Blurb Link

Here is a link to my photobook Upływ Czasu

Photobook Gallery

https://www.artsteps.com/view/65c347f12b0baee5b1c84bba

Archive Gallery

New Photograph Gallery

Final Evaluation

Overall, I think this was a very successful project, with the final photobook creating a strong narrative for the viewer to go through. I showed development and experimentation, doing multiple photoshoots and using a variety of archives. I think the interview and the physical manipulation of the archives was a good touch, since it caused the final outcome to be much more personal. I think I told the story of my grandparents and the effect of my grandma’s past well. I think my project could’ve been improved if I took more photographs, giving me a wider selection to choose from and therefore, giving me the opportunity to use the best of the best pictures. I think it would’ve been even better to include physical manipulation on my images, not just the archives, to tie my work in further with my main inspiration, Carolle Bénitah.

However, the thread arrangements I did on the archives were very successful, and despite being simple (especially when compared to Carolle Bénitah’s work) they added a lot to the pictures and portrayed the metaphors (love and pain) I wanted to show through my work successfully. This is another way I linked my work with Bénitah’s; I included a lot of indirect indications of the story I wanted to tell through my work, as she also used the colour red to show emotion in her work. Moreover, the quotes I included in my photobook (taken from the interview) added a variety in mediums to my photobook, as well as further promoting the narrative. However, I believe I should’ve attempted more complex embroidery, to relate more to Bénitah’s work. The cover was another feature that I think is very successful, the title and picture heavily relating to the photobook, without being a cliché. Using polish for my title and quotes was another factor that made the project more personal. Not only did this project have a good outcome, it helped me connect with my family more.

Narrative: What is your story?
Describe in:

• 3 words: my grandparents relationship
• A sentence: an exploration of how my grandma’s passing effected my grandad’s life
• A paragraph: I want to explore my grandad’s life after my grandma died, capturing pictures of him that show a clear lack of her. I want to show a then and now comparison of the two time periods. I want to show it as a story with flashbacks, interchanging with archives and new pictures.

Designing Photobook in Lightroom Classic

• How you want your book to look– I want it to tell the story of my grandparents life together, contrasting with how my grandad’s life is now.

• Paper and ink– Premium lustre paper- it is semi glossy and photos will look good.
• Format, size and orientation– Standard landscape format (10 x 8 inches)
• Binding and cover– Hard cover image wrap
• Title– Upływ Czasu (The Passing of Time)- links in with the concept of the book and how time alters memories and life. Upływ can also mean flow- relating to the pattern of ocean/ water within the photobook.
• Images and text– I will be using a mix of new images and archives, as well as text in the form of quotes within the book.

Image Layout

First thing I decided was that I want my layout to be standard landscape and first page to begin with an archive. I also have decided to add border around each archive- making the colour a light beige and having a width of 12pt.

This is the layout I decided on for my first pages, they cover a mix of my first photoshoot and archives. I want to cause the book to appear as though it has three chapters, each chapter showcasing my 3 photoshoots mixed with archives.

I put these two photos next to each other since the new image is a re-enactment of the old one. I will do this multiple times throughout the photobook.

I paired this image with an archives since the new photo causes my grandad to look as though he is staring at the other photo, creating the sense of longing to be present between the pages.

This is my final layout of the pictures in the photobook.

Essay Layout

I included my essay at the end of my photobook, using size 15 font for my title, size 11 for my main quotes and size 10 for the main bodies of writing. I used the Courier New font as I think it is very clear and easy to read.

I made the quote slightly lighter, to have contrast between my writing and another person’s views.

Final essay layout.

Text Layout

I firstly added writing on the first page- my name in the top right corner and the title of my photobook in the bottom left corner. I called my book Upływ Czasu, which in Polish means The Passing of Time. I put both the title and it’s English translation- the translation in a slightly smaller font and in a lighter colour.

I also added text (key quotes) from the interview I did with my grandad. I think it is effective since it acts as a more direct indication of the story. I decided to add the quotes in polish, making the photobook more personal.

I decided to not make the text too large, making it a size 15. I again went with the ‘courier new’ font, as I did for my essay.

Final layout of the text.

Cover layout

For this cover, I used an archive that I photographed with a thread arranged on it. I made it a two page spread so that it would be wrapped round the front and back cover. The title is in the top right corner.

For this cover, I used the same archive but only put in on the front cover and the spine. I added another image for the back cover, which gives the effect of the back of the picture. I placed the writing in the top right, a thread running between the two words.

For my title, I made a 55 sized font (courier std) and made it red, matching the deep red thread used on the cover and throughout the photobook.

I kept the spine simple, adding my name and the title of the book, making it size 16 and the same shade of red as the title.

Final photobook cover.

To what extent are photographs an accurate portrayal of memories and the past?

