UnFamily Portraits
In 2009 I was invited by Metal to present my interactive installation UnFamily Portraits at Village Green, a one day arts festival in Chalkwell Park, Southend on Sea.
The project offered passers by the chance to have a family portrait taken. However, instead of being pictured with their actual family the subjects were complete strangers asked to participate at random. It isn’t blood relations that create a bond within the photograph. The only link they have is a collective memory through the shared experience of being part of a fabricated personal history. The positioning, lighting and set implies what we traditionally view as ‘family.’
These photographs were recently shortlisted for the Bar Tur Award in the Identities category.
The project offered passers by the chance to have a family portrait taken. However, instead of being pictured with their actual family the subjects were complete strangers asked to participate at random. It isn’t blood relations that create a bond within the photograph. The only link they have is a collective memory through the shared experience of being part of a fabricated personal history. The positioning, lighting and set implies what we traditionally view as ‘family.’
These photographs were recently shortlisted for the Bar Tur Award in the Identities category.
