Memories of a Past Life

Glenys Garnett

There is a pain—so utter— It swallows substance up— Then covers the Abyss with a Trance— So Memory can step Around—across—upon it— As one within a Swoon— Goes safely—where an open eye— Would drop him—Bone by Bone. Emily Dickinson

This work explores the relationship between our past and present life through the imagery we display and the memories it invokes for the viewer. After spending a year in semi-lockdown during 2020 I started to become more aware of the spatial relationship of my surroundings, in particular the photographs I have hanging around the house. All of these pictures instil a memory of some of the places and visits I made with my late partner. I began to see them as part of my past, a time that no longer existed and could not return to. We are left with these statements of the past following a bereavement and I wanted to change something, but didn't want it to change, a dichotomy, to live in the present you need to move on from the past. I began by photographing the hanging work to produce new work using multiple exposure techniques, layering and blending images in camera to create disjointed views of the landscapes in each picture. These images would represent the fractured memories of the past and lead to a new present.

Initial set of 18 selected images

From these images I created a new series of images using a selection from the original set. These were editied in both colour and black and white and are presented here as the final images to complete the project. By viewing the final images in colour and then again in black and white I am contemplating the journey I have taken. The removal of colour represents the final stripping away of the old memories and reflects how I use my creativity to escape my past and move forward into new beginnings.

We turn not older with years but newer every day Emily Dickinson

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