I chose to explore different types of Liminal Space photography as it seems some focus on eerily familiar indoor spaces, then some focus on flat out abandoned areas with vast amounts of open space. Liminal Spaces are described as ‘ a space that is on the border, a space that is somewhere in-between the front stage/backstage; a space at the boundary of two dominant spaces’ (Dale and Burrell, 2008: 238). I chose to focus on having mostly outdoor photos as it seemed I would have more flexibility in capturing these types of photos. Liminal space photography tends to capture images of places that were once heavily populated but now are abandoned, empty and a shell of their former appearance, they also mostly seem to include a sense of nostalgia or acquaintance. I liked how Liminal Space photography evokes nostalgia and the memories of a place you had visited frequently in your childhood. One of the most compelling and bizarre things about this type of photography is that a lot of the authors of the original images are unknown which further adds to the allure of the aesthetic as the images are almost otherworldly-like with no clear author, the images that are credited are usually people taking photos inspired by the original Liminal Space photographs like the Backrooms (pictured below).
One of the first Liminal Space photographs known as the ‘Backrooms’: Author Unknown
Bowling Alley Liminal Space: Author @spaceliminalbot on Twitter
I really liked this image as it felt eerily familiar to me, my mind is filled with memories of seeing a busy social setting like this, but now it is empty and isolated it is almost surreal and dream-like yet I get a sense of comfort as it seems it’s just me and this plane of space with the freedom to express without judgement from others. It almost seems like a place you would awake from in a dream where you’re not sure if you’re dreaming or not. What I loved most about these images is that without context or inference, these images provoke an eerie familiar reaction from their consumer, and what would normally be a mundane and dull space, is presented as an almost purgatory-like plane of space, yet these places exist in reality.
Liam Kimmons Photography
Oscar Carrera, Google Maps
What interested me the most when doing my research, is that these types of images have emerged from all types of media and subcultures, most interestingly this image
Lego Superheroes – 6867 – Loki’s Cosmic Cube Escape- Chris Barrett
This comes from the background of a LEGO set [https://imgur.com/a/X4K16EL]. This was interesting, as usually this image would have other things in front of it but being the bare image it fits the liminal space aesthetic, it almost to me seems like something you’d see when you’ve fallen asleep on a car journey as a kid and you wake up and you’re in a tunnel. A lot of these photos seem to be associated with dreams and places in reality that exist that connote feelings of surrealism. Empty shopping centres and parks all seem to convey this same feeling and the fact that these places do exist somewhere in the world, a place beaming with life is now drought of it and the man-made construction is only what remains.
Jack Thomas, 2005
Focusing on the idea of comfort and surrealism, I thought about how it feels when you wake up in your bedroom at a nocturnal hour. My room feels empty and quiet, something is different than when I am usually active in my room, yet I feel comfortable and in the right place. I decided to include this as one of the photos in my portfolio, as it feels personal to me especially. I started to then think about places in society which are kind of like a physical ‘transition point’ bringing you from one place to another, such as an underpass or an overpass, this gave me the idea to include a photo of an underpass in my portfolio as I thought especially when it is getting darker, underpasses really evoke an ethereal, yet somewhat comforting as you are merely passing through observing the inside of the underpass. I then started to think about places that I actually do feel comfortable in, one that came straight to mind was the forest I walkthrough when I go to work, sometimes this can be early in the morning which gives some peaceful views and I thought about how I could incorporate this into my portfolio.
