I thought I’d take the opportunity to mention that if you have film you would like to contribute to the project, please email me at forgottennegatives@gmail.com

Also, the Twitter gadget over to the right seems to be a bit broken so it seems prudent to pop a link in here: Forgotten Negatives on Twitter

There will be a post coming tomorrow morning (UK time!) with brand new images from a film I scanned last week. Stay tuned!!

In these posts I’ll be profiling an artist (or two, or three) I feel provides context for the project, whether that’s a photographer, painter, writer or otherwise.

Postsecret

The first clear point of reference for this project has turned out to be Postsecret. I’ve had a couple of people compare the project to it when I’ve explained what I’m doing here. Which is fairly flattering considering the huge worldwide success of Postsecret.

As you are probably aware, people send postcards decorated with a secret or confession to Postsecret who then publish a new selection of them every Sunday on their website. They have also published 5 books of postcards and have toured throughout America.

I can see the similarity between the projects in that they both rely on donated materials, in my case, film. I can only hope that this project achieves a fraction of the success that Postsecret has.

In my view, this project differs from Postsecret in 2 key ways. The first is that the contributors aren’t anonymous, they’re people I’ve had contact with by necessity in order to obtain the film. In these early stages they have also been people I know, in some cases. As the project grows, the contributors may become more anonymous, although I intend to take a name and location, if no other details, from everyone that sends me a film. The second way in which this project differs is that, when you send a postcard to Postsecret, you know exactly what you have sent. Most people have said to me that they have no idea what is on the film. In any case, I think most people would be hard pressed to tell you what every frame on their film contains, even if it was recently shot. In this sense I think this project has a much more unpredictable outcome for the original owners of these films. As it happens, I’ve had a really positive response from people who have sent film to me so far, but I anticipate that at some point I will come across someone who is unhappy with some aspect of me publishing their pictures online.

Sophie Calle

I have found myself returning to the work of Sophie Calle again and again, with each project that I take on. The elements of her work that I find relevant to this project are taking the personal and private and making it public, and also that her projects are frequently invasive to the private life of her subjects.

For instance, in ‘l’Homme au carnet’ (1983) she found an address book in the street and photocopied it before returning it to it’s owner. She then contacted people from the book and asked them questions about him in order to build a picture of this man she had never met. Her findings were published in Libération magazine. (The owner of the notebook, Pierre Baudry attempted to sue Calle and the newspaper and demanded that they publish a nude photograph of Calle that he had discovered, in retaliation)

(please click the image to visit an excellent article about the project)

With this project I am taking evidence from the private lives of (for the most part) strangers and displaying it to the wider world. Obviously I am being sent film on the understanding that it will be put on show and I’ve been surprised by how willing people are to let me do this. Most people have said that they have no idea what is even on the film but they’re still comfortable with a stranger processing it and putting it on display, completely outside of their control.

Calle’s project is very interesting in a voyeuristic kind of way. The subject isn’t any more interesting or special than anybody else, and it could have been anyone who dropped their address book that day but her intrusion and exploration into his life elevates him to the status of a person of interest. Add to that the fact that she approached everyone but the man himself, and the project takes on another angle whereby we might judge him by the opinions of the people who know him, without ever meeting him ourselves. She has taken an aspect of his life that is out of his control and made it an article of public interest.

Pierre demanded that she never display the work in France and declared that after he was dead she could do with it as she pleased, so in 2009 she finished the project and displayed it in America and a portfolio of the images is available to purchase. Although you could argue that her project showed a lack of respect for it’s subject by it’s sheer invasiveness, I don’t think that Calle’s intentions were malicious in any way. She respected his request not to publish in France or whilst he was still alive and as with most of Calle’s work, I get the impression that she feels a great deal of affection towards the people she chooses as her subjects.

Another project of hers that is relevant to my work here is ‘The Hotel’ (1981) in which she took the job of a chambermaid in a hotel in Venice. This gave her access to the personal possessions of strangers, which she photographed as the occupants of the room had left them. This project again showcases Calle’s deeply inquisitive and curious nature. In most of her projects she seems intent on discovering the identity of her unwitting subjects without ever coming face to face with them, or giving them the opportunity to present themselves to her.

When we travel we take a small sampling of our possessions, the bare essentials we require to function day-to-day so by examining these items Calle can attempt to form a concise picture of their owner, an essence of that person. Then by making her photographs public she is giving us the opportunity to form our own opinions about that person. Whether it is right to judge a person we have never met based on the articles they chose to travel with is down to the viewer. Upon viewing the project it’s not unlikely that we feel a certain amount of guilt for peering into someone elses personal life and unavoidably forming an opinion on that person.

I’ve also had to build a ‘creative c.v.’ for a module at uni so I thought I’d try out one of the images from the first film I received as the background. Not as sure about this as I am about the postcards but I think it’s definitely passable for now.

Any feedback on these is more than welcome in comments or via the email address in the ‘about’ section.

Film 1

This film yielded some fantastic photographs, and because they came from a disposable camera they have a distinctive style and colouring that I really love. It’s hard to pick just a few from this set but the entire film is available to view here.

Film 2

I think these photographs have mostly come from a primary school and although they’re generally a little underexposed and grainy there are a few in particular in which the composition and content more than make up for that. The full set is available to view here.

Film 3

It’s difficult for me to remain objective about this film because I know most of the people in it (a consequence of receiving film from people you know) but I think these two are my particular favourites from this set. The rest of them are viewable here.

Film 4

These came from a disposable camera I received, the first one from someone I had never met so I have no familiarity with what it contained at all. These are my top choices from this set, the rest of which is available to view here.