“These photographs taken forty years ago and which I do not remember the time of the shooting…awakened in me a fear of something familiar and totally unknown…”

-C. Benitah- Photos Souvenirs (2017)

Since being invented in the mid-19th century, photography has served the world as the main way of collecting visual memories. Whether to capture personal or worldwide events, its development has been an important process for everyone. In this essay, I would like to explore how much accuracy photographs hold, when compared to the past. The quote above, taken from Carolle Bénitah’s project Photos Souvenirs, is a perfect portrayal of how photos act as memories. The contrast between the two phrases ‘something familiar and totally unknown‘, shows how Bénitah felt a sense of nostalgia when looking at the archives, however the feeling was mixed with something else entirely: a feeling of foreignness. Bénitah had a difficult childhood: growing up in a traditional, Moroccan household caused there to be a strict expectation of her: to grow up and become a traditionally flawless woman. I believe this quote perfectly summarises Bénitah’s project, since she manipulates these seemingly precise family snapshots to truly match the reality of her harsh past. The utilisation of multi- media methods (specifically embroidery using a red thread as seen in Photos Souvenirs) allowed Bénitah to present her actual memories in the staged photographs of her childhood over 40 years later, altering the innocent look that the snapshots have. Her work links in well with the question I want to investigate, since it is made up of her looking at these supposedly familiar pictures and then later correcting the mistakes by hand.

As most photographers know, photography is not a neutral observer but a reflection of the photographer’s perspective, suggesting photographs aren’t the past but perhaps more accurately a past, or how one person perceived the moment. The amateur visual of Bénitah’s family archives suggest the photographs were simply taken with the intention of creating a memory, perhaps captured by a parent or other close family member. This implies that the photographs are from the point of view from a single individual, reflecting their emotions in that moment and not of the people in the image. Carolle Bénitah is my chosen artist since she summarises the experience of looking at archives perfectly through her work. I believe that every individual has this experience when viewing archives from their own life, the feeling of familiarity being just as present as the feeling of strangeness.

In this photograph, Bénitah is about six years old and holding hands with her smiling brother, but an army of cockroaches surrounds the children, and their hands are bound together in a ball of red wool. Bénitah doesn’t express her true thoughts that went behind the manipulation of each photograph, leaving a lot of them up to the interpretation of the viewer. However, it is clear that Bénitah embroidered the images to show the truth behind them, indicating how their smiles were simply a pose for the picture. The red wool could be a representation of love, the love she had for her brother which is what made them so close. Or it could be a portrayal of violence or even blood, perhaps suggesting that they were simply close due to being family (the idea of being connected by blood) or even perhaps to support each other during hard times. Moreover, a line in The Photography Reader states “meanings and memories may change with time” (Kuhn 2003:397), which creates the idea that time is a significant factor when considering my question: perhaps the photograph was an accurate portrayal of a memory at some point in time, however time changed it in a manner that causes it to now appear untruthful. Sometimes, a child’s happy memory can be completely altered as the child grows up and matures, the person realising that the situation wasn’t as positive as their young- self thought. Returning to Bénitah’s piece, however, I believe she is trying to show her anger at the lies told by the seemingly innocent, happy photograph- suggesting that in reality her childhood can’t be truthfully shown through these family snapshots. It is very interesting how Bénitah softens these harsh emotions by creating beautiful embroidery with her needle, the thread changing their meaning entirely.

My grandparents were a happy couple, the archives I discovered show this truthfully. In my work, I used the thread to act as a foreshadowing of the pain caused by my grandmother’s death. Perhaps these photographs are an accurate portrayal of my grandparent’s past. However, I think it is important to consider how nowadays these photos cause sadness, justifying the idea of how memories can change with time, possibly making them seem untruthful. Like I mentioned in my introduction, photographs sometimes show a past, not specifically the past. The photographs above capture a past, before time moved on and my grandmother passed, now holding an entirely different meaning.

The daguerreotype was created by Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (1787-1851), and was the first process that enabled family snapshots to be taken. The daguerreotype is a direct-positive process, creating a highly detailed image on a sheet of copper plated with a thin coat of silver without the use of a negative. This very specific process caused it to be expensive business, meaning that only the upper class had their images taken. The photographs were posed and it took several minutes to capture one. Returning to my question, this shows how even the very first photographs aren’t an accurate representation of the past. Nowadays, editing is the main thing that people believe effects the credibility of a photograph, but even such early developments of the camera, before the manipulation of images was even thought of, prove to not be reality. Not only was a photograph such as the daguerreotype staged, capturing a person in a very unnatural position, with exquisite clothes and powder covering every imperfection, showing absolutely no indication of the individual’s character; they were also something that was only available for the rich. This once again promotes the idea of a past vs. the past, since the lower class weren’t photographed in the slightest until much later. Such photographs merely provided evidence for the existence of a person, without providing a recording of a memory. Susan Sontag writes in ‘On Photography‘: “to collect photographs is to collect the world” (Sontag 1977:3), each photograph you view contributes to your mental image of our world and its history, but even if we viewed every picture ever taken, we wouldn’t have an accurate view of the world, due to many different factors.

