Communities and Communication conference reflections

Figure 1: Phil Hill (2021) Conference paper and presentation

I found the experience of delivering a paper on my research to be a really valuable one (Fig: 1). Even though the presentation centered around the photography that I was producing for the last module, the paper that I wrote was written recently and created an opportunity to re-assess some of the research that I have done throughout this MA. It highlighted the areas that remain relevant to my practice and also some of the areas, which I had moved on from but would benefit on a closer re-evaluation for the FMP. For example, Barthes’ concept of the idiorythmic is and area worth applying to my current work – how we have our beliefs but entrench and separate them from each other, even refusing to accept the opinion of others. This is something that I can use for ‘Unreliable Narrator.’ Barthes also spends time discussing the way that a communities sense of self is built on (among other things) what it excludes, but also can choose to keep the expunged close as a way of comparing oneself (2012, p. 81). There are also elements of distance, which Barthes refers to Nietzsche’s ‘Pathos of Distance’ to highlight the way we elevate ourselves above what we wish to expel to create a kind of nobility (p. 132). I made this reference in relation to the way that we distanced ourselves during the pandemic but feel that it could easily refer to the way that we distance ourselves from one another through belief and ideas. I came to this research fairly early in the MA process but quite enjoy the way that its importance changes with the context of the way that I work.

Ross, was also working on delivering a paper at a separate conference, and it was also really valuable to gain peer support in the writing and editing of the presentation.

Figure 2: Phil Hill & Communities & Communication (2021) Online Communities and Communication Conference

Conference takeaways

Keynote speaker, Nichola Twemlow made an interesting observation regarding the young people that she supports through the YMCA. Talking about the value of communities, she noted:

“people can define themselves by the labels they are given”

(2021)

This really resonated with me and the way that I might consider applying class under the project themes. Working at an FE college I can really relate to this statement as the demographic of students that I teach regularly do not believe in themselves and the potential value that they have. For example, the Btec qualification that they study is considered slang for something being second rate – ‘that’s such a Btec xxx.’ It also really resonates with my own personal experiences if growing up within a working class home – the idea that you are not good enough is something that I hear often from my close family and potentially fuel for some of the other beliefs that they hold. Darren Mcgarvey understands this feeling when he discussed the way that the EU referendum argument for remain was based very much in the ‘on average’ benefits that it would have without truly grasping that if you come from a below average (economically) then these are not actually benefits to you (2018).

Twemlow’s statement is a useful method of framing aspects of my project and a way of discussing some of the content that I might include in a final sequence.

Bibliography

Barthes, R., 2012. How to Live Together: Novelistic Simulations of some Everyday Spaces. Translation ed. New York: Columbia University Press.

McGarvey, D., 2018. Poverty Safari. Main market edition ed. London: Picador.

Twemlow, N., 2021. Communities and Communication Conference 2021: Connections. Staffordshire, Staffordshire University.

Book Dummy Construction V2

Continuing the development of my book dummy, I have started to look at ways that I can make a book, which can be mass produced easily. I feel that the outcome should exist somewhere between the accessible and unique limited-edition art object. I intend to create a short-limited edition that includes unique and hand made elements to the book. For example, the use of the carbon copy paper, hand typed, and potentially screen-printed pages. These books could also have an individual unique aspect to the sequence or another part, which supports the unreliable aspects of the project.

Ideas for this could include:

  • Unique sequence for each book
  • Supporting ‘end notes’ that changes the caption information
  • ‘End Notes’ booklet that has captions for more images than are in the publication or the inclusion of additional contact pages to acknowledge the subjectivity of the photographic edit.
  • Limited edition prints included
  • Hand printed elements within the book.
  • If I decide to use elements such as the correspondence paper, this could actually be included
  • Hand torn edges – creating a unique object

Unreliable V2:

Figure 1: Phil Hill (April, 2021) Unreliable narrator book dummy version 2

I was able to access a printer that can create booklets, which makes it quite easy to run off sequences and see how these work in a book form (Fig: 1). The stapled edge also would work similar to the Japanese binding that I looked at previously in terms if the gutter and center margin. Although, I would aim for a higher quality for any final book, this was a useful way of seeing how I could quickly and economically produce a larger run of the book should it be self-published.

I am not sure about the A4 size, as the aspect ratio of the 6X7 format might look better in a 10×8 format. Some of the images within the book, really need the space to breath and I would have to consider the way that some of the image plays a role in the way the book reads.

