...a child’s party in small uncluttered room. The
photograph has a limited colour range, dominated by cream and grey.
There are eleven figures in the room and they appear to be the main
subject of the image. Eight appear to be children and three adults. The
camera is positioned approximately 3 feet above the floor and is angled
straight ahead, tilted 4 degrees to the left. The visible area of the
floor is covered with a pale cream carpet. It has a tight shallow pile
and is flecked with seven shades of brown and grey which seem to be in
faint bands stretching away from the camera to the far wall. The far
wall appears to be painted a shade of magnolia. A small point where it
joins the pale cream carpet can be seen in the centre of the photograph.
There is a white skirting board which is about 3 inches high. Two inches
above this is the bottom of a large pressed steel radiator. It appears
to be 5 feet long and two high. It is white and glossy. 4 inches above
the top of the radiator is a window of the same width but the height
cannot be judged as it extends beyond the top of the photograph. The
window frame appears to be darkly stained wood. A bright pink balloon
rests in the centre of the windowsill. The window is split into three
vertical sections. The two outer sections are able to open and have
metal handles and locks. They are closed. Through the left and central
sections of the window two mounds of green foliage can be seen. The
majority of the window appears to be filled with a bright blank sky. It
is not possible to tell if it is overcast or sunny as the sky is
overexposed. To the left and right of the window frame hang pale cream
curtains with a pink and green floral pattern. They fall just short of
the top of the radiator. They hang straight and still. 3 feet to the
left of the window the magnolia wall meets another magnolia wall at a 90
degree corner. In the corner, largely obscured by foreground objects,
stands a mid-sized houseplant. Two dark green leaves are visible along
with the base of its container. In front of the houseplant against the
second wall facing outwards sits a comfortable armchair. It has four
short wooden legs of similar colour to the window frame. They have
square feet and decorative turning. The front two legs extend upwards to
form angled arm rests. It is upholstered in material of a similar colour
to the curtains but the floral pattern is denser and finer. The seat
cushion appears to be loose and rests on a square edged seat base which
is also upholstered and trimmed with a deep yellow fringe. A figure can
be seen sitting in the comfortable armchair. It appears to be an elderly
man. His left leg is concealed. He wears thin grey trousers, a pale blue
collared shirt and a cream woollen jumper. He wears a wristwatch with a
black strap on his left wrist. The time appears to be twenty eight
minutes past two and fifty seconds. The figure wears thin framed
glasses. He is short sighted and without them cannot focus further than
11 inches away. He has heavily receded grey hair. He appears to be
forcing a slight smile. His left hand rests on his left thigh, his right
hand drapes over the angled chair arm. He is staring at the group of
figures on the floor in the centre of the room. A pigeon darts past the
window. Four figures sit with their backs to the figure in the armchair.
The foreground figure appears to be a young girl with long brown hair.
She wears a pale brown crocheted cardigan over a thin white t-shirt and
a black skirt that is hitched above her knee. She sits cross legged with
her back to the camera. She holds a red balloon. Behind her a second
figure appears to be a young child of indeterminable sex. It wears a
white sweatshirt and has medium length brown hair. Behind the second
figure a third is barely visible. It appears to be a young child of
indeterminable sex and wears a red white and black tartan shirt. The
figure leans forwards and holds out an orange balloon which narrows in
the middle. Partially obscured by the orange balloon the fourth child
appears to be a young boy with medium length straight black hair. He
looks across the floor towards two other young children who are kneeling
on the floor on the right side of the image, facing him. The figure in
the foreground appears to be a young boy with medium length straight
dark brown hair. He wears dark brown trousers and a dark brown waistcoat
over a red and white checked shirt. He holds a yellow balloon in his
left hand behind his back. The balloon is printed with a black and red
cat and bird illustration which is upside-down. The balloon reflects two
points of light indicating two further windows behind the camera. Behind
the boy in the dark brown waistcoat a slightly larger figure appears to
be a young boy. He wears a red, white and black checked shirt and holds
an elongated pale blue balloon in the crook of his left arm. His face is
obscured. He appears to have attracted the attention of nine of the
other figures. He holds a paper parcel in his right hand. It is his
birthday today. Two pigeons fly across the window. In the centre of the
image a figure kneels facing the camera. It appears to be a woman in her
late twenties. She wears tight dark denim jeans, a white t-shirt and a
red and black checked shirt, tucked in at the waist. She has shoulder
length brown hair. A pigeon brushes against the window glass. The head
of a young toddler can be seen behind the group of four seated children.
The young toddler stares across the frame to wards two figures against
the back wall to the right of the radiator. One figure appears to be an
adult male who kneels facing the centre of the image. He wears denim
jeans and a brown and blue checked shirt. He has black curled hair.
Below him stands a second young toddler who wears denim jeans and a
cream, red, black and green striped sweatshirt. He appears disturbed by
the sound of the...
54 page hard cover book, 25 x 20.7cm
A photographic narrative in which the addition of an explicit text not only directs and heightens the
potential reading of the image, but serves to question the reliability
of photography. The text remains confidently authoritative (under the
pretence of a simple inventory) as its relation to the photograph
gradually breaks down to describe elements beyond the image in sense,
space and time before beginning to refer to the next image, breaking
abruptly and starting again with a basic, ‘truthful’ description of the
new photograph. As the book progresses (there are 26 photographs - a mix
of found, commercial and personal) the transitions between images, along
with the descriptions, become increasingly absurd and start to suggest
an overall narrative (introducing reoccurring figures, objects and a
fictitious timeline). Text is traditionally present to support, clarify
or tame the open image; to supply the answers. Here, that support is
shown to be fallible and is replaced with a mysterious
narrative thread that demands a patient and sustained reading of both
image and text.
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