PHOTO SERIES | 12 Days in October (Ongoing Project)
Three years ago I took a photo of my Yiayia (Greek grandma) on her 75th birthday. The photo didn't do so well with the family when they noticed quiet abruptly that her eyes were NOT even in the final photograph. I explained that the photo was purposely edited as such to create more of a visual reconstructing of the viewer's grandmother, not only my own. Without the 'windows' to the soul, the viewer could purposely interpret the image as whoever they like. Suffice it to say; my family understood the art, but still reached out for a photo of her with her eyes in it- I sent the raw photo..
I wont give away too much on neither my project, nor any images from the actual internal project itself here. Although I thought it would be of interest to elaborate on the projects roots briefly and some of the photo's that had been taken leading up to the project.
After the 'infamous' birthday photo with no eyes, as I am sure by now my family will forever remember it as,I instantly got the idea of taking similar photographs of her on her following birthdays. I would push this further by trying to incorporate more elements of family into the scene, and always try to take them in the same place- her knitting corner (Where the first birthday photo was taken). I was always fascinated with an image I had taken in Victoria, British Columbia of three generations of one family within one photo, but placed in a triangle and in different levels of focus. (I have always been a fan of shifting focal plane and geometry in photography). A funny background story to this photo is that I didn't realize the figure in the top of the photo was the little girls mom until later at the hotel where I found all three in a photo moments prior linking hands swinging the little girl in the middle where the photo was created.
Anyhow, this image got me thinking about ways I could incorporate this sort of triangle and elements that felt almost apart of my YiaYia adding a feeling of independence within the isolated corner she knits. As her Alzheimer’s worsens, the fact she still can knit, and sometimes in complicated ways (intricate hat's etc.) has always left me intrigued. It is truly incredible how the mind can hold onto certain delicate details regardless of the forces at play. As for the triangle, you will find it in multiple images from the set, first implemented below in a photo of her. The isolation of her corner will become apparent all but within one photo- from her 77th birthday. In this photo only, the outside world comes into play, with my mom reaching in with the birthday cake. Now, where is the triangle you'll say? Well, look a bit closer and in small detail behind her my brother and are I seen in baby photos. There is it, the 3 Generations within one photo. So, I had my triangle and my overlapping birthday photo's of her, which could become a set in themselves, but I wanted to dig deeper. It was at a film shoot three years later after the original 'photo with no eyes' that I finally got the spark and push I needed..
I was talking to a man at a pop up shop taking place in a photo gallery I was filming at. The man seemed to know his stuff about photography so we started talking about what we shoot. Eventually I ended up showed him some of the photo's of my Grandma I had shot on her birthday's from my phone and he was beyond interested. I further found out he was in fact the owner of the gallery itself! I had to laugh at the thought; here I am interested this man knows photography so well all the while I'm in his studio. I thought up the idea on the spot about continuing the project and morphing it into something even more contained. The spark from the family triangle photo along with her birthday photo's got me thinking. We talked and the idea came along that a project enclosed within a certain time period- such as the birthday photos would lead an interesting visual piece. I would shoot photo's of her throughout one month showing her knitting habit- which has now engrossed most of her days. I felt this would also be an interesting view on a disease, which is growing in popularity sadly
and in a way a project that, just like the birthday photos without eyes would again become relatable to many. The man told me to push the project and if it worked out come back to him with prints to perhaps show in a gallery one day. I lit up, I finally had my next art project. More so even then the photographs it would become something I would always look back on, doubling as important family photos. More so even though to personal importance it could have a larger reach and spread awareness of this disease on memory. The entire project felt as if it could come full circle in its meaning, acting AS a memory item (photographs) and about something which takes AWAY the memories themselves (Alzheimer’s)
I won't say too much more about the project except I have finished the photographs and will be editing them soon. They contain various daily portraits, as well as documented photography of the incredibly large amount of knitting taking place within the chronological time frame of the shoots. The project, if successful will speak to each individual however they like, but at its heart it will be a combination of memory, family, disease, generations and the inevitability of old age.
Here are some of the photographs that will accompany the project; some side lining the display and other's actually being incorporated into the timeline...
(To view these photographs larger and individually as intended follow the link below and click the first image, then scroll through)
12 Days In October Photo Album HERE
Note:
This posting was published on one of the largest photography blogs in the world, and one I have been visiting daily for over five years! Very exciting to share these images with the reach it will now achieve. To view that posting visit the link below:)
For the Blog posting of this on my site the link is HERE
Below is a short accompanying moving picture which is to play on loop in the final showing gallery:
