Exercise
• How does Briony Campbell’s The Dad Project compare with Country Doctor?
• What do you think she means by ‘an ending without an ending’? Make some notes in your learning log.
To read reviews follow links below:
At first you think that Briony’s project is personal and full of emotion, reading the story that goes alongside it, really engenders some of that raw emotion in the view as well. The soft tones and shades add to dreamy almost unreal aura they produce. Whereas, you when you view’s smith’s images they are following a stranger around doing his job and you would think they would be dispassionate. However, that’s not how they come across, the compositions and use of high contrast really give a sense of drama and factual.
However, having read Smith’s bio, it appears that these images were taken only a year after he himself had recovered from a major injury sustained whilst acting as a war correspondent during the 2nd World War. Putting them into the context of his own experiences and this may be why they are full of emotion and candour.
Briony Campbell says that the work is ‘an ending without an ending’? – I believe she means that because this is personal about her life that it can’t / won’t be packed away in box some place once the project is finished. It will always be with her and help her to remember her dad. Personally, I think once you’ve invested in a project it always very hard to draw a line under it and never think about again!