Courier Type

Figure 2: Howard Kettler (1956) Courier Typeface

As I have been using a physical typewriter, I decided to use a typeface that would still be recognised as such. Courier is a ‘slab serif’ style (Fig: 2), which was created originally as a typewriter font. It’s use in later versions of my book would mean that the style and feel of the type would not be too compromised switching between a hand typed to digital text, albeit with a lost physicality.

Quotations

From conversations that I have started to have with family and others around the project, I have been collecting together quotes that I can use within the sequence so I have attempted to work some of them into this version

Endnotes

Figure 3: Phil Hill (April, 2021) Endnotes accompanying booklet

As an attempt to bring in a bit more of a contextualisation to the work, I have produced an accompanying booklet called ‘endnotes’ (Fig: 3), which creates an opportunity to play with the concept of unreliability by potentially producing different versions to go with the main publication. At the start, I have added a contextualising statement and then followed it by providing caption information via a corresponding number within the main book. Alternatively, I could use the Twin check label idea, which I have linked to ideas of memory, or could create a mini version of the main book that would have images.

Script

Figure 4: Script Studio (2021) Script format for printing out

Following the narrative structures that I am using, I might also work to create the next iteration of the book in the format of how a script is produced (Fig: 4). The format and presentation lends itself to the goals I am aiming for with my book. The size and script format create connotations supporting the unreliable narrator narrative structure. This kind of referencing is also similar to the way that Jack Latham’s ‘Sugar Paper Theories’ (Fig: 5) is presented as a kind of court evidence document. The format lends itself to a modular approach in the way that it is bound together using brass split pins, which could work as a way of mixing up the sequences. It would also be a relatively economic way of producing multiple copies in preparation for sharing with people interested in disseminating the work. This also means that I can easily create a copy for book awards.

Figure 5: Jack Latham (2015) Cover of Sugar Paper Theories

On Zoe Leonard

Figure 1: Zoe Leonard (1989) Three untitled photographs, taken from airplane windows

Leonard’s work deals with the idea of how we understand the photographic nature of photography. This is important as it really identifies the impact that photography can have on our understanding of the world. Leonard uses this really effectively and in simple terms for the reader, for example in the way that she leaves the border of the negative (Fig: 1), as Fi Churchman points out “as if to remind the viewer – and maybe herself – that these are compositions: the world framed by another’s viewpoint. Put simply, all perspectives are constructs” (Churchman & Leonard, 2018). This really resonates with the way that my own work has developed as I have become interested in the way that the photograph constructs – even place its own inanimate agency from its characteristics. It feeds my idea of how photographer, photography, and photographed elements can be unreliable in the construction, Leonard’s idea of ‘perspectives,’ or as she notes “where you look is only half the picture” (2018).

Now that I have started to consider my project as a way of responding to belief, and to acknowledge that these all may be tenuous – even my own. I am drawn to Leonard’s intentions for her work. My project has developed to also look at the way that elements of class, misinformation, conspiracy, and personal histories are all susceptible to unreliable narration. Leonard echoes this in the way that she says: “I’m consciously making space for the viewer and unfolding a kind of visual and spatial essay for them, in the hope that the viewer responds with their opinions, experiences, emotions. It’s not about trying to convince you of mine [Leonard’s], but to elicit yours” (2018). This is a useful way of thinking about the presentation of the work. I have considered putting together a sequence of the work, which could differ from publication to publication in order to undermine the experience that an individual brings to it, or would it just make it a more personal individualised interpretation of the work? Both would be the case. Wendy suggested that this kind of presentation could work to support the way that we all have a subjectivity when reviewing the family album and I would be aiming to build in this by highlighting the way that photography is a construction.

Bibliography

Churchman, F. & Leonard, Z., 2018. Zoe Leonard in ArtReview. [Online] Available at: https://www.hauserwirth.com/ursula/23142-zoe-leonard-artreview [Accessed 21 April 2021].

Socially Engaged – Mariama Attah

Figure 1: Phil Hill (April, 2021) Garden Incinerator in my Brothers garden
Figure 2: Phil Hill (April, 2021) Garden incinerator in my parents garden

I have reached a point in my project where I really need to consider the way that my photographs are representing the people in the images. There are some areas that have come up, that I have been drawn to in fact. For example, there are aspects to the beliefs that my mother holds, which really feed into the unreliable narrator idea and the way that mis-information proliferates. For example, upon my last visit home, I have noticed more objects around my parents home, such as the garden incinerator’s that both my parents and my brother have (Fig 1 & 2). They use these to burn anything that has an identifying address on instead of garden waste, which is born from some of the conspiracy theories that my mother is particularly interested in. I have not really considered this as part of the unreliable narrator project before however, my family are very much following a great deal of the mis-information and false narratives that exist on the internet, especially around the pandemic and attempts to vaccinate. There are new subtle hints towards this attitude to Covid, which can be seen in the portrait of my brother’s wife and her ‘mask exempt’ badge (Fig: 3).

