Artist Bertien Van Manen has a book out named Give me Your Image. She traveled Europe photographing peoples family photographs within there own environment. There were a few things a found especially interesting when reading about Manen's work. First Paul Wombell talks about how a woman who's house was burning down stated that the first thing she would grab from her house was her photographs. When analyzing why these little paper prints would be so important he said something that struck me, "They are hidden maps that trace the routes that people have taken during their lifetime." I found this interesting because that is exactly what I am interested in with the family album.
Also when reading about the work, Manen said something that I found very interesting. She said, "They are interchangeable, but so very special to the family." When you look at anyones family album there is a familiarity about it. It's almost the same as yours or your grandmothers. Maybe thats what we love about these photographs, they tell the same story but in different variations. I think that we can connect with this way of photographing more than others because it is close to home and close to our hearts. Wombell stated, "We understand the language because our own lives have been made and re-made by such photographs. Because they are so familiar we start to look for our friends, family and ourselves. Could that be me, could I have been in these photographs?"
I think people will be able to relate to the work I am doing for these reasons.
