Conclusion

Can a portrait show someone’s true identity? As Olmetti has stated about his project “It’s not you, it’s me”, a single portrait cannot reveal one’s personality. I have worked around this idea, using a series of images combining found imagery with a documentation of my Grandmother’s everyday life in order to capture a fragment of her identity, past and present. The work I have produced concerns age and identity, and in particular focuses on time and place- looking back on memories and reminiscing on past events and relationships. I have been greatly influenced by many photographers/writers, but in particular by Angela Kelly’s essay and photographs named “Catharsis”; based on her upbringing in Belfast and her return to the place in which she grew up. Kelly also uses found imagery taken by her Father and juxtaposes it with new photographs she has taken during her documentation of her return to Ireland. This juxtaposition of found imagery with contemporary photographs sets a site for the viewer to look back on their own memories and reflect on how time changes a place, a person and relationships. 

I am extremely happy with my final images and the way in which I have presented them for the exhibition. I feel that the photographs I have chosen not only highlight my ideas about age, loneliness, time,  the family and it's influence on identity, but they also provide an opportunity for the viewer to relate and associate with the work, forming an interest and making them want to know more. I also feel that the photographs I have chosen to exhibit show a real improvement in my technical ability to work with my digital SLR compared to the work I started producing at the beginning of the term. Overall I am pleased with the way in which the work has headed and I feel it is something that I can continue over a longer period of time. I don't feel the images I have produced are a completely finished product but part of a much larger project that I would like to continue with, perhaps looking into other members of my family, including myself, since identity is formed in part through the people you live and grow up with. 

The layout I have decided on in terms of exhibiting my work is extremely important because it highlights my earlier idea that life is a recurring circle of memories. This circle is represented in the way I have exhibited my work. It also represents the idea of time through it's similarities to a clock face, again challenging ideas about aging, time and memory. The use of the large Found image within the center of my work is something I find extremely important. This image was taken in the 1960's of my family when my Nan was in her early 20's. The use of this image not only links back to my previous research but also forms a starting point for the viewer, somewhere to look and understand a little about my Nan's past before taking on the more current work that shows the aging process. This image also links back to the idea examined in Merendino's black and white photographs that this colouring takes the viewer back in time to a particular era. This contrast with the newer, colourful images represents ideas about aging and how time has changed and I feel this is significant in terms of what I wanted to achieve with my work. 

Overall, I have looked at a large variety of photographers and writers and researched their work quite extensively in order to understand fully what I wanted to achieve with my own work and how best to go about producing it. Whether I have liked the work I have looked at or not, it has all provided me to some extent with ideas, questions and starting points to consider within my own practice so that I can produce work to the best of my ability and achieve exactly what I want to. I feel the work is subjective but in a way in which others can place themselves within the context of my work and use it as a basis for looking back on their own memories of family life. As discussed before, identity is not something that can be fixed, but instead something we all interpret differently depending on life experience, situations and the people we have been surrounded by, therefore my work is merely a small documentary series about my own ideas about my Nan, and provide just a small indication about her life, her memories and her life experiences.

Exhibition; Hanging and layout

All images are copyright of Emma Garton 2014

Exhibition; planning from start to finish

Our exhibition details can be found at http://www.bohunkinstitute.co.uk/Twenty-Five

Although I have used this blog to provide me with a space to reflect on ideas, research and experiments I think it is important to also reflect on the planning that has gone into the exhibition itself; this is after all where our final prints will end up! I am extremely happy with how I have taken part in this term's exhibition planning. I have undertaken the following roles throughout the term to help the exhibition come along as smoothly as possible...

-Dealing with money

-Planning meetings and informing the group on progress

-Formal Invites

-Advertisement to other years and courses
-Working with NTU societies such as Platform Magazine to help promote 

-Risk Assessment

-Curation

I am extremely proud of what I and the group have achieved in terms of how the final exhibition looks and how we have dealt with any issues raised throughout the term.

Final Images!

