Fact or Fiction? Photography merging genres in
children’s picturebooks
A Practice-Led Masters by Research Degree
Faculty of Creative Industries
& Faculty of Education
Queensland University of Technology
Discipline: Visual Arts
25% Exegesis written component: 10,000 words
75% Creative work: Nudge’s Tale picturebook
Student: Bridgette McKelvey
Qualifications:
Graduate Diploma in Communications Practice, QUT
Graduate Certificate Cambridge CELTA, University of Queensland
Bachelor of Arts, University of Queensland
Principal Supervisor: Dr Helen Klaebe Associate Supervisor: Dr Deborah Henderson Year of Submission: 2008
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Abstract This paper explores photography in children’s picturebooks and
its ability to extend image-making and reading by creating a
hybrid genre that merges real and non-real worlds. In analysing
the use of photography in such a hybrid genre, the work of
Lauren Child (2006, 2001a, 2001b, 2000), Polly Borland (2006),
Shaun Tan (2007, 2000, 1998) and Dave McKean (2004a, 2004b,
1995) is deconstructed. These artists utilise photography in
contemporary picturebooks that are fictional. In addition, David
Doubilet’s images (1990, 1989, 1984, 1980) are discussed, which
fuse underwater photojournalism with art, for factual outputs.
This research uncovers a gap in picturebook literature and
creates a new hybrid by merging genres to produce a work that
is both factual and fictional. The research methodology in this
study includes a brief overview of photography and notions of
truth, contemporary picturebook trend theory, use of a student
focus group, industry collaborations and workshops, and
environmental education pedagogy. This thesis outlines
summaries of research outcomes, not the least of which is the
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capacity for photography to enrich narrative accounts by
providing multilayered information, character perspectives and/
or a metafictive experience. These research outcomes are then
applied to the process of creating such a hybrid children’s
picturebook.
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Key Words creative photography
marine photography
genre hybrid
creative non fiction
children’s picturebooks
conservation
marine ecology
dolphins
creative writing
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Definitions
Artistic Audit: an overview of related, contemporary practice
Environmental ethic: empathy and action fostering the protection
of the natural world
Fiction: an imagined narrative depicted by creative photography (not
realistic or documentary)
Hybrid genre: a creative work merging different or opposite genres
Metafiction: fiction drawing attention to its own construction
(Pantaleo, 2004b: 213)
Mixed Media: a combination of creative practices as one output
Pedagogy: teaching methodology
Photography: traditional and digital image-making techniques
Photographic pixilation: out-of-focus blurring of digital pixels
Photorealism: art that looks realistic, like a photograph
Picturebook: the compound noun reflects “the union of text and art
that results in something beyond what each form separately contributes”
(Wolfenbarger and Sipe, 2007: 273)
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Statement of Original Authorship The work contained in this thesis has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma at any other higher educational institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made. Signed: Bridgette A McKelvey Dated:
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Acknowledgements I wish to thank and acknowledge everyone who supported and
assisted this project. In particular I express gratitude to:
My roots - Jemma, Sam, and my family – for their love and encouragement;
My supervisory team, Dr Helen Klaebe and Dr Deborah Henderson for their
tireless support, mentorship, direction, nurturing and belief;
QUT Creative Industries Faculty for the MA scholarship and ongoing
support, particularly Professor Greg Hearn and Dr Luke Jaaniste;
Professor Raymond Evans for generously consulting on this project
regarding Queensland’s Indigenous history and representation;
Sea World Australia and Wendy Morgan for sharing Nudge;
Brisbane City Council, Rachel Cruttenden, Rick Ayala and the North Side
Team for their dedication to local environment and animals;
West End State School- Taakin Pastourel and the fabulous focus group,
Nellie and her family;
State Library Queensland and the John Oxley Library for the photographic
workshops;
Shaun Tan for sharing image-making techniques and supporting a vision;
My mates, including Annie Long for supporting the creative vision, Dr Erin
Evans for walks and conceptual synthesising, Rachel Chalmers for coffees
and creative concocting, and Phoebe Hart for Jupiter conspiring;
Dr Steve Taylor for talking marine mammals;
Queensland Writers Centre for fostering a community of author/ artists.
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Table of Contents
Introduction Creative roots 10
Practice-led research: exegesis and creative practice 11
The research question 13
Literature Review Photography, truth and changing stereotypes 14
Contemporary picturebook trends 18
An artistic audit: case studies 21
1. Lauren Child and Polly Borland 23
2. Shaun Tan 27
3. Dave McKean 32
4. David Doubilet 36
Summary of outcomes A 40
Additional Research Methodology
West End State School focus group and State Library
Queensland 42
Industry collaboration and workshops 47
Environmental picturebooks in the classroom 50
Summary of outcomes B 53
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Creative Practice Creative practice momentum 55
1. The story surfaces 55
2. Photographic origins 57
Applying the research outcomes 59
1. Appeal and authenticity 60
2. Mixing genres 62
3. Abstraction for effect 66
4. Plot strategies 69
5. Layout and text 71
6. Emotion and education 72
Conclusion 76 Appendix 78 Bibliography 80
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Introduction Creative roots Pacific roots feed my creative expression. Like many Australians I originate
from elsewhere. Having no lineage of local stories passed to me, I create
my own from what I see. Visual imagery, particularly coastal and water
photography is my medium for storytelling. I photographed this palm on a
family pilgrimage to Western Samoa. It reflects my creative roots:
photography that bridges real and imaginary worlds.
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Practice-led research: exegesis and creative practice This exegesis explores photography as creative practice in children’s
picturebooks and is weighted 25%, while the creative work is weighted
75%. As a photographer who conveys meaning through visual imagery I
have included photographic images in this paper to enhance text and
visually document my processes.
This exegesis details the research methodology for the analysis and practise
of photography in children’s picturebooks. Its theoretical and practical links
draw on the following:
o contemporary picturebook trends as platforms for an emerging hybrid
genre of photography that merges reality and fiction in children’s
picturebooks;
o an artistic audit of current picturebook practitioners who utilise
photography to blend reality and fiction; and a professional
photographer who mixes documentary and artistic photographic genres;
o West End State School student focus groups outcomes;
o industry collaborations and workshops outcomes;
o a pedagogical rationale for the value of environmental picturebooks in
classroom learning;
o how creative practice directs creative output.
The research findings then summarise and describe the application of these
outcomes in evolving the creative practice.
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The creative practice for this project takes the form of a children’s
picturebook titled Nudge’s Tale and features photography that merges art
and documentary genres. Nudge’s Tale combines my skills as a
photographer, with experience in teaching and writing. This venture is
innovative first, for its hybrid fusion of reality and creativity in an exclusively
photographic children’s picturebook and second, for its digital recreations of
an authentic local story which features Nudge, an orphaned dolphin pup
who was rescued off the coast of Brisbane.
This project sits within the model of practice-led research for research
outputs are expressed “through the medium of creativity” (Haseman, 2006:
148) as creative practice, whilst the exegesis, provides the “commentary”
(Haseman, 156) on research findings and process. I propose a metaphor for
practice-led research: The relationship between my creative work and
exegesis could be likened to a shark in the ocean. The shark represents a
creative practice and the ocean its exegesis. The shark is the life and the
water is its context. Both entities are interdependent, just as creative
practice relies on industry context for inspiration and reflection, and
industry depends on creative practice for new life.
+ = =
creative practice exegesis practice-led research
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The research question
This project seeks to explore the research question:
How does photography merge real and imaginary worlds in
children’s picturebooks?
I address this question through research processes including a literature
review outlining contemporary picturebook scope and an artistic audit of
picturebook artists and an underwater photographer who mix reality and
non-reality for their creative outputs, as well as focus group sessions,
industry collaborations and workshops, and educational applications.