Among the colourful characters immortalized in the colourless daguerreotype medium are (clockwise from upper left): writer Henry Thoreau, Seneca leader Blacksnake, Navy Commodore Matthew Perry, mental health crusader Dorothea Dix, showmen P.T. Barnum and Tom Thumb, and actress Charlotte Cushman. 

Next came the ‘box brownie’, George Eastman’s revolutionary handheld invention. He claimed any one could afford it and simple to use, to the point were even children could master it. Sure enough, this development marked the start of amateur photography, an era where home portraits captured everyday family life. This added a sense of authenticity to the photographs and caused them to be a much more accurate portrayal of memories. I believe this was a time when photographs were most realistic, as not much thought went into the photographs, causing them to be natural and not staged.

“To photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed”

– S. Sontag- On Photography: In Plato’s Cave (1977)

This is a key quote from Sontag’s book since it puts into perspective the way taking a photograph works. Without realising, every person ever to take a photo captured it in a way they see it, perhaps not showing it how it truly appears in reality. People have the habit of beautifying anything they capture with a lens, as society looks only for the beauty in the world. This quote highlights the idea that when taking a photograph, the person holding the camera takes the thing for themselves, arranging it to their liking. When considering this in relation to the question, it is important to note that a photograph is simply an interpretation of the world, and therefore it can’t be a completely accurate portrayal of the world in the past. “The photograph is a prop… it sets the scene for recollection” (Kuhn 2003:397) suggests photographs are a re-enactment of a time in history, and therefore have been altered in many ways. Once again considering Bénitah’s quote “These photographs taken forty years ago and which I do not remember the time of the shooting…awakened in me a fear of something familiar and totally unknown…”, we can see how the photographs have become old- fashioned and therefore not accurate when setting the scene, just as a prop might no longer be useful in a remade film. With time, photographs become more and more useful for some and less and less useful for others, which makes me truly contemplate just how accurate of a portrayal they are.

“Just like memories, photographs are created with intent“

-J. Colberg- Photography and Memory (May 28, 2012)

Another quote that gives us insight on the matter is one by Colberg. In his essay he examines the relationship between memories and photographs. It has already been justified why photographs aren’t a completely accurate portrayal of memories. However, this quote makes you consider the idea that the memories themselves are an interpretation of reality. After all, it is common for people to remember events different, for some to view them as positive and others as negative. So perhaps, photographs are a correct portrayal of memories, when considering that the memory for the photographer links up with the image.

In conclusion, a photograph can’t be used as an accurate portrayal of the reality of the past. However, perhaps even our own memories aren’t an accurate representation of the past, since both are created with some sort of intent. Photographs are part of a puzzle, and only once each piece is connected will they be an accurate portrayal of memories, which is simply not possible as not every moment from every perspective is photographed. Intent and interpretation cannot be avoided, therefore a true picture of the past cannot be created. Furthermore, the meanings behind photographs alter with time, the seemingly timeless moment captured continuing to change. Nowadays, there are even more ways of manipulating photos, and I don’t believe we will ever know how to identify a truthful image. Bénitah’s project is a way of her correcting her past, and making the archives show how she truly felt. She claims the family snapshots to be lies that avoided showing the reality of her childhood. She shows us how the individual behind the lens is the one in charge of the outcome, of how the given moment will be viewed in the years after. Photographs are absolutely a portrayal of the past, but they are only an accurate portrayal of a past, of a memory, of a moment from one person’s point of view. Photography is the most accurate way of recording history, but it can’t be assumed to be completely truthful.

Bibliography:

Benitah. C (2016), Photos Souvenirs. Bonn: Kehrer Heidelberg Berlin

Benitah. C (2017), Photos Souvenirs. Carolle Benitah: URL:https://www.carolle-benitah.com/copie-de-07-installations-photo-sou (accessed on Jan 11, 2024)

Bull. S (2009), ‘Phototherapy: The Family Album and Beyond’ in Photography. Oxfordshire: Routledge

Colberg. J (May 28, 2012), Photography and Memory. Conscientious: URL:http://jmcolberg.com/weblog/extended/archives/photography_and_memory/ (accessed on Jan 11, 2024)

Colberg. J (Jun 6, 2012), Photography and Memory (part 2). Conscientious: URL:http://jmcolberg.com/weblog/extended/archives/photography_and_memory_part_2/ (accessed on Jan 12, 2024)

Kuhn. A ‘Remembrance: The Child I Never Was’ in Wells, L. (ed) (2003) The Photography Reader. London: Routledge URL:https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo21al/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2023/02/Stephen-Bull_Phototherapy_family-albums.pdf (accessed on Jan 29, 2024)

Sontag. S (1977) ‘In Plato’s cave’ in On Photography. London: Penguin Books

Essay question: To what extent are photographs an accurate portrayal of memories and the past?

