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B+W1 BY THE BOOK
Handwritten ephemera such as personal letters and diaries can
create the most astonishing images if you can read the thoughts and
feelings of those long gone. Yet, seemingly less significant things
can provide interesting subject matter too, such as old schoolbooks
or drawings or even doodles. Look out for handwritten things,
such as this old school workbook found in a French junk shop.
Remember, you don’t actually need to tell a true story – you can
construct evocative images from found objects, things and scraps
that collectively work together. For inspiration look at photographer
Abelardo Morell, especially his monograph A Book of Books, where
he explores the tactile, textured presence of books big and small.
He constructs stories and still life pieces using objects placed on
books together with wonderfully evocative settings.PHOTO PROJECT 25:
FORGET ME NOT
W
e all collect mementoes and souvenirs of the most
important events in our lives. Rites of passage
like births, weddings and celebrations are always
remembered through family photographs but also through
seemingly throwaway things like scraps of paper, bits of
fabric and stuff only you and your family understand and
attach value to. All of this collected material providesan excellent starting point for an introspective project,
giving you the chance to revisit fond memories or make
sense of significant episodes in your past. Collecting and
transforming these objects however is no easy task, as you’ll
need to think about how each of these items can contribute
to an image without overbearing the overall composition.
Never has the truism ‘less is more’ been more important!We’ve all got family keepsakes that rarely see the light of day,
so why not make them more visible? Tim Daly shows you
how to turn your memorabilia into an eye-catching project.
SECTION 1: THEME IDEAS
Choose one of the following themes to explore, or try a
combination of them all. For this project, I’d like you to think
about telling a story using objects, but not to overstate the
facts and details, and to leave some space for other people
to interpret your still life images.TECHNIQUE
All images© Tim Daly
timdaly.comSouvenirs from the natural world can create a profound memory,
especially if they are connected to a person or place that we’d like
to remember. The garden of a family member or a special place
that bore witness to a memorable event can also provide cuttings,
clippings or something more formal like pressed flowers. Think
how a carefully composed still life image may actually enhance the
remnant and make it more visible. If you’ve got an avid gardener in
the family, think about creating a series of images using the labours
of their garden as subjects, as this example shows. The objects
don’t need to be collected and preserved already – your project
could be the start of that process. Look at the still life photographs
of John Blakemore, especially his tulip series which are structured
along the lines of botanical illustrations.2 FLORAL KEEPSAKE
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE
‘All photographs are there to remind us of what we forget. In this, as in other ways, they are the opposite
of paintings. Paintings record what the painter remembers. Because each one of us forgets different
things, a photo more than a painting may change its meaning according to who is looking at it.’John Berger
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