Note for Assessors (Final Blog Post)

This blog is my logbook for the OCA Photography 3 course: “Advanced”.

It is indexed on the right hand side to provide access to posts on research, project influences, project updates etc. relating specifically to my course work as well as posts relating to my general photographic education. However all the posts relate, directly or indirectly, to my single course project (the ‘major project’), the production of the photo book: “I Am Not There”.

Tutor reports have been included with my paper submission (Folder 1) and can also be accessed as PDF files on my personal GDrive space: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B5lk5GtcG6RiNkZIVXBueWljdU0?usp=sharing.

Assignment work, which illustrates my journey from the initial concept for my course project through to the production of the final photo book, is provided in Folder 1 of my physical submission.

For reference, printed copies of all my blog posts can be found in Folder 2 of my physical submission. The physical submission includes two copies of the photo book.

Reflections on my current course work and on my ten year journey towards a degree in photographic art can be found indexed here as ‘course reflections’. A shorter reflection on my course work can be found in the overall evaluation section of the self-evaluation sheet on my GDrive space (see above).

This is the last post for my blog: no further posts will be added prior to assessment and no modifications will be made to the blog after 30 September 2017.

Artist Statement

This very personal project documents my relationship with my mother, from the time of my father’s death in 1995 until her own death in 2007. My mother suffered from severe clinical depression and anxiety, both before and during this period. Living 170 miles away from her home I tried to give her whatever practical help I could, but I was never able to give her the emotional support that she needed.

The end product of the course project takes the form of a photo book in which I have combined text with images that blend archival ‘family snaps’ with photographs produced specifically for this work. In the book I have illustrated the decline in my mother’s health during her later years, tried to convey my feelings and emotions during the period and portrayed how the illness profoundly affected those who were close to her.

Through the combination of text and images I have tried to provoke empathy in the viewer/reader and to encourage an understanding of how devastating the impact of the ‘hidden disease’ of clinical depression can be – not just on the sufferers, but on those around them too.

The book features themes of memory, loss, grief, regret and letting go. I can’t change what happened in my mother’s final years, but I can try to explain why what happened did happen and I can dedicate the book to her memory.