“These photographs taken forty years ago and which I do not remember the time of the shooting…awakened in me a fear of something familiar and totally unknown…”

-Carolle Bénitah from Photos Souvenirs (2017)

Since being invented in the mid-19th century, photography has served the world as the main way of collecting visual memories. Whether to capture personal or worldwide events, its development has been an important process for everyone. In this essay, I would like to explore how much accuracy photographs hold, when compared to the past. The quote above, taken from Carolle Bénitah’s project Photos Souvenirs, is a perfect portrayal of how photos act as memories. The contrast between the two phrases ‘something familiar and totally unknown‘, shows how Bénitah felt a sense of nostalgia when looking at the archives, however the feeling was mixed with something else entirely: a feeling of foreignness. Bénitah had a difficult childhood: growing up in a traditional, Moroccan household caused there to be a strict expectation of her: to grow up and become a traditionally flawless woman. I believe this quote perfectly summarises Bénitah’s project, since she manipulates these seemingly precise family snapshots to truly match the reality of her harsh past. The utilisation of multi- media methods (specifically embroidery using a red thread as seen in Photos Souvenirs) allowed Bénitah to present her actual memories in the staged photographs of her childhood over 40 years later, altering the innocent look that the snapshots have. Her work links in well with the question I want to investigate, since it is made up of her looking at these supposedly familiar pictures and then later correcting the mistakes by hand.

As most photographers know, photography is not a neutral observer but a reflection of the photographer’s perspective, suggesting photographs aren’t the past but perhaps more accurately a past, or how one person perceived the moment. The amateur visual of Bénitah’s family archives suggest the photographs were simply taken with the intention of creating a memory, perhaps captured by a parent or other close family member. This implies that the photographs are from the point of view from a single individual, reflecting their emotions in that moment and not of the people in the image. Carolle Bénitah is my chosen artist since she summarises the experience of looking at archives perfectly through her work. I believe that every individual has this experience when viewing archives from their own life, the feeling of familiarity being just as present as the feeling of strangeness.

In this photograph, Bénitah is about six years old and holding hands with her smiling brother, but an army of cockroaches surrounds the children, and their hands are bound together in a ball of red wool. Bénitah doesn’t express her true thoughts that went behind the manipulation of each photograph, leaving a lot of them up to the interpretation of the viewer. However, it is clear that Bénitah embroidered the images to show the truth behind them, indicating how their smiles were simply a pose for the picture. The red wool could be a representation of love, the love she had for her brother which is what made them so close. Or it could be a portrayal of violence or even blood, perhaps suggesting that they were simply close due to being family (the idea of being connected by blood) or even perhaps to support each other during hard times. Moreover, a line in The Photography Reader states “meanings and memories may change with time” (Kuhn 2003:397), which creates the idea that time is a significant factor when considering my question: perhaps the photograph was an accurate portrayal of a memory at some point in time, however time changed it in a manner that causes it to now appear untruthful. Sometimes, a child’s happy memory can be completely altered as the child grows up and matures, the person realising that the situation wasn’t as positive as their young- self thought. Returning to Bénitah’s piece, however, I believe she is trying to show her anger at the lies told by the seemingly innocent, happy photograph- suggesting that in reality her childhood can’t be truthfully shown through these family snapshots. It is very interesting how Bénitah softens these harsh emotions by creating beautiful embroidery with her needle, the thread changing their meaning entirely.

My grandparents were a happy couple, the archives I discovered show this truthfully. In my work, I used the thread to act as a foreshadowing of the pain caused by my grandmother’s death. Perhaps these photographs are an accurate portrayal of my grandparent’s past. However, I think it is important to consider how nowadays these photos cause sadness, justifying the idea of how memories can change with time, possibly making them seem untruthful. Like I mentioned in my introduction, photographs sometimes show a past, not specifically the past. The photographs above capture a past, before time moved on and my grandmother passed, now holding an entirely different meaning.

The daguerreotype was created by Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (1787-1851), and was the first process that enabled family snapshots to be taken. The daguerreotype is a direct-positive process, creating a highly detailed image on a sheet of copper plated with a thin coat of silver without the use of a negative. This very specific process caused it to be expensive business, meaning that only the upper class had their images taken. The photographs were posed and it took several minutes to capture one. Returning to my question, this shows how even the very first photographs aren’t an accurate representation of the past. Nowadays, editing is the main thing that people believe effects the credibility of a photograph, but even such early developments of the camera, before the manipulation of images was even thought of, prove to not be reality. Not only was a photograph such as the daguerreotype staged, capturing a person in a very unnatural position, with exquisite clothes and powder covering every imperfection, showing absolutely no indication of the individual’s character; they were also something that was only available for the rich. This once again promotes the idea of a past vs. the past, since the lower class weren’t photographed in the slightest until much later. Such photographs merely provided evidence for the existence of a person, without providing a recording of a memory. Susan Sontag writes in ‘On Photography‘: “to collect photographs is to collect the world” (Sontag 1977:3), each photograph you view contributes to your mental image of our world and its history, but even if we viewed every picture ever taken, we wouldn’t have an accurate view of the world, due to many different factors.

