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THE HOUSE IS QUIET. THEY HAVE GONE TO BED, LEAVING ME ALONE, AND THE ELECTRIC TIMER HAS JUST SWITCHED OFF THE LIVING-ROOM LIGHTS. IT FEELS LIKE THE HOUSE HAS FINALLY TURNED ON ITS SIDE TO FALL ASLEEP. YEARS AGO I WOULD HAVE GONE THROUGH MY MOTHER’S PURSE FOR ONE OF HER CIGARETTES AND SMOKED IN THE DARK. IT WAS A MAGICAL TIME THAT THE HOUSE WAS MINE.
TONIGHT, HOWEVER, I AM RESTLESS. I SIT AT THE DINING-ROOM TABLE; RUMMAGE THROUGH THE REFRIGERATOR. WHAT AM I LOOKING FOR? ALL DAY LONG I’VE BEEN SCAVENGING, POKING AROUND IN ROOMS AND CLOSETS, PEERING AT THEIR THINGS, STUDYING THEM. I ARRANGE MY ROLLS OF EXPOSED FILM INTO LONG ROWS AND COUNT AND RECOUNT THEM AS IF THEY WERE LOST. THERE ARE TWENTY-EIGHT.
WHAT DRIVES ME TO CONTINUE THIS WORK IS DIFFICULT TO NAME. IT HAS MORE TO DO WITH LOVE THAN WITH SOCIOLOGY, WITH BEING A SUBJECT IN THE DRAMA RATHER THAN A WITNESS. AND IN THE ODD AND JUMBLED PROCESS OF WORKING EVERYTHING SHIFTS; THE BOUNDARIES BLUR, MY DISTANCE SLIPS, THE ARROGANCE AND ILLUSION OF IMMUNITY FALTERS. I WAKE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, STUNNED AND ANGUISHED. THESE ARE MY PARENTS. FROM THAT SIMPLE FACT, EVERYTHING FOLLOWS. I REALISE THAT BEYOND THE ROLLS OF FILM AND THE FEW GOOD PICTURES, THE DEMANDS OF MY PROJECT AND MY CONFUSION ABOUT ITS MEANING, IS THE WISH TO TAKE PHOTOGRAPHY LITERALLY. TO STOP TIME. I WANT MY PARENTS TO LIVE FOREVER.
-- LARRY SULTAN
Sultan wanted to take his images at home in order to show his parents in the place he knew them best. His parents didn't really like being photographed and they didn't always like the way he made them pose in some. The project took him a decade to create and not long after the project was completed both of his parents past away. His father was initially ashamed of him being an artist/ photographer and called him a "loser" but later as the family started to collaborate in the project and when it came to the actual exhibition, he found that him and his father especially had gotten closer.
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Research on Larry Sultan's 'Pictures from Home' |
Image analysisI really like this photo and I think it's really beautiful as one of the first things that stood out to me was the use of colour, seen in the contrast of the neutral colours of the shadow and the light to the vibrant colours of the translucent coloured paper. I feel like this is really impactful as the photo is just framed and the figure is positioned so beautifully that the photo doesn't need to be busy or to have too many things going on, just her addition of the colour really completes the photo. I also really like her use of texture as, along with the juxtaposition of colour, the contrast from the smooth background to the texture of the coloured translucent paper creates a really successful depth and interesting details. Another successful thing about this photo is the composition as even though the colour isn't in the centre it is still the first thing your eyes are drawn too and then this allows you notice the details of the figure bellow.
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In these photos, I explored how shadows can be incorporated with objects (such as in the photos where you can see the object but you can only see the shadow of my hand going to pick up the glass which is quite successful). I also wanted to attempt to add the shadow of my face in as I like how the organic shapes of my face work with some of the curves of the objects. I feel like some of the more detailed and closer photos are more successful as you can really see the details of the shadows and the way the light travels through or around the objects (such as the glass photographs). I also feel like some of the compositions could be improved as some aren't quite positioned right (due to my face being not positioned in relation to the objects by a large amount of distance).
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Olivia Arthur created a project that she associated with home for her, which is the people closest to her and who she cares about (such as her husband and children). She wanted to show this period of waiting and personal, physical transformation. She wanted to show the beauty of having a child inside you and demonstrating the reality of the waiting in the hospital and then showing the thing you have been waiting for.
In her photos she frames the photos to allow there to be this sense of familial closeness but also in others showing the a wide view of the situation and beauty of her changing body. She has used light in her photos to highlight the important things in her life (such as in the photo of her in the mirror with the light highlighting her bump as well as the photo of her husband and daughter sitting on the bed lit up by the window light).I really like the simplicity of the photos as it allows the viewer of her images to be fully emerged into just the key things that are most important to her and what she calls home. |
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I think this is one of my favourite photos and I think one of the things that contributes to this is the composition. I really like the way both corners have a figure in them and then you have the banisters in the middle which fill in the empty space between the two figures. I also like how even though you can only see the silhouettes but you can tell that the two are looking at each other and you can see some of the features. I also really like the warm colour and tones of the image and how it creates this cosy close atmosphere and how the different tones create depth (such as the banisters being lighter and the silhouettes being darker). I also really like how there is a glow around the two figures and help continue to create this warm cosy feeling.
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Exhibition planningI first started off by making a mind map of my ideas about what I wanted to show in my exhibition and started to narrow down what photos I wanted to edit and then use in my exhibition. A couple of my initial ideas were the natural photos of my family but also I wanted to demonstrate the little features and details that I see every day that make my home my home.
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