These research processes revealed insights involving the following key
themes in photographic picturebook practice:
1. Appeal and authenticity;
2. Mixing genres;
3. Abstraction for effect;
4. Plot strategies;
5. Layout and text;
6. Emotion and education.
Using these insights I realised the creative practice − a picturebook that
demonstrates photography’s capacity to bridge different genres and worlds
in children’s picturebooks.
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Literature Review
Photography, truth and changing stereotypes
Visual media in children’s literature is typically relegated to two distinct
genres of picturebook: photography for fact and illustration or painting for
fiction. Dominated by factual, learn-to-read books, and posed teddy bears
in situ, photography in children’s literature is typically factual whereas
fiction picturebooks are usually illustrated or painted (Bader, 2006: 250).
“Truth-telling”, according to Gefter, (2006: 50) is the promise of a
photograph − as if fact itself resides in the optical precision with which the
medium reflects our perception”. This raises the possibility that photography
is often stereotyped as a medium of factual representation, rather than
creative practice. Aspects of Gefter’s sentiment are evident in Steve Parish’s
picturebooks.
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Parish’s Fact File books reflect popular perceptions on photography’s scope
in children’s picturebooks. Similarly, photographs in children’s picturebooks
portraying real environments tend to be scientific and narrated in third-
person language. For instance McKenna and Andrew’s Back to the Blue
(1999), a story creatively narrating the release of three dolphins back into
the wild, uses illustration for its creative account and photographs for its
factual narrative. The pictures below demonstrate this visual stereotyping
evident in Back to the Blue: The first image uses illustration to depict the
dolphin’s creative account and second image employs photography to
portray the factual elements of the story.
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Despite popular assumptions that photography embodies objective truth
however, it can be argued that a photograph reflects aspects of the
photographer’s intent. For instance, photographers make subjective choices
about features such as inclusion, exclusion, emphasis and subject direction
in photographs. Photographs are often subjected to repairs, corrections and
enhancements. Furthermore, whilst computer technology has facilitated
easier photographic manipulation, as Mullen (1998: 17) writes,
“digital imaging has simply forced everyone to acknowledge the inherently manipulative nature of photography and to understand that it never represented “truth” in the first place”.
John Grierson, a pioneer of documentary film, defined such photography as
"the creative treatment of actuality” (Mullen, 1998: 44). A photographer’s
agenda influences his or her depiction of reality consciously or
unconsciously by including an emotional subtext to engage or persuade.
This is not so different from art which also seeks to evoke emotion. Mullen
states “photography can be philosophically allied with art because it
manipulates versions of reality in order to reveal truths” (1998: 44).
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The re-evaluation of notions of “truth” in visual representation and the
redefining of photography to allow for its inclusion into the realm of art has
fostered photographic innovation. Can photography utilise creative
opportunities by merging fiction and non-fiction to create a new genre
hybrid of children’s picturebooks?
This research explores the potential for photography in children’s
picturebooks by documenting:
o Contemporary picturebook trends, as a context for innovation
o An artistic audit exploring:
1. Photography in contemporary children’s picturebooks;
2. Contemporary marine photography.
This review reveals current children’s picturebook trends by summarising
academic discourse and auditing the work of pioneering author/ artists:
Lauren Child (2006, 2001a, 2001b, 2000) and Polly Borland (2006), Shaun
Tan (2007, 2000, 1998), and Dave McKean (2004a, 2004b, 1995). It then
examines contemporary marine photography by analysing the images of
David Doubilet (1990, 1989, 1984, 1980).
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Contemporary picturebook trends
Digital technology has created opportunities for innovation in picturebooks
by encouraging an excitingly expansive and mixed-media climate for visual
story portrayal.
“The process of becoming engaged in a story is often due to a realisation of its marvellous artifice and a negotiation of the playful collision of multiple sign systems readers are confronted with” (Wylie, 2006: 176).
Contemporary children’s picturebooks use a “pastiche of illustrative styles”
(Anstey, 2002: 447), unpredictable formatting, multiple plot-lines and
contrasting perspectives. Dresang (1999: 14) suggests, “contemporary
children’s literature is changing in step with the positive changes in the
digital world”. Her “radical change” framework proposes three areas of
picturebook change: forms and formats; perspectives; and boundaries
(Dresang, 1999: 19-26).
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Contemporary picturebooks also play with different perspectives of story
telling. There is a trend for metafictive picturebooks to “self-consciously and
systematically draw attention to their status” in the same way as
constructed fiction (Waugh, 1984: 2). Consequently, reader expectations
are also changing. Anstey (2002: 456) summarises shifting reader
expectations by quoting a student she surveyed: “Now I don’t like some of
the books I thought were really good. They’re just too simple and obvious”.
Shifting formats and perspectives have extended the parameters for how
story worlds are portrayed in picturebooks. This raises the issue of how we
interpret and represent fiction and reality (Pantaleo, 2004b: 213). Bakhtin
(1981) conceptualises the relationship between real and creative worlds as
a process of continual renewal:
“The Work and the world represented in it enter the real world and enrich it, and the real world enters the work and its world as part of the process of creation, as well as part of its subsequent life, in a continuing renewing of the work through the creative perception of listeners and readers” (p. 254).
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Can real and non-real worlds combine to create a hybrid which allows for
effective story portrayal? Hutcheon (2002) draws upon postmodernism’s
challenge to the early twentieth century modernist worldview which created
a hierarchy of separate genres, by advocating fluid, interspersed genres.
For Hutcheon, this postmodern opportunity has given rise to the possibility
of a hybrid genre as a “paradoxical mix of seeming opposites”, which is a
phenomenon arising from postmodernist opportunities (p. 8). It can be
argued that one of the characteristics of contemporary children’s
picturebooks is this postmodern-inspired innovation. Does such innovation
support photography as an emerging tool for mixing genres of fiction and
non-fiction in children’s picturebooks? This exegesis explores photography’s
potential for genre hybridising in children’s picturebooks through the
following artistic audit.
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Artistic Audit
Johnston’s (2003: 311) observation that whilst research “informs practice,
what is equally important to acknowledge is that practice in turn informs
research” presents the challenge of assessing creative practices for research
outcomes. A search of catalogues, databases and literature yielded limited
discourse on hybrid or creative photography in children’s picturebooks.
Similarly, those librarians and major book sellers interviewed knew of no
creative children’s picturebooks solely featuring photography and suggested
that photography in children’s books was limited to conventional scientific or
learn-to-read books.
Realising I was traversing a gap in the field, I audited contemporary
children’s picturebooks for any form of hybrid photography. I sought artists
who were using creative photography in image-making, even though
photography was not their sole practice or output. My assumption was that
this process would reveal photographic hybridising in its infancy.
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The following visual artists use photography within mixed media to create
innovative and visually arresting picturebooks. In this section I analyse the
use of traditional and digital photography and the effect of their image-
making techniques.
1. Lauren Child (2006, 2001a, 2001b, 2000) and Polly Borland (2006) − use
photographic pixilation effects and photographic scanning for 2D collage, as
well as artistic photography to document 3D miniature sets;
2. Shaun Tan (2007, 2000, 1998) − employs photorealism and Adobe
Photoshop digital techniques, to enhance illustration and painting;
3. Dave McKean (2004a, 2004b, 1995) − uses digital photo blending,
layering and computer 3D effects, mixed with painting and illustration;
I then explore the creative image-making techniques of a visual artist
whose solely photographic works blur the line between realism and art.
4. David Doubilet (1990, 1989, 1984, 1980) – blends underwater
photorealism and fine art genres.
Analysing Doubilet’s work is relevant to my creative practice, as our
photography shares an oceanic focus and hybrid style, albeit for different
publishing outputs − his work features in magazines, rather than children’s
picturebooks.
