Family Photography 

I have been looking through photographs from my childhood and the visits my grandparents made to Jersey at least twice a year. They would come over for special dates such as birthdays or to just simply spend time with us during the summer months especially. I have selected these several photographs as they symbolise everyday memories and the little details of my childhood that tend to reoccur. These photographs are of my father’s parents whereas my project I am focusing on for family is on my mother’s father. However, I think it’s important to look at other relationships in my life that have similar principles. 

I particularly like the first photograph because you can’t actually see my or my mum’s face which helps focus on my grandfather more. It has an amateur feel to it and feels as though the memories have seep into the image itself. The second image again feels as though it were a snap shot, but I like this photograph as there are lots of little details which bring back memories when looking at this photograph which is a key quality photography holds. I also like the way the light is hitting my face almost blurring it out. 

These photographs are quite powerful to me because my family life is extremely different from what it use to be like in these photographs. I no longer speak to my grandparents therefore I don’t have a relationship with them at all really compared to how it was when I was much younger. I also don’t speak to my dad so these images represent a time when I was close with him. This brings in the theme of memories again because the way things once were can’t always be the same again therefore memories are all we have left. I also think environments have an influential part in the emotions we feel towards an image. For example, the image below of my cat you can see the dining room table in the background, in the photograph below that one you can see the piano that my family had for many years. Although, these simple objects may not stand out they fill the image with memories of how life was when I was younger.