Research project proposal PHO701

Research Project Proposal PHO701 Louise Fullbrook. 2020

“sisters’ bond” (1870), cabinet card, 6.5” x 4.25,” with a young woman kneeling at the side of a deceased child, possibly her sister (courtesy of Thanatos Archive)

Aim of project: the topic, themes and subjects I plan to explore and investigate.

Personal loss as well as being a mother myself has left me questioning photography and its use with regards to its purpose within the process of mourning and bereavement. Bereavement being the period after the loss during which grief is experienced and mourning occurs. The time we spend in a period of bereavement depends on how attached we are to the person who dies. Mourning is the process by which people adapt to the loss. My interests lie in how photography towards the end of life and after life can help assist with the grieving process. I will look further into the work of Jacques Derrida (The Work of Mourning) linking his ideas on bereavement and mourning to photography, as well as Roland Barthes’ observations in camera Lucida. That in essence to photograph something is to cause its death, a moment captured and immortalised, but that moment in itself has died. I will investigate further why there has been such a shift in photography with this service almost vanished. Is this to do with how we position ourselves in relation to both the photographic medium and to death itself.

My Mother 1948

I will research contemporary photographers and different cultures from around the world, who still employ the services of a photographer at this time.

Image by Matteo de Mayda and Indra Kumar Jha

Many contemporary Photographers such as Matteo de Mayda and Indra Kumar Jha still work on the banks of the Ganges amid the cremation flames, in their culture death is celebrated and not seen as morbid in any way.

Many parents across the world still employ photographers such as Todd Hochberg to capture a family portrait with their still born babies. Todd has normalised this service and has now added this to his practice.

Micheal

Todd Hochberg

What was seen, as a rather macabre practice is still used as an act of remembrance keeping the the memory of the deceased persons face present.

Methods such as the daguerreotype will be of particular interest throughout my research.

My aim is to add the services of birth and bereavement photography to my current practice which focusses currently on newborn and infant portraiture with the intention to change attitudes towards this service.

The subjects I will cover include Victorian post-mortem photography. The history of memento mori which predates the Victorian era by centuries, the Latin translation of the term is simply, “remember you must die� A philosophical term that reminds us of our transience on Earth, and serves as a warning to prepare ourselves for whatever other realm awaits us.

The Thanatos Archive

Author unknown

My objectives are: Use photographic images and image-making to gain an understanding of how photography aids bereaved families Working with funeral directors, hospitals, bereaved families and community groups Make changes to my own practice as a photographic artist and address attitudes towards death and to take my work to a wider audience Enhance understanding of how bereavement photography can assist with the process of mourning and for this to be seen as more widely acceptable and available

Details of progress to date on the project.

To date I have photographed several babies which were born sleeping. I know how much these images meant to the families. Without these photographic session’s families would have little else left of memories from the day their baby was born. Born sleeping or alive and well, this is still a huge life event which of course deserves to be recorded. I have contacted family members of my own who have been through the heartbreak of infant loss to find out more about their feelings toward photography at this time and to find out how the photographs have helped them in the grieving process. Over the coming modules I will be able to visit these families at their home where I will be able to gain further insight into the loss and how it still affects everyday life.

Louise Fullbrook

Kingswood remembrance park

At the start of this module I became increasingly interested in the graves where my mother rests in peace and what they mean to the families left behind. I intended to photograph them day by day throughout the summer of 2020. I watch families and their friendships develop at the cemetery, I watched the flowers wilt and die over the course of several weeks and the visits from family members sitting with their loved ones. It has become quite a sociable place for people who have been affected by loss.

Inspired by Sophie Calle’s work “Les Tombes/The Graves I could see that I too had been paying particular attention to one element of the grave. I was increasingly drawn to the ageing objects left at the graveside.

Sophie Calle

Les Tombes/The Graves

The resources and skills I anticipate I will need and how I will acquire them.

I will be using natural light for most of my documentary work within the homes of families and at the cemetery which I feel adds mood and atmosphere. I have spent an incredible amount of time searching for items which would assist me in creating still life images relating to my study of memento mori which has cost me both in terms of finance and time. I have recently booked several studio lighting workshops to improve my lighting skills. Skills will not only be photographic, but also in terms building relationships with families and at all time’s being empathetic and understanding of their current situation. I will need to gain access to funeral directors to advertise my services, hospitals and community groups where I will gain contacts to further my studies.

A schedule of key activities and / or stages of the project.

Due to our current situation with regards to COVID19 I will be focussing my attention on still life photography at this current time which means I can work solely from home during lockdown. I will use social media to promote my work and engage conversation related to my topic. I will aim to contact families who have suffered from infant loss and try to gain an understanding of people’s attitudes towards this rather taboo subject of photographing and displaying an image of a deceased child.

I have always loved how small the daguerreotype photograph is, its size made it seem much more special and cherished than a huge piece of wall art.

I will be looking at different print methods using cotton rich papers and other finishes. Along with the production of my own book after the completion of a book binding course which I had hoped to attend in May, I will now wait for new dates. I will also complete my training in 3D copper foiling where I will create a small glass soldiered box to keep my deckle-edged images within which would present my printing beautifully, keeping my prints small to give that feel of a treasured item. I will also further research the printing for exhibition and to appeal to my own clients.

