Laia Abril is a photographer and storyteller who’s work mostly relates to femininity and the struggles that come along with it such as abortion and eating disorders. This project is based on the Robinson family, more specifically their story after they lost their daughter, Cammy, to bulimia at the age of 26. Laia worked really closely with the family telling their story through the use of archival images, interviews/testimonies and photographing important locations. The book is a sort of outlet which allows the family to voice their guilt and grief while also remembering the life of the family member they tragically lost.

“Laia Abril shows us the dilemmas and struggles confronted by many young girls” –Source

I have decided to use Laia as a case study as after looking through her book. I saw how she effectively told a family’s history, in which she was not personally involved in, so successfully through the use of first hand testimony and through photographing locations and by using archival family images. From looking a Laia’s work I have decided to incorporate 2 of her techniques into my own work which is the use of testimony and also through photographing important location with memories and meaning behind them, which you can see some examples of in the mood board.

“Part of the reason why ‘The Epilogue’ works so well is because it acknowledges the restrictions of the two media it intermixes – pictures and words. It has them work with each other, having them support each other” –Source

You can see on the left, how the photographer cleverly incorporated text alongside imagery without compromising the aesthetic of the book, which is something I may also take away from this body of work. I think this is successful as the text doesn’t draw the attention away from the imagery as its hidden, yet the viewer is still able to find vital contextual information.

Visually, it’s clear to see that the object in the image is a deflated balloon. Although some of the text is not visible, from the context above it is clear it is most likely a “get well soon” balloon.

Technically, the composition of the page is interesting. The image itself is very clear and sharp, and the page can be opened up to reveal a document, which you can see in the image below.

Contextually, the document shows us that this particular object may have been given to Cammy while she was in hospital, as the document shown in the fold is a report saying she was admitted into hospital.

Conceptually, the photographer may have used the object to reflect Cammy’s state at the time. The balloon in the image in clearly deflated, yet on the outside it shows a bright, happy pattern with little cartoons on it. This could reflect the fact that when Cammy began to get bulimic tendencies her mental state was deteriorating, however she still put up a brave façade and insisted to her family that she was fine, and everything was ok. However, the meaning may not be that symbolic and it may have purely been incorporated as it is an object which holds significant memory of this period of time.