Figure 3: Phil Hill (April, 2021) Sharon [not yet edited]

I have avoided this part of my family’s character up to now, but feel that it has become quite an important part to potentially include, owing to the nature of the subjects that I am exploring. My initial feelings are that I can potentially leave these aspects in a future sequence with little to no explanation as it drives the unreliable narrator theme through the work, leaving readers to discover these elements in the work. This is my family however, and it is not my intention to draw negative reaction to any of the people included in the work. This is important to me. How do I include them whilst remaining empathetic and respectful for the individual? I don’t believe that anyone who believes that Covid is a conspiracy is coming from a bad place and I also feel that it is actually important to analyse the reasons why they believe it in an open discussion that does not resort to partisan stone throwing. Neuroscientist, Hannah Critchlow notes that our beliefs are constructed to help us understand the world around us, we create the rules in which we see the world operate (2021). Critchlow’s suggestion is that as a way of trying to understand something that is too large to comprehend, such as the make up of the universe or the way that a global pandemic has spread, it is completely natural to gravitate toward religion and other beliefs.  A recent study on the way that ideas and information spreads through the internet found that lies spread much faster than truth, noting “false stories inspired fear, disgust, and surprise in replies, true stories inspired anticipation, sadness, joy, and trust. Contrary to conventional wisdom, robots accelerated the spread of true and false news at the same rate, implying that false news spreads more than the truth because humans, not robots, are more likely to spread it” (Vosoughi, et al., 2018). The challenge is in the way that others might look at and potentially mock those who believe in such theories.

Socially Engaged practice

Collaborative practice might be a way of bridging this. Mariama Attah made a really valuable keynote lecture during adapt on this way of working (2021). Her interest is in overlooked visual culture, which I believe my project falls into. Her discussion centered around the ways that we can share power as photographers and having a collective voice. I need to do more. I have been very focused on understand a narrative from my own perspective and collection images without necessarily talking through the process with my family, apart from the correspondence that I have sent out to my grandmother. I think the lack of response from her has created a certain apprehension in talking to my parents at any length about the project. This is something that I must challenge as it potentially could lead to a problematic end result that does not include those I am photographing.

Attah noted elements of a socially engaged practice (2021):

  • Collaboration
  • Conversation
  • Empathy
  • Acting as an Ally
  • Questioning photography’s history
  • Privilege and Power
  • Advocacy

I now need to look at some of these elements much more closely and investigate whether I am using them faithfully, for example:

Conversation:

I identified this early in in the project but have yet to explore it fully. I have conducted two interviews with distant uncles and also spoken to a cousin who I haven’t seen in 10 years. I must start the process with my mother. I think that I have found this to be too close for me to get past so far, as Marianne Hirsh also noted “Perhaps it is the familial look itself that makes it difficult to read this picture which will not reveal any identifiable truth” (1997, p. 104) where the same might be true of any familial exchange I may have with close family members. It remains important to continue working through this the conversations I have with more and more of my family will enable a more empathetic approach, another one of Attah’s socially engaged elements

Advocacy:

Now that I have come across more and more of the extreme views held by members of my family, it creates the question of how much advocacy these ideas should be allowed. The have every right to believe them. They are also an interesting evolution in the idea of the unreliable narrator – but that doesn’t mean that I should include for either of these reasons. It will be important to consider the reaction of others towards them should I choose to include the images, which will be an important part of the conversation, above.

Comparing to others:

Figure 4: Anthony Luvera (2014) ASSISTED SELF-PORTRAIT OF JOE MURRAY

How is my approach comparing to others? Anthony Luvera is a photographer that I have looked at previously during the MA, his approach to community and socially engaged projects is possibly one of the best examples of how this approach can foster a faithful representation of all involved (Fig: 4). His interest in the ethics of photography is something that I keep returning to, as he states “One of the things about any kind of social practice, whether it be within the expanded field of photographic practice, or another art form such as applied theatre, is a tension between the process of working with participants and the products that are created and then circulated to audiences” (Luvera in Homer, 2019) echoing the thoughts of Attah, when she noted “Photography’s history has been about classifying people & object in orders of worth and value” (2021). A key takeaway from my last supervisor meeting with Wendy was an idea of belief, which I feel is a way of creating a respectful approach to the work. Ultimately, I must move forward by conversing with the people in my project to discuss this idea of belief and how best they wish that belief to be represented.

