THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT CHILDHOOD MEMORIES
I chose this brief because I was interested in childhood memories. I wanted to explore the relationship between photographs and memories. My idea and the outline of the brief came together equally. I wanted to understand how something so simple like a photograph could bring back lots of memories. One simple photograph could have 100 different meanings, each interpreted differently from various people. My audience is adults with Alzheimer’s disease. After research, I found out that their long-term memory is the last part of their brain to go. This was perfect for my project of childhood memories. I didn’t have my audience until half way through; I found the audience the hardest part of the brief to complete.
After experimentation with colour and thickness of the ink, I decided on turning them into postcards. I chose postcards because they are something you look back on, from a holiday or someone else’s holiday I used another new technique, the Adana press, to print a simple line ‘A distant memory’. As a set of four postcards they look ‘nice’ but it wasn’t going anywhere. They didn’t serve any purpose and I couldn’t take it any further.
In addition to the experiments, I chose eight of my photographs and asked people what memories did they get from looking at my photographs. This primary research was really useful. When I looked at the answers as a whole they were similar, the airshow, the beach for examples were regular memories. However, on closer inspection each response was personal to them in some way. This I started with my own memories from Southprimary research made me realize that I needed to narrow end-On-Sea from when I was a child. My idea was to down my audience, which gave me the idea of Alzheimer’s investigate how memories were blurred or altered over a patients. length of time. I sketched my memories and then went to Southend and took photographs of the place where I have recently research lots of information on Alzheimy memories had happened. I looked at a book called mer’s and contacted several Alzheimer’s associations and ‘Your Canvey – Memoires’ for inspiration on how to company’s to see if they could advise me or give me a ditake my photographs The book was full of old photorection to go in next. This is another way of research and graphs from an area near Southend. The empty black a different channel to approach. I am currently waiting to and white images really inspired me. When comparing see if I get any replies. I plan on visiting Godden Lodge, a the two images, I found that they were different. The retirement and nursing home for people with Alzheimer’s. places they happened didn’t change much but the small I want to take my photographs along to see their response. integrate details weren’t the same. This was a big indiI am hoping it will give me some idea of where I want to cation of how memories blurred over time. It made me take the photographs and what to do next. think about how true my memories in my head were, how much of my memories were made up and do they alter in my head due to anecdotes of the same story changing. I wanted to combine my sketches with the photographs to see the difference. I started combing the two using different methods (drawing on top of the photographs with pen, paint and lino and triple mono printing from the photographs). I looked at an artist called Trish Morrissey. Her ideas were very similar to mine; Morrissey got people to dress up and pose in places her memories were. I also attended a dry-point etching workshop and to incorporate my memories and learning new techniques I used one of my photographs.
1) Memory Sketches
2) Your Canvey Memories - Research
3) Southed-On-Sea - Photographs
4) Combination of sketches and photographs
5) Combination of sketches and photographs
6) Trish Morrissey - Research
8) Research - Results from asking people about memories
7) Postcards