Archive Photography: Ugne Henriko (Mother and Daughter) vs Irina Werning; re-staging images; re-enacting memories

Ugne Henriko, Mother & Daughter

I really like this photograph because it accurately shows the aspects of similarities between mother and daughter from a documentary side but also the tabloid side shows an exaggerated  and staged side beyond the physical appearances that are similar but the deeper meaning between the two similarities of the character too.  For example the documentary side highlights the physical similarities of mother and daughter and how their likeness brings about a connection as if they are programmed and the daughter is another version of her mum.  This is so much so that it is hard to tell who is the mum and who is the daughter.  Interestingly I believe that this style of documentary photography incorporated spreads the message of the deep love between both subjects.  This now borders and touches upon the idea of Tableaux photography in which it describes the emotion and relationships between each subject on a personal level.  Clearly with their their similarities they appear close, however with the fact that the photograph has clearly been manipulated to look a quite a dark, sad scene which then poses the question about whether they have quite a staggered relationship.  It appears that despite at face value they may have similarities, but under the surface it is clear that there is a strong and similar sense of sadness expressed towards one another.  This is evident in particular features such as high levels of contrast – increasing the sharpness of the feelings towards each character.

 

Irene Werning, Back to the Future

I like these two photographs based on an archive approach to photography.  The boy on the left is clearly a child and the boy on the right is his older self re-united with the world of his childhood.  This photograph is interesting because it suggests that the boy growing up hasn’t grown up very much at all and is still the same person despite how much one goes through growing up into adulthood.  This is strikes me as interesting because it goes against the common experience that most people change immensely throughout their childhood.  It almost says to me that this particular person had very good memories  of his childhood and with that, relives his childhood today.  The lighting I also like too is one which is quite mellow and washed out with strong raw colors.  This shows how distant this memory of himself as a little boy is, however with these warm colors, this communicates to us that these are positive memories.  I like how this photograph is distinct in that it shows quite positive and happy emotions referencing to the character’s past because it is quite relatable to many people’s childhood’s themselves.

This photograph is another comparison of the similarities and differences of how time changes us through our of journey of life.  I find this photograph interesting because again, it is a recreation of the girl’s childhood, however on purposefully, it doesn’t try to appear directly identical in the appearance.  In fact the roles reverse in the sense that instead of on the surface the characters appearing identical and having a deeper meaning beneath the surface, here the photograph shows on the surface clear differences in each character but under the surface that is where the similarities are apparent.  I like how the characters are next to each other however we can clearly see the differences in the characters themselves such as their clothes, food and general posture.  However the fact both are partaking in the same activity in the same location shows an inextricable link between both characters.  The fact there is so many apparent differences arguably shows the similarities are that both enjoy being different.

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