Recollections:
memory streams and the reconstructed portrait

2004 - 2006

I once met a man with whom I had a very memorably captivating though utterly brief conversation. We exchanged only a few words and never met again. I distinctly remember that he had a thread sticking out of his blue shirt, on the right shoulder. This encounter stayed with me and its memory has continued to both amuse and intrigue me; after so many years, I still see a blue shirt and that runaway thread with such clarity. However, I cannot recall a single detail about this gentleman's face or being.

This experience was a catalyst for exploring memory, how I remember people, what I remember and what I do not. I have always been fascinated at how incomplete and fleeting, yet very rich and full my memories are.

What my eye sees is not what my mind remembers, so what is it exactly that my brain recalls and permanently imprints into my visual memory, and why those things in that particular way? There is no urgency in my process of recall, every detail becomes timeless and at perfect rest, almost hauntingly so. The mystery of time in forward motion becomes an important question to add to this exploration: does one's memory really become a part of one's reality, in all spaces of time? "Recollection" is defined as the active retrieval of memory through metacognitive strategies, or conscious associations and perceptions. These associative strategies have inspired me and led to this photographic exploration.

Embracing both the traditional approach to photography (shooting on film) and the digital (Photoshop), this two-year project has culminated in a series of 16 black and white portraits. To the unassuming eye, each image seems as though it is one frame, captured as is - this is not the case. Each final image is a rebuilt composite, a two dimensional scene reshaped into one that has the appearance of a third dimension of layers, textures, and subtle tones. Made to resemble a memory stream, the images are nostalgic, ethereal and often haunting. This photographic series explores the fragmented and abstract nature of visual memory as it relates to remembering people. Initially drawn to the project from a technical point of view, I subsequently started exploring memory as a metacognitive experience, specifically, the active retrieval of memory through conscious associations. Ultimately, what resulted were quiet visual conversations between the subjects and myself - sensitive portraits with their own stories to tell.