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1. Lauren Child and Polly Borland
Lauren Child, well known for the popular Charlie and Lola (2000), and
Clarice Bean (2001) picturebook series, features photography collaged with
illustration, paint, and fabrics in her works. She creates collage elements
separately, before assembling images with scissored edges, effecting playful
scrapbook-like visuals. Wylie observes that Child “clearly delights in excess.
The Clarice Bean books are sort of in-your-face graphic scrapbooks” (2006:
194). Using landscape and architectural photography for background, Child
solidifies story locations by using these natural and structural images.
Child’s Stylistic techniques favour pixilated photographs over sharp images.
As Henry (2007) observes,
“Child takes most of the photos she uses in her work as she doesn’t want them to look too professional; she prefers a grainy texture so her book will have the appearance of someone’s scrapbook” (p. 45).
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A typical page layout is evident in What Planet Are You From, Clarice Bean?
(2001b). Child anchors the scene by placing a photograph of a tree over a
watercolour wash. She assembles the tree from pixilated photo cuttings of
bark, rendering trunk and branches, and affixes individual drawings of
people in various postures lounging in the tree. Despite the cut-out edges
and separateness of each component, the arrangement and believability of
Child’s skillfully candid characters, make for an aesthetically seamless union
between the different mediums − a consciously cohesive scene.
Child’s text is multimodal: she digitally layers and positions different fonts
over photography and images to express multiple speakers and the story’s
varying pace. For instance, text layered on separate carrots gives a
separate emphasis to each word in I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato
(2000). My Uncle is a Hunkle says Clarice Bean (2001a) also reflects Child’s
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fusion of landscape photography with other mediums, meshing reality and
fiction. She also uses photography for portraits that are suspended on
textured walls within her illustrations. Child plays with reality and fiction by
importing real photographs into illusionary worlds. She creates an
awareness of fiction construction − metafiction.
In The Princess and the Pea (2006) Child collaborates with Polly Borland, a
professional photographer, to extend the photographic scope from 2D to 3D
visuals. Borland uses the camera to create 3D perspective and atmosphere,
bringing to life Child’s miniature visual sets: drawn characters in cornflakes
box constructions adorned with furnishings and textures, as well as exterior
bonsai, tiny stone paths and leaf litter.
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Borland uses traditional photographic techniques to enhance Child’s
creations in The Princess and the Pea. Lighting and long exposures are used
to create mood. Blue filters and shadows accentuate ethereal night scenes
as the princess wanders under the moonlight. Side-lighting and long
exposures (rather than flash photography) create cosiness by casting
warmth and light, as shown in the images below. Borland varies the depth
of field to create a 3D perspective. For instance, by using a short focal
length, Borland sharply focuses on objects proximate to the story’s
characters, whilst simultaneously blurring objects at a further distance. This
effect is particularly exemplified in the first scene shown below where the
King and Queen sit before a window − the table is in sharp focus, whereas
the building seen through the window is out of focus.
These photographic techniques deliver a convincingly fused world of realism
and imagination. This hybrid fusion considerably enlivens visuals that are
engaging for readers.
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2. Shaun Tan
Like Child and Borland, who both use mixed media visuals for a unique
result, Shaun Tan employs mixed media techniques in his picturebooks.
However Tan’s visuals contrive for photorealism; he uses creative
techniques to replicate photographs. In The Arrival (2007a) Tan applies
photographic processes to create the effect of a photo album that portrays
a compelling world, albeit abstracted. Tan observes of this technique, “I
stop when I have almost punctured the paper and am about to enter
another world” (2007b).
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Tan described his use of photography in crafting The Arrival (2007a) by
sharing image-making techniques at a Brisbane workshop (2007b). Tan
revealed his use of video stills for storyboard sequencing to assist
perspective, lighting and continuity. For instance, to enable him to
convincingly draw a character picking up a hat, Tan videoed the act of
picking up a hat eight times to achieve his desired perspective. Tan also
applies video stills as background layers in more complex images.
In a kitchen scene, for example, the people, table and jacket are sourced
from a video still layer that Tan embellishes with shading and other
illustrated additions, such as the ‘tadpole-esque’ creature, chair and
background wall. Whilst Tan’s images are photorealistic in conveying the
realism of photographs, they retain a sketched texture with cross-hatched
pencil lines and texture. Tan darkly hand-shades oppressive scenes to
convey despair, and claims he now has the “wrist of a 90 year old” from
this shading technique (Tan, 2007b).
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Tan uses Adobe Photoshop, yet mindful of overuse which he likens to
“oversteering a car” (Tan, 2007b), he keeps digital enhancements subtle,
maintaining the mood of his images. Tan plays with sepia hues to create
the look of aged photos, as “colour is an emotional device” (Tan, 2007b).
Tan scans authentically aged photographs, and then digitally extracts
picture borders and feathers edges to replicate tattered photographs.
The Arrival (2007a) is uniquely devoid of text; pictures alone tell the story.
Like a photo album, narration is embedded in each image and by their
sequencing. As one review observes:
“‘Tan adeptly controls the book’s pacing and rhythm by alternating a grid-like layout of small panels, which moves the action forward, with stirring single and double page spreads, that invite awestruck pauses” (Publisher’s Weekly, 2007: 166).
Tan’s photo-like pictures, drawn and arranged on realistically aged and
crumpled album-like pages, produce a poignant personal archive of stories.
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Playing with fiction construction also in The Rabbits (1998) and The Lost
Thing (2000), Tan parodies modern art works by ‘borrowing’ paintings from
artists, E. Phillips Fox and Jeffrey Smart (Strahan, 2000: 1). On the cover of
The Rabbits (1998), Tan substitutes Captain Cook’s crew from the original
painting with rabbits possessing alien-like qualities. On The Lost Thing’s
cover (2000), Tan swaps the suited-man from the original painting for the
red, lost thing. Tan again uses photography in the cover insert where rows
of bottle tops are photographed and layered with individual designs. These
techniques create a picturebook world where fiction and reality are
interchangeable.
Tan reflects on his picturebook process in the following way:
“Creativity is about playing with found objects, reconstructing things that already exist, and transforming ideas or stories I already know. It’s not about the colonisation of new territory, it’s about exploring inwards, examining your existing presumptions, squinting at the archive of experience from new angles and hoping for some sort of revelation” (Tan, 2003: 2).
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Moreover as Tan is “always interested in the tension between it feeling real
and always being a picture” (Tan 2007b), photography is integral to this
process.
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3. Dave McKean
Illustrator, Dave McKean also plays on the relationship between reality and
fiction in his picturebooks. His images explore “the relationship between
what is real and not real” (Crawford, 2006: 40). In The Wolves in the Walls
(2004a) McKean jumbles reality and fiction by juxtaposing photography,
paintings, illustrations and 3D art. “There are two visual worlds… the darkly
layered atmospheric house represented through collage (paintings,
photographs and computer generated images) and the lighter world of the
wolves rendered in simpler line drawings” (Crawford, 2006: 40).
Significantly, the cover of The Wolves in the Walls showcases McKean’s
reality-mixing approach. The cover image is a painted and digitised image
of Lucy, the central character, sketching a wolf on a wall. Instead of drawn
eyes in her sketch, a photographed set of wolf-eyes “stare back at the
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reader through eye-holes in the wall, suggesting that a very real flesh-and-
blood wolf lurks within” (Crawford, 2006: 40). This makes us wonder
whether the wolves are imagined, or real.
McKean’s creative photography features on every page, including interior
props such as a photographed Sony PlayStation console, carpets, jam jars,
a tuba and pig puppet, as well as exterior photographs of house, landscape
and fire. He skillfully layers these photographs with illustrations and random
painted layers. McKean uses side-lit photography to create foreboding “odd
angles and spooky shadows” (Fisher, 2006: 33). McKean also employs
digital technology by drawing on and erasing parts of photos, as well as
creating 3D people in Lucy’s world. Bodies with painted faces are digitised
and manipulated achieving 3D realism. The result is a world that could be
found in any reader’s home, but with startling visual additions, such as the
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wolves − allowing the reader to entertain the idea of fantastic scenarios
bridging a tenuous line between what is real and what could be possible.
