Narrative Brief

Instead or as well as my usual work book i have decided to produce a blog documenting my efforts on my latest brief for my photography class.  I am a photography student from the north west of England who wants to get her ideas out a little differently than previously.  

My journey Begins ..... 

My Narrative Brief 

Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol and dental insurance. Choose fixed- interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose a three piece suite on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing sprit- crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pishing you last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked-up brats you have spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that? 

For my current collage project we have been given a brief in which we have to produce 6 images based around a narrative. We must create a sense of a person or of someone's life in these images without actually showing who the person is.   The above quote from the film 'Train-spotting'  has always been a favorite of mine, as i quite like the idea that you can just choose all the different elements to your life, as if your family are as interchangeable as your television.  This quote is describing all of the things a normal middle class family would have. They would argue over which television to get or which health plan is better and have bloody big domestics in p.c. world over what laptop would be best for their 2.5 children.  But my idea takes this one and pushes it further.... 

If you have ever had a relative die in hospital or in an accident or indeed been released from prison you will be all too familiar with a bag of personal effects. A small usually clear plastic sometimes paper if you get it from a funeral home bag filled with any earthly possessions that were found of your person at the time of your death or arrest.  This one little bag of ordinary things encapsulates your life. In a sense everything about you that matters is in this bag.  It doesn't matter if you were a billionaire or homeless, old or young etc your life will mean nothing more than the contents of your pockets. and it intrigues me what can be learnt about the person and how they died.  I want to tell a story in my images, 6 different images, 6 different stories to tell, the last one will be my own, but my fellow class mates do no know this and will be asked to look at the images and work out the story behind. But the 6th image will be the contents of my pockets and handbag. 

I have batted around a few different ideas, ideas about encapsulating peoples lives in boxes ...

Wedding memorial boxes

Baby boxes 

Memory Boxes

Photo Boxes and Albums 

These often contain very personal things that only the maker of the box will understand but with a personal effects bag there is nothing sentimental, it is just what they had when they died and i like that rawness.  

It is a location brief so i plan to shoot in the home, on beds, on coffee tables, somewhere where you would go to look at these things.   

I have even started to look at people in the street and think about what they would have, a mobile, that piece of paper they have in their hand, a bus ticket etc.   

All of these little things tell your story, a prescription, a mobile phone, a bus ticket. . . . .  Run over by the bus because they were rushing to get to the chemist before it shut and was on their mobile not paying attention. ... it happens.  Its a little final destination like but it happens.  

Keep you posted 

Sarah