Pieter Hugo – KIN

In Pieter’s photography book “KIN” he said “About eight years ago, I started to photograph the notion of “home” whatever that might mean, as both intimate and public place.” Pieter wanted to ensure his investigation with the place or inanimate thing called home was and what it is like for one’s self. “Home is where belonging and alienation coexist.” I really admire Pieter’s work and how he decided to photograph how the word “home” can mean and look so different with different people. His adventure into Africa is what really inspired me as a photographer. In his book, he has taken images of people from African tribes and made them pose on a typical, standard bed. Then visa-versa with British people in more a tribal environment is interesting to look at. His essay is very interesting to read, rather than explaining why his photographs were taken, he let us imagine the reasoning behind it and instead, told a unique story about the type of people in the images and the society that surrounds them.

Phillipp Ebeling – Land without past

Phillipp Ebeling’s book is a combination of both archive and present photographs.  This idea coincides with my idea of using the archive photographs to present how time changes things and show the change by using powerful images. Phillipp lived in village near from where his grandmother lived during the second world war. Her village was destroyed and all that was left was rubble. He moved to London when he was 19 years old and stayed there, he decided to venture back to his village where he used to live as it was part of his identity and shaped part of the way he functions as a person.

His images reflect what his childhood was like and I like how quirky some of the images are. I especially like the image of the loft where the children’s toys are placed. I love the colour popping in the photograph, it shows a real sense of childhood. The image of his father mowing the lawn is also one of my favourites as it one that relates to my topic and gives me inspiration for the kind of images that I want to take of my dad.