Bibliography

Attah, M., 2021. Adapt 21: Responding Through Curating. Falmouth: Falmouth Flexible.

Critchlow, H., 2021. The Science of Fate. 1 ed. London: Hodder Paperbacks.

Hirsch, M., 1997. Family Frames: Photography, Narrative and Postmemory. 2012 Reissue ed. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Luvera, A., 2019. Anthony Luvera – interview: ‘Photography is a way of telling stories about the world’ [Interview] (15 August 2019).

Vosoughi, S., Roy, D. & Aral, S., 2018. The spread of true and false news online. Science, 359(6380), pp. 1146-1151.

4th Meeting 20/4

Date of Supervision Meeting20/04/21
Start time of Meeting12:30
Length of Meeting in minutes35 minutes
Meeting Notes & Action PointsUseful discussion about how the project is developing to consider the idea of belief, which meant that I have a way of approaching respectful representation of persons depicted in the work. I have some work to do to tie in some of this new work with the existing images and if it should be a development away from the original. Writing will also be useful to properly contextualise the project.
– I suggested that my outcome could include differences between each version in order to undermine the reading of it, which was supported by Wendy and suggested this is the way we individually read the family album. 
– Zoe Leonard would be useful to look at in the way that she utilises false narratives
– Susan Hiller in the way that she considers ideas of belief
– Marina Warner – Phantasmogoria
Date of Next Proposed Meeting16/06/21 @12:00

Recent shoot reflections 18/04/21

I am still no closer to understanding the reasons behind rifts and images within the archive. My mother is fairly closed about the topic and I have yet to really probe that aspect. I have also not had a reply from my grandmother as of yet, so there is no real chance of uncovering anything from the other side. Does this matter? I recently had a peer critique with Claire, who questioned whether I was going to provide some kind of answer to all of this or if it should remain unsolved. There is potential to completely change the way the work reads if I were to over explain and try to give answers. I am not really concerned that I might not find them either. The universality in the work, in the sense of the fractured family, as pointed out by Claire is what makes it interesting, which was a comment I received during the portfolio reviews. This idea of mystery keeps it interesting, with the potential to keep coming back to it and trying to work this thing out.

Figure 1: Phil Hill (April, 2021) Images collected from archive and recent photographs [before editing]

Now that the restrictions have lifted a bit, I have been able to continue the project and add more of my own images to the mix. On visiting my parents, I was very interested in all of the objects that they have within the family home that are linked to parts of this, feeding the unreliable narrator within the project. My parents have never really kept many family images on shelves and mantles etc, this is in great contrast to my wife’s family homes, which display many generations of family on the walls and on shelves. This led me to consider other items and objects on display that have links and represent the themes within my work. For example, the image of the sunflowers is a painting made by my brother dated 1997, it has been on the wall above the television since then. The image was framed for us by my grandmother and probably one of the last links through an object that we have in the house. This idea of objects is something that I am coming back to, in anthropological terms they are a way of learning about people and cultures in the absence of them. Matthew Engelke refers to an idea of ‘material culture’ (2017: 6-7), which defines the way that anthropologists and also archaeologists can learn about a people from the things that they leave behind and I can also use the objects with in the archive and within the family home to better understand in the absence of members of my own family – in their absence.

An interesting development related to the pandemic, is in the additional distance it places on my view of my parents home, which is also my childhood home. There was always part of this as I live in the South East, my parents two and a half hours away in the South West, limited the amount of trips I make to see them under normal circumstances. With the pandemic, there are more limits placed and I have not seen them for nearly a year. Owing to the research of my project, I have found that the way I look through objects within the house quite differently. I would never call this objectively, but an element of distance means that I can start to document without a usual emotive connection attached to it. Wayne C. Booth’s definition of the unreliable narrator places variations of distance between the characters, the narrator, and the author of the story (1975: 155), and I will need to determine how much distance I place between myself and the project. I am the author of the work but also a narrator of it – just as unreliable a the narrative I present. Claire also noted this in our peer discussion, suggesting the consideration of how much of myself I have within the work. It is a personal journey, so on the one hand I should be included somehow. However, the universality of the fractured family could mean that I can work to make the project broader with me presenting and narrating the work for the reader.

