Thursday 16 December 2010

Days with my Father

http://shapeandcolour.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/days6.jpghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kxKseInSF7s/SnWbFQdo2BI/AAAAAAAAAfg/IMOkxDAnnjY/s400/dayswithmyfather_02.jpghttp://iconolo.gy/sites/default/files/toledano_dad_292.jpghttp://blog.photoshelter.com/image/phil2.jpg

New Project.

It's been a while and since my last post I have moved to London and now study at London Met, final year.

My first and second to last project this year was inspired by Mr. Toledano 'Days with my Father'. This was also sparked from a previous project which was a book I made called 'Grow up and blow away', 92 pages for each year my Nan has lived (and still living).

It starts with the young Margaret Orchard and ends with her today holding a photo of her Mother. All that lies between includes my parents meeting, my brothers and I growing up, leaving our hometown of Banbury and living in the North, comparisons between the north and south, feelings, dislikes, memories, bluntness and how important my family are to me. This book was dedicated to my late Auntie Mary, and my Godmother, who died during the making.

As the last page of the book is of my diamond of a Grandmother, naturally, I wanted to continue up this path and concentrate more on just her, making an attention to detail body of work on her and her space. Things I have always seen and never 'noticed'.

I have spent a few weekends visiting her in Banbury photographing things I would never think to before this idea. All the photos I have of her are, of course, her smiling, posing for the picture. The photos I have made of her current living, capture moments where I would not usually get my camera out, for instants, when she does her inhalation, she has to wear an oxygen mask for about 15 minutes, I'm used to it but when you hone in on such an action is can become quite daunting.

She is magnificent to photograph, and much easier than someone like my Father who cannot help but pose as the Italian stallion as soon as he spots the shutter bug, although I do love photographing my very good looking and he knows it Dad, my Nan makes it much easier for me.

I shot on 35mm and will be exhibiting this work in form of an installation, where by I will construct a small set consisting of a chair, table with cloth, teacup and saucer, tea pot, walking stick, mirror, hot water bottle, cushion, rosary beads, crucifix and my images of various sizes in frames, hung up and standing. My Nan has a copious amount of photos in her flat and all are framed, so I want to put her life into frames also.

I work in a huge studio amongst artists, print makers and all sorts, if I were not a photographer, instead of pictures in frames, I would frame replicas of her things, pearls, rosary beads, even the oxygen mask, and have each of these things inside frames or hung behind a frame so it can be seen through the frame but not imprisoned inside it.

If time was on my hands, I would print portraits of her onto the props I intend to use... however, I wanted to make more than just photos, and originally I was going to make a book written in her words to go alongside it, but this seems stronger, visually for me.

I only have a few digital photos I took as back up to put up on here.

Thursday 15 April 2010