Break On Through
154 12.7cm x 17.8cm inkjet prints
Break On Through is a body of work I created whilst on a trip to France. Photography has always been used by travelers and tourists as a way of remembering and bringing home images of foreign lands. Early photographers such as Eugene Atget and Thomas Annan demonstrated this idea of memory and capturing a street or place before it changes. The door is simple. I am making it exotic, just as early photographers did. I have created a visual narrative of my journey similar to the early explorers.
I was enamored with the romanticism and beauty of French architecture and began focusing on the exterior doors of houses in villages I stayed in. The work started out typographically, where I would be looking for similar details in each door. I became obsessed with fitting each door together through the physical similarities in each individual photograph. It then developed into a body of work where I started examining the way I felt in each place and I would find doors that reflected how I was feeling. I researched photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher, who were instrumental in looking at photography as a means of collecting form and line, as well as French artist Eugene Atget, who roamed the streets of old Paris in the late 1800’s to ‘collect all of old Paris’ this became an important concept behind my work, where I realized that similar to these artists, I was also trying to capture a feeling and atmosphere that had experienced.
I have researched Australian photographer Max Pam who created photographs that were shaped by incidents and experiences as a traveller. My work is a travel diary. I want the viewer to experience my journey. I included text to inform the viewer about the story – which I feel is an integral part of this work. I relate to images by William Yang, for example his photograph of Geoffrey Rush where he writes within the photograph on Rush’s skin.
I was also looking into the different objects out the front of houses and how they can be seen to represent who lives behind. I chose to display the work small so the viewer moves in and connects with each door and also reads my journal. I am inviting them on my journey.
I was enamored with the romanticism and beauty of French architecture and began focusing on the exterior doors of houses in villages I stayed in. The work started out typographically, where I would be looking for similar details in each door. I became obsessed with fitting each door together through the physical similarities in each individual photograph. It then developed into a body of work where I started examining the way I felt in each place and I would find doors that reflected how I was feeling. I researched photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher, who were instrumental in looking at photography as a means of collecting form and line, as well as French artist Eugene Atget, who roamed the streets of old Paris in the late 1800’s to ‘collect all of old Paris’ this became an important concept behind my work, where I realized that similar to these artists, I was also trying to capture a feeling and atmosphere that had experienced.
I have researched Australian photographer Max Pam who created photographs that were shaped by incidents and experiences as a traveller. My work is a travel diary. I want the viewer to experience my journey. I included text to inform the viewer about the story – which I feel is an integral part of this work. I relate to images by William Yang, for example his photograph of Geoffrey Rush where he writes within the photograph on Rush’s skin.
I was also looking into the different objects out the front of houses and how they can be seen to represent who lives behind. I chose to display the work small so the viewer moves in and connects with each door and also reads my journal. I am inviting them on my journey.