Bibliography

Booth, W. C., 1975. The Rhetoric of Fiction. 11 ed. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Engelke, M., 2017. Think Like an Anthropologist. London: Pelican Books.

Communities and Communication Prep

I have spent the past week preparing to discuss my work at the Staffordshire University ‘Community and Communication conference.’ At the end of the last module, I submitted an abstract (Fig: 1) relating to my last wipp, which is based in the local community that I live now. As I have evolved the project and I am no longer looking directly at my local community for the FMP , it kind of felt like I was reverse engineering the presentation and going back to work that I have moved away from. Since completing the presentation and paper I am delivering however, I have found it valuable in the way that I am now able to articulate ideas and also it has identified a number of points of research, which really feed into my current work. As I see it, the project is partly a departure from this idea of exploring community through local spaces and the people that I share it with: Ideas of Barthes’ idiorhythmic separation of sharing spaces but living independent lives and Graham Harmon’s Object Orientated Ontology to reconsider objects and their agency independently from an anthropocentric view point.


Figure 1: Phil Hill (December, 2020) Communities ad Communication research and draft conference abstract.

These are ideas that have heavily influenced my work over the last few modules and are present in my fmp project. Ultimately, that should be the goal of my practice – to construct work positioned in these areas. This should evolve as my practice evolves, which I feel is demonstrated in the way that I have moved past the idea of connection to my adopted town of Watford and into the project about my personal connections and family.

This presentation has also given me the opportunity to scrutinise some of the ideas that I have been putting forward. For example, nostalgia and the way that we consider a past being somehow better. It was important to discuss why this is, which has led to looking at the Derrida concept of ‘Hauntology’ (2006: 10) in how we are effectively haunted by objects and views of the past and represent this through photography.

I was also forwarded some really useful texts from my peers, which have a great deal of relevance to both this presentation and the way that my project has evolved now. Karen Cross and Julia Peck’s editorial on photography, archive and memory (2010: 127-138), which notes a number of areas that will be worth investigating moving forward. For example, “The archive is opened to the threat of memory: the memory of its exclusions” (p. 129), creates a link to the way that Barthes’ discusses how communities seek to exclude those that do not fit with the community ideal. It is important to consider what is not included in the archive – in this case what is not within my family albums, or cut from them. Cross and Peck also pick up on a number of other text that I have been using in my research and specifically reference Marianne Hirsch’s idea of ‘Post-Memory’ and also personal and collective memory (p. 133). This serves to consolidate those ideas and I fully intend to unpack this further and feed it into my current work.

Presenting to the conference (I hope) will be incredibly valuable in my development of research and academia, feeding back into my own teaching practice. One of my aspirations from this MA was to submit and deliver research at a conference. Putting together this discussion and presentation will also be really valuable in positioning my current work in the wider context of the concepts and ideas that I have been developing throughout the MA, which will be useful when I come to write my Critical Review of Practice.

Bibliography

Cross, K. & Peck, J., 2010. Editorial: Special Issue on Photography, Archive. Photographies, September, 3(2), pp. 127-138.

Derrida, J., 2006. Spectres of Marx. New York: Routledge Classics.

Tönnies, F., 2001. Community and Civil Society. Translation ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Peer Feedback 28/03

I was encouraged to share my project with peers more often. Something that I know but definitely need a constant nudge to ensure that I do it. This is especially necessary whilst producing my current work, which is quite personal to me. I feel I have been keeping it to myself. I shared the same iteration as the portfolio reviews (Fig: 1) with my peers to gain some insight into the work.

Figure 1: Phil Hill (March, 2021) Unreliable Narrator portfolio review PDF

Peer Feedback
  • Isabelle: I love the title, the general feel and the variety of the images. I am a bit lost as far as narration goes…maybe some slight hints with some text?

This is a general impression that I am getting at this stage. People enjoy the images but are somewhat lost with the reading of it. At this stage, I am actually ok with this. My project is still in the early stages of development and I have not collected any of the depositions from people within the images yet, so it is understandable that there is little to no context to the images that I presented. I also deliberately didn’t explain any of them to the group in order to see how far the concept would carry at this point.

Interestingly, Isabelle’s feeling of being lost could be useful for the series. The idea of the unreliable narrator could be constructed to continually undermine the perceived reading of the narration. It might be argued however, that my sequence wouldn’t feel completely resolved as result. I do quite like the idea of the reader being unsure of exactly what is happening, although at this point of the work could be because I myself so not quite know or understand what happened.

