'Fragments of the past' 2005–(ongoing). While taking a photograph from the balcony in Tate Modern just before my father died, I noticed a figure walking away from me into the sunlight that looked just like him, even though he was bedridden hundreds of miles away. Fascinated by the desire to see or imagine a loved one in the identity of another I began to collect images of bodies walking or turning away from the camera. These are a collection of the many black and white photographs collected from market stalls and auctions, some dating back to as early as 1926, the photographers are unknown. The project asks questions about identity and memory and plays with notions of the placement, in artistic practice, of found or
|
collected images. They are black and white memories that I imagine are retrieved from a dusty box of photos that most families have hidden away at the back of a wardrobe, odd photos that sit on the edge of discarding – those out of focus or missed opportunities as people turn away from the camera. In most of the images the photographer is invisible, and in the rare photograph that a person does look back it is never directly at the photographer but at someone that stands watching. I, the viewer become an active participant in the re-framing of the work. My intention is to save the photograph from being thrown away and to give it new meaning when placed alongside similar photographs.
|