The theme for the personal study is ‘Nostalgia’. Nostalgia is about a sentimentality for the past. It’s a sentimental yearning for return to a past period. The feeling of nostalgia is often triggered by a familiar smell, sound, or keepsake. So, I want to centre my focus around my childhood and upbringing, while also acknowledging my heritage. I want to do this as I believe this will communicate a sense of self and allow me to explore and piece together aspects of my ancestry unfamiliar to me.

By taking inspiration from previous projects (home, identity, etc) I will be taking portraits of family and photographs of significant objects, as well as occasional landscapes. These will be accompanied by some images from my family archives, to show my early childhood as well as my heritage which are relevant. I’ll include photographs of my family and pictures of me in Madeira when I was little. My personal study will explore my dual nationality, portraying both my English and Madeiran heritage from each of my parents. I want to gather a collection of meaningful photographs while in Madeira over the Christmas holidays, capturing familiar landscapes from trips when I was younger, like family homes for example. I’ll also capture pictures of family, street photography, environmental portraits, etc in a documentary-type style.

I will be presenting my project in the form of a photobook. This allows me to establish a storyline throughout the series of images, and show the progression of my life. This will create the story of my identity, showing both sides of my family, to capture the essence of having my dual heritage. While leaning into my dad’s side of the family, to explore and attempt to portray what Madeiran identity/culture looks and feels like. This is important to me as, living in Jersey, I am far away from my family and do not visit them often.