Photo-excess : two paradigms of archaeological photography

Discovering ‘photo-excess’: what difference does digital photography bring to the archaeological process, and does this difference constitute a paradigm shift from the traditional film model? Using reflexive practice, the contribution that digital photography has made to the archaeological process is explored. The themes presented in the photographs and exegesis combine visual exploration and original research to examine the role and place of archaeological photography in both a contemporary and an historical context. In contrasting the development of film-based photography of archaeology undertaken in the Eastern Mediterranean during the early 1900s with contemporary digital photography, this exegesis and creative work explores both the synergies and differences of the two photographic methods in archaeology. I introduce the term ‘photo-excess’ to describe the new role that digital photography plays in archaeological practice as compared to film, and demonstrate this difference through my creative work. At the turn of the 20th century, photography was affirmed as the major instrument for visual recording of an archaeological excavation. The combination of archaeological methods and photographic techniques from that era formed an approach to archaeological documentation and recording that was formalised by William Matthews Flinders Petrie in 1904. In this thesis I propose that Petrie became the father of modern archaeological photography through his work, and in recognition of his contribution I refer to his method as the ‘Petrie Paradigm’. Digital photography has made possible a quantum leap in the volume, quality and immediacy of visual data available to the user. Further, through the creative process, digital archaeological photography may provide visual information that exceeds the archaeologist’s original research questions, so that the digital image may sometimes exceed its primary role as a recording device. In such cases it may become the starting point for new research due to its potential photo-excess. I propose this as an emerging paradigm for archaeological photography.

Caught in the dance : dream poems, experiential narrative, and the continuity hypothesis

This thesis explores the efficacy of the dream poem as a narrative device and is the outcome of practice-led research. The creative component, a novella, includes significant dreams of the main characters in the form of lyric poetry. The author’s own dream reports are used as source material for the poetry, and are contextualised within a prose fiction framework. Caught in the Dance is an experiment in combining prose with dream poetry and in investigating the experiential power of dreams on the formation of character identity. The exegesis discusses dreaming as an experience and the place of that experience in the context of identity narratives. Central to this discussion is the continuity hypothesis regarding the symbiosis of waking and sleeping life. Fludernik’s theory of experiential narrative is applied to dreaming and to the composition of poetry. This theory moves the emphasis of narrativity from events and the action of telling to ‘grounding narrativity in the representation of experientiality’ (Fludernik 1996:20). Ricoeur’s theories on identity and narrative are also applied to the reading of dreams, and experiences in general. He calls the system through which we ‘read’ life the ‘semantics of action’ (Ricoeur 1991b:28). Fludernik’s and Ricoeur’s approaches build on each other and they are brought together in the context of theories of the self, consciousness, and the processing of experience. Lyric poetry, as a creative product of that same consciousness, is discussed as experienced narrative moment. Furthermore, those moments are identified as defining elements in the identity narratives of characters. By combining the experience of dreaming with the experience imparted through lyric poetry, this thesis argues that the continuity hypothesis serves effectively as a demonstration of the wider narratological importance of experiential narrative.