McKean’s use of innovative photography is also evident in The Day I
Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish (2004b) and Mr Punch (1995). In The
Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish (2004b) McKean digitally layers a
photograph of a goldfish in a bowl with ink-drawn people, textured paint
and paper mache. Likewise he layers a sketched father holding a
photographed newspaper, in a sketched hutch layered over a photographed
lawn. A rabbit painted with white blotches has a real, photographed eye.
Similarly in Mr Punch (1995), night sequences feature photographs
portraying the house exterior and side-lit vegetation.
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The text scale and positioning dramatise the story in all three picturebooks.
Text is digitally layered along the axis of action and scaled in size, according
to the narrative’s intensity.
The effect of McKean’s fusion of photography with illustration, paint, paper-
mache, blended characters and run-away text, is a ‘fantastical’ world
revolting from reality into fantasy.
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4. David Doubilet
Unlike the featured picturebook practitioners, photographer David Doubilet’s
visual art (1990, 1989, 1984, 1980) is published in magazines. Although
Doubilet’s practice is not published in children’s picturebooks, an artistic
audit of his works is relevant as his visual art parallels my creative practice:
photography is his primary visual medium, it features the marine word, and
successfully fuses two elements crucial to my work ─ photorealism and art.
Doubilet is a resident photographer for National Geographic specialising in
unique underwater photography. He artistically portrays the underwater
realm creating images that he refers to as “almost fine-art underwater
pictures” (2006: 9). His focus is the play of light in water, which adds
patterns and wonder to his images, recreating the emotional experience of
being underwater. The image above, titled Undersea Desert (1980), reflects
Doubilet’s visual passion. Doubilet says:
“If you go under the sea and you really look, you see an extraordinary thing, which is the underside of the surface. It really is a looking-glass and it is hypnotic. Light goes through it, sparkling, shafting and moving. It is emotional ─ I love this view of the water" (2006: 9).
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Doubilet’s passion translates into his image-making. His photography
extends beyond a technical portrayal of marine subjects; they show the
world from the subject’s viewpoint and tell a narrative, taking the viewer
out of their reality and into the undersea world of the subject. Doubilet does
not use any post-production techniques such as Photoshop manipulation.
He prefers to convey what was, and not to mislead viewers (2006: 15).
Doubilet uses wide-angle lenses to capture extensive underwater vistas that
frame his subjects and capture the essence of their locale.
Waves, Shadow, Light and Mullet (1984) photographed in Japan (as above),
shows the effect of his wide-angle perspective in capturing mood of space.
Doubilet highlights the responsibility of representing remote worlds to
viewers of his images, and emphasises emotion’s role in photographically
expressing such places: “It's got to be filtered through your eyes, your
mood, your feelings” (2006: 11). A technique which also distinguishes his
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imagery is the capturing of split-world viewpoints. In Stingray and Sailboat
in the Early Afternoon (1990), photographed in the Cayman Islands,
Doubilet uses an 18mm lens to achieve an underwater and above water
split image. The image portrays a ray gliding underwater and a sailboat
drifting above the waterline, and the technique contrasts and yet joins
parallel worlds.
National Geographic’s director of photography, Bob Gilka, extols Doubilet’s
subject research and knowledge as intrinsic to the calibre of his
photography (Mullen, 1998: 88-9). Doubilet’s deep understanding of subject
seems to give him the ability to delve beyond science to portray the
personal worlds of his subjects. His close-up portraiture uses mid-focal
lengths, depicting his subjects as personas engaging with him, rather than a
species under observation. It appears Doubilet earns his subjects’ trust, as
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his portraiture reflects candour and expression. Harbour Seal with Kelp
(1989), photographed in California, shows a seal relaxed and almost
posturing for the camera. This allows the viewer to feel connected with the
seal.
Aesthetic marine photography serves an agenda other than art alone.
Whilst journalistic photographs, such as images of an oil spill, seek to
promote environmentalism via confrontation, artistic photography can foster
an environmental conscience via connection and wonder at the natural
world. Doubilet says “all those pretty fish pictures have been the most
effective journalistic pictures because they have inspired an environmental
ethic" (2006: 15). The effect of Doubilet’s photography that transcends
science into art is a collection of mesmerising and engaging images which
invite deeper viewing. His images are an aesthetically and emotionally
moving experience, prompting the viewer to care about the subject.
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Summary of outcomes A
In response to the research question:
How does photography merge real and imaginary worlds in
children’s picturebooks?
I propose that creative photographic techniques (traditional and digital)
applied in mixed media practice merge factual and fictional worlds. Award-
winning author/ artists, Lauren Child and Polly Borland, Shaun Tan, and
Dave McKean extend the parameters of children’s picturebooks by using
these techniques, which enliven and challenge image-making in
picturebooks. David Doubilet also uses creative photography to mix genres
of fact and art, which extends the scope of photography.
The literature review process revealed practical outcomes of using
photography to merge real and imaginary worlds. These outcomes were
relevant in the planning and contributed to the conceptualising and
development of my creative practice:
o Photography’s apparent realism can give authenticity to a fictional story
and blur the line between reality and fantasy;
o Creative photography and/or digital manipulation can add aesthetic
interest, colour and emotion to a story;
o A photograph within a creative layout can provide familiarity within a
creative background, or a departure point into fantasy;
41
o Mixing real and creative images can enrich narrative accounts by
providing multilayered information, character perspectives and/or a
metafictive experience;
o Dynamic visuals can engage readers. For instance: images within
images; mixed media and styles; and abstraction of scenes can elicit a
feeling and/or response;
o Digital techniques can assist in accurately portraying a recreated scene
or story. For instance, by using Adobe Photoshop enhancements,
correction, layering and/or editing;
o A comprehensive research audit is necessary to photographically portray
a subject with authenticity, substance and emotion;
o Effective visuals can connect an audience with a subject, by evoking
emotional response;
o This emotional response can prompt an audience ethic, such as an
environmental conscience.
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Additional Research Methodology
West End State School Focus Group & State Library Queensland
The projected reader ages for my creative practice are four to eight year
olds. For this reason, I chose to work with a West End State School Grade 2
− 3 composite class for my focus group, as a core component of my
additional research methodology. Student ages ranged from six to eight
years old. The purpose of engaging a primary school focus group was to
canvas involvement, ideas and responses to my project as it evolved. The
students became active participants in the process, while being introduced
to local stories and aspects of ecological environments.
I selected the State Library Queensland (SLQ) in the first phase of the
research as a local research venue where we could access a visual record of
Brisbane’s history and possibly uncover a story that would evolve into the
dominant narrative.
43
Focus group sessions included:
o an introductory meeting and storyboarding class
o an excursion to the John Oxley Library (JOL) at SLQ
o photographic shoots and reflection
Introduction and storyboarding 31/10/2007
Students were initially briefed on the project. Together we explored
children’s book genres and appeal, themes and setting, and photographic
direction, which was based on student ideas and response. Students
remained focused throughout the session and enthusiastically contributed
questions and ideas. They provided feedback for picturebook genres which
they found appealing such as real-life tales, funny, scary or animal stories,
and historical narratives.
Student ideas were also visually presented using storyboarding sequences
to plan photo shoots on the Brisbane River. Students exceeded my
expectations by contributing intelligent and inventive responses. For
instance, storyboard sequencing ideas included:
o a shark curiously nibbling children’s toes in the river;
o children somersaulting and doing handstands underwater;
o a shark losing its tooth.
