Should you include just photographs?

Hiroshi Okamoto - ‘Recruit’ (2015)

As I consider possible forms that a publication of my work may take, I am excited at the prospect of combining the vast variety of materials I have been collecting within the pages of a book. Other than my own photographs, I also plan to include hand written text from my subjects,  polaroids, found family snapshots, pages from books and images of discarded objects - all collected from the rural areas that I have been documenting. In doing this, I hope to present a more multifaceted depiction of this area, whilst also sharing the experience of discovering these hidden communities with my viewers.

Jim Goldberg - ‘Candy’ 2015

I have been researching artists who create publications using similar means, and learning from their approaches. Jim Goldberg, who I have referenced in previous posts, is an obvious example - his seminal work ‘Rich and Poor’ (1985) included handwritten comments from subjects and he continues to create work with similar methods today. For his recent series ‘Candy’, Goldberg photographed his birth place of New Haven, Connecticut - intertwining his documentation of current residents with his own personal memories. Goldberg notes ‘There are a mixture of styles and mediums including: photographs, collage, stills from home movies, hand-written text… My intention is get all of these different elements to work together, and make coherent an assemblage of memories.’ (Goldberg in Durant, 2015)

I am also very interested in photobooks being produced by the Reminders Photography Stronghold in Tokyo. Looking at Hiroshi Okamoto’s publications We do not need you, here./ If I could only fly and Recruit as well as Miki Hasegawa’s Internal Notebook, I am inspired to acquire the skills to bind my own book. 

Durant, M. (2015) Jim Goldberg. [Online]. [Accessed 15 July 2018]. Available From: https://saint-lucy.com/conversations/jim-goldberg/