The Inspiration
The series that Jean presented was made when she was clearing the house after her mother died, and she found some slides from old family holidays, dating from when she and her siblings were young. Spending some time alone in the house, she projected the slides onto the walls of the house, and through the hallway – then photographed them using a Polaroid camera.
These images had a strong cinematic quality, were really engaging, very emotional, and placed a value on the physicality of the (analogue) processes. And when she shared them with the group, and talked about them, she said that the experience had been cathartic – likening it to art-therapy.
Inspired by Jean
As she spoke, I was aware that I’d used 10 of my images in a clinical psychology session (only two weeks earlier), to help me express my thoughts and feelings to Dr. S. And also minded of the photography course I’d done with Ruth Davey in 2020 for ‘mental health and resilience’. So the possibilities and likely benefits of following Jean’s example were immediately evident. And I was bubbling over with excitement at the prospect of embarking on an ‘art-therapy’ project of my own – one that might help me explore, understand and (hopefully) come to peace with the rollercoaster of experiences and emotions of the last year.