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]

References/bibliography

In the mood for love (2000)
Minari (2021)
My neighbour Totoro (1988)
Sideways (2004)
It’s a beautiful day in the neighbourhood (2019)

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.