State Library Queensland 13/11/2007
In the lead up to the second focus group session, meetings were held with
JOL staff at SLQ to plan the session’s approach and content. This research
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session focused on Brisbane River depictions in historic photographs held in
the John Oxley Collection at SLQ. I divided the Brisbane River photographs
into five topics for student perusal:
o swimming;
o floods;
o boats;
o bridges;
o panoramas.
Focus questions were then prepared to prompt student response and
analysis when viewing the images. The session was jointly facilitated by
myself, Jo Ritale (Collections Manager JOL) and Brian Randall (Tour
Manager JOL). Students enjoyed handling the photographs and actively
reflecting on image content. Photographs of the floods were particularly
engaging for the students, as they could see South Brisbane, their local
neighbourhood, underwater, and understood the level of water in relation
to homes. The images below show this self-directed involvement process.
45
Similarly students also responded to the panoramas of the city because it
was a familiar place, particularly the area where the Story Bridge is now
located.
South Bank Photo Shoot 13/11/2007
We visited South Bank for the third session, so students could compare
today’s cityscape with the photographs that they had studied at JOL. For
instance, students independently distinguished the difference in Victoria
Bridge’s modern construction compared to its predecessors, and noted the
impermanence of bridges (after viewing photographs of Victoria Bridge
being swept away in the 1893 floods). A parent remarked, “Now I am
seeing ghosts of the past everywhere”. Students also directly engaged with
history by posing on old tram tracks which once transported passengers
over the previous Victoria Bridge. This engagement and application of new
knowledge reflects the benefits of self-directed and experiential learning,
affirming that evoking an emotional response in children can create an
enhanced awareness and ethic of participation.
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14/11/2007 & 13/12/2007 Underwater photo shoots
Students executed underwater poses with considerable enthusiasm. This
generated a further opportunity to engage students, and again supported
my pedagogy that eliciting an emotional response in children promotes
increased involvement and the potential for an ethic of responsibility. The
session also provided opportunities for fine-tuning underwater photographic
techniques and experimenting with what ideas and creative imagery
emerged.
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Industry collaborations and workshops
In addition to West End State School and the State Library Queensland, I
consulted with various industry stakeholders. These included Brisbane City
Council (BCC), Sea World, and the Brisbane Maritime and Science Museums.
I also sought out academic experts, such as Professor Raymond Evans,
author of A History of Queensland (2007), and Dr Sam Watson, Deputy
Director for the Indigenous Studies Unit, University of Queensland. I met
with industry professionals by attending Brisbane Writers’ Festival
workshops, including a Shaun Tan master class and seminars conducted by
other successful children’s book authors including Morris Gleitzmann and
Sonya Hartnett. Finally, I investigated children’s picturebooks as education
pedagogy, environmental education and current curriculum practice.
In my initial research proposal I had articulated that my creative practice
intention was to create a picturebook portraying a Brisbane story with
photographic visuals that would connect children with their marine
environment within an historical context. In order to create the story with
authenticity I research aspects of Queensland’s historical ecology. In
addition to reading local historical documents such as Tom Petrie
Reminisces (1981) and chapters from A History of Queensland (2007), I
consulted with BCC and accessed photographs held in the JOL collection at
the SLQ (as documented earlier) and the Maritime Museum. Professor
Evans generously consulted on Queensland’s history, suggesting reference
materials and offering guidance on the portrayal of themes, particularly
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information about Brisbane’s Indigenous history (intrinsic to natural
ecology). I also studied children’s picturebooks that promoted
environmental themes, such as Jeannie Baker’s Where the Forest Meets the
Sea (1989) and The Hidden Forest (2000), Graeme Base’s Uno’s Garden
(2006), and Home (2006) by Narelle Oliver, to study how artists conveyed
environmental messages through creative practice, even if using non-
photographic practices.
As the direction of my research became more defined, I consulted with Dr
Steve Taylor, a Moreton Bay marine scientist and Wendy Morgan, Sea
World’s marketing manager. Morgan ultimately introduced me to the pivotal
character and story for my creative practice. With Sea World’s permission I
was able to take aquatic images, particularly of Nudge, the main character
in my creative practice Nudge’s Tale. BCC also collaborated by offering
49
environmental information, photographic opportunities and images relating
to Nudge’s rescue, the basis for my narrative.
In addition to information sharing and granting copyright permissions,
stakeholders expressed interest in the publication of Nudge’s Tale, including
SLQ who offered to publish it online on their website. Sea World expressed
interest in assessing Nudge’s Tale for distribution, and BCC may be
interested in use as a resource in environmental centres and libraries. This
interest affirmed worth and potential applications for Nudge’s Tale.
The Brisbane Writers’ Festival Workshops that I attended in 2007 effectively
clarified elements universal to a successful children’s book irrespective of
genre. Shaun Tan’s master class and my subsequent meeting with him were
particularly inspiring. Tan’s impressive artistry and openness in eloquently
sharing visual techniques to engage readers, as well as insights on the
creative process proved critical. Morris Gleitzmann’s workshop emphasised
key techniques in successfully capturing young readers’ attention through
suspense in plot delivery. I later applied these techniques in visual and
narrative structuring.
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Environmental picturebooks in the classroom
In my previous employment as an educator, I drew on resources that
awakened and cajoled young students into learning, including picturebooks.
Picturebooks such as Jeannie Baker’s Where the Forest Meets the Sea
(1989) and Graeme Base’s Uno’s Garden (2006) were both moving and
educational for students. It was important for me to produce a picturebook
with real classroom applications, in addition to creative appeal. For this
reason, I researched education pedagogy, environmental picturebooks and
recent curriculum documents. Zynda theorises the empathetic capacity of
picturebooks to enhance environmental education outcomes:
“Picturebooks can be powerful tools in environmental education… Stories can give children new and different perspectives and engage their minds in ways that nonfiction lessons cannot… In order to connect the children to the environmental issue, authors and illustrators of environmental picturebooks must focus more on the story and the characters than the lessons of environmental awareness” (2007: 11).
Criteria for effective environmental education in picturebooks include:
• Encouraging an appreciation of nature;
• Realism;
• Solutions;
• Children are encouraged to become actively involved;
• Children have had experience with the subject matter;
• The book ends on a positive note and does not assign blame;
• The book presents a balanced view of the issue by showing both sides;
(Zynda, 2007: 17).
51
I was mindful of these criteria in developing Nudge’s Tale (and document
instances of their application on page 71 in this paper).
Environmental education is valued across education systems. At the
international level, UNESCO (2002:8) advocates environmental education as
a priority for a sustainable global future. Environmental education has been
part of Australian schooling for more than thirty years, and was endorsed at
the national level as one of the National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-
First Century (MCEETYA, 1999). More recently, the values component of
pedagogical approaches to teaching about the environment was endorsed
by the Australian Government’s Department of the Environment and
Heritage (2005) in its National Statement on Education for a Sustainable
Future. This policy statement emphasised one of the long-term goals of
environmental education for sustainability as “developing the capacities of
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students to develop ‘an ethic of personal responsibility and stewardship
towards all aspects of the environment’” (p. 8). At the state level, the
Queensland Studies Authority (QSA) prioritises environmental awareness in
the Key Learning Area of Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE). For
example, the SOSE Syllabus (QSA, 1998) Years 1-10 groups learning
outcomes into core strands including “Place and Space” which lists themes
of “human-environment relationships”, “processes and environments”,
“stewardship”, “spatial patterns” and “significance of place” (p. 1).
As Johnston puts it, “literature and arts become integral (as mind-openers,
image-makers and spirit-feeders) to the sustainable futures of lifelong
learners” (2002: 311). This research confirmed the role of environmental
picturebooks’ in Queensland education, key criteria for effectiveness, and
the worth of pursuing this theme for my creative practice.