All images are copyright of Emma Garton 2014

Simon Olmetti

"It's not you, it's me"

 

All above images are copyright of Simon Olmetti, taken from his series "It's Not You It's Me".

 http://www.simonolmetti.com/itsme

“The real self cannot be revealed through portraiture but only projected through performance. It cannot be represented in a single photograph but only revealed through a series of images, each showing a fragment of it, a hint, a faded resemblance of some aspect of the personality.” Simon Olmetti 

Although these portraits are striking and quite naturally beautiful, they don't necessarily interest me in terms of the work I am producing and the ideas I wish to challenge/portray. They do however, follow similar conventions to those taken by Dijkstra in terms of producing a series of images that, when placed together, accentuate the difference in identity between different people both culturally and physically. However, what I am most interested in when studying this work by Olmetti is what he says about this particular series (see above quote taken from website referenced). This quote, for me pin points exactly what I have been trying to show as the term has progressed; "The real self cannot be revealed through portraiture". Through various research and influences I have determined this term that one's identity cannot be fixed in one photograph and read by the viewer to be exactly that- a fixed identity. It is instead fragmented, we are different depending on the people we are with or the situation we are in. As seen with Dijkstra's portraits we are also culturally subjected to particular stereotypes and read images in the way in which the society we live in has taught us to read them. Therefore identity can never be fixed but is instead fluid, constantly changing as we grow older and experience more. Only when we can look back on our lives can we truly understand ourselves. This is why have focused specifically on memory and the relationship between time and aging in order to convey different aspects of my Grandparents' identities but more importantly to try and understand them, to place them within everyday life and see them as more than just a "Nana" but as a person who has experienced life and all the challenges that come with it in order to learn more about myself. It is a recurring circle of time and memory that has gotten me to this stage and this is something I would like to put a heavy emphasis on in my final prints as it is something that every human being has to experience. 

 

KayLynn Deveney

"The Day-to-Day life of Albert Hastings"

All above images are copyright of KayLynn Deveney, taken from her series and book "The Day-to-Day Life of Albert Hastings. Book published 01/09/2007

 http://www.kaylynndeveney.com/bertgrid.htm 

KayLynn Deveney is an American born Photographer who moved to Wales, UK and shortly afterwards began documenting her neighbour, Albert Hastings.  These images formed the series published in the book "The Day-to-Day Life of Albert Hastings" in 2007. I was recommended this series after showing a fellow student my work from this term, as it instantly reminded her of Deveney's documentation of Mr Hastings. I feel this work is greatly similar to mine in the way in which it juxtaposes still life with portraiture and also with the way it challenges concerns about aging, time and place. The feelings I get when I view this work are ones of nostalgia but also of loneliness. I believe this is something that goes hand in hand with the elderly; as you get older your life becomes concerned with dealing with loss in all forms and in turn, memories of the people who are no longer here, of the person you used to be and of the places you have spent your life. I feel memories are more cherished at an elderly age, because there is less time ahead of you than there is behind you, life is more about not taking it for granted, and heavily based on looking back on how you have spent it. I feel Deveney's photographs highlight this, in particular with the detailed, still life images which for me, show that you spend more time focusing on the little things in life and not taking them for granted. Taking this into account when looking at my own images, I feel I too have subconsciously produced work that feels quite lonely and isolated. Although this was not deliberate, it is something I feel is justified and adds quite a lot to the over all feel of the work because as stated before, aging and life experience a lot of the time means you have had to deal with loss, perhaps a husband, a wife, parents etc. Both of my Grandparent's lost their husbands over ten years ago and I feel that the photographs should reflect this as it has made them the person they are today.

A focus on what I want to achieve...Practice with my digital camera

All images are copyright of Emma Garton 2014

The above images were taken by myself during another visit to see my Nan (my Father's Mother). I feel these images are more successful than any I have taken so far this term, mainly due to the amount of research I have undertaken by this point. I now feel I understand exactly what I want to gain from my final exhibition images and my work is definitely heading in the right direction. I also now feel much more comfortable with my camera, particularly with using different shutter speeds and apertures for different effects. I feel these photographs are beginning to work well as a series and flow well in terms of contrast and colour balance- something I have learned technically as the term has progressed. I also feel that these photographs convey much more about the person in terms of identity than the others did before. Highlighting old family photographs and juxtaposing them with ones I have taken (as seen in Angela Kelly's work) I feel works extremely well because it gives the viewer a real insight into the subject's life and background. It is also something I feel most people can relate to as we all tend to have family photographs framed around the house. This creates a sense of nostalgia for the viewer and re-ignites memories of past events, as well as people who may no longer be around. I feel the quality of these images is much more improved compared to the ones I first produced at the beginning of the term too, and they are really beginning to form a series of work that I would be happy to exhibit to the public. I am particularly happy with the "still life" photographs within this series, mainly because it is something I have been experimenting with since the beginning of the term and as time and research has taken place, I have found that in order to convey a slice of my Nan's true identity, these are vital in showing her past and how time has changed her as a person. 

