Photographers and Research

Mike Simmons: Documenting the Process

A Framework for Reflection

The scientific worker operates with symbols, words, and mathematical signs. The artist does his thinking in the very qualitative media he works in, and the terms lie so close to the object that he is producing that they merge directly into it.¹

In contrasting the ‘two cultures’² of science and art John Dewey highlights the unique and intimate relationship that develops between artist and subject through the creative process, where the reciprocal action of research and practice fold into one another. As a polar opposite to the scientific approach, Dewey’s observation also draws attention to the problematic nature of this symbiosis, as it can often be difficult to separate, value ...