250 word description and titles for project Recapturing the Real

Recapturing the Real

Recapturing the Real deals with memory and photography verisimilitude and challenges misrepresentations of the photograph through memory revival. Often in photographs people provide a false representation of their true selves in order to portray themselves positively and thus fit in with society. The smile is an example of this as it continuously masks the true emotions and feelings that are felt at the time, and this performance of happiness may even completely contrast with the subjects emotions during the brief and ephemeral photographic shot. This exhibition is self-reflexive and interrogative; offering the idea that a memory relived can portray more sincerity and truth than that of its photographic counterpart which was taken at the time.

Providing an insight into the lives of my mother, brother and partner, this project highlights the extent to which we, as a society, will go to avoid being represented negatively. However, questions are also raised throughout regarding erroneous memory recall and whether a photograph's existence alters the memory of a certain point in ones life, or the discussion of this time can fracture the truth and spawn dis-realities. 

Inspirations from this project derive from the memory-based reenactment projects of Irina Werning who stages photographs of people to be consistent with a photograph of them from many years before, evoking the idea of memory reminiscing. The focus on close relationships and people within their personal spheres, in this exhibition, was also inspired by photographers such as Michelle Sank and Tina Barney - who documented her family in their homes, resulting in candid, although staged, insights into personal and wealthy environments. This exhibition will appeal to anyone who is intrigued by the human psyche and condition.

1. Dave's Memory Opposites

2. Dave's Rest and (memory) Revival 

3. Djordje's Reality

4. Djordje and the Dragon

5. Anne's Bittersweet Memories

6. Anne's Motherhood Memories

Editing and my Final Selection

The following 6 photographs are the unedited images which I will use in my project:

I did consider asking one subject what colour they would associate with their true memory with and tried to highlight this aesthetically in terms of editing. This was before I had chosen my final images. I edited the following photograph of my boyfriend to appear dark green:

I really liked this aesthetic, especially as bright vivid light and colour on the right could have connoted new beginnings of some sort or the happiness of his current life, intertwined with the sense of darkness and foreboding he feels when reliving his memory. I also liked the dream like aspect of the photograph attained due to the distant reverie in his expression and the clarity setting which I heightened to attain a sharp contrasty feel, making Djordje really stand out to the viewer. However I felt that this photograph wasn't as good at conveying the truth of the memory as well as the other one and I felt that a Black and White aesthetic would underline the ideas of memory truths and distant pasts better, whilst simultaneously tying all the photographs together succinctly. I greatly enjoyed using the clarity tool to sharpen detail in the face of all subjects and portray the physicality of time passing. I edited highlights and contrasts to bring some of the photo's to life a bit more and added shadows as I found that this often brought out eye colour and thus heightens engagement, and effects a uniformity in my photo's as a set. I understand that they differ slightly (i.e. as Djordje's close up is not against a white wall, and he doesn't share an intra-diegetic gaze with the camera/viewer) but, upon seeing many sets of photographs at the V & A and from my online research I understand the photography allows for creative freedom and it is the significance of the point above the aesthetic which is of greatest importance. I noted that the works of people like Nan Goldin , although had overt themes running through them, could be slightly or even greatly different in terms of their aesthetic.

I think all of these photographs stand alone in their own right as they all communicate something to the audience, yet encourage the viewer to build their own ideological, sociological and psychological thoughts into the photograph, thus portraying further distortion and fracturing of memories every time that they are told or represented.

These are my final selection:

3rd and Final Shoot

I have used the Nikon D700 for the following photo's. The lenses in the D700 have a much smaller depth of field, capturing detail much more sharply than the D7000 is able to. It is therefore brilliant at focusing on one object, however I found it hard to focus on both the photograph and my brother David in these shots. This is okay, however, as I did intend for the photographs to be somewhat blurred out in comparison to the truthful expression. I am largely happy with how these have turned out therefore and am happy to start editing.

I think this photograph is my favourite as David looks quite excited and happy but it is a toned down happiness. His mouth curves up into a smile and he looks like he is excited to tell the viewer something. Also the photograph within is still quite in focus, yet less so than the representation of David himself, which is what I intended for. I would like for all of the photographs in my set to portray subjects with subtle expressions which can be developed upon by the viewer. I like the cheeky grin on Dave's face in the 1st, 3rd and 4th photographs as they are reminiscent of youthfulness and childlike qualities, however they are quite obvious in the meanings that they build into the photograph, whereas I would like for them to be slightly more ambiguous; yet still portray a contrast to the subjects past expressions in the photograph that they hold up.

I also took some more photographs of my mum in her environment. I was apprehensive about doing this as I worried that asking my mum to recall the same memory again but on a different day would alter the effectiveness of this process and thus the reliability of the supposed "truthful" memories and emotions. This is partly the reason as to why I tried to shoot all of my photographs within one shoot for all 3 subjects, as the rehashing of the same memory in depth may seem false. However, I really wanted to get some shots of my mum in her living room, as it is her personal sphere. I asked certain questions such as: Where was my dad when this was happening? Where were you when you went into labour? What sounds do you remember hearing whilst in a state of trauma? I tried ask questions with regards the senses to understand her truthful recall, but it occured to me that throughout our lives our memories get inadvertently  revisited, relived and revived countless times, thereby distorting the truth from the moment it was lived as “Everything that was directly lived has receded into a representation.” Debord 1967: section 1


In this sense I do not seek to find the real truth of the memory, but just one which is truthful by comparison to the tangible photograph that the subject holds up, thus evoking the untrustworthy nature of the photographic discourse. 

This is the unedited photo which I have chosen of my mum. 

I do not like the vignette surrounding this image and so will edit this out in my final edit.

 

Technical Experimentation and Shooting

I had some spare time today after my lesson and so I decided to set myself a task to use the camera and really familiarise myself with the things I have learned technically over the term. I decided to challenge the aesthetically pleasing elements of the university which are commonly seen in its prospectuses/websites/advertising, and to highlight the wear and tear, and aging of the building which often isn't focused on. I photographed close-up abstract sections of the University, similarly to the way I did in the exercise I carried out at the beginning of the year in the Jubilee building with the rest of my class. The photographs I took, although displaying unappealing objects, actually resulted in visually sumptuous images with a range of different textures and colours. 

There seems to be a theme of Yellow running throughout this series of photographs. I spot-metered from the grey concrete pavement slabs around the building throughout this photo-shoot to help me keep control of exposures. It was quite overcast on the day and so I experimented with the White Balance also, to attain different effects. This can be seen in photo's of these drains:

I changed the WB in these photographs from fluroscent and cloudy settings. Fluroscent affects the colour by lowering the temperature so that the photograph looks colder and has more of a blue hue whereas Cloudy does the opposite, warming the photographs up on a cloudy day, using warming colours. I shot mostly in the 'Daylight' mode today as it provided a good, realistic balance between the two and I wished to highlight the realities of the landscape and the building, so it was concurrent with my theme.