Mathilde-project proposal

INTIMACY * EMOTIONS * MEMORIES  

A study on slice of life photography and conveying nostalgia

What do you want to make?

In my previous work I’ve experimented a lot with creating cinematic scenes, almost like a screenshot out of a movie. I created this with the ultimate goal of this particular analysis but at a stage where it had no actual narrative depth.

Key to my work will be the subject of memory; I would like to recreate moments of intimacy that provoke emotion. I want this work to have a slice of life element to them; universally relatable, specific moments that we all share.

[Examples of the work]

These memories will be shot and composed in the way that remember them; fragments and details of a moment that comprise a story together. I will start with intimate moments I, myself am experiencing first; for example lying in bed with my partner. The photographs will be intimate compositions of details that fix in the memory, arranged in ways to create a narrative that conveys emotion.

I want to draw on the visual language of cinema, such as 80s Asian cinema. These have a particular colour range; a yellow-greenish, mostly warm toned aesthetic with a high contrast and yet a softness to them. I will also draw on the influence of asian analog photographers who use a similar aesthetic of this grainy, green toned, nostalgic aesthetic. With this style, I want these images to put the viewer in a particular nostalgic place.

[Examples]

In this experiment I have taken several images and rearranged them to give them a narrative. I want to shoot digital and create an analogue and cinematic blend style. This promotes, to me, the best of both worlds; combining my digital shooting method with the style and nostalgia of an analog look.

[Examples] (een stijl dat tussen cinematisch en analoog zit, het hoort eruit te zien alsof het een snelle snapshot is, een momentopname, maar dan met een dromerige context.)

Why do you want to make it?

I have always been moved by slice of life type images, there is something poetic about a piece of artwork that shows you a normal everyday scenario that you are not a part of and can still give that feeling of nostalgia. It gives me a feeling of now-ness while never actually having experienced that particular moment.

Relation to a larger context

This project will be my contribution to the slice of life style art.

Timetable

Okt-Nov

• Shoots with models - main focus on developing analog style, composition experiments.
• My own intimate moments - Main focus on composition.

Dec-Jan

• Shoots with models - Combine composition and style
• Dabble with narrative: what works and what doesn't?

Jan-???

• The work as a result of these experiments.
• conclusions
• Thesis deadline

References/bibliography

• In the mood for love (2000)
• Minari (2021)
• My neighbour Totoro (1988)
• Sideways (2004)
• The Power of Now - Echkart Tolle

I choose these movies as my references because some of them have a very slice of life element to them. Scenic/cinematographic and story wise I feel like they can have a relatability to different types of people because they can be interpreted in your own way, while still having a concrete idea of what is happening.