Nostalgia is the sentimental feeling for a previous time or place with typically positive connotations. The feeling is often used to help remind us of who we used to be and reflect on how we change and grow as people. The term was coined by a 17th century medical student as a way of describing the anxieties portrayed by Swiss mercenaries fighting away from home. Nostalgia is sometimes associated with melancholy – a feeling of deep sadness or gloom with no obvious cause – due to the sorrow links with past or unhappy memories. Phrases such as “the good old days” or “golden years” are often used to describe nostalgia.
TRIGGERS
Movies: certain movies or even film eras can trigger nostalgia as that could be what they grew up watching and what influenced them the most. Certain movies could have also shaped how they perceived the world as they grew up or what kind of lifestyle they wanted to live.
Music: listening to old music that they enjoyed, or was just played, can bring back memories or experiences from that time, whether it was certain songs their mother used to sing to them or the song they used to play with their friends.
Environments: natural based elements such as weather, temperature or even specific places can produce nostalgia, causing the homesick feeling for experiences of nature, species, and past environments.
The exhibition “Playtime” by Will Lakeman beautifully displays the theme of nostalgia as Lakeman explores his sentimental memories of the old Fort Regent using artificial intelligence. Will takes advantage of exploring all of the sense by using things such as soundscapes and smells to trap the viewer into reminiscing on old and sometimes forgotten memories – whether they were also from Fort Regent or not – which was heavily influenced by Wills Synaesthesia. Not only does this show off the latest technology but how it is already pushing the boundaries both academically and creatively.
AI is used in “Playtime” as a way to explore Wills often broken or incorrect memories, artificial intelligence was manipulated to piece together and merge how he remembered the old Fort Regent looking and not how it did look in reality. I think this is a very clever and unique approach to take, each image produce would be completely different from the last while still holding that sentimental and nostalgic touch. Another reason why I enjoy this concept so much is that AI can also produce very dream-like images, which is where Lakeman got most of his inspiration and memories from, that are just not quite right or even possible.
I really like that I can understand what Fort Regent looked like in the 70s-90s as I only remember what remains now while it still allowed the older generation to explore their memories again. The bright colours and unusual patterns show off hoe Will remembers the Fort looking, its a mixture of the unreliable dreams and the over enhanced perception of a child.
“I’m really excited for people to see this show, which I now realise I’ve been trying to make for most of my adult life. I have a really intense interest in a specific era of Fort Regent’s history – the funfair and swimming pool – but I have hardly any photos of myself there. I had to try and recreate my memories, and the more I tried the stranger the results became. The show involves photographs, reconstructions made with Artificial Intelligence, a soundscape, found objects and even some smells. Although it’s rooted in “the Fort” I tried to capture something universal in the experience of being a child, beyond excited to go to the leisure centre. I hope it says something to everybody. “
To help us understand the processes behind AI art and how we can use it for this unit, we went down to Will Lakeman’s AI art exhibition at ArtHouse Jersey (Capital House). Lakeman described his intense obsession for Fort Regent in its prime – from when he was a child – and the profound impact that it’s had on him; his goal being to recreate the way he saw the Fort through his memory, stating, “I have tried to picture things not as they were, but in the strange ways they appear in dreams and hallucinations.”
Lakeman had various messages hung in different areas on the wall describing his fascination with Fort Regent in large detail, which described his own memories and his experience with autism, that also gave brief descriptions about each section of the exhibit. I chose to scan through them to gain some extra context to the pieces, but I mainly wanted to interpret his work in my own way, as Fort Regent also played a small part in my own childhood, although not as big a part as he claims it did in his youth.
A collection of pieces were displayed in a dark room in the corner of the exhibition with backlighting behind each image to bring out the vibrancy and details. I found this section to be very dreamlike and it almost took me into a trance-like state and I was engrossed in these works. They all felt quite familiar to me, like distant memories or deja vu. There were around 10 small photographs in this area that were all completely unique in composition, colour palette, and tone.
There were a few signs from the different attractions that Fort Regent had during this time period, which I assume are copies that were touched up and reprinted for this exhibition. The characters and styles these posters are presented in invoked a sense of nostalgia from my childhood, from hotel pools on holidays and tourist attraction advertisements I’ve seen around. It wasn’t as strong an attachment as I felt with some other pieces that were in this exhibition, but nonetheless I still found myself associating with it.
Along a large section of the walls in the exhibition were these pieces varying in sizes of different parts of the fort, such as the old pool, the indoor balcony on the upper levels and what is now (and maybe still was) the play zone for young children. I felt a strong connection with the play zone image in particular, as it was somewhere I spent a lot of my early years playing at, despite how distant and vague these memories now are. I understand the reasoning for Will Lakeman’s use of saturated colour palettes with AI to recreate these scenes because that’s how the world seems when you’re a child; a huge, colourful place to explore and learn about where everything is unique and new to you.
