Three photographic projects presented as examples of ‘Photographing the unseen’ are Peter Mansell’s Check Up, Dewald Botha Ring Road, Jodie Taylor Memories of Childhood.
Peter Mansell’s series is a personal project about is spinal injury and the impact it has on his life. It is a clinical piece and one step removed from the overly personal ‘Dad Project’ covered earlier in this module. Not only is Peter conveying a subject and feelings to the viewer it is also acted as an emotional release for him as the creator. That extra depth comes across in this series.
Dewald Botha’s project is less direct and I did not get the same sense of emotion from it. The difference with this work is that it didn’t start appear as the piece it eventually turned in to ie. it became about being an outsider and the intensity of life in China. I understand the use of metaphor but ultimately I view the images as architectural and do not get the sense of emotional crises that the author was going through.
Jodie Taylor’s project immediately stood out just from the title…Memories of Childhood, and the image of vandalised garage doors. This was a typical childhood memory for me as our family home had local authority ‘garages’ next door and it was the main route through to the fields for summer holiday adventures. The images Jodie delivers are not that engaging and the real depth of the project is in the use of 35mm film and the presentation in a flimsy 6×4 photo album adding to the nostalgia.
References:
- Peter Mansell’s Check Up
- Dewald Botha Ring Road [accessed 29/10/2017]
- Jodie Taylor Memories of Childhood. [accessed 29/10/2017]
Martyn Rainbird 