Reading · Language Objects - A Place For Pictures

As someone whose art practice is fully entangled with their personal life, it can be hard to separate the photograph from the experience. Not even necessarily the experience but the emotions around what was going on at the time. Whether I was feeling depressed, in a failing relationship, general global turmoil…

Even years later, the memories of what was going on in my life and things I would rather avoid can come streaming back just by glancing at a photo. I’ve been trying to figure out if it’s important to separate that emotional baggage, or try and sit with it even though it really doesn’t feel good. A lot of times there’s not anything in the picture that anyone else would understand why it makes me feel bad, but I can be transported back to the moment and feel my own agony.

Recently, I’ve been trying to edit a book of the last 10 years of work, it’s feeling impossible. I keep stumbling across these points in my archive where it gives me pause about how far I’ve come, but also how much I am the same. It’s rather discouraging. Trying to push through has always been my modus operandi, but I’m not sure if I’m actually capable. Perhaps it’s better just to skip those parts, even if there are “good pictures”, but for all I know I’m misreading them with bias and the impact they have on me is purely because of my baggage.

Here are some of the pictures/time frames I’ve been struggling with.

Enjoy?! XO RUBY : )