A Five Year Cycle
1986 - 1991
Cycle; A recurrent period of a definite number of years adopted for purposes of chronology; A recurrent round or course (of successive events, phenomena etc.)
Cycle; A recurrent period of a definite number of years adopted for purposes of chronology; A recurrent round or course (of successive events, phenomena etc.)
A regular order or succession in which things recur. A round or series which returns on itself.
A regular order or succession in which things recur. A round or series which returns on itself.
O.E.D.
O.E.D.
"The power of photography relies upon its ability to record with intensely faithful detail the surface appearance of things. We believe, in our credulity, that photographs are in some way 'real' - more 'real' than other art forms such as painting. It is accepted that paintings can be concerned with symbolism and metaphor but the old saying “The camera never lies” is still widely used and mis-used. To make photographs that are concerned with something other than that which is actually depicted so faithfully in them seems to undermine the medium and to invite the viewer to collude with you in a very believable lie.
"The power of photography relies upon its ability to record with intensely faithful detail the surface appearance of things. We believe, in our credulity, that photographs are in some way 'real' - more 'real' than other art forms such as painting. It is accepted that paintings can be concerned with symbolism and metaphor but the old saying “The camera never lies” is still widely used and mis-used. To make photographs that are concerned with something other than that which is actually depicted so faithfully in them seems to undermine the medium and to invite the viewer to collude with you in a very believable lie.
A Five Year Cycle was the result of a long period of investigative experimentation into the possibilities and implications of sequential construction with photographs. As it developed over time it became increasingly autobiographical in nature; the motivation for the work becoming a process of self discovery. The start of this work coincided with some significant personal changes in my life.
A Five Year Cycle was the result of a long period of investigative experimentation into the possibilities and implications of sequential construction with photographs. As it developed over time it became increasingly autobiographical in nature; the motivation for the work becoming a process of self discovery. The start of this work coincided with some significant personal changes in my life.
Most of the pictures were made alongside my routine everyday life, some revisiting places frequented in childhood. Attempts were made to find connections between seemingly unconnected, disparate visual experiences separated by time and place. Forms, motifs and symbols occur and re-occur creating visual rhymes which underpin and unite the sequence like the rhymes in a poem. In sequencing,I am not only attempting to affect each individual image by association with another but also to load the “empty” spaces in between with other potential meaning.
Most of the pictures were made alongside my routine everyday life, some revisiting places frequented in childhood. Attempts were made to find connections between seemingly unconnected, disparate visual experiences separated by time and place. Forms, motifs and symbols occur and re-occur creating visual rhymes which underpin and unite the sequence like the rhymes in a poem. In sequencing,I am not only attempting to affect each individual image by association with another but also to load the “empty” spaces in between with other potential meaning.
Not an attempt to make straightforward photographic documents of any specific place, the pictures operate within a metaphorical tradition taking the form of mirrors rather than windows on the world.
Not an attempt to make straightforward photographic documents of any specific place, the pictures operate within a metaphorical tradition taking the form of mirrors rather than windows on the world.
All pictures here are gelatin silver prints.
All pictures here are gelatin silver prints.
Above: The original poster for this exhibition at Picture House in Leicester, 1992
Above: The original poster for this exhibition at Picture House in Leicester, 1992
Defrosting pair
That cold morning
Icicle face
Blackboard
Graffiti on a whitewashed window
Hand towel and drawing
Gloves
And the children know the way
Fred's talc
Fall
My jacket
Made in England
Mirror
The weir
Double lock
Self portrait
Light from dark
Back garden nativity
Good Friday
Stream at Kingsthorpe