GENERATIONAL JUXTAPOSITION | BROTOGRAPHY

These are the two images I submitted as part of a group show for the Reef Gallery in conjunction with the Auckland Festival of Photography.  I loved what I managed from concept to capture with this and I love the fact it involved my mum , my sister and a group of good friends who hekped me out the shoots together.  My thought process is detailed in following artists statement.

“I originally approached this project with a mind to depict the changes and differences between the generations within my family and then realised I needed to create something beyond the usual photo-documentary themed essays. 

Drawing on my experience as a nocturnal shooter I opted to create life reflections, rather than to just observe and record, based on the idea of creating light from dark.  In my previous works I had toyed with the notion of the environment devoid of people to bring out it’s ‘personality’.  I approached this series with a similar focus but reversed - people devoid of their environment to focus in on their personalities.

Within these images you see the obvious differences between the two generations of age & physicality etc but I opted to light and develop each differently in an attempt to show idealogical differences.  The modest and humble nature of the older generation balanced against the brashness and cockyness of a younger generation.  I needed to find a means to unite the two and that turned out to be dance - again there are differences at play with my mum forming her dance around the song Ia Lava Lava by the Five Stars and my sister using her modern soundtrack to rip through the air with her dance.  With photography I remove those elements and leave only the visual form - similar and powerful, yet opposites of the same coin.   From subtle light and even exposure on one generation to the harsh spotlighting that reflects the overexposure of a younger cyber generation, both women present me - a glimpse into my past and a vision of the future.  My light shines through their dark to bring forth their stories of generational juxtaposition”