Neoteric Photography aims to explore photography in an age where the image is everywhere. The image has become prolific yet easily forgotten. Hoping to find something to hold onto, something that will survive longer that it takes for pixels to appear upon a screen.
Zoe lives high above Leicester, looking down upon the ancient city. Zoe spends her days reading about and creating obscure photographs. When she is not hiding behind her Polaroid, Zoe teaches Art, Design & Media. She hopes one day that she will be able to move into academic obscurity by writing a PhD on the transformational image and invoking the spirit of Bataille in an act of sacred sacrifice.
Zoe has a first degree in Media & English from DMU. She also has achieved an MA with Distinction in Creative Media Arts (Photography) from London South Bank University. Zoe's film 'Let's Eat Hair' was shown at the Phoenix Cinema in Leicester. Zoe continues to make photographs and writes creatively.
I have then added this to my website. I did this by using the add image function and uploading my own image and then I clicked on the text and edited the text simply copying and pasting from my blog. Please see below
I like the layout of this and the font and typography and general look of the page matches the rest of my website so I think this works well and represents me.
I also edited my mobile view to ensure that this was correct and working - I did this by switching screens to mobile view and using the mobile editor. I changed this so that the picture appeared at the top and I deleted irrelevant information. I ensured my copyright and blogger were visible at the bottom of the page.
'Daniel Frederick Wallace is a British filmmaker, comedian, writer, actor, and presenter of radio and television. His notable works include the books Join Me, Yes Man, and the TV series How to Start Your Own Country. As an author, Wallace's bestselling books have been translated into more than a dozen languages.' (http://www.freshfiction.com, 2022)
I am writing about Danny Wallace, as the first book I read of his was 'Yes Man' (2005). He describes his childhood and walking around Loughborough, and this was very similar to my own childhood and he had walked the same streets, visited the same places. Also in the interview above he was describing his entrance to university and again it was a very similar story to my own. He went to Loughborough which was an old polytechnic and I went to DMU which also was an old poly. We both submitted writing for entrance to university and I think had similar experiences at a similar time and geographically very close.
Yes Man is simply a story about a man who decides to say Yes to everything. The concept he states is simply; “Probably some of the best things that have ever happened to you in life, happened because you said yes to something. Otherwise things just sort of stay the same.” Wallace himself does this and essentially writes the book almost like a diary of his experiences of saying yes. Wallace states in Yes Man: “I recommend keeping a diary. Diaries are cool.” It is personal but obviously still created as a novel with those writing conventions. In a way, it reminds me of Sophie Calle in that Calle uses her own life as art (highly edited and curated) and this is very similar in its conception and indeed its curation.
Wallace writes in the first person and relates the story as if to a friend in the pub and this makes him instantly likable and very English in his sensibilities. Also, he demonstrates a clear understanding of his audience. The book is clearly aimed at people like himself, at a certain age and a bit lost in life.
Wallace uses his amiable personality to really draw the reader in and become part of his story, we want to know he is okay, we want him to win.
In my own story Milk (my own hero) is like many women in their 30s and lives an ordinary life where not much happens and she has essentially got into a bit of a rut. This is very much like Wallace in Yes Man. Milk in my story meets a monk and he promises to change her life, Milk in a way is the child of Yes Man and all she has to do is say Yes and her adventure can really begin.
References
Nast, C., 2018. Danny Wallace on his year in Hollywood. [online] British GQ. Available at: https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/danny-wallace-goes-to-hollywood [Accessed 8 February 2022].
http://www.freshfiction.com, i., 2022. Danny Wallace. [online] Freshfiction.com. Available at: https://freshfiction.com/author.php?id=30897 [Accessed 8 February 2022].
The layout I have used 1.5 line space, Century Schoolbook font for titles, and Arial font for the main text
I then began to add the poetry section
I have now just two more poems and the credits, and end page to complete before final proofreading and publishing
So far I think that the text is working and within the time frame I am happy with what I have created here. I think with more time I would have edited further to make the text tighter and worked on the pace more as I think this could be improved.
What is your final idea? Please explain in two sentences the theme and the form your writing will take.
I will create a chapbook that uses the theme 'lost things' or 'loss'. I would like to write a small collection of poems and a short fictional story, using a God's Eye View. I want to use Blurb so that I can have an online and hard copy book. I used the trade book form to keep the spirit of the chapbook.
Considering the form, how do you intend to layout your book pages?
The form will be poetry and prose and I will layout the book with the short story first with an introduction and then a collection of poems with a short introduction.
How many pages do you expect there will be?
I expect the book to be 30-40 pages in length - the book is about 6 x 9 inches
Are you going to use images? Are these your own images (illustrations/photographs) or copyright-free images that you will source?
I will use photographs to illustrate the story (either by myself or well-chosen copyright-free images)
What is the plan of your time and how much you will need to spend on this?
I will spend between 8-10 hours creating the book, this will be completed over two weekends
I am writing the story using Google Docs, I began with my synopsis and in the first chapter, the idea was to set up the story, introduce milk, and start to develop character and place. I am using a God's Eye View so we can see all that is happening as we follow Milk through her first day...
As I am writing, without an editor I wrote this and then edited and reedited on Google Docs, I then added the final draft to Blurb - below you can see what this looks like and images that I have added.
I was happy with the direction the story was taking so I also wrote the second chapter - The Order of St Jude where the journey really begins. Again I edited and reedited and add the final draft to Blurb. I am doing this as I go along as there is a short time limit on completion
I have started on the poetry and I have now only to complete the final chapter and two poems. I will also add my further research to complete the process and development of my writing project
I am creating my book using Blurb so I downloaded Bookwright and completed the Cover and set up the book ready to add text.
I began by choosing Pro Design
I then chose 'trade book' as in the spirit of the chapbook this should be a cheaply produced book and small so I chose 6" x 9".
I then chose the paper, here I chose white uncoated paper for colour as I have not yet decided on the photographs. I also chose imagewrap in hardcover which made this slightly more expensive but should give a really good finish to the final book.
I then added my project title and I was ready to get going!
I started wth teh front and back covers and the initial pages with copyright.
I also added a free ISBN number as then this can be sold.
Here you can see the copyright the photographic credits and my beginning of a contents page.
The small book I would like to create will be the first three chapters of a larger work, this is the beginning to 'The Story of Milk'. Milk is a 30 something woman who feels life has no purpose. One day Milk finds a small St Jude on her doormat and this leads her to St Jude's church where she meets a monk who asks her to participate in a novena and guarantees her life will change if she does. The story would then take her on a journey through the nine tasks that the monk sets.
In this chapbook, I would also like to include a collection of three poems that will be on the subject of loss.
The book will be illustrated through photographs which I will curate to work with the text.
