Exhibition Plans
Art, now more than ever, has become so incredibly important. Something you can do from home that connects you to the world and joins passion from all over. I wanted to create something that engages, intrigues and provokes thought amongst the most intimate space, self and relationships with those you hold dear. This project has become something more than I had ever initially planned, it has adapted with the times we are in and has evolved into something I am really proud to share. I hope that when displaying this work I do it justice.
For my book display I propose for the book to be sat on a plinth, next to the images on the wall and accompanied by my explanatory text.
The book itself will be small, 210mm x 210mm.
A digital copy of the book can be found on my website. The only difference to the printed version is that the wording will be typed rather than written by me as it is printed.
The exhibition will consist of 10 prints, all shot on 35mm black and white film. They will measure 15cm x 15cm and will be framed in a simple format. Alongside the images will be a key word identified within my poem which can be found inside the condensed book that accompanies the images on the wall. I wanted the images to be small so as to draw the viewer closer and to interact and be intimate in the space.
I would like the images to be slightly closer together than shown in the above images however this was not possible to amend in the software I had used. Ideally they would all be situated on one wall with the book placed to the left hand side along with the descriptive text. I believe this will make it flow better within the space.
I am aware that this could look quite small in comparison to some other exhibits, however the small intimate in such a large space could seem more intriguing to someone than large images plastered on the walls, as they say, bigger is not always better.
When being displayed the work will be a small set up, with the images estimated to be 15cm x 15cm. I wanted to create a small intimate display of the images to keep in with the theme of the work. Ideally they would be simply framed and only slightly offset from the wall. Unfortunately there was no framing option in the software I used to create my exhibition.
My accompanying text is vital to the space as it explains and highlights straight away the importance of the piece of work that is on display. It also includes the poem I had written for the project and for my partner. Put simply it helps to deliver context to the exhibit. I want the audience to feel a connection to the work and a real understanding for why this was created and with such passion.
Conceptual Ideas
-Accompanying text
Emma Bell is a fine art photographer based in London. She enjoys photographing portraits and has an eye for composition. Most of her portraiture work has a depth to it, this can be found in accompanying text or through deep analysation of the images. The subject matters are often significant in the portrayal of the work and how the images are displayed. The context in which these works are analysed are inherently personal and show resonance and a connection to the viewers understanding of their own feelings.
A Love Letter to Separation explores the complexities surrounding separation in relationships. A key moment in our time, this project was pushed into a world where everyone in some manner experienced separation, and although this work follows two individuals and their struggles through isolation and being forced apart by circumstances out of their control, it applies to many who are going through mental struggles and feelings of detachment from society and each other. This project aims to identify with these individuals and somewhat provide a comfort in comradery, showing that many people are going through feelings of loneliness and depression too. Through the use of imagery and poetry Emma depicts herself and her partner. Emma’s poem, entitled ‘A Love Letter to Separation’:
As the world struggles on
We feel it more
As it turns into oblivion
We’ll know for sure
Separation guides for our future
As we sail through
The emptiness we nurture
It’ll carry on too
And as the light starts to shine
We are reminded what is true
For isolation will confine
And we decline soon
Love is stronger it’ll align
Like the stars for me and you
From stark beginnings the poem touches on notions of separation and confinement and works down to a more hopeful ending, ‘Love is stronger it’ll align, Like the stars for me and you’ a positive outlook on the future of their relationship.
It is also clear through the project that her partner is a key component of this work, he is often found being both the subject matter and the photographer too. He, like Emma, creates a beautiful display of love and admiration for photography and the power a single image can hold. The use of symbolism in the work through the sheet is intent on showing a restrictive barrier, is this used to identify an imaginary shield or something pulling them both in directions and trapping them down and making isolation more apparent.
Emma notes, inspiration derives from the work Proud Flesh by Sally Mann.
A focus on the intimate relation and admiration of each other's partner, and a delicate portrayal of intimacy and compassion for the subject matter and its significance to their practice. The work was taken on 35mm black and white film and cropped in square format, 210mmx210mm. This work is to be displayed in both a virtual online exhibition and through the form of an accompanying photobook. Further information can be obtained from the photographer’s website.
Personal Reflection and Conclusion
I feel as though my main objectives and more have been achieved, I set out with the goal of expressing myself as an artist and showing this through the medium of photography.
I am extremely happy with my end result and feel as though it does connect with many people. My project has evolved a lot since the beginning of the module, the pandemic has provided me with a bigger sense of perspective and I feel a deeper understanding of my own project. It has evolved from a small intimate project about two people and their struggles, to something that so many people can now understand. If I could change anything about my project, it would be that I should have had my partner shoot alongside me from the beginning, this could have massively changed my outlook on the project. Some of my favorite images were taken by him and feel that they added a new dimension to my work, it became less of a solo mission of my own and more an intimate artwork created by two people with the same care and compassion for one another. Not only this but we had both had the same struggle of being apart and feeling alone, without being able to seek comfort from the one person who understands you most.
The best art opens up humanity, and allows it to be seen in ways we maybe haven't considered before. I think you can only do that as an artist if you allow yourself to be seen as a human. That often means I must be very vulnerable. -Public, Private, Secret: On Photography and the Configuration of Self.
Updated Proposal
The aim of my project is to share my own experience with a long distance relationship and hope to share the struggles and the ways in which we cope with being apart for months at a time through the medium of photography. Photographing a loved one has been done many times over in the history of photography, with many different reasonings for it. To share intimate moments like Sally Mann does with her husband Larry in her series Proud Flesh. Or to display the beauty and trust in a relationship as seen in Sian Davey’s Martha. I believe that for me, an important part of the art of photography is being able to work and share alongside those most important to you. Last year I worked alongside my family in a series called A Feminist Manifesto a Generational Perspective, and now I work with my partner, Lee, in a new series called A Love Letter to Separation, a continuation from Significant Him. For this project I am taking images from moments shared with my boyfriend, showing through photography the few moments we get to share not so often due to the long distance, and most recently because of the global pandemic. I have found that working alongside Lee has changed how I view my photographs and gives me a new passion for my photography. It reminds me of an extract that I’d read that it provides a new found respect for the artwork of a partner, “Kahio’s and Rivera’s reverence for each other’s art was a powerful bond”.
I have been photographing myself and my boyfriend with the key theme of absence and separation and have tried to communicate these themes with the use of our bodies. Not only that but with part of me being physically absent from the images. I wanted to try and communicate by leaving and being separate from him, be it on the other side of the country at university or just an hour away but forced to stay away.
Ethically again due to the use of an identifiable individual I have had to consider with great thought how I am to navigate this project, I have asked myself questions about visual limitations, how comfortable is Lee showing his face and body? Is he comfortable sharing something so intimate with the world? Am I? Considering these questions I reached a conclusion that he and I are both happy to share my work, as we feel that it is an important message visually and metaphorically.
I think portrait photography is significant especially when a subject is key to the project. For me there was no other way to communicate the emotions of a person/ persons without having them within the images themselves. I thought it was important that our absence was the main representative of this as it is the key subject of my work involving separation.
When displaying my work I have been at war with myself as to what I want. For my previous exhibition I had printed two large scale portraits however I wondered, was this the right display for my work? I have decided to make the work feel more personal to the audience, having smaller prints, framed like in a family home or a family photo album in regards to the photobook.
Visual inspiration of my conceptual idea
At the beginning of the year I saw the work of Robert Mapplethorpe and Glen Ligon at the Guggenheim and the series on ‘Notes on the Margin of the Black Book’ based on Mapplethorpe’s ‘The Black Book’ the ninety one print series is combined with seventy eight accompanying texts is breathtaking.
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