Exercise
Recreate a childhood memory in a photograph. Think carefully about the memory you choose and how you’ll recreate it. You’re free to approach this task in any way you wish.
- Does the memory involve you directly or is it something you witnessed?
- Will you include your adult self in the image (for example, to ‘stand in’ for your childhood self) or will you ask a model to represent you? Or will you be absent from the image altogether? (You’ll look at the work of some artists who have chosen to depict some aspect of their life without including themselves in the image in the next project.)
- Will you try and recreate the memory literally or will you represent it in a more
- metaphorical way, as you did in Part Two?
- Will you accompany your image with some text?
- In your learning log, reflect on the final outcome. How does the photograph resemble your memory? Is it different from what you expected? What does it communicate to the viewer? How?
It might be interesting to show your photograph to friends or family members – perhaps someone who was there at the time and someone who wasn’t – and see what the image conveys to them.
Little ears hear . . . .
I have a vivid memory of a conversation between my mother and another woman. Although i don’t remember exactly whether I was in the room or not and can’t remember who the other woman was, the memory of this conversation has affected my confidence and self image all of my life.
My image represents the feelings that I felt, rather than a depiction of the actual event. The image is pretty much out of camera with a few tweaks to highlights and shadows and the addition of a shadow in room to allude to people being in the room. the blue shadowy area is alluding to being out in cold.
When I originally took the image I took it from my current eyeline, but then I realised I was a child and therefore, I needed a lower vantage point as I was a child when this happened. To be fair I’m only 5ft 2″ now ! Keeping the image in a portrait view also helps with the feeling of being small, looking up. The image is exactly what I had hoped to portray.