Turning The Tide, 2020-2023
Turning The Tide (2023)
https://www.blurb.co.uk/b/11542780
“I think, looking at it all, that we can turn the tide within the next 12 weeks and I’m absolutely confident that we can send coronavirus packing in this country.”
Boris Johnson, 19 March 2020
During the lockdown from March 2020, the adjacent school field was blocked off with a six-foot steel fence, enclosing us within our surroundings. Using the limitations imposed by the boundaries of our gardens and the 12-week timeframe, equivalent to 84 days, I photographed the intermittent play of light and shadow. I captured these impermanent, fleeting moments of beauty, existing only as digital data recorded with my camera before they disappeared.
I also sought to project shadows of myself onto surfaces in my immediate surroundings where I felt trapped. These shadows, real and physical yet ephemeral and intangible, reflected the changing quality of light. Different surfaces added depth to the shadows, while photographed objects enhanced their features, making the visual information tactile and emotionally charged, echoing my feelings of fear and powerlessness.
I found myself fascinated by chasing shadows amidst the dull monotony of the 84 days of lockdown. While sunlight streaming into the space provided some solace, it also fostered false hope, as the virus continued to sweep through the UK despite the promised 12 weeks having long passed. Remaining at home felt like watching myself disappear along with the illusion of my relevance, yet the recorded shadows served as markers of my presence.
Embracing these transient qualities prompts reflection on the issues surrounding permanence and the rapidity with which everything changes and disappears. It feels as though fate is determined by chance alone.
Each images is 25cm x18.5cm, c-prints
84 mounted photographs are organised in an interrupted grid with 6 rows and 18 columns with equal sized gutters, the installation size is at least 165cm high and 400 cm wide
https://www.blurb.co.uk/b/11542780
“I think, looking at it all, that we can turn the tide within the next 12 weeks and I’m absolutely confident that we can send coronavirus packing in this country.”
Boris Johnson, 19 March 2020
During the lockdown from March 2020, the adjacent school field was blocked off with a six-foot steel fence, enclosing us within our surroundings. Using the limitations imposed by the boundaries of our gardens and the 12-week timeframe, equivalent to 84 days, I photographed the intermittent play of light and shadow. I captured these impermanent, fleeting moments of beauty, existing only as digital data recorded with my camera before they disappeared.
I also sought to project shadows of myself onto surfaces in my immediate surroundings where I felt trapped. These shadows, real and physical yet ephemeral and intangible, reflected the changing quality of light. Different surfaces added depth to the shadows, while photographed objects enhanced their features, making the visual information tactile and emotionally charged, echoing my feelings of fear and powerlessness.
I found myself fascinated by chasing shadows amidst the dull monotony of the 84 days of lockdown. While sunlight streaming into the space provided some solace, it also fostered false hope, as the virus continued to sweep through the UK despite the promised 12 weeks having long passed. Remaining at home felt like watching myself disappear along with the illusion of my relevance, yet the recorded shadows served as markers of my presence.
Embracing these transient qualities prompts reflection on the issues surrounding permanence and the rapidity with which everything changes and disappears. It feels as though fate is determined by chance alone.
Each images is 25cm x18.5cm, c-prints
84 mounted photographs are organised in an interrupted grid with 6 rows and 18 columns with equal sized gutters, the installation size is at least 165cm high and 400 cm wide
