Final Evaluation

The aim of my project was to get to know my family history, and in particular get more involved in my grandparents’ lives. I wanted to create autobiographical pieces that reintroduced me into their lives. The initial motivation for the project was when my grandmother passed away this winter and I realised that I had never had a real conversation with her. However, through my Irwin & Read project, I was able to get to know more about her and my other grandparents, despite 3/5 of them being deceased.

To start my experimentation, I looked into Polaroid emulsion lifts, as I had seen an old Polaroid of my great-grandfather in the stack of family photos that I had been sent. As I started to look into my outcome presentation more, I experimented with paper-making, zine folds, and book binding. Once I had decided the presentation of my final piece, a book, I looked more into collage techniques and lighting for portraiture.

There are many other artists who influenced my work, from world-renowned photographers to artist friends of mine. I’d say the most significant artists for my project were Phillip Toledano, Nicola Muirhead, and Kensuke Koike. Toledano’s work was important to look at in my research stage as his book, ‘Days with my Father’ documents his relationship with his ageing father, using simple photography and emotional descriptions of their memories and interactions. Looking at Muirhead’s work showed me the importance of portraiture and how a person interacts with their surroundings. It was interesting to see how a person’s environment can tell you so much about them, as well as the way that they present themselves in front of a camera. Finally, studying Koike’s work was key to making my final project outcome, because it allowed me to put myself back into the narrative of my book through collaging family photos.

Most of the critical advice on my work came from peer feedback sessions with my classmates, although I also made sure to get feedback from my friends and flatmates. It was helpful to get opinions from a range of people with different levels of photographic knowledge, as it allowed me to see what other people think of my work and find out how they perceive it. In the first few weeks of the project, feedback from my tutors and pathway group was the most valuable, since they could recommend relevant techniques and artists for me to look at, however as the project came to a close it was more useful for me to hear the opinions of people who aren’t invested in photographic practices, as I could get honest advice from the perspective of the audience.

Overall, I think I achieved my original goal of getting more involved with my family history and I’ve produced an outcome that I’m proud of. There are things that could be improved or added if I had more time, and I definitely would have liked to have another week or two to develop my outcome. My outcome has turned out to be very similar to what I expected, although my vision for it changed many times during production. Over the last few weeks, I’ve learned how to use many new techniques and programs which I’m looking forward to using in my future artistic practice.

This project has been an excellent way to prepare for my next steps as an artist, as I’ve had to manage and produce the entire thing myself. I expect to do more of this in my Photography degree next year, so I’m very glad to have this experience. It has made me thing towards future projects, and I’m hoping to create a zine over the summer based on this project, as well as sme more experimental and less focused zines. I’m also looking forward to entering some of my work into open calls and competitions, as this FMP has allowed my practice to grow and I’m now far more able to talk about my work with confidence.