As this is a personal project I feel that I had too think about what Home means too me and unlike many the word “Home” triggers a number of responses both positive and negative. I had a difficult childhood and moved house a lot meaning I never really had a home but more of what I considered “house”. The concept of Home for me is very different now. For me home is always something that I have created rather than the building around me. For example certain things that create a homely sense are more important too me, moments create home for me, not objects of permanence, e.g. the smell of coffee, the crunch of frosty leaves underfoot, moments with my younger sisters, hot water bottles, sitting in front of a warm fire.
I found it really difficult too research this brief because I felt that it should be something personal. The first thing I did was research “photography of home”, here are some of the images that came up:
Most of the imagery I found this way looked like stock photography and I felt that the images had little meaning behind them. However I did find one image which I found interesting, that led me to an article by the Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/dec/22/best-photography-2013-sean-ohagan) here is the image:
The image is from Elina Brotherus’s Annunication 4 (2010) from Home Truths: Photography, Motherhood and Identity. I then did some further research on this.
“the exhibition will aim to challenge long-held stereotypes and sentimental views of motherhood by addressing issues such as gender roles, domesticity, the body and the identity of individuals within the family unit. The work of the eight artists tends to be autobiographical in focus and sits within the documentary genre. Large in both scale and scope, many of the projects span over several years with some still ongoing. Home Truths is curated by Susan Bright.”-http://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/photography-motherhood-and-identity
This exhibition is curated by eight artists and is truly fascinating, here are some more images from this curation:
Although these images are not specifically about Home (Brotherus’ Annunciation is a strong and thought-provoking series of works where she pictures herself after failed IVF treatments.) I feel it has associations with home and everyday life even though when most people think of home they think of positive things. For me this project is proof of how powerful photography can be.
Idea:
One of the ideas I have had for my project is too take three images (edited in black and white) to represent my past view of the term “Home” and then three images (in colour) to represent my current view of the term “Home”.
Here are some of the images I have taken but decided not too use:
