The idea I had for my final photos was to photograph everything over the course of a week back at my parents house to show what being back in Nottingham made it home to me. But out of all the photos I took none of them kind of felt like home. My house, the local area, they weren’t really home to me anymore. But then I followed my brother around the garden and realised that what made it home was spending time with him. The fact that I’d come back and the first thing he’d want to do is show me something or play something or just sit and hang out.
The images show a form of innocence in a way but also a feel of wanting acceptance. ‘Look at me on the monkey bars, I bet I can get across them’ ‘I’ve never climbed that tree on my own but I can do it’. This is my favourite set of images I’ve taken in this module just because of how happy it makes me seeing my brother enjoy his childhood and be completely care free and in his own little world of enjoyment and play.
Over the space of 5 years Jesses Burke went on several road trips with his daughter and photographed their journey and her experiences with nature for his series ‘Wild & Precious’. He states on his website:
‘Wild & Precious brings together treasures from a series of road trips traveled with my daughter to explore the natural world. I use these adventures to encourage a connection between my child and nature and to give her an education that I consider essential—one that develops appreciation, respect, conservation, and self-confidence. On the road we talk about the vastness of nature and try to get more in touch with the earth. Together we document the routes we drive, the landscapes we discover, the creatures we encounter, even the roadside motels where we sleep. Wild & Precious reveals the fragile, complicated relationship that humans share with nature and attempts to strengthen those bonds.’
A lot of his images from their road trips are so striking with such crisp and harrowing back drops and his young daughter, exploring and learning, being swallowed up by the vast landscapes in which she’s surrounded by. It’s a beautiful insight into the relationship between Father, Daughter and nature, demonstrated throughout the 134 images in the series. It’s also interesting to see his daughter grow as she explores and climbs, yet how she returns to her childhood innocence through his images of her sleeping in the various cheap motels they stayed in on their journeys.
My favourite image from the series. The setting is incredible and should be the main focus of the image, but your eye is drawn to this small figure hunched over inspecting something on the pile of rocks she has ventured on to.
He also created what can only be described as one of the most beautiful short films I’ve ever seen, adding to the documentation of their journey and showcasing his love for his daughter and for her to experience everything the natural world has to offer.
I really like the idea of creating a series for the home brief in a similar way in which Jesse Burke created ‘Wild & Precious’ in the sense that I’d like to document over the course of 7-10 days what home means to me by photographing a rare week back in Nottingham with my family.