There were a few more pieces displayed with backlighting in one of the final sections of the exhibition, mostly featuring pools and gorgeous blue colour palettes. The image displayed on the left reminds me of the swimming pool at Les Ormes, the place where I first learned to swim when I was around 5 years old, another place on the island that brings back a lot of memories that I probably glamourise myself. The central piece I didn’t really feel too much association with, but like with a lot of the works in this exhibition, I oddly felt like I recognised this fabricated scene, despite the fact that it was loosely based on a real place, I find it interesting considering it’s somewhere that hasn’t been around since long before I was even born. The image on the right is somewhat similar, although I feel more like I’ve visited this place in a dream or somewhere vaguely similar in person, the only thing I can think of that slightly resembles this being the wave pool at Aquasplash.
Lakeman’s exhibit definitely plays on the concept of liminal spaces, which is something I’ve covered before, but I’ve not had as extreme an association with images surrounding the topic I’ve looked at before this. This exhibit has brought about the eerie, but nostalgic feeling of these empty places that should be full of people, but with somewhere that I genuinely feel I’ve visited before. This exhibition presents one of the most relatable experiences I’ve had looking at artwork so far, and I think AI is a perfect tool for creating art about things that are so hard to describe and put onto a canvas.
“Playtime” is an art/photography project created by Will Lakeman and there is currently an exhibition displaying his work being held in the Capital House. It features several photos of AI altered images of Fort Regent from times ranging from the 70s to the late 90s, when it was a main tourist attraction, the main theme for the project is “Nostalgia” as the photos are from Will Lakeman’s perspective and depict the fort in the way he remembers it.
The photos themselves feature the swimming pool, the outside playground, the funfair, the arcade and more. The photos being Lakeman’s own interpretation of how he remembers the fort makes them appear distorted and mysterious, they look like the things you would see in a dream.
Will Lakeman:
Will Lakeman is a photographer and writer who was born in Jersey. He spent a lot of his childhood around the fort with his brother and experienced what it had to offer during it’s prime when it was a main tourist attraction. He has a condition called Synesthesia, which is when you can essentially see sounds, shapes and music etc. as colors. This made lots of his memories of the fort slightly different from other people’s. He wanted to start his “Playtime” project to revisit his memories of the fort to show us how he remembered it. And also to memorialize his brother, who died in 2007 from a heroin overdose.
The Exhibition:
The exhibition had all kinds of items. It had an old sign of the fort’s mascot, a large collection of his photos that were made for the project, an old arcade machine, a dark room with more photos being lit up to show themself and an old lifeguard seat from the pool. Lakeman also made sure to have the smell of the pool in the building to make the experience better.
“I am interested a lot about nostalgia, when people talk about what life was, they are not talking about reality but what their memory is.”
“I am interested in making those images, but I also understand that it is not reality and that you cannot go back there. I try to make them spooky, very colourful and weird, because even in a nice dream, there’s always something that happens that is a little bit weird. I wanted to try and capture that in an image, to make people remember and think about their own dreams.”
My Thoughts:
I thought the exhibition was pretty good as a whole. I found the images very interesting along with the items too. I think it’s interesting also to learn and understand what the fort used to be and feel like before I was born. I think it’s cool that he has used an AI to produce these images, It’s as if the AI also knows what a dream would look like especially of a topic that existed far before itself has, AI is only very new so as time goes on and it improves who knows what else people can use it to do, both intriguing and scary.
Nostalgia is when you get a feeling of sentimental longing for the past, typically associated with a place, smell or sound. It reminds you of the good times you had and brings back old memories, feelings and connections you may of made with something or someone, in your childhood. The word nostalgia comes from the formation of the Greek compound consisting of νόστος (nóstos), meaning “homecoming” and a Homeric word, and ἄλγος (álgos), meaning “sorrow”. In the 17th century, the word was coined by the by the Swiss physician Johannes Hofer to display the symptoms of anxieties shown by Swiss mercenaries.
An example where many people feel nostalgic is when they are looking back on old photos, it can help individuals visualise their memories and look back on the ‘good ol’ days’. People also feel nostalgic listening to music, possibly on a plane going back home. Songs will link back to certain events that have happened in peoples lives and bring back the memories and feelings they felt.
The word “Nostalgia” comes from the Greek terms, nostos (return) and algos (pain).
Nostalgia is a word that is used to describe and encapsulate the sentimentality of the past, whether that be for a certain event or era or even a thing that played a big part in your life. It is a word that is associated with looking back at the past and remembering how things used to be. Some examples would be remembering a toy from your childhood that you made a lot of memories with, or an old tv show you used to watch when you were younger. It is a feeling that makes you cherish old times and it can make you want to return to them but you can never, hence the Greek words, nostos (return) and algos (pain).
