My Revised Idea

I have been considering my idea and have decided to change it slightly as I am worried that my photographs are not fixed to one genre (i.e. documentary or portraiture) and converge between the two. I also worry that my idea is somewhat contradictory as I aim to be as objective as I can in photographing, but I will always affect the photograph due to my presence as well as the fact that the subjects whom I approach are likely to be standoffish or awkward as they don't know me, and thus are going to act nervously in front of the camera in whatever situation thus undermining the objectivity and fairness of the practice. Graham Clarke supports this when he writes in The Photograph that "we must remember that the photograph is itself the product of a photographer. It is always the reflection of a specific point of view, be it aesthetic, polemical, political, or ideological. One never ‘takes’ a photograph in any passive sense. To ‘take’ it is active. The photographer imposes, steals, re-creates the scene/seen according to a cultural discourse.” (p.29, 1997) 

I had originally wanted to incorporate the idea of memory reality into my project but could not find the best way to execute this however I have come up with a way to combine the concept of performed/unnaturalistic behaviour with memory reality. I intend to photograph people in the portraiture style, with them holding up a photograph of themselves. In this photo they will be 'acting' in a certain way and portraying a certain emotion i.e. happiness/sadness, yet this 'act' will be a false representation of their true feelings at the time. I will interview them and ask them to recount the true memory that is in their mind, in a bid to recreate the true emotions felt at the time, in their facial expressions; thus comparing the false representation in the photograph taken at the time, with the real feeling. This provides the same rhetoric of Photographic reliability and behavourial practices with regards the camera and so still ties in with my idea for the 30% project.

This image from the website 500px, by Eolo Perfido, entitled Photo "Stories"  inspired me to question others memories:

I really like the neutral muted colours in this photograph, as they do not detract from the punctum/significance of the mans captivating stare. I feel that I may try to adopt this aesthetic in my photographs, or perhaps black and white aesthetics to signify truth. I also like the sharpness and heightened clarity of the lines etched into the mans skin which are representative of time in themselves. I may wish to adopt this in my photography to highlight how time has passed but suggest that the memories reenacted, and feelings that come with them, are still as present and significant as they were at the time. I think that I want my subjects to hold their photographs closer to their faces, to make the comparison between expressions clear within the photograph. I also really like the earnest and neutral facial expression adopted by this man, and his Intra-Diegetic gaze with the viewer, as it communicates ambiguous messages and provides  a basis for discussion with regards the mans emotion. I hope to capture subtle flickers of emotion and neutral expressions like this at adjuncts to the false emotions displayed in the photograph within the photograph. 

I also want to make the project more personal to myself and those that surround me as I will have more of emotional engagement with them. With the help of my subjects I have sourced photographs for them to talk about. First of all my mother will describe the traumatic birth of my brother, accompanied by a photograph of her smiling and holding him following the birth - thus using the smile to mask the pain and stress she felt at the time. My boyfriend will describe a time in his life when he was very unhappy and lost a lot of weight/struggled to eat, matched with a photograph of him on holiday on a beach in Ireland with his sister, smiling into the camera, again highlighting direalities. Lastly, my brother will talk about when he used to visit my nan in London and play in her garden: a contrasting happy memory from the others, yet in the photo he is frowning in my nan's back garden with his arms folded. He recalls that he did this following the direction for him to "Smile!!!" when my mum snapped him. I have booked out the Nikon D7000 and flash gun and hope to photograph my mother against the white walls of our living room on the 24th of March (Next week) I may also take some photo's which placate her in her personal sphere, however I wish for the main focus and attention to be on her expression and the photograph rather than the background information.