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Summary of outcomes B
Additional research methodology processes of the focus group sessions,
industry involvement, workshop participation and curriculum research
assisted my creative practice by:
o Clarifying that children are interested in reading stories that are true,
scary, about animals and/or history;
o Showing that children connect with local stories and familiar subjects;
o Emphasising picturebooks which move children are powerful mediums
for communicating ideas and furthering thinking and discussion;
o Affirming the worth of the project through consistent industry interest,
support and opportunities;
o Demonstrating publishing possibilities for the creative practice;
o Providing me an historical and ecological framework for the book;
o Delivering the key story;
o Presenting opportunities for photo shoots and image-gathering;
o Demonstrating strategies for engaging children’s interest in a story,
particularly through suspense;
o Reflecting on picturebook processes and techniques;
o Connecting with other visual artists and writers;
o Ongoing mentorship and feedback on my creative practice;
o Confirming the role of environmental picturebooks in education practice
and Queensland curriculum;
o Promoting criteria for an effective environmental picturebook.
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My research methodology demonstrated that photographic hybrid genres
are occurring in contemporary children’s picturebooks and yielded the
outcomes stated above. I then applied these outcomes to my creative
practice process to produce an exclusively photographic picturebook that
bridges real and imaginary worlds, with educational applications.
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Creative Practice Creative practice momentum Creative practice ignited and ultimately shaped my project’s direction.
My creative origins had sparked a picturebook vision that, in turn, ignited
the research process. Research contextualised and rationalised this creative
vision which ultimately gathered pivotal creative momentum. This
momentum took the form of the story that beckoned, and the return to my
photographic niche.
1. The story surfaces I was searching for the story that would entice readers. Narrowing
research parameters, I had arrived at a conceptual outline featuring a bull
shark in the Brisbane River and its journey back in time. I had much of the
storyboard laid out, visually and conceptually but felt like I was waiting for
56
the nexus of the story to manifest, and wasn’t satisfied with creativity
solely. I wanted authenticity within my creativity.
The story unexpectedly emerged during a meeting with Wendy Morgan, Sea
World’s marketing manager. Our meeting agenda was to arrange a photo
shoot of sharks but talk turned to Nudge, an orphaned dolphin and survivor
of a poignant story, recently rescued by Sea World. Morgan recommended I
meet him.
Instead of photographing bull sharks I found myself at Nudge’s aquarium
pool, entranced. Nudge was so endearing; a tiny dolphin with a big persona
and moving story. I couldn’t leave and spent the day observing and
photographing him. I left Sea World that day committed to portraying
Nudge’s story. Brisbane River bull sharks still interest me, but Nudge’s story
had immediacy. Although the character and backdrop had altered, Nudge’s
story still delivers my original research proposal of visually portraying a
story with authenticity and an ecological agenda contextualised in history.
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2. Photographic origins
As described earlier, prior to meeting Nudge my visual concept had evolved
in stages. The concept hinged around connecting children with environment
by depicting evocative visual scapes. Its backdrop started with Brisbane’s
skyline and river, then narrowed to the South Brisbane River stretch and
then travelled underwater there, before finishing at Nudgee Beach. It is not
surprising that I travelled in a full circle from photographing cityscape to
inching, like the tide, back to my creative niche of photographing water,
before the final tidal surge that swept me back to coastal photography.
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My focus within coastal photography is water patterns. Like David Doubilet,
I have always been fascinated with portraying the play of light on and
through water. I enjoy capturing its ever-changing patterns, unique for a
moment in time. Images in Nudge’s Tale portray changing water patterns
and mood of as a backdrop for Nudge. For instance, the patterning in the
water gives a pensive feel in the image depicting Nudge surfacing (as
shown above). Likewise the image of Nudge and his mother playing (as
shown the previous page) is designed to convey aesthetic and mood, as
well as behavioural documentation. The intent of this portrayal style is art
meeting realism, or genre hybridising.
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APPLYING THE RESEARCH OUTCOMES Evolving the creative practice necessitated synthesising artistic vision with
research outcomes; stoking the creative spark with rationalised direction, to
manifest a picturebook satisfying theory yet resonating with magic.
I applied the following themes in the production of Nudge’s Tale by
grouping outcomes derived through the research methodology processes:
1. Appeal and authenticity;
2. Mixing genres;
3. Abstraction for effect;
4. Plot strategies;
5. Layout and text;
6. Emotion and education.
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1. Appeal and authenticity West End State School’s focus group clarified for me that children like to
read true, scary, animal-centred and/or historical stories. Assessing
responses to the JOL photographs demonstrated that students will also truly
connect with a visual image if it depicts a local place or familiar theme. As
Johnston observes, “children like the unfamiliar planted in the safety of the
familiar” (2002: 324). Nudge’s Tale includes aspects of all the above story
genres: it is based on a true, local story about a familiar animal that
overcomes elements of fear, and is contextualised in history.
My analysis of Doubilet’s images demonstrated that thorough subject
research and knowledge facilitates high calibre image-making. Rigorous
research enables knowing what is unique and important to reflect and the
ability to creatively play in presenting perspectives. To investigate Nudge’s
story, I consulted with Sea World, BCC and scientific literature regarding
dolphin attributes and behaviours in order to elicit key characteristics of
Nudge, worthy of portrayal to children. I also researched Brisbane’s marine
ecology and Indigenous history to give authenticity and an historical context
to Nudge’s story. For example, the image of Nudge’s ancestral pod fishing
communally with Indigenous Australians reflects this context. Familiarity
with marine photography and water also facilitated a skill-base from which I
could artistically extend.
61
I met with Rick Alvara, Nudge’s real-life rescuer from BCC, in order to
understand and recreate via photography the nature of Nudge’s rescue. I
photographed him re-enacting the rescue moment at Nudgee Beach, site of
Nudge’s rescue, and used these photographs in Nudge’s Tale to give
credible documentation of this crucial event, and build authenticity to the
narrative and images. For instance, the visuals of Nudge’s rescuer, and the
hook and net are from photographs I took with Alvara. Additionally, BCC
provided actual photographs from Nudge’s rescue that I also used in the
visual narrative. For example, images of Nudge’s hooked tail and the rescue
boat are manipulations of these photographs. I used Adobe Photoshop
filters, colour saturation and cloning to create an artistic version of these
documentary images. The effect and rationale behind these techniques is
discussed further under the section “Abstraction”.
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2. Mixing genres I elected to mix photographic visuals of photorealism and fine art so as to
fuse genres while still portraying a true story creatively through the
picturebook’s visual art. This method entailed decisions around image-
making techniques. For instance, I deliberated on to how to ‘story-rise’
photographs and how to transcend images from documentary photography
into a compelling picturebook narrative. I also considered how to join
archival and artistic images, and whether to highlight or conceal image-
alterations and layering. The outcomes entailed traditional and digital
photographic techniques which I applied these techniques to prioritise four
goals, namely to:
o replicate Nudge’s story authentically;
o represent Nudge’s persona;
o portray an environmental aesthetic;
o evoke empathy in the reader.
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Recreating locations and Nudge’s relationships involved traditional camera
processes, including wide-angle lens perspectives and portrait-friendly
close-up views. It also involved maximising interesting lighting and
landscape form and water pattern opportunities, as well as Adobe
Photoshop techniques of layering, blending, cloning, and exposure and
colour tweaking. I did not use Photoshop excessively or without
justification, as I wanted to maintain the essence of my photographs,
mindful of Tan’s cautionary words about Photoshop overkill. This is evident
in some final images that include several photographic layers to recreate a
scene using techniques similar to Doubilet’s images (1990, 1989, 1984,
1980). For example, in the photograph below I layered images of two
dolphins to situate Nudge in the ocean and extend the wide-angle split-view
of above and below water, as Doubilet practices in some of his images.