Among the colourful characters immortalized in the colourless daguerreotype medium are (clockwise from upper left): writer Henry Thoreau, Seneca leader Blacksnake, Navy Commodore Matthew Perry, mental health crusader Dorothea Dix, showmen P.T. Barnum and Tom Thumb, and actress Charlotte Cushman. 

Next came the ‘box brownie’, George Eastman’s revolutionary handheld invention. He claimed any one could afford it and simple to use, to the point were even children could master it. Sure enough, this development marked the start of amateur photography, an era where home portraits captured everyday family life. This added a sense of authenticity to the photographs and caused them to be a much more accurate portrayal of memories. I believe this was a time when photographs were most realistic, as not much thought went into the photographs, causing them to be natural and not staged.

“To photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed”

– S. Sontag- On Photography: In Plato’s Cave (1977)

This is a key quote from Sontag’s book since it puts into perspective the way taking a photograph works. Without realising, every person ever to take a photo captured it in a way they see it, perhaps not showing it how it truly appears in reality. People have the habit of beautifying anything they capture with a lens, as society looks only for the beauty in the world. This quote highlights the idea that when taking a photograph, the person holding the camera takes the thing for themselves, arranging it to their liking. When considering this in relation to the question, it is important to note that a photograph is simply an interpretation of the world, and therefore it can’t be a completely accurate portrayal of the world in the past. “The photograph is a prop… it sets the scene for recollection” (Kuhn 2003:397) suggests photographs are a re-enactment of a time in history, and therefore have been altered in many ways. Once again considering Bénitah’s quote “These photographs taken forty years ago and which I do not remember the time of the shooting…awakened in me a fear of something familiar and totally unknown…”, we can see how the photographs have become old- fashioned and therefore not accurate when setting the scene, just as a prop might no longer be useful in a remade film. With time, photographs become more and more useful for some and less and less useful for others, which makes me truly contemplate just how accurate of a portrayal they are.

“Just like memories, photographs are created with intent“

-J. Colberg- Photography and Memory (May 28, 2012)

Another quote that gives us insight on the matter is one by Colberg. In his essay he examines the relationship between memories and photographs. It has already been justified why photographs aren’t a completely accurate portrayal of memories. However, this quote makes you consider the idea that the memories themselves are an interpretation of reality. After all, it is common for people to remember events different, for some to view them as positive and others as negative. So perhaps, photographs are a correct portrayal of memories, when considering that the memory for the photographer links up with the image.

In conclusion, a photograph can’t be used as an accurate portrayal of the reality of the past. However, perhaps even our own memories aren’t an accurate representation of the past, since both are created with some sort of intent. Photographs are part of a puzzle, and only once each piece is connected will they be an accurate portrayal of memories, which is simply not possible as not every moment from every perspective is photographed. Intent and interpretation cannot be avoided, therefore a true picture of the past cannot be created. Furthermore, the meanings behind photographs alter with time, the seemingly timeless moment captured continuing to change. Nowadays, there are even more ways of manipulating photos, and I don’t believe we will ever know how to identify a truthful image. Bénitah’s project is a way of her correcting her past, and making the archives show how she truly felt. She claims the family snapshots to be lies that avoided showing the reality of her childhood. She shows us how the individual behind the lens is the one in charge of the outcome, of how the given moment will be viewed in the years after. Photographs are absolutely a portrayal of the past, but they are only an accurate portrayal of a past, of a memory, of a moment from one person’s point of view. Photography is the most accurate way of recording history, but it can’t be assumed to be completely truthful.

Plan:

Introduction (250-500 words): What is your area study? Which artists will you be analysing and why (Carolle Benitah)? How will you be responding to their work and essay question?

Paragraph 2 (250 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses. Carolle Benitah (photo analysis, mention how CB doesn’t describe her images a lot)- compare with my own image (archive that I sewed).

Paragraph 3 (500 words): Historical/ theoretical context within art, photography and visual culture relevant to your area of study. Make links to art movements/ isms and some of the methods employed by critics and historian. (its invention, family snapshots- rich and poor)- Photography- a critical introduction

Pg 4 (500 words): Analyse quote: (Link to Benitah) (refer to opening quote)

Pg 5 (500 words): Analyse quote: (Link to Benitah)

Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have produced– answer question (talk about both sides)

Contextual Studies:

Benitah. C (2016), Photos Souvenirs. Bonn: Kehrer Heidelberg Berlin

http://jmcolberg.com/weblog/extended/archives/photography_and_memory/

http://jmcolberg.com/weblog/extended/archives/photography_and_memory_part_2/

https://www.lensculture.com/articles/carolle-benitah-photos-souvenirs

https://www.carolle-benitah.com/copie-de-07-installations-photo-sou

https://lecube-art.com/artiste/carolle-benitah/?lang=en

https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo21al/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2021/01/Roland-Barthes_Camera-Lucida_extracts.pdf

https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo21al/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2023/02/Stephen-Bull_Phototherapy_family-albums.pdf

Williams, V. (2013). ‘Who’s Looking at the Family, Now’ in Family Politics, Issue 20. Brighton: Photoworks.