For my final images, I need to decide on whether or not I prefer an objective view in which my viewer can place themselves within the images or whether I want to make it a much more personal project. How do I feel about such open and front facing portraits in terms of how important a portrait is in giving a sense of identity? I think I want to perhaps show a completely ambiguous image instead, one that still emphasizes the relationship between time, aging and memories but at the same time gives opportunity for the viewer to really delve into my work and place themselves and their own life experiences and memories within it. I feel the portraits shown above don't give the viewer the opportunity to do this so I need to consider this when thinking about my final prints. I also want to focus much more on the idea of Found imagery as a way of challenging ideas about time and memory. I feel this is quite a unique and interesting way of dealing with these concerns and would make the work I produce much more interesting to look at from a viewer's perspective because it will make them want to know more.

Angela Kelly

" Catharsis: Post-conflict images of Belfast"

All above images are copyright of Angela Kelly, taken from her series and essay "Catharsis, post-conflict images of Belfast". N.D

http://www.reframingphotography.com/content/angela-kelly

The above images were taken by Angela Kelly as part of a series documenting her return to her hometown of Belfast. I first came across these images during my critical practice module in which we read her essay "Catharsis, Post-conflict Images of Belfast". Throughout this essay, Kelly discusses these images and lays bare her first return to her hometown. She originally grew up in Belfast during the "Troubles" but emigrated when she became old enough. This series of images juxtaposes Found images taken by her Father while she was growing up, with images she has taken on her return to Belfast. She does this in order to convey feelings of Nostalgia, and challenge ideas about time, place, memory and family life. At first, the images seem slightly odd placed together, with her father's images documenting family life and her newer images based around landscape and her memories of a particular place. However, I believe that there is a space provided here for the viewer to interpret and read into the image. I also feel this juxtaposition creates a sense of mystery and curiosity. It personally makes me want to know more about this place- placing it with family photographs tells us that there is a relationship here between place, time and memory and it creates a sense of nostalgia. This is something I would like to create with my own work and I find the use of found imagery fascinating in terms of how old photographs give a glimpse of the past and an era that you may not have been a part of. It is informative and also quite unique. I think this is the first photographer I have come across that uses found imagery and new photographs that are completely different in such an influencing and interesting way. I would like to experiment with this idea and juxtaposition within my own work.

The ambiguity of the images taken by Kelly are something I also find particularly interesting with this work. Although she has placed GPS co-ordinates with the work I feel these places could be anywhere and they remind me of places I have visited before, in my own home town. This re-ignites memories for me and a sense of nostalgia for my own home town. Although I am not photographing landscapes, I can take this idea and use it to influence my own work, particularly when photographing objects within my grandparents home because there are certain objects that most homes have, and this will help the viewer to sympathize with my subject and understand or relate to the work I am producing.

Kelly's work has a very different feel to the work produced by myself. However, I feel it is extremely helpful in terms of the way she has placed the work and in particular how it focuses on identity. Here, it is the photographer's identity that is being explored, through childhood memories, family album photographs and ideas about aging, time and place. I too am exploring the idea of aging, time, place and identity and this work has made me think much more about how my family shapes the person I am. So far I have been focusing on my grandparents' identity but in fact, we are who we are due to life experience and the people we are subjected to. A major part of this is family life, so while exploring my Grandparents' lives I am in turn shifting the focus on my self and my life, how I have grown up. I can only photograph things that I feel reflect my Nan and the person she is, but if somebody else photographed her I am sure they would photograph different things because they know her differently. It is an exploration of the fluidity of identity and relationships, and in particular my own interpretation of my Nan. The work I am producing is becoming more about my own memories of her as much as it is about how she holds onto her own memories and time that has passed.