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I adjusted colour and exposure of photographs to reflect the passage of
time and changing mood over an image sequence. For example, images
from when Nudge is approaching the net to where he is rescued show the
sky and water darkening to reflecting time passing and flavour events with
fear. The shark in the image Night was closing in is ominously dark to
reflect the colour of night and dread. Conversely, images used in the
beginning of the book show light, transparent water − signalling happiness
and day-time, and promote the aesthetic of beauty in the marine world.
I experimented with processes, finally deciding to create seamless
photographic joins as I wanted pictures to feel natural and cohesive, whilst
creative. Digital blending, cloning and semi-opaque merging achieved this
effect and allowed for continuous, flowing water lines, rather than
discordance between image layers. The effect of mixing photographic
65
genres using traditional and digital processes is the creation of a believable
‘Nudge world’, reflecting aesthetic, perspective and mood.
The following images show the layers and adjustments within the final
image of ancestral communal fishing.
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3. Abstraction for effect The capacity for picturebook visuals to show how abstracted images can
excite and emotionally impact, thus directing the audience’s experience, is
evident in McKean’s (2004a, 2004b, 1995) works. As Nudge’s Tale is a
fusion of realism and art, I wanted to depict Nudge without compromising
his natural appeal, in a story that portrayed what had happened to him, yet
through a filter of abstraction and emotion.
I experimented with various techniques to abstract from purely
documentary images. The image of Nudge alone (shown below) was taken
during a photo shoot where I played with a replica toy in the ocean, for
effect. The result is an aerial view of a representational Nudge contrasted
by water patterns. Although synthetic, the image poignantly recreates
Nudge’s experience of aloneness for the first time. Interestingly, many
readers have responded to the image, not realising it is a toy.
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Some events that Nudge experienced had the potential to disturb a younger
readership. To avoid unnecessary distress I portrayed such scenes as
abstract, rather than actual. For instance, I depicted the boat accident that
kills Nudge’s mother through an upside-down view of the world as Nudge
tumbles underwater, hinting as to what happened to his mother rather than
showing or stating the fact (as shown below). Incidentally, I added the
skyline of high-rise buildings to indicate development and the presence of
people (and boats). The intention was to prompt readers to contemplate
the relationship between development and environmental fall-out.
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Similarly, I digitally transformed images of Nudge’s hooked tail, rescuer and
rescue boat to appear painted rather than photographic (shown on the next
page). Photoshop filters and colour adjustments facilitated this adjustment.
In summary, digital abstraction of graphic images assists with reader and
rescuer sensitivities. Additionally, abstraction of people in photographs
portrays the story from Nudge’s perspective by showing how people could
look through his eyes. Finally, photographic abstraction produces a
picturebook feel by juxtaposing realism with fine-art images.
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4. Plot Strategies The series of 2007 Brisbane Writers’ Festival workshops I attended all
emphasised suspense and character empathy as crucial elements for
absorbing children in story reading. Vogler’s (2003) The Hero’s Journey
confirmed these strategies for engaging reader focus. Furthermore, Vogler
conceives a universal plot formula and character archetypes. He reduces
successful plots to 12 stages, including themes of change, adventure,
ordeal, mentorship, awareness and mastery. Vogler explains character
archetypes using symbology: the “hero” is a “shapeshifter”, “mentor” is a
“shadow”, “threshold guardians” are “tricksters” and “heralds” are “allies”
(Vogler, 2003: 1).
With these considerations in mind, I sequenced the boat accident −
“change” event early in the story to engage children, by evoking empathy
with Nudge in an experience that all children could relate to − losing their
mother, even if momentarily at a shopping centre. I developed the narrative
by pacing events that culminated in an ominous shark, the “ordeal”, in the
scene Night was closing in and the scene where Nudge’s tail is hooked. I
then relieved the suspense and trauma by staging Nudge’s rescue
sequence. “Awareness” is reflected in the final scenes where Nudge
processes his journey by telling his story and explaining the outcome.
Character archetypes are also portrayed in Nudge’s Tale. Nudge, the hero,
embodies the qualities of a “shapeshifter” by adapting to change, ordeal
and a new environment. His “mentor” is his shadow which keeps him
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company in a literary and visual sense, even when alone. The fishing net as
shown in the first photograph below, is the “trickster” or “threshold
guardian” as it changes Nudge’s destiny by delivering him into another
realm, whilst the “herald” or “allies” appear in the form of Nudge’s
rescuer/s, as indicated in the second photograph below. These techniques
strengthen the story by reflecting timeless characters and narrative
techniques that children can recognise. On reflection, I should have digitally
“healed” Nudge’s tail in the image below as Nudge had not suffered the
injury at this stage in the story. On reflection, I should have digitally
“healed” Nudge’s tail in the image below as Nudge had not suffered the
injury at this stage in the story. I would revisit this image prior to book
publication, and also stylistically adjust it to reflect more congruency with
the following page showing the tail close-up.
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5. Layout and text In addition to image construction, layout and text style were considered and
trialled. Double page spreads were chosen for maximum visual impact. After
playing with the effect of offsetting images with colour panels and borders,
I chose simplicity with imagery alone as the best way to present my work. I
did not want to detract from the visuals which were already complex with
layers and symbolism. I also chose white text for neutrality and oceanic
freshness. Jeannie Baker’s picturebooks, such as Where the Forest Meets
the Sea (1989), creatively depict ecological themes through striking visual
imagery, and neutral text. Text assists the narrative and does not detract
from the aesthetic or emotional experience. Baker’s (1989) image below
demonstrates neutral text facilitating visual impact. I hoped for the same
outcome in my practice.
As this paper focuses on visual art in picturebook making I do not
deconstruct the content of text in Nudge’s Tale’s. However it is interesting
to note that the words also assist the merger of real and imagined
perspectives. For example “Night was closing in…” suggests an imaginary
collective fear of sharks at dusk, whereas “I couldn’t breathe” details the
factual reality of Nudge’s situation.
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6. Emotion and education The capacity of creative representations to prompt empathetic responses
and elucidate meaning is noted by Mullen. As he puts it, “art brings about
changes in audience perception by “deliberately slanting reality, to not tell
us what ‘is’, but ‘what is important”’ (Mullen, 1998: 42).
As discussed earlier, modern teaching pedagogy supports learning through
creative resources, including picturebooks, which often rely on emotive
techniques to engage interest and facilitate learning.
Child (2006, 2001a, 2001b, 2000) and Borland (2006), Tan (2007, 2000,
1998), McKean (2004a, 2004b, 1995) and Doubilet (1990, 1989, 1984,
1980) all produce diverse, creative perspectives of reality. Common to their
work however, is the use of emotive methods to present educational
themes. For example Child and Borland tackle topics such as health,
modern family life and environmentalism through humour; Tan approaches
issues of immigration and isolation through poignant depictions; McKean
inspires qualities of courage and inventiveness through character
identification and response; and Doubilet promotes marine education and
conservation through emotional connection. These artists use various
creative techniques to produce engaging art and narrative, which evoke an
empathetic response from the reader and further an underlying educational
agenda. That is, to link students to the affective domain of learning through
valuing the environment portrayed and in doing so help them to “make
sense of their world” (MCEETYA, 1999: Goal 1.3).
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Nudge’s Tale aims to promote environmental awareness and evoke
empathy and action in the reader. As it incorporates the SOSE themes
identified earlier, it has scope for developing environmental awareness and
prompting an environmental ethic in Australian primary classrooms. The
importance of prompting a ‘caring’ (Kohn, 1997: 435) response in students
is fundamental to the development of an environmental ethic. The specific
agenda for Nudge’s Tale is to connect children with marine animals and
their natural environment, whilst also promoting the Indigenous value of
balance between people and nature. Through the story of Nudge, I seek to
engage readership focus and compassion, using techniques depicting
Nudge’s personality, as well as his emotional journey and story outcomes.
