I want to explore “girlhood” which is the period when a person is a girl, and not yet a woman, or the state of being a girl. In this I want to delve into what I consider the parts of growing up as a girl (both as child and a teenager), shared experiences, the coming of age memories/moments, friendships, and the societal ideas of femininity. This matters to me because I grew up in a house with 3 brothers so I only had my mother to identify with in my development. Despite my love for dolls and stereotypical ‘feminine’ toys growing up, I would instead find myself playing with cars and sports (stereotypically masculine) with my younger brothers as I spent a lot of my childhood looking after them while my parents worked. To express this project I have thought about many different ways of capturing it: still life close ups made in the studio of personal items or items I link femininity to (childhood teddys, personal cards/notes, beauty products, etc.), and portraits based around friendship (groups of girls hanging out together, helping each other etc) and femininity/growing up (close ups of facial features, hair, wrinkles, etc). These photos will be a mix of documentary and tableaux which I will put in a photobook. I want some images to be very simplistic and structured (close ups), and some to be chaotic and busy (portraits), this is because I want to display the messy way that we grow up (and signifying the ups and down in life). Additionally, I want to try and keep my images faceless (apart from the close ups of faces) so that its not too personal that any girl can identify/relate with the photos.

For my personal study, I want to explore nostalgia and girlhood, focusing on mine and my sisters childhood memories and the bond we have.

This idea is significant to me because there is a real sense of nostalgia when looking back on the past. The majority of my childhood was spent outside, spending time at the sandunes, woods, St. Ounes beach. and football pitches. We both used to surf together and paly football so, I will plan to take photos surrounding these topics.

To start off my project, I will look back at old images from my childhood, which will help me in the process of taking my new images. This also links to the theme of nostalgia as I will be looking back on and reliving my childhood memories. Once I have looked back at the archived images, I plan to go back to all the places that have a significant meaning to my childhood such as various beaches, the woods, football pitches and the sand dunes. I will carry out a photoshoot at each location which, I will use to document my childhood and the theme of sisterhood.

I want to present my present my project as a photobook as my project is more on the documentary side of photography. By presenting my work as a photobook, it will enable me to tell a story as I will be able to experiment with the layout and put the images in a specific order, creating juxtapositions.

I am going to aim of my project to include a range abstract, landscape and portrait images. Most of my images will be taken outside at various different locations as it is where me and my sister made most of our childhood memories. When carrying out my photoshoots I will consider the composition, framing and lighting to create a strong set of images.

I an going to interpret the theme of nostalgia by looking back on my childhood. I may also explore the idea of breaking down the stereotypical activities girls and boys do when they’re young, looking at the work of Barbra Kruger who edits images displaying short impactful sentences over images. As I start to take my images, I will start to develop on my idea. I have looked at artists such as Justine Kurland, Julia Margaret Cameron, Van Has De Meer and Barbara Kruger for inspiration. I will shoot my sister in each of the significant locations and may take some landscape images and images of the objects in the places I visit. Most of my images will be staged as well as taking some candid images.

To edit my images, I will be using Lightroom Classic as well as experimenting with photoshop if I need to further enhance my images.

As well as nostalgia, I also want my project to link back to the theme of femininity and girlhood. I will be using Justine Kurland’s project ‘girl picture’ as inspiration for my project as well as Julia Margret Cameron. These two artists had a strong influence on the art of photography, exploring the theme of girlhood throughout their work.

