Purpose.
Over the past week my daughter has been taking to me about her work and projects. She is currently in her 2nd year of A Levels and is a very keen photographer. She had been asked to work on as part of assignment was ‘domestic abuse’. Coincidently my current topic of research included an investigation into volatile relationships that parents can sometimes display in front of their children. This is something that happened during my own childhood and it has become very evident that as my project moves forward, I am drawing more and more on my past experiences as a child and young adult.
This was a great opportunity for me to get a more visual understanding of my individual project. It was a chance to see the dynamics between parents and children in a stormy environment.
My daughter and I decided that we should work on a joint project to approach these difficult themes.
How it went.
The set up was relatively quick as by the time we worked out what compositions we needed, we realise we were beginning to lose light. We used a Canon 7D and used natural light. It was a family affair ad from the photographs included - they feature myself, Wife and child. My son is a regular bawler and it was easy to catch one of his tantrums! This is not the first time I have worked creatively with my daughter - we have collaborated several times. This felt different. She was more in control of the decisions and I noticed there was a lot more spontaneity in her approach. It was a good chance for me to observe as both a Father and a mentor.
(Please note - my son was being told he had to go for a nap, but he puts in quite a performance)
Reflections.
Working on this project has made me realise that what I want to incorporate into my project - the theme of volatile parental responsibility, is an incredibly sensitive issue. For a couple of days after this, I kept thinking “is this the right area for a children’s book? Perhaps I should navigate away from these issues?” After much thought I realised that I want to carry on and uncover more truths and to create something to alleviate these behaviours and situations.I think the black and white make the images even more impactful. It’s strange that even though we had great fun taking the photographs, I have found them quite difficult to look at. This honest mortality of Father, Wife and son felt like it could almost be in some parallel universe, where life events have taken a disastrous turn. Thankfully none of this takes place in my own Family, where peace and love are at the forefront of our World (mostly)
Please see full gallery below.
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