Conclusion

During this project, I have explored the notion of change and how this change ignites memories. I have particularly focused on this concept of memory when producing my own work. I started this project off with the mindset of documenting the changes happening within the area I grew up, this idea was influenced by lectures on the urban landscape, photography in the city and also by my own personal life and how the world is changing around me. Originally producing work of the construction sites that have surrounded my hometown due to the building of a new tram line, and focusing on how it has ruined the places I remember playing so happily as a child, I decided through extended research and advice from my tutor and fellow students that these images were too direct, too obvious and lacking in originality. After researching more concepts and artists in order to gain a better understanding of what I wanted to highlight, and drawing upon influences from sources such as George Shaw and Richard Billingham, I have produced work that highlights my memories of the places I grew up, photographs of how wish to I remember this place rather than how it is changing. Rather than viewing the destruction as a negative point, I have come to view it as a positive, using it to provide me with cherished memories of my hometown. The images I have created in response to this idea provide a rose tinted view on my memories growing up as a child. They portray nostalgia and provide the viewer with the idea that this was a happy place. This is important to note because memory is something that we have control over to a certain extent. I have both positive and negative memories of this area but I have chosen to take on a positive mindset when creating my work because we tend to want to remember and cherish the happy times and push the not so happy memories to the backs of our minds.

Overall I am pleased with how my final images have turned out. I used 35mm colour film and a 35mm Pentax K1000 camera to create the work I have produced throughout this term. I did this at first because my ideas began with documentation, and 35mm cameras are particularly popular with photographers who make documentary style work. After changing my ideas of how I wanted the project to evolve, I decided it was important to continue to make work in this way because it provided a personal involvement with the images I was creating and it also taught me to take time to think about my photographs before I make them, particularly when thinking about structure, composition and exposure. Using the colour darkroom to produce these images was an important factor in concluding my project, as it provided me with a way in which to physically engage with my work and the memories it provides me. It also gave me complete control in how I wanted my final images to look and helped to improve my technical skills and become more confident with using these skills.