Nostalgia is something that is both cosy and comforting but also deceptive and an illusion – explain how? Think about your own childhood memories of growing up in Jersey (or elsewhere). Are there specific moments that you treasure, or rather not want to remember? Think about what triggers the feeling of nostalgia, for example music, movies, places, or people. See below for more definition and ideas around theme of nostalgia.
Nostalgia in photography
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, nostalgia evokes “a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for a return to or of some past period.” In photography, we can use nostalgia or the effect of nostalgia as a powerful tool to add emotional impact.
The four components involved in nostalgia are self-reflection, autobiographical memory, emotion regulation, and reward. The brain systems associated with these components work together to produce our subjective experience of nostalgia.
Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past and is usually triggered by something reminding an individual of an experience from the past. It is often characterized as a longing or desire to return to a former time or place.
Nostalgia can also be thought of as “the memory of happiness,” as it is often associated with happy memories from the past. It can be a source of comfort in times of sadness or distress. However, nostalgia is not just about happy memories; it can also be about longing for a time when things were simpler, or for a time when we felt more connected to others.
The mood board below is of actual images that someone has taken which reminds them about nostalgia.
Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer who is considered to be one of the fathers of photojournalism and masters of candid photography. He sought to capture the ‘everyday’ in his photographs and took great interest in recording human activity. He pioneered the genre of street photography, and viewed photography as capturing a decisive moment, which he later wrote a book about. He was influenced by Surrealism and began his career in film working with renowned French director, Jean Renoir as second assistant director. He was born on the 22nd of August, 1908 In Chanteloup-en-Brie, France and passed away on the 3rd of August, 2004 in Céreste, France.
He came from quite a wealthy family and since his parents were providing financial support, Henri pursued photography quite freely. His father assumed that his son would take up the family business, but Henri was strong-willed and also feared the idea. In 1929, Cartier-Bresson’s air squadron commandant placed him under house arrest for hunting without a licence. Cartier-Bresson met American expatriate Harry Crosby, who persuaded the commandant to release Cartier-Bresson into his custody for a few days. The two men both had an interest in photography, and Crosby presented him with his first camera.
Cartier-Bresson ended up falling into an intense sexual relationship with Caresse Crosby (Harry Crosby’s wife) however, two years after Harry Crosby died by suicide, Cartier-Bresson’s affair with Caresse Crosby ended in 1931. After reading the book, Heart of Darkness, which gave him the idea to try and find adventure in Côte d’Ivoire, Africa. He survived by shooting game and selling it to local villagers. From hunting, he learned methods which he later used in photography.
He acquired the Leica camera with a 50 mm lens in Marseilles that would accompany him for many years. The anonymity that the small camera gave him in a crowd or during an intimate moment was essential in overcoming the formal and unnatural behaviour of those who were aware of being photographed. He enhanced his anonymity by painting all shiny parts of the Leica with black paint. In the beginning, he did not photograph much in his native France. It would be years before he photographed there extensively. Cartier-Bresson’s first photojournalist photos to be published came in 1937 when he covered the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
“In photography , the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little, human detail can become a Leitmotiv”
– Henri Cartier-Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson
His Work
Camondo Steps, Galata, Istanbul, Turkey, 1964Prostitute, Mexico City Brothel, 1934Calle Cuauhtemoctzin, Mexico City, Mexico, 1934Picnic on the Banks of the Marne, 1938Three Juveniles, Montreal, Canada, 1964Madrid, 1933Siesta, Mexican women rest at their newstand, 1964
The ‘Decisive Moment’
‘Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera‘
– Henri Cartier-Bresson
In 1952, Cartier-Bresson published his book Images à la sauvette, whose English-language edition was titled The Decisive Moment, although the French language title actually translates as ‘images on the sly‘ or ‘hastily taken images’. His book The Decisive Moment, unintentionally imposed the motto which would define Cartier-Bresson’s work. The decisive moment refers to capturing an event that is ephemeral and spontaneous, where the image represents the essence of the event itself.
It is widely considered to be one of the most important photobooks of the twentieth century. The Decisive Moment was described by Robert Capa as ‘a Bible for photographers’. The exhibition details how the decisions made by the collaborators in this major project—including Cartier-Bresson, French art publisher Tériade, American publisher Simon & Schuster, and Henri Matisse, who designed the book’s cover—have shaped our understanding of Cartier-Bresson’s photographs.
With it he described the exact instance when a unique event is captured by the photographer – when something that may never happen again is frozen in the frame.
‘To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organization of forms which give that event its proper expression’
