Rita Puig Serra Da Costa – Where Mimosa Bloom

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Dealing with the grief that the photographer suffered following the death of her mother, Where Mimosa Bloom by Rita Puig Serra Costatakes the form of an extended farewell letter; with photography skillfully used to present a visual eulogy or panegyric. This grief memory about the loss of her mother is part meditative photo essay, part family biography and part personal message to her mother. These elements combine to form a fascinating and intriguing  discourse on love, loss and sorrow.

“Where Mimosa Bloom” is the result of over two years work spent collecting and curating materials and taking photographs of places, objects and people that played a significant role in her relationship to her mother. Rita Puig Serra Costa skilfully avoids the dangerous lure of grief’s self-pity, isolationism, world-scorn and vanity. The resonance of “Where Mimosa Bloom” comes from all it doesn’t say, as well as all that it does; from the depth of love we infer from the desert of grief.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Final image

• 

• 

Rita Puig Serra suffered from a death of a loved one, relating to her grief, I was inspired by her work and creativity that goes into her photographs. Serra used the form of an extended farewell letter; with photography skilfully used to present a visual eulogy. My take on her photo included a set up of a book with blank pages and objects that related to someone I had lost; glasses and jewellery. I then got a photograph of the loved one and placed it on the page opposite the memorable objects. I used artificial lighting and made my final touches on photoshop by making my image black and white and upping the brightness and contrast.

Serra’s idea is a creative, moving and heart-warming way of remembering someone in your family that has passed, a way to remember through objects, persons, and moments, which take us directly to that loved person.

I chose to have some of my final images in black and white to express how colour can effect the atmosphere in a negative way. I used greyscale to portray the meaning of my photos. The black and white shades emphasise the dark shadows and contrast of each object places on the blank pages. My final image is balanced between light and dark shadows and highlights.

Rita Puig Serra Da Costa & Carolle Benitah

This edit is a mix between two artists I was inspired by “I Will Never Forget You” and “Where Mimosa Bloom”. The image on the page on the right is inspired by Benitah on top of an image I took inspired by Serra, overlapped on photoshop. The identity of the man in the photo is covered and unknown, however his identity and personality is portrayed through memorable objects that belonged him. Instead of his face and body portraying his identity, his personal objects do. However, they don’t show his identity as well as his face would, creating a sense of mystery for they viewer and forcing then to paint a face in their own mind.