  • Claire: Phil,  I think these are really good and the title really positions the work – I  definitely get the link between challenging truth of image and family albums.  I think the diary entry points to an event – maybe more of archive material/written words.  

It was good to gain insight from Claire with regards to the title, I think that the idea of unreliable narrator does frame the work in the way that makes you consider it in a certain way. Again, Claire is keen to review more text to contextualise the images, which is fair and an area I am keen to develop as the project progresses.

  • Marcel: Hi Phil, I agree with Isabelle – the title is very good and I like the mood and the sequencing. I see a coherence, but perhaps a short introduction or some some quotes between the images would make it easier accessible.

Marcel supports the other feedback that I received and I agree that an introduction would be beneficial to set up the journey through the sequence of the images. This I would expect to come more towards the end of the project as I consolidate the idea and finalise sequences. However, on the theme of unreliability, I could also create a few of these as the project evolves as a means of undermining and creating confusion – should my project focus more on those elements.

  • Tim: I hadn’t see this before, and I really like it as it is. It comes across well. I know a bit about the project and the family history/story that you have mentioned but not too much. What you are showing at the moment (youthful pictures against current portraits); the small amount of text; made me go back and forth to look for clues and make conjectures. It spoke of distribution; a conflict; uncared for… How to push it forward with just visuals and where (may be) you see yourself in all of this. Can you re-build a history; statements from those that remember; revisiting before the conflict/break… It answers some of your questions. I agree for the moment, hold off on a commentary and push the visual. How much content do you have. The layout is great as you compare the 2 images and work out some connection. May be there are visual stories (archival newspaper etc.) of events that can lead us into interesting thoughts about what has happened. 

Tim’s comments support the direction that I am taking the project so far. My intention should be to build mystery. As I am still in the experimental collecting phase of the project, this construction of the narrative will come later. I quite like the idea of also collecting some archive stories, potentially there are some contextualising events recorded in local newspapers that can support the narrative I intend to create. There may also be some references to my own family in the form of birth/marriages/death announcements. Tim’s feedback is useful as it confirms direction and consolidates what the others are saying.

Figure 2: Phil Hill (February, 2021) Flatbed scan of St Christopher Pendant Christening Present

Jonjo: I also had the opportunity to catch up with Jonjo Borrill, from another cohort not currently in the FMP and it was really valuable to get his insight into my project. It also gave me the opportunity to go through its progress with someone who was not familiar with the work. Jonjo was able to make some really useful observations regarding the objects in the archive that I had not considered. For example, the St Christopher pendant’s (Fig: 2) association with being the patron saint of travellers is a kind of metaphor for the journey that I am going on during the process of this project. I felt that the necklace is significant because of how it was gifted to me by my grandmother as a baby however, I have not made the connection to the idea of travel and journey. St Christopher’s are typically given to those about to go travelling to keep you safe on the journey, Jonjo has one himself. Potentially the pendant represents this idea and also part of a collection of sentimental objects that we apply additional meaning to.

Festival entries

Belfast, Helsinki, Copenhagen
Figure 1: Belfast Photo Festival (2021) Open Submission call
Figure 2: Helsinki Photo Festival (2021) ‘Fearless’ themed submission
Figure 3: Copenhagen Photo Festival (2021) ‘The Censored Exhibition’ themed submission.

I made an entry into exhibiting my work at the next Belfast Photo. This was an early stage of the project and I was keen to consider the idea and create a statement of my submission to frame it as a starting point. The work is evolving, as expected, as I work through the archive and also start to react and respond to the images. Since this submission, I have also made submissions to two further photography festivals – Helsinki Photo, and Copenhagen Photo.

All three festivals have a different theme in order to develop each iteration of the work. I did question whether I should be submitting work to these festivals at a stage in the project where I am still experimenting and working through the materials and each of the submissions I have made is a variation and changed project from the last. However, the core of my concept being the unreliable narrator, I quite enjoy the idea of potentially being selected for more than one of these festivals and having the same project in different iterations exhibited at the same time, which really feeds the unreliable nature of the work. Of course, that is quite the long shot but it does create an opportunity to think more about the idea of iteration and how my outcome, if producing more than one, could be different and unique to the others in order to undermine the experience of each person reading it. I imagine, that if it were possible to produce a book that contained a number of wholly unique elements that two persons coming together to talk about the work might bring completely different readings of the work.