Similarly by portraying an aesthetically beautiful marine world, I hope to
inspire an environmental ethic and empathy for Nudge’s well-being and his
fragile oceanic environment.
In developing and portraying Nudge’s story I was mindful of incorporating
Zynda’s criteria (2007) for an effective environmental picturebook. For
instance, portraying Nudge’s persona and the marine aesthetic promotes an
appreciation of nature; Nudge and his story is conveyed realistically. In
order to scaffold the knowledge component of the affective aims, I included
a fact and solutions page at the end of Nudge’s Tale with information that
details the story’s location, outcome and tips for marine conservation.
Significantly the book ends on a positive note and demonstrates how
people’s conservation practices can save dolphins.
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As I honour my own Pacific Indigenous lineage, contextualising Nudge’s
Tale within Indigenous history and coastal ecology was imperative for me.
The ancestral image of Nudge’s pod fishing with Indigenous Australians
symbolises Indigenous ecological balance between people and nature, and
espouses the wisdom of this process. My research had revealed that
dolphins fished with Indigenous Australians in coastal areas such as
Moreton Bay (Petrie, 1981). A series of discussions with Professor Evans
(2007, 2008) confirmed the credibility of communal fishing practices and
affirmed appropriateness for their inclusion in Nudge’s Tale. I was mindful
of respecting the custodians of Australia’s Indigenous stories. By depicting
communal fishing from the dolphins’ perspective (as shown below) I sought
to represent local Indigenous history without implying ownership.
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My aim of combining realism with creativity is to stimulate, enthuse and
educate children. Children reading Nudge’s Tale have connected with Nudge
empathising with him, understanding the environmental issues he faced and
probing further. My hope is that readers will want to help Nudge and other
marine animals and that such raised awareness and curiosity will further
their environmental understanding of the coastal waters and foster an
environmental ethic and future action.
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Conclusion This exegesis explores the merging of fiction and non-fiction photography
genres in children’s picturebooks. Writing on genre-hybridising, Hutcheon
proposes, “the most radical boundaries crossed have been those between
fiction and non-fiction, and by extension – between art and life” (2002: 10).
The research question for this exegesis is:
How does photography merge real and imaginary worlds in
children’s picturebooks?
Photography merges real and imaginary worlds through the use of
traditional and digital photographic techniques. These techniques relate to
appeal and authenticity, genre mixing, abstraction, plot strategies, layout
and evoking emotion to educate. I arrived at these findings through a
literature review and artistic audit of the works of contemporary picturebook
and photographic practicioners who fused contrasting worlds. Additional
research methodology included focus group, industry collaborations and
workshops, and education pedagogy processes. This research culminated in
the outcome of Nudge’s Tale, my creative practice.
Nudge’s Tale merges “art and life” (Hutcheon, 2002: 10). By fusing realism
and creativity, Nudge’s Tale demonstrates this project’s research paradigm
of photographic hybridising in a children’s picturebook. My creative practice
77
bridges real and imaginary worlds, through traditional and digital
photography. It documents Nudge’s story and attributes authentically, yet
with aesthetics and emotion to promote an empathetic response in the
reader. Concomitantly, Nudge’s Tale is both creative practice and an
example of the way in which the research question can be answered. It is
an example of genre-hybrid practice and creative photography in children’s
literature. Such emerging practices are worthy of future development and
analysis.
In conclusion, the experience of producing a creative practice outcome is
ultimately a personal process that extends beyond the confines of words. As
the mythologist Joseph Campbell says:
“Ask an artist what his picture ‘means’ and you will not soon ask
such a question again. Significant images render insights beyond
speech, beyond the kinds of meaning speech defines. And if they
do not speak to you, that is because you are not ready for them,
and words will only serve to make you think you have
understood, thus cutting you off altogether. You don’t ask what a
dance means, you enjoy it” (Mullen, 1998: 42).
I aspire for Nudge’s Tale to ultimately surpass analysis, with visual imagery
propelling Nudge from watery page to reader’s hearts, evoking a poignant
experience and contributing to positive future outcomes.
78
Appendix
Page Image Creator Source 10 Roots Bridgette McKelvey Creative Practice 12 Shark Puppetry
1, 2 & 3 Bridgette McKelvey Creative practice
14 Great White Steve Parish Australian Sharks & Rays15 Dolphins 1 and 2 Ian Andrews Back to the Blue 16 Tomato Lauren Child I Will Not Ever Never Eat
a Tomato 18 Wolf Playing
Bassoon Dave McKean The Wolves in the Walls
19 Artefacts Shaun Tan The Arrival 21 Mt Fuji Fluff Lauren Child
I Will Not Ever Never Eata Tomato
23 Carrot Text Lauren Child
I Will Not Ever Never Eata Tomato
23 Uluru Armchairs Lauren Child My Uncle is a Hunkle 24 The Tree Lauren Child Which Planet Are You
From, Clarice Bean? 24 Dishy Dates Lauren Child Which Planet Are You
From, Clarice Bean? 25 Bonsai Tree
Princess Lauren Child & Polly Borland
The Princess and the Pea
26 At the Window Lauren Child & Polly Borland
The Princess and the Pea
26 Making the Bed Lauren Child & Polly Borland
The Princess and the Pea
27 Cover Shaun Tan The Arrival 28 Kitchen Table Shaun Tan The Arrival 29 Escape Shaun Tan The Arrival 30 Cover Shaun Tan The Lost Thing 31 Bottle Tops Shaun tan The Lost Thing 32 Cover Dave McKean The Wolves in the Walls33 The Lounge Dave McKean The Wolves in the Walls33 Around the Fire Dave McKean The Wolves in the Walls34 In the Garden Dave McKean The Wolves in the Walls35 Book Stack Dave McKean The Wolves in the Walls36 Undersea Desert David Doubilet Water, Light, Time To be continued…
79
… Continued
Page Image Creator Source 37 Wave, Shadow,
Light and Mullet David Doubilet Water, Light, Time
39 Harbour Seal with Kelp
David Doubilet Water, Light, Time
42 At the Library Bridgette McKelvey Research Methodology 44 Connecting with
Images, 1 & 2 Bridgette McKelvey Research Methodology
45 Panoramic Bridgette McKelvey Research Methodology46 Engaging with
Victoria Bridge, 1 & 2
Bridgette McKelvey Research Methodology
46 Underwater Bridgette McKelvey Research Methodology48 Cover Jeannie Baker Where the Forest Meets
the Sea 51 Cover Graeme Base Uno’s Garden 55 Nudge Bridgette McKelvey Creative Practice 57 Mother and Child Bridgette McKelvey Creative Practice 58 Nudge Surfaces Bridgette McKelvey Creative Practice 59 Pod Bridgette McKelvey Creative Practice 61 The Rescuer,
1 & 2 Bridgette McKelvey Creative Practice
61 Rescue Boat 1 EPA Brisbane City Council 61 Rescue Boat 2 Bridgette McKelvey Creative Practice 62 Nudge in Scape Bridgette McKelvey Creative Practice 63 A Pair Bridgette McKelvey Creative Practice 64 Night Closing In Bridgette McKelvey Creative Practice 65 Layers: People
Fish Fins Ancestral Fishing
Bridgette McKelvey Creative Practice
66 Alone Bridgette McKelvey Creative Practice 67 Upside Down Bridgette McKelvey Creative Practice 68 Nudge’s Tail 1 EPA Brisbane City Council 68 Nudge’s Tail 2 Bridgette McKelvey Creative Practice 70 Nudge in Scape Bridgette McKelvey Creative Practice 70 The Net Bridgette McKelvey Creative Practice 70 The Rescuer Bridgette McKelvey Creative Practice 71 Fig Tree Jeannie Baker Where the Forest Meets
the Sea 74 Ancestral Fishing Bridgette McKelvey Creative Practice
80
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