I have slowly been getting back into some experimenting with multimedia. Some of this has been prompted by my experiments with podcasts and subsequent attempts to think about adding supporting text and interactivity to them (all without spending 3 days a week to produce 10 minutes that will only be used once). Some has been prompted by seeing the work of others. Some has been prompted by new technology.

One idea that I had been discussing with a more multimedia and technologically savvy buddy has been produced fantastically and is available on Wired. The project captured sights and sounds for the internet and has them in a visual and sonic collage.

While this is probably not at all useful for my teaching, it could be the basis for a great student project (particularly for field schools). While I wouldn’t expect business school students to be quite so artistic and to, instead, be somewhat more explicit in their expression of meaning, so kind of audio visual collage could be a useful part of making sense of a field school project.

I have also been motivated by by the release of a new Canon camera (the 5D Mark II). I’ve been waiting for this for a very long time as an update to my ageing (camera) body. The new camera is much, much better in low light (for evening and night time footage) and, most impressively, has excellent video capabilities. Vincent Laforet’s blog had (and will have again) links to footage from a pre-release version of the camera.

While, the video capabilities are much better than I could ever use, it will mean only taking one device and using my existing lenses. So, for capturing some sense of movement, video interviews and documenting student experiences on the field school, this sounds idea (if a little excessive). It will mean developing some new skills with video editing and a more dynamic sense of interaction with the world I want to capture.

Finally, I have been pondering the difference between photography from a journalist’s perspective and from an artists perspective. The journalist seeks to show the world as it is, though it might be hidden from view (and perhaps change it through that documentation). The artist seeks to show it in different ways, to force us to reconceptualise what we already know (and perhaps change it through that process). Perhaps there is a third category, who takes photos of pretty things.

This photograph is in the second category. Its in the second category because I have attempted to highlight the grand old building in Market Square. Lots of people don’t like the new fountain. However, I think it works powerfully to not overshadow the building and not overpower the space for people to meet. By hyper-saturating the colours, I hope to show the building as it is, and as the square will be once the fountain because an accepted, naturalised part of the square.