As I posted in my initial thoughts on this assignment, I decided to produce a series of images that portray what I perceive to be my roles in my household, community, during the coronavisrus lockdown.

From my initial long list I selected the following characteristics as the ones I wanted to shoot:

• Stability
• Provider
• Informed (my initial list I had this down as knowledgeable but I have changed it to informed as I think my role is to keep up to date with how the advice from government is changing and what it means to my family)
• Responsible
• Communicator
• Love

I spend some time looking at photographers whose work included self-portraits, which I have posted about separately, and decided that I would produce images in which I featured but in which my face was obscured. My reason for this is that I did not want the images to be portraits of me as a person, but rather that they would be gestural and that they would convey the roles and characteristics I had identified: by not showing my face I think it makes viewers concentrate on my actions.

Inititally I had thought about incorporating movement into the images which was in part due to looking at Francesca Woodman’s self-portraits. However, as I worked my way through the images I realised that it was difficult to incorporate in many of the images and did not add to the overall series. I have used one image where I have incorporated it, and where I think it relevant, but for the remaining images I did not specifically try to include elements of movement.

I have decided to title the images although I am unsure whether this makes the messaging too obvious. I have also decided to add borders to the images as I think that this enhances their presentation when displayed online and when getting these images printed I will have them produced with a border.

I decided not to shoot images that referred to family relationships because I did not think they were specific enough to this period of lockdown. Whilst the relationships might be heightened, they will remain more or less the same once the current restrictions are eased.

When thinking about the traits resolute, steadfast and dependable I realised that they were all very similar to stability and could be considered as synomyms. I decided to go with stability although I did have an concept for reliable that I was not able to execute. Below is a test image I shot.

My idea for this shot was to shot myself looking at the sunrise through the trees. My idea was that the sun would respresent relaibility/ constancy, always rising in the east and setting in the west. By shooting through the trees I hoped to be able to manage the exposure without my figure becoming a silhouette. Unfortunately on the occassions I tried to create the image I had envisioned the sun was obscured by cloud and so the metaphor was not apparent.

The other roles I did not shoot, like the familty relationships, I felt were too general. Despite a flurry of DIY in the first weeks of lockdown, I will continue to carry out work around the house when life returns to something more normal and the dog will still need to be walked. Consequently these do not feel as specific to coronavirus as the actions I have photographed. Although love is also something that will continue after restrictions are lifted and normality returns, my reason for including it is because I think that when life is stressful or uncertain it is important to show those you love that they are loved.