Statement

For my personal study, I would like to explore the theme of nostalgia in relation to my father and his connection to the ocean. Having grown up an avid swimmer, competing for England’s youth team and working full time as a beach lifeguard on the southeast coast. My father moved to jersey in 1996 taking up surfing and further developing his love for the ocean. This subject is important to me as it takes up a large part of my childhood incorporating a sense of nostalgia through the connection me and my father developed through surfing. I am planning to source images from a series of old photobooks produced throughout my fathers lifetime along with newer images that I will produce with the aid of JEP photographer Dave Ferguson. The archive images will act as a base on which I can expand and compare to present day images presenting his past and current connection to the ocean. I wish to present my study in the form of a photobook as I believe it is a more clean and professional approach, as well as offering a tangible experience for viewers. I intend to begin my study documenting the past life of my father through archival images. I wish to photograph my father in a series of locations that hold significance for our family and reminisce my childhood. My father is going to be the focal point of the majority of my photographs along with the incorporation of objects that symbolize my father’s relationship with the sea, such as his surfboard, wetsuit, or any personal items that hold sentimental value and tell his story. The majority of my images will be conducted in an external environment. Allowing me to take advantage of natural lighting conditions to enhance the mood and atmosphere of my photographs, as well as experimenting with different framing techniques, natural elements like rocks, waves, or foliage can be used to frame my father within the composition, creating a sense of depth and context. I have chosen to take both a documentary and tableaux approach with my images, archive images will be included as a documentary style approach and the majority of newer images produced will be staged. Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom will be used to enhance my images along with InDesign to develop the layout of my images, I am going to take a minimalistic approach with my layout, as I believe it creates a crisp and clean look.

For my project, I would like to explore my family, specifically my grandparents. My grandma sadly passed away on the 29th of August 1992, which left my grandad a widower and my mum without a mother at just 16 years old. Despite never meeting her, it has always felt as through something is missing from my mum’s side of the family. Her loss has been a very significant event in both of their lives, and I would want to create my project about. This project will explore life when my grandmother was alive, compared to how it is now, over 30 years later.  

My grandad, Zbigniew, was born in Bierna, Poland on the 9th of September, 1948. My grandma was born on the 31st of January, 1949. They got married on the 31st of August in 1974 and they had my mum, Małgorzata, on the 28th of March 1976. My grandma sadly passed away on the 29th of August 1992.

 This project will help me understand how my family dealt with my grandma’s death and the impact it had on me, although indirect. I remember many moments during my childhood when my mum spoke about my grandma with tears in her eyes, and I hope to further learn truly how much her death affected her life. I want my project to be meaningful, and although I am basing it on quite a commonly used topic, I wish it will be original and unique, with features that make it very specific to my family. 

I will begin my project by thinking about what I want to ask my mum and grandad and then filming an interview with each of them, hoping to find out more about their experience and feelings, especially my grandad’s. I will make sure to ask questions that can result in quotes that I can include my photobook as well as other aspects that can make it more personal. I will also look at different archives, helping me think of ideas for the photoshoots. I will also want to recreate some archival photos, to make my photobook richer in content. Moreover, I think it would be interesting to add a form of physical manipulation to some photos, for example sewing, adding embroidery in my grandma’s favourite colour. Furthermore, I would want to present my study in the form of a photobook, since I believe this will be the most effective method to showcase my work. Moreover, I want to keep the vintage feel of the archives, and I think a photobook would achieve this the best.

I will begin my study when my grandad comes over from Poland for the Christmas holidays, and since he will stay for 3 weeks it will give me enough time to collect the content I need. I wish I could go over to Poland as I could also include my grandad’s environment in my work, however I can always use some pictures I took during my summer task for this. I will take pictures both inside and outside and I want the pictures to be a mix of observational and staged. 

For me, nostalgia is the feeling of longing, and it perfectly describes what my mum and grandad feel when thinking on their life with my grandmother. I want to portray nostalgia in my work by showing old and new photographs that present life with and without my grandmother.  

Mood board

This is a mood board of somethings that made up my childhood. Looking back onto them, they bring me a sense of nostalgia in a positive way as it connects me to memories that I had forgotten about over time.

about

The term nostalgia is one that derives from the Greek words nostos (return) and algos (pain). The literal meaning of nostalgia, then, is the suffering evoked by the desire to return to one’s place of origin. However, feeling nostalgic doesn’t always have to be a negative thing, in fact, feeling nostalgic can be viewed as a positive experience since you could be reminded of a happy memory or situation.

mind map