Reflection (2014)
"Reflection" explores the notions of home and identity through physical and psychological reflection. In this project I decided to photograph places and objects in Portsmouth, England - the city I currently live and study in, that remind me of my home (Plovdiv, Bulgaria), things that make me feel at ease or evoke positive emotions and memories in me.
Instead of photographing them straight on, I used my small hand-held mirror, a gift from a close relative, in order to create layers in the image and capture only parts of the places reflected in its surface in an abstract fashion.
I titled the project "Reflection" because the word is indicative of both physical reflection (through the mirror)
and psychological one (through contemplation). It explores the idea that regardless of where we are, we will always find something familiar in the new places we reside in, which we can identify with. Those things will remind us of home because home is not necessarily a place. It can also be a state of mind.
While printing the photographs in the traditional black& white darkroom I discovered that dust has accumulated on my negatives. I decided to let it show on the final prints because it is another signifier of home and the past. The presence of dust marks the passing of time. The inability to fully remove it, for me symbolises the irreversibility of change.
Instead of photographing them straight on, I used my small hand-held mirror, a gift from a close relative, in order to create layers in the image and capture only parts of the places reflected in its surface in an abstract fashion.
I titled the project "Reflection" because the word is indicative of both physical reflection (through the mirror)
and psychological one (through contemplation). It explores the idea that regardless of where we are, we will always find something familiar in the new places we reside in, which we can identify with. Those things will remind us of home because home is not necessarily a place. It can also be a state of mind.
While printing the photographs in the traditional black& white darkroom I discovered that dust has accumulated on my negatives. I decided to let it show on the final prints because it is another signifier of home and the past. The presence of dust marks the passing of time. The inability to fully remove it, for me symbolises the irreversibility of change.