First shoot- experimenting with initial ideas

These images are copyright of Emma Garton 2014

 These images were all taken by myself during a visit to my Nan's house (my dad's mother). When taking these photographs, I wanted to think about my research so far, and the photographer's who have heavily influenced me. I also didn't want to put too much pressure on my nan to perform in front of the camera. I wanted her to feel comfortable and at ease with me and my camera lens. So instead of focusing on her and putting her in the spotlight so to speak, I decided to focus at first on the little things around her home that mean a lot to both her and to me. I then took snapshot style photographs of her once she felt more comfortable and at times when she wasn't first aware I was photographing her. She didn't mind, of course, it just meant that I got a much more natural result from my images. 

I like these images, particularly because they are taken in a spur of the moment, snapshot style highlighting every day family life- similar to the work of Richard Billingham. They are also similar to Billingham's work in that the framing and composition of each photograph is not "perfect", it isn't completely straight and there is "clutter" in some of them. Although some may wish to produce a more "visually" or "aesthetically pleasing" image, I quite like this quality because it makes it much more realistic to every day life. Our homes aren't always perfectly clean and tidy, and neither are our lives when it comes to our family. I feel the work reflects this idea quite well.

After discussing this work with my tutor and the rest of my group, they decided that perhaps the work was a little too subjective? I agree to a certain extent, particularly with the portraits as they convey what I would see as her grand-daughter, but not necessarily what anyone else would see. I am however, happy with the bottom three images. Although there are improvements to be done here, and more research to back up or influence my ideas and the production of work, I feel these images are quite objective in how they convey ideas concerning time, place, memories and aging. I feel as though they are photographs that not only reignite my own memories and create a sense of nostalgia for me, but they also show something that the viewer can probably connect with too, in some sense, as grandparents tend to have similar things, photographs, ornaments, furniture etc that the viewer may be able to relate to through these photographs. I want to continue with this, looking at a way in which I can portray an identity that my viewer can relate to. I have to remember that these images are going to be exhibited to the public and I don't want to separate them from my work, I want them to be able to relate and bring in their own interpretations/ experiences of family life in order to understand the work I am producing.