About

#phonar (Photography and Narrative) is a BA Hons third year undergraduate class devised and run by Jonathan Worth and Matt Johnston at Coventry University. #Phonar14 see’s us collaborating with the Cellist @laura_ritchie’s class and US high school teacher David @prestonlearning ‘s English Literacy class.

The degree course’s core tenet is the “development of a sustainable practice”, key to which is the investigation of contemporary photographic practices and their implications for the medium as a whole.

The phrase “Trans-media” is often used  to describe contemporary multi-media / multi-platform practices as well as non-linear, and vicariously dynamic narrative approaches to story telling. We will be exploring these themes and considering them in relation to what we do as photographers throughout the ten weeks of practical study. It will lead us to collaborate with other practitioners and subjects, as well as forcing us to question our notions of ownership and authorship along the way.

An essential part of this will be non-paying attendees (you) joining in with us, submitting your work, mashing up ours and other people’s, asking questions of each other and contributing answers.

For our attending degree students the class plays a crucial role sitting , as it does, at the foot of their third and final year. It’s purpose then,  is to inspire, challenge and maybe even provoke them into producing a number of impassioned photographic responses. There’s no demand on them for these responses to be polished final artifacts when submitted, instead the emphasis is on generating ideas and leads which will inform final major degree projects.