Hasselblad embrace portraits:
These are the still portraits I made over along side the moving image, they were made in the evening with location LED lighting, with colder tones, and at sunrise, with the warmer tones. I told both of the boys to dress in neutral colours as I didn’t want their clothing to be a focus in the images, I was happy with how they both wore natural browns, creams and greens. I feel that these tones fit with their surroundings and emphasise the way in which they interact with the location, it all feels very natural, which is an interesting contradiction to the unnatural situation, and the forced hug.
The idea behind this work was carrying on from the work I made during the summer where I made the two boys embrace each other in the water. I wanted to use the embrace to represent awkward, yet loving relationships, platonic physical contact between brothers. I was also experimenting with the idea of fighting, the way in which men when they box hold on to each other in between punches, and lean on each other while fighting. Fighting and aggression is so multi dimensional and has more physical contact than some men will even have with loved ones. I feel that there is an awkward tension in these images, mainly because of the boys facial expressions. I noticed that Rowan, compared with Jack furrows his brow much more, particularly the 6th image down. I feel that their faces express so much of their personality, and it is these micro elements I am very interested in.
As well as using these ideas in the images, the shoot are also experiments in terms of testing our relationship and exploring the way in which we interact with each other. These shoots was both in the evening, and in the early morning, and both were very cold, meaning the atmosphere on the shoot was tense, in between shots the boys would run back to the car without a word. I almost felt guilty during this process, I felt that I was asking too much of them, and because of their reaction I felt a bit embarrassed, but I’m hoping this will get better as I shoot with them more. Nevertheless, they still did the shoot for me, for which I was very grateful. They don’t ask any questions when shooting, and generally do as they are told, which is something I am not actually used to. Something that has been really successful in the images is their faces, I feel that they both photograph well, and don’t care enough to what they look like, so they don’t pull funny faces or feel too self conscious. I would like to make some closer portraits, perhaps test the boys to see how close I can get to them. When they look through the lens we are basically staring at each other, more than we ever have before. Maybe this is our road to understanding, and getting along.
Moving forward I would like to read more about the physical contact between siblings, the way siblings interact with each other and the variety of relationships that exist within brothers and sisters, to see if I am able to relate to any of them. I would also like to continue shooting the embraces, but maybe in a domestic space (my mums house ((family home)), my garden, my Bristol house?) to see if I can contextualise our relationship into our own space, somewhere we are more comfortable.
This was also the first official shoot after I decided to make the work, and therefore the longest interaction I have had with my brothers since things were difficult in the summer. It was an interesting experience and I am definitely putting a lot of effort into the situation in order to make sure everyone is alright, I’m not quite getting that same treatment back, but I think this will all happen in time.
THINK ABOUT THIS:
When they look through the lens we are basically staring at each other, more than we ever have before.
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