Further Help:

Academic Sources

• Research and identify 3-5 literary sources from a variety of media such as books, journal/magazines, internet, Youtube/video that relates to your personal study and artists references .
• Begin to read essay, texts and interviews with your chosen artists as well as commentary from critics, historians and others.
• It’s important that you show evidence of reading and draw upon different pints of view – not only your own.
• Take notes when you’re reading…key words, concepts, passages
• Write down page number, author, year, title, publisher, place of publication so you can list source in a bibliography

Bibliography

List all the sources that you have identified above as literary sources. Where there are two or more works by one author in the same year distinguish them as 1988a, 1988b etc. Arrange literature in alphabetical order by author, or where no author is named, by the name of the museum or other organisation which produced the text. Apart from listing literature you must also list all other sources in alphabetical order e.g. websites/online sources, Youtube/ DVD/TV.

Quotation and Referencing:

Why should you reference?

• To add academic support for your work
• To support or disprove your argument
• To show evidence of reading
• To help readers locate your sources
• To show respect for other people’s work
• To avoid plagiarism
• To achieve higher marks

What should you reference?

• Anything that is based on a piece of information or idea that is not entirely your own.
• That includes, direct quotes, paraphrasing or summarising of an idea, theory or concept, definitions, images, tables, graphs, maps or anything else obtained from a source

How should you reference?

Use Harvard System of Referencing…see Powerpoint: harvard system of referencing for further details on how to use it.

(around 23 minutes of recording all together, only transcribed the main/ most relevant sections)

Transcription

Me: Dziadek, jeździliście dużo razem, czy tak bardziej w domu, jak spędzaliście czas? Lubiłeś wyjść, wiesz, na spacery? 

Grandad: No wiesz, jak Gosia była młoda, ja pracowałem dużo na tej stacji benzynowej to czasu nie było. Ale, kiedy mogliśmy to wychodziliśmy, do lasu i tak dalej. Kiedy bylem młodszy to parę razy pojechałem nad morze z kuplami- dlatego tyle mam zdjęć. A później jak bylem już z Krystyną  to też jeździłem, to było takie wszystkich marzenie, żeby pojechać nad morze. Dużo razem jeździliśmy. Po rodzinie też dużo jeździliśmy, do Gosi kuzynów. 

Me: A to, w którym roku się poznałeś z Babcią, dziadek? Bo tu był 1970 i mama się urodziła w 76, czyli co, szybko dosyć co nie? 

Grandad: Ja jak z wojska wyszedłem, to był 70 rok. To gdzieś w 72 się poznałem z Krystyną.  

Me: To, kiedy był ślub? 

Grandad: 31 sierpnia, w 72 

Me: Aha, to szybko, bardzo szybko 

Grandad: Ja wróciłem z tego wojska, te kumple, ten się ożenił, ten się ożenił. No wiesz, to pomyślałem to ja też się ożenię. To taka była decyzja. I trochę na złość temu tacie, że on tego nie akceptował. No i zdecydowaliśmy, że chcieliśmy mieć dziecko. Bo ja bardzo lubiłem dzieci. O i tez, jeździliśmy też dużo do rodziny Krystyny, w różnych miejscach w Polsce. Twoja mama zawsze wspominała, jak bawili się w takiej piaskownicy, zrobionej z takiej plastikowej wanny. No i tez w góry lubiliśmy pojechać, żeby coś pokazać albo coś zobaczyć. Ale to już jak był samochód.

Jak się rozmawia to przywraca pamięć. 

Me: A później jak mieszkaliście razem, to jakie obowiązki były w domu.  

Grandad: U nas to ja dużo gotowałem. Bo lubiłem gotować, no i umiałem. I tak z domu się nauczyłem. Ale takie sprzątanie to Krystyna była taką pedantką. Nawet czasami to mnie wykurzało. Te podłogi, mówiłem zostaw to jest fajna pogoda, ale podłogi musiały być szorowane. Zawsze u nas było czyściutko, i dla niej było najważniejsze- za nim gdzieś się poszło musiało być to wszystko wysprzątane, wyprane, wyprasowane. Ale tutaj nigdy tak nie było że ona była zostawiona z tym wszystkim, oczywiście jakieś naprawianie, to nie było do pomyślenia, żeby ona to robiła. Lubiliśmy sobie pomagać, jak chciało się gołąbków to zawsze mówiła ze ja robię najlepsze gołąbki. Ona za to, lubiła piec ciasta, zawsze pachniało w tym domu. Jeszcze do dzisiaj te kartki z przepisami są w tym zeszycie, autentyczne jej pismo. Trzymam to, niby to nie potrzebne, ale nie wyrzucam. Taka pamiątka. 

Me: To jak wspominasz, życie razem? 

