FINAL MAJOR PROJECT. WEEK 3.
When I’m in the ‘void’ between photo-shoots or when I have a creative block, I make collages/montages. I use found items as well as my own out-takes and ‘failed’ images. These are cut-up and recycled into non-judgmental playgrounds exploring juxtaposition and experimental layout.
These are always physical and NOT digital (apart from photographing the final result).
This week I found myself on pause whilst waiting to get the results from my FMP proposal so began to play in this way.
This approach has shown up across my MA practice from very early on. It is a way for me to liberate myself from the internal pressure of creating ‘finished’ photography.
I never approach these collages with the idea that they are finished works in themselves. They are signposts of potentiality. Pointing me towards new ideas, or examining current thinking. They are also a way to breathe some life into discarded work so as not to have that work wasted or forgotten.
I’ve become aware of the ritual elements inherent in the performative aspects of my work. I wondered if there might be activities or visual tropes that could hint at ‘exorcising’ or re-inventing the past in some way? I played with the idea of cross-cultural people re-possessing geographic space. Whilst also acknowledging the thread of colonialism that frequently exists in their histories.
These are simple explorations. Nothing more than ways to ‘sketch’ possible avenues and approaches. Or simply to exist in their own right – orphans in the creative journey.
James Bellorini 