Introduction

This blog post contains the responses to a request that I made via social media, with a view to understanding the different narratives that could be created when looking at my photograph for Assignment 5[1]. As the people asked were a mix of mine and my wife’s friends, I wanted to establish some ground rules in order to avoid them specifically using any prior knowledge of her or her family in reading the image. At this point, I had also not told them what the title of the picture was.

The Request

Firstly, thank you for agreeing to help me with this. As always, it’s greatly appreciated. As I mentioned in my Facebook post, I have created a photograph for Assignment 5 of my current unit which has the theme of ‘the fabricated image’. What this means is that it’s a real photograph, but the scene is carefully constructed to tell a story in a single frame. This unit has been about context and narrative and how the former is incorporated through the work of the artist while the experiences and imagination of the viewer create the latter. The post-structuralist philosophers stated that the responsibility for the narrative lies very much with the viewer and that it was the job of the artist to leave just enough contextual interest to help them interpret what the work might mean.As I mentioned, there are no special skills or knowledge about the visual arts needed to be able to do what I’m asking of you. The job is to look at the photograph carefully (for say 5 to 10 mins) and consider what the meaning might be. There is no right or wrong answer.

There are some ground rules though:

1) Please look at the photograph on the largest screen possible. Other artists that create these sorts of pictures do so with large format cameras that result in huge prints. These prints show every detail very clearly. However, this is a picture from a 35mm camera which produces a much smaller picture, so you will probably need to zoom in and look around the frame to see the contextual elements.

2) Most of you will realise that the model is Jayne and some of you know her really well. Please try to disregard what you know about her (interests, personality, shared history etc) and keep your review to what you see in the frame. This is going to be difficult for some of you, but please try.

3) For the purposes of this review, I’m not interested in whether the picture is technically good or whether you like it or not. I’m just after what you think the story is. The story that you see will be shaped by your own life experiences and some things may resonate with you that don’t with others. That’s what I’m interested in, so if you want to point out any elements that you noticed that support your story, that would be great.

4)  Finally, please send me your review as a short paragraph of no more than 200 words privately via Messenger or to my email address. I don’t want stories to affect or inspire what other people see.

Thanks again for your help.

The Responses

“The lady – Jayne is sitting in a greenhouse, to me it’s her dad’s one.  The photos (at first I thought they were seeds) tell me that he was a keen gardener, and the Black and white one tells me her grandfather was too, The father became ill or infirm and the greenhouse was left untended and the garden became overgrown. I know it her Dad’s because his hat is hanging up. Sadly he has passed away and the house has been inherited by Jane, Jane has put some clothes on to sort the place out ready for sale. They are not old clothes though, which tells me she is not a diy or gardening type up to now. Jane is wrestling with whether she should restore the house and garden to its former glory and take on the family mantle of gardener or just move on. Her heart says do it, her head says get real.”

“I see a story of love, remembrance, loss and, perhaps regret. Remembrance of a loved one departed surrounded by things that that person held dear and hold importance to the memory of the departed for the sitter. For me, one item in the photo evoked memories of my father, sadly departed 32 years ago, and made me sad for both my mother and myself for the ‘lost years’.”

“In this emotive image I see a woman fondly reminiscing by looking at photographs in a place of personal importance.  The photographs are placed in a manner suggesting that they depict a special person. The greenhouse setting appears to be missing some of the life that was present when this special person was around. There are dead plants, rusty tools, empty pots and ivy creeping in indicating a lack of love and attention. She is surrounded by personal things which provoke memories and the image gives the impression that were a significant part of this special person’s life. The personal items and photographs indicate an older person who loved gardening and nature. Her posture and facial expression indicates that she is thinking of someone who was important to her and is trying to connect with this person. There is a clear difference in the depth of colour and shade as my vision scans from one side of the image to the other. Where the woman is sitting there is more light and colour which shows life and the present, which is further enhanced by the greenery outside. The other side is an image of darker shades and the past.I feel the woman in the photograph is seeking warmth and comfort by spending time alone in what look like her late fathers greenhouse. I’m guessing late father by the way she is deep in thought and lovingly looking at a photograph of an older man. His cap hangs from the green house frame, probably where he left it… She appears to look content with her thoughts, it’s clearly a place that gives her strong happy memories.”

“My first impression was of time travel, and going back in time. Perhaps that we were time travellers but arrived back too late to see again the owner of the greenhouse. Rather fanciful perhaps but I definitely felt that we were looking back to an earlier era when this greenhouse used to be full of lush plants lovingly tended.  The flat cap and picture were very moving and brought back memories of my own father who wore exactly the same cap and was also an enthusiastic gardener. He had a greenhouse very similar which was always full of plants those that over wintered and full of tomatoes in the summer. The empty pots and lack of plants emphasised the fact that the person was not with us anymore. The greenhouse was becoming overgrown with creepers and looked unloved. We/the person in the picture were looking at photos and remembering him with a mixture of emotions of love and sadness but also remembering happier times when they were part of our life.”

“Reflection.  The heart felt need to take the time to preserve, to capture in sharp focus, treasured memories of a love. A love not lost (it could never be lost),  but one which has been forced to move on.  The gathered artifacts help the memory focus and bring further memory senses; a smell, a touch, a smile, a tear. Memories of time spent together in perfect harmony; time, dealings and feelings shared.   Reflection –  a few moments to bask again in a glorious light which will slowly, but inevitably, fade.”

“A lady is sitting in a greenhouse that has fallen into disrepair probably following the death of the gardener. The lady is thinking about the gardener and judging by the look on her face he would have been someone close to her. She is clearly sad looking at his photograph remembering him, his love for gardening and the former glory of the greenhouse indicated in the photographs of previous harvests.  His cap hanging on the peg is poignant and suggest the owner was elderly maybe her father or grandfather, the tools in pot and the general tidiness of the greenhouse indicates that former gardener’s illness and ultimate demise was probably unexpected. The teapot on the shelf reinforces that feeling of unexpectedness and brings a sadness of its own. The missing panes of glass and the plant growth appearing through the broken window gives a timeline to his demise, not that long ago suggesting that this is the lady’s first visit since the demise of the gardener and the grief is still quite raw. The black and white photograph of the man, presumably the gardener behind the lady is strange. I understand the colour pictures that she has but the B&W left me wondering.”

“My thought is that Jayne is sitting in a greenhouse because it was once the happy place for her Father (or Grandfather) and that he has died, possibly some time ago. She is looking at photos of him and his garden as that was his great love and she is missing him so wants to be where they spent time together and she can feel close to him. It feels like it could be the anniversary of his death or his birthday, or he was perhaps ill for a while and neglected the greenhouse for some time.”

“I can relate to this totally, although whether this is your story or just a reflection of my own life I’m not sure. (When I visit the greenhouse at my late parents’ house there are dead plants in pots, a broken window, and vestiges of lives past.) So I’m leaning towards a similar photo-story here. The cap suggests it was the property of an older man, but there is no older man in the picture. This would have been a man whose hair was thinning; the cap used to keep the sun from burning his head or kept the cold draughts off in winter. He may have died or he may no longer be able to look after the place and has gone into a care home (I need to revisit the photo so see if this is answered by visual clues). The woman is the man’s daughter, or maybe even his wife. She looks contemplative, certainly not happy, but not sad either. She seems to be reconciling herself with reality and looking back at memories. The photos show the man’s garden when it (and the man) was in its prime. There are flowers and plants that probably started off from seeds and cuttings in this very greenhouse.”

“The lady in the