses possible for not getting on with my work in landscape the best I can – and in my own way. So – for more than one reason – very inspiring.

    • Thanks Anne – I was both surprised and chuffed. Gareth emailed alerting me to the item just as it came through…

  • It’s great to see your work here Pete. As you know, I liked your chair-bound set very much. The contrast between these and the wider landscape pictures is powerful. Excellent work – congratulations!

  • Hi Pete, great to see the work in it’s final form and particularly impressed with the “In the Style Of” set. Having struggled so badly with that myself I appreciate the challenges you faced.

    • Thanks Shaun. The video doesn’t show the sharpness of the submitted photos but I was please with the set. I’m also really glad I stuck to my guns on the subject matter for the linking theme as it paid off!

  • First time I’ve seen the landscape work, keep challenging the genres pete! One of the most interesting things for me is the wheelchair viewpoint in the colour work. To state the obvious, I’m seeing a different PoV. Going to be thinking about that..

  • Just back from few days away and it was lovely to see your work and the wheelchair viewpoint. I sometimes go out with a friend who is over 6′ while I am a lot shorter and the difference in viewpoints is quite marked. I am looking forward to starting landscape once my assessment is handed in even more now.

    • Thanks Dewald – now back to Martha Rosler’s The Bowery and two inadequate descriptive systems…..

  • Very interesting work Pete, which I find a sensitive and powerful perspective. I like the framing, and especially like the square image of what looks like a wardrobe. And I like the sense of subtle humour. Is this autobiographical?

    • Thanks Stephanie. Yep – the series was autobiographical in the sense that the brief was a linking theme and so I used it to express some of the issues I think about in relation the the physical environment.

      • Sorry, I didnt put my question very well. I asked because I was interested to know if the work was an observation of another’s situation or whether it is from your own perspective as a disabled person. I am interested because of my own situation re mobility. Please feel free to not answer this question.

        • I understand Stephanie. Yes I’m a wheelchair user. I don’t stand or walk at all due to a spinal cord injury following a car crash some 34 years ago.
          All the best
          Pete

        • Thank you Peter. It’s good to see clear and creative visual communication of such a high quality from your perpective.

  • I’m a student about 1/2 way through TAOP so I do enjoy seeing work of students further down the line from me in terms of inspiration and ideas.
    I enjoyed the images individually but the powerful contrast for me was the change between restriction and freedom in terms of the different sets of images shown in the video. The first set was very powerful and thought provoking, the send set of black and white image were simply fantastic and appear created with genuine craft
    I look forward to seeing more of your work

    • Thanks Warren. I must say that as I have progressed my enthusiasm for both taking and studying photography has grown immensely and in ways never envisaged at the beginning of TOAP.

  • This work brought back memories for me of my own childhood. I grew up in a house where all the skirting boards held this visible presence of a wheelchair. My father was a keen photographer, who particularly enjoyed travelling through Europe with his camera. By the time I was in my teens and fully aware of this fact, MS had taken such a strong hold on his physical abilities that his photography had moved from SLR camera and travelling to a tiny 110 camera and the confines of the home. He could hold this with the stronger of his two hands supported by an elbow propped onto the tray attached to his wheelchair. Height in this situation was out of the question, views restricted and portraits of family members involved stooping or sitting if our heads were to be included. I have long since thought that this is a viewpoint that needs to be shared. Well done, Pete. I look forward to seeing more of your work in the future.

    • Thanks Caroline. I try to make my low point of view work for me and it does in some situations.
      Pete

  • This is a very powerful set of images. I work in social housing and come across people in wheelchairs and I also help with a disabled charity. This set of images show just how it is – I really like the scuffed wall and the bent pipe work picture because I have come across this type of situation from time to time myself. It also shows how difficult it can be for a disabled person to get around. I also like the way you used the square format frame – this something that I have also used in my last assignment as I think it helps the viewer to focus their attention on what you are trying to say. Well done

  • Your images in the video are the sort of work that makes me want to follow your progress and see what comes next …no pressure intended of course 🙂
    Coming from a documentary background in my personal work (and tutoring), I can see that these assignments could also be at home within the documentary genre, as they speak so powerfully and so personally.
    I’m a fan of John Davies – very underrated I feel. His work looked easy until I tried it myself, so hats off to you for your own take on elevated landscapes.

    • Thanks Derek.
      In fact I’m focussing on aspects of impairment and its management for Your Own Portfolio and the Social Construction of disability in Advanced by using different photographic genres.
      Pete

  • Hi Pete,
    I’m coming to this thread rather late. A new student of mine found your work here very helpful and included it in his learning log for his first course assignment. It’s excellent work – I really enjoyed looking through these projects, which work very well together I think.
    Wendy McM

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