To begin my research for my personal investigation, I will take inspiration from examples of personal studies from the last couple of years from students very personal and mature subjects. I looked through photo-books from previous year 13 students to gain ideas.
Matthew Knapman: Is that My Blue Butterfly?
His project focuses on the life of his mother, diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. The photo-book contains archival images that have been drawn, scratched and edited in order to illustrate his emotions and what his mother was going through. To convey his emotions through the photos he has used destructive methods such as using chemicals to showcase his anger and grief. What I like about this photo-book is that he uses art as a visual guide to tell the audience his mother’s story regarding the illness. He includes personal items into the photo-book such as his mothers hospital bracelet and a note which explains the reason behind the title. When creating my own photo-book, I would also like to add personal items, such as documents, in order to create a personal connection between the photographer and viewer.
Jude Luce: All my love
His photo-book gives insight into his family life. He displays this constant theme through photos of landscapes and objects in order to convey a deep, poetic meaning. Portraits have also been included to showcase the relationships he has with others and to display these individuals emotions. There is juxtaposition in his photo-book where he presents his mum and dad’s relationship when they were together with his own relationship. Through his photo-book he aims to showcase his development through his parents divorce and how that has shaped his life. He wanted to display an obvious them of attachment but also an underlying theme of detachment. Like Matthew Knapman’s photo-book, he has also included sentimental items in order to help convey his narrative. The concept of presenting his life as stable, depicted through his relationship with his girlfriend, as well as unstable, through the divorce of his parents, displays contrast since the viewer gets to see two sides.
