AboutThe making of reveal
Aims & rationale
reveal
is a documentary photography project set in Bristol between the years
2000 and 2002. It features 36 young people from all walks of life aged
16 to 22 years old. I asked each participant to think of how they wished
to represent themselves in terms of the photographic portrait, and to
think in terms of locations that revealed aspects of their lives they
wished to record for posterity. I took colour photographs as observations
of objects that were discussed and shown to me whilst working with each
participant. My aim was to create an historical document about young people
in Bristol at this time of changes in young people’s lives. This means
the photographs are taken as evidence, and held as such by the participants
for their own lifetimes, to be viewed in the future as a slice of their
lives they have helped create. Each participant was given a set of their
pictures, and is informed on how the pictures are used. At all times,
the privacy of the participants is respected, and they know the photographs
are not used for any purpose without prior consent.
Methodology
I approached the participants, either through locally based
charity Multi-A, or independently, and explained through earlier examples
some of the ways others have chosen to represent themselves. I asked people
to think of the set of photographs like a time capsule, one which they
can look back at in the future and say that the pictures have captured
this period of their lives. After a week or two to allow the participants
to think of how they wished to proceed, I made contact again to discuss
ideas, and fix times and dates for the shoot. The photographic work took
place in one or two sessions, lasting between two and four hours, depending
on travel etc.
In addition to the two black and white portraits, I made two colour photographs
as observations based on things said or shown to me by the participants.
I tried to include the participants in this process, by talking to them
about certain possessions, particularities, or everyday scenes they witness.
The photographic work was made on a 5x4 inch camera, the black and white
and colour photographs shot on negative film. The participants were encouraged
to look at the ground glass while the photographs were being made, to
see the compositions, and to experience the camera side of the photographic
process. I explained the technical aspects of the shoot, involving the
participant in as much detail as I saw response to such information. Some
people had art training, some people had photographic experience and brought
their cameras and photographed the whole process. Some people were not
interested in the technical side, and some had no artistic experience,
and were shy about looking through the camera, doing so with trepidation.
The black and white photographs were produced traditionally as contact
prints, and the colour prints were made digitally on a photo quality ink
jet printer with long lasting inks. These were sent to the participants
within a week of the shoot, so the ideas were still fresh in their minds.
These were not the final presentation of the work, and the participants
knew this, they were just work prints. Further contact is made if and
when the pictures are used for any purpose, be it editorially, or in exhibition
formats.
Context
The work has many different connotations and levels, depending
on how far one is to delve into a work of such complexity.
On an individual basis, each set of photographs means something different
to each participant. The universal theme is one of an historical document
they can refer to as their lives progress, or a record of an interesting
collaboration that enabled them to capture and record a time of their
life they would not have the means or the inclination to do for themselves.
I tried to install this as a start point, but individuals were free to
take their photographs beyond this point into something personal. Each
person is presenting themselves in locations that show who they are in
a context- in areas they are comfortable, or places they enjoy at this
time in their lives. I tried to make each participant aware of the various
levels to the project. This usually resulted in some self insight as to
who they are, and how they see themselves, and how they can present themselves
in the context of the project, with an understanding that many people
will see their pictures. The photograph, on this level, acts as evidence,
for them, and for the viewer of such work.
In a broader sense, the completed work offers the opportunity for comparisons
to be made. This can take the form of comparisons based on the number
of ways we as humans seem to classify each other. Those who classify others
in terms of difference, will look at the differences in the sets of photographs,
those who classify others in terms of similarities will find those similarities
through the photographs.
It is an important part of the work that the photographs are presented
without added text narrative or captions. Only an introduction to the
work as a whole is provided, not individual information about each photograph
or person, only names. In this way, narrative is encouraged, but is based
on information supplied in the photographs in purely visual terms. Here
we see the importance of the colour photographs, as these are a way of
guiding the viewer into looking at the one individual’s set as a
whole, rather than each portrait as an individual photograph expressing
one idea.
I tried to link the set of four photographs together, by selecting certain
objects in the background of the portraits, for example, with objects
represented in colour later, in a slightly different context. There is
no intention towards malice or irony, but more an attempt to link certain
pictures in certain ways that allow questions to be asked as to the reasons
for inclusion, ultimately leading to the viewer’s own narrative
construction.
Further to this lack of provided text narrative, is the opportunity for
the viewers to question their narrative. This adds another level to the
project; one of self examination by the viewer, given a set of evidence
from which they can make their own conclusions. I am under no illusions
that everyone will go through this process, but it is there, and has
happened
already.
© John Frederick Anderson