Grandad: To było wszystko bardzo fajnie, no, ona tam pracowała w kuźni, a potem otworzyła z koleżanką sklep. Taki butik, takie różne rzeczy tam były. Jak miałem wolne to jeździłem jej do Poznania po towar. Coś atrakcyjnego trzeba było przywieść. Wszystko szybko było sprzedawane. Ale później wróciła do kuźni, no i wtedy zaczęła już coś z tym zdrowiem podupadać. Nawet na tych zdjęciach już jest taka zmieniona. Niby nic nie wiedział co jej jest. Była trochę w pracy, ale zachorowała.

Gosia miała ferie zimowe. Była 12 w nocy i Gosia już pożegnała się z mamą i spała. Krystyna myła się a ja oglądałem telewizje. Taki kryminalny program. Ona wróciła i się położyła, i powiedziała włącz to jeszcze. Leżymy i w pewnym momencie taki dziwny dźwięk zrobiła. Taki nie naturalny. Zapaliłem lampkę i popatrzyłem się na nią a ona miała oczy takie wywrócone. Ja od razu dałem jej poduszkę pod plecy i próbowałem jej pomóc oddychać, ale ona zaczęła już sinieć. Nie wiem, czy mnie słyszała czy nie. Pobiegłem zamknąć Gosi drzwi, żeby spała i złapałem telefon i poprosiłem o pogotowie. Pobiegłem i walę w drzwi sąsiadki i ona pyta co się dzieje. Za chwilę przyjechało pogotowie. Jeden mówi że nie czuje pulsu no i ją zabrali. Pobiegłem po sąsiadkę i powiedziałem że Krystynę zabrali i żeby została z Gosią. Zabrałem samochód do szpitala i zadzwoniłem do kolegi, doktora, i on mówi że zaraz jedzie tam też. Jeszcze 40 minut próbowali ją uratować, i ten mój kolega mówi że nic nie mogą zrobić. Poszedłem się z nią pożegnać jak tam leżała na tej sali, rozmawiałem z nią. Czułem się jakby ona jeszcze słyszała. Pojechałem po moją mamę i pojechaliśmy do Gosi. Gosia spała do rana. Nie wiedziałem jak jej powiedzieć. Posłem do niej, pamiętam jak to było dzisiaj. Powiedziałem że muszę jej coś powiedzieć i że mama miała taki atak. Pamiętam, jak Gosia uklęknęła na tym łóżku i tak mnie ściskała i mówiła ‘no i co, no i co’. Przytuliłem ją i powiedziałem ‘Gosiu no po prostu nie masz już mamy’. Jak ona zaczęła krzyczeć. 

Było tak, Julciu… że twoja mama nie mogła sobie poradzić z tym. Przez lata nie mogła powiedzieć słowo ‘mama’. Niechciała nic wiedzieć jak to się stało. 

Translation

Me: Grandpa, did you travel a lot together, or did you spend more time at home? Did you like going out, you know, for walks?

Grandad: Well, you know, when Gosia was young, I worked a lot at the gas station, so there wasn’t much time. But when we could, we went out, to the forest and so on. When I was younger, I went to the sea a few times with friends – that’s why I have so many photos there. And later, when I was with Krystyna, we also travelled a lot; it was everyone’s dream to go to the sea. We travelled a lot together. We also visited Krystyna’s family a lot, her cousins.

Me: So, in which year did you meet Grandma, Grandpa? Because here it’s 1970, and mom was born in ’76, so it was quite quick, right?

Grandad: When I finished my military service, it was ’70. So, around ’71, I met Krystyna.

Me: When was the wedding?

Grandad: August 31, ’72.

Me: Oh, that was quick, very quick.

Grandad: I came back from the military, my buddies were getting married. You know, this one got married, this one got married. So, I thought, why not me? It was also a bit to annoy my father, who didn’t approve of our relationship. Anyway, we decided we wanted to have a child, I really liked kids. We also travelled a lot to Krystyna’s family in different parts of Poland. Your mom always remembers playing in a sandbox made from a plastic tub. And we also liked going to the mountains, showing or seeing something. But that was when we had a car. Talking about it brings back memories.

Me: And then, when you lived together, what were the household responsibilities?

Grandad: I did a lot of cooking at our place because I enjoyed it, and I knew how. I learned it at home. But as for cleaning, Krystyna was meticulous. Sometimes it irritated me. I’d say, leave it; the weather is nice, but the floors had to be scrubbed. It was always spotless at our place, and for her, before going anywhere, everything had to be cleaned, washed, and ironed. But it was never like she was left alone with all of it; of course, doing repairs were out of the question for her. We liked helping each other. If we wanted cabbage rolls, she always said I made the best so it was up to me to make them. She, on the other hand, liked baking cakes, and the house always smelled of it. Even today, those notes with recipes are in this one notebook, in her authentic handwriting. I keep it, it’s not really necessary, but I won’t throw it away. It’s a keepsake.

Me: How do you remember life together?

Grandad: It was all very nice. She worked in a forge, and then she opened a shop with a friend. A boutique with various things. When I had free time, I would drive to Poznań to get merchandise. Something attractive had to be received from bigger cities; everything sold quickly. But later, she returned to the forge, and that’s when her health began to decline. Even in these photos, she looks different. No one knew what was wrong. Gosia was on her winter break. It was midnight, and Gosia had already said goodbye to her Krystyna and was sleeping. Krystyna was showering, and I was watching TV, a crime show. She came back, lay down, and said, turn it on again. We lay there, and at some point, she made a strange sound, it was unnatural. I turned on a lamp and looked at her; her eyes were rolled back. I immediately put a pillow under her back and tried to help her breathe, but she started turning blue. I don’t know if she heard me or not. I ran to close Gosia’s door so she could sleep and grabbed the phone, asking for an ambulance. I ran and knocked on the neighbour’s door, telling her what was happening. The ambulance arrived shortly. One said she had no pulse, and they took her. I ran to the neighbour and told her they took Krystyna and to stay with Gosia. I took the car to the hospital and called a friend, a doctor, who said he would soon come. They tried to save her for 40 minutes, and my friend said they couldn’t do anything. I went to say goodbye to her as she lay on that bed, I talked to her. I felt as if she could still hear me. I went to my mom and drove to Gosia. Gosia slept until morning. I didn’t know how to tell her. I went to her; I remember it as if it were today. I told her I had to tell her something and that mom had an attack. I remember how Gosia knelt on that bed, squeezing me and saying, ‘and what, and what.’ I hugged her and said, ‘Gosia, you don’t have a mum anymore.’ She just started screaming.

It was like that, Julcia… your mum couldn’t cope with it. For years, she couldn’t say the word ‘mum.’ She didn’t even want to know how it happened.

Key Quotes

I picked out some key quotes as I would like to include them in my photobook. I think it will provide more insight for the viewer, being a more obvious indication of the story I want to tell. I think it’ll also be a powerful way of showing the past, creating a contrast between the photos, since they don’t show the complete true, and the quotes, key sentences presenting the reality of my grandad’s life.

“to było takie wszystkich marzenie, żeby pojechać nad morze”– “it was everyone’s dream to go to the sea”

“dużo razem jeździliśmy”– “we travelled a lot together”

“no i tez w góry lubiliśmy pojechać, żeby coś pokazać albo coś zobaczyć”– “and we also liked going to the mountains, showing or seeing something”

“jeszcze do dzisiaj te kartki z przepisami są w tym zeszycie, autentyczne jej pismo. Trzymam to, niby to nie potrzebne, ale nie wyrzucam. Taka pamiątka.”- “even today, those notes with recipes are in this one notebook, in her authentic handwriting. I keep it, it’s not really necessary, but I won’t throw it away. It’s a keepsake.”

“nawet na tych zdjęciach już jest taka zmieniona”- “even in these photos, she looks different”

“nie wiem, czy mnie słyszała czy nie”– “I don’t know if she heard me or not”

“rozmawiałem z nią. Czułem się jakby ona jeszcze słyszała”– “I talked to her. I felt as if she could still hear me”

For these edits, I made the temperature of the photo warmer, as a representation of happy memories that my grandad has of his home and surrounding area in Poland. I also adjusted the contrast and exposure, making the images darker and having a suitable exposure. These photos were taken during the summer, and I wanted the photos to be a mix of portraits and landscapes. The yellow hue and the grain I added causes the photos to have a retro look, a portrayal of the ‘good times’.

Edits

For these edits, I made the temperature of the photo cooler, since I wanted a blue hue within each picture. I think since the pictures are landscapes and micro photos, it adds a sense of loneliness and sadness. I also added a bit of vignette, since it guides our eyes to the middle. I also adjusted the contrast and exposure, making the images darker and having a suitable exposure. I also added a slight haze, exaggerating the blurriness of the photos. I think the blurriness was very effective, since it adds a feeling of timelessness to the photos. I picked these pictures out for editing since they act as a representation of my grandad now, as well as linking with my grandparent’s connection to nature.

Edits

For these edits, I made the temperature of the photo warmer, causing the photo to have a more retro look. Although these are the modern photographs, I want the photos to have a timeless look. I also think making the yellow hue stronger was effective since it brings out my grandad more- otherwise he slightly blends in with the background. I also added a bit of vignette, since it guides our eyes to the middle. I also adjusted the contrast and exposure, making the images darker and having a suitable exposure.

Edits

In my photobook, I want to include some comparisons between then and now, including old snapshots of my grandad (and one of my mum and grandma) and newly created photographs with a similar composition and pose. I want my project to be an exploration of how much changes in time, using these photos as a juxtaposition- showing how age doesn’t necessily completely change anything. I think I produced some effective recreations which will look interesting when compared to each other side by side in my photobook. The recreated versions have not yet been edited and not all may appear in my photobook.

I attempted to have a similar composition in each photo (except the last comparison since it is more of a representational comparison) and I think I did this quite well. The process was an interesting one, and it helped me to gain more insight on how to make my project more meaningful, by portraying both time and timelessness through my photos.