Sometimes less is more. Below is my new artist statement for the project Solace, compared to my original artist statement underneath.
Solace
Hannah H
‘We all want quiet.'
– Octavia Hill
Linked by the artist, her place in the world and how she looks at it, each image is a snapshot of a moment in time. This work takes a quiet look into her world, one which has been upended, one which craves solace.
By using expired analogue film, the artist creates a degree of uncertainty by giving some control over final results to the film. In addition, it encourages a slower and more deliberate approach to each shot.
This is how the artist finds her solace, and desires other people to find something of their own within it. She invites you to look at her work and metaphorically take something from it for yourself.
Though the world can be a troubling place, we can continue to find solace through the lens of quiet moments, that pass almost unnoticed until a camera is held up to them.
Hannah is a final year photography student at the University of Cumbria.
Solace
Hannah H
This is a continuation of last semesters project, Solace. The images are linked by me, my place in the world and how I look at it. Each image is a snapshot of a moment in time, a quiet look into my world, one which is, at present, in turmoil, one which craves solace. This is how I go and find my calm, and I hope that other people can look at my work and find a little piece of calm of their own within it. It is what I hope will make my work interesting to others.
‘We all want quiet. We all want beauty … we all need space. Unless we have it, we cannot reach that sense of quiet in which whispers of better things come to us gently.’
– Octavia Hill
I chose these images based on how they looked over anything else. The aesthetic is important to me: inspired, influenced and justified by Rinko Kawauchi and Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation. Kawauchi’s work has a real focus on the aesthetic, which justifies for me my focus on the aesthetic and taking a picture because I liked the way something looked. Her images are soft, gentle, and lovely to look at. Further Inspiration came from the film Lost in translation, which is dream like, slow moving, with soft muted colours. It reminds me of and inspires my recent work. I want the images to look like a dream, a slow and gentle wander through the pages.
Other inspiration came from Aaron Siskind and Don McCullin. Many would argue that Siskind’s texture work falls into the category of art rather than photography, due to the close up, lack of surrounding context, and textural feel of the images. He states that his work is more about him than the subject, and doesn’t elaborate on that, but it is something that resonates with me and what I tried to achieve. Don McCullins landscapes often have a dark atmosphere that reflect his career as a war photographer. The darkness of the landscapes reflect the darkness of the mind, something he speaks about in his book on the landscapes. This work is not about the subject of the images as much as how the man is reflected in them, and that is something I hope to have done as well.
The world may be a troubling place, but I, and hopefully others, can continue to find solace through the lens of these quiet moments, that go almost unnoticed until a camera has been held up to them.
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