In response to the brief I decided the location I was going to photograph was my home, as this is where I feel the strongest sense of place and belonging.
Initially, I photographed objects around my house that were personal to me, that gave a deep insight into my home and personality, and what made my house ‘home’. I then started looking at artists that have produced similar projects, and I found a common link of images that intrigued me, such as photographing authentic moments, which were all completely natural. I found this concept fascinating, as it emphasised the power of photography, through its ability to tell a narrative through still images. Moreover, through looking at further photographers I identified that photographing people was more engaging. This led me to identifying my focus point of my project, as a documentary through photography of the lockdown and time spent with my family.
Furthermore, the photographer Giulia Berto, created a project which encouraged me to take extremely ‘in the moment’ photographs, which emphasised the documentary style photography I was trying to produce.
I then continued to document each week in lockdown with my family in the style of a chronology, to show real people in a real environment, in a unique situation due to the circumstances. Finally, I explored photographers that had taken many images of the same scenario and comprised them together in a collage, that added a sense of movement and documentary. Such as the photographer Luigi Stranieri, who photographed the view from a Starbucks window. This inspired me to create collages from my images that portrayed a series of events of the same activity.
Overall, my final portfolio summaries an important time spent with my family. I photographed my mums birthday, family dinners, bbq’s and Sunday roasts, my sisters roasting marshmallows, takeaway cleanups and our dog walks to the local park. All of these events are what makes my house and family ‘home’. They are simple, ordinary and everyday activities that inspired a sense of happiness and honesty. The images comprised together within a collage emphasised the narrative and gave further insight into the sequence of events. My final images have captured unstructured moments in time, whilst using the power of photography to create everlasting memories. The photographs tell a story, as they represent one real moment in time, as it exists. All my final images link together in a sequence as they are all of people who are content, cheerful and thankful for those around them, that represents a moment in time that is documented forever.
