The last couple of days I have been selecting and framing up archive family photographs which form part of our work for the exhibition.
Last month I went to visit mum in Glasgow and we spent some time going through photoalbums and piles of photos, and together picking out photographs we thought would work for the show. Our pile was a bit too big and bearing in mind that I’m taking this work on the plane with me, I decided to edit down our selection. Just by accident, looking through my own archive of photos, I came across an old photo of me from about 10 years ago, jumping next to the sea. I remembered that we had picked out a picture of mum when she was young, running to the sea. I immediately thought of putting them together. It worked so well, and seemed to speak of the synchronicity we have both experienced in doing the project. i began to find other ‘pairs’, and re-looked at the photos in a different way. I found 8 pairs that seem to go together. Presenting them in this way underlines the fact that the project has been about our relationship, not illness. Looking at these images together, I am struck by the connection between us – and realise, to badly paraphrase a Beatles lyric that
I am she and she is me.