It’s proving increasingly difficult to set timescales at this current time but assuming we will be out of lockdown by July this would be my schedule of events

June: Update website to include services of remembrance/bereavement photography.

June: Advertise my additional services (bereavement and end of life photography) using social media.

July: Make contact and build relationships with funeral directors.

July: Contact with bereaved families gaining trust to allow me to visit and gain an insight into their family life with the aim of documenting their lives with loss.

September: Attend 3D copper foiling workshop.

September: Investigate print mediums and results I want to achieve.

September: Research suppliers and look at alternative methods of presenting artwork.

November: Attend book binding course.

December: Compiling my work in preparation for my final major project.

Research and explore exhibition procedures and methods of presentation.

Any costs incurred and how will I meet these?

My biggest expense will be time, making alterations to my website and also social media interaction/building relationships etc.. I will also invest a lot of my time into workshops developing my skills within printing, book making and other skills requiring development such as studio lighting. I already the have photographic equipment needed but will have the expense of workshops and training.

Risks My project will require ethical approval and I will need to be mindful of my subjects needs and emotional stability. I will need to ensure that I have ownership of the images enabling me to use for publication for which I will need to research legalities regarding this.

6* bibliography

Derrida, Jacques “The Work of Mourning” Edited by Pascale-Anne Brault and Michael Naas. UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS

Di Bello, Patricia “Women’s Albums and Photography in Victorian England. Ladies, Mothers and Flirts. ROUTLEDGE

Di Bello, Patricia “The Photo book from Talbot to Ruscha and Beyond” I.B.TAURIS

Jay, Ruby “Secure the Shadow, Death and Photography in America” MIT Press

Linkman, Audrey “Photography and Death” REAKTION BOOKS

Linkman, Audrey “The Victorian Photographic Portraits” TAURIS PARK BOOKS

Mord, Jack “Beyond the Dark Weil: Post-mortem & Mourning Photography from the Thanatos Archive” LAST GASP

Roland Bathes & Wells, Liz “Camera Lucida” HILL AND WANG

Rutherford, Sarah “The Victorian Cemetery” BLOOMSBURY USA

Web sites I will use

https://www.featureshoot.com/2017/02/a-death-photographer-on-thesacred-river-ganges/ https://www.magnumphotos.com/learn/course/alec-soth-photographicstorytelling/ https://thanatos.net http://www.theoccultmuseum.com/memento-mori-macabre-victorian-artdeath-photography/ https://hyperallergic.com/214713/the-lost-ritual-of-photographing-thedead/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The+Lost+Ritual+of+Photo graphing+the+Dead&utm_content=The+Lost+Ritual+of+Photographing +the+Dead+CID_6d89d9264a82f8038f4d7a049e97141e&utm_source=H yperallergicNewsletter https://hyperallergic.com/192681/indias-death-photographers-workingamid-the-cremation-flames-of-the-ganges/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1qzXxcMZS2rzvqYqmDcfWtY/ carte-de-visites-the-development-of-the-royal-image https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nicephore-Niepce https://photo-museum.org/niepce-invention-photography/ https://photo-museum.org http://www.toddhochberg.com/about.html https://www.featureshoot.com/2017/02/a-death-photographer-on-thesacred-river-ganges/ https://withreferencetodeath.philippocock.net/blog/boltanski-christianpurim-reserve-1989/ https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/boltanski-the-reserve-of-dead-swisst06605 https://www.imi.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2019/01/2018_Apr_IMINatGuidelines_Bereavement.pdf

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/dijkstra-julie-den-haag-netherlandsfebruary-29-1994-p78097

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2333794X19854941

https://time.com/photographing-the-dead/

http://www.tjboulting.com/exhibitionspage/512/birth---curated-withcharlotte-jansen https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36389581 https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/pgqj3z/the-daguerreotype-unsettlingworld-of-victorian-photography https://modernloss.com/life-cycle-memorial-photography/ https://hyperallergic.com/214713/the-lost-ritual-of-photographing-thedead/ https://fstoppers.com/originals/photographing-death-how-capturing-endlife-has-changed-342296 https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2017/oct/13/cleaning-thedead-the-afterlife-rituals-of-the-torajan-people https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/victorian-post-mortem-photographs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand-colouring_of_photographs https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/science-andtechnology/victorian-photography/victorian-photography/victorianphotographic-techniques/ http://www.mdolla.com/2012/05/stiff-pose-victorian-postmortem.html?m=1 http://blog.hmns.org/2017/10/post-mortem-photography-in-the-victorianera-as-still-as-the-dead/ https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/03/23/daguerreotype-portraits/ https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dagu/hd_dagu.htm https://www.photohistory-sussex.co.uk/dagprocess.htm https://www.clarabartonmuseum.org/post-mortem-photography/ https://photo-museum.org http://thersiteshideout.blogspot.com/2014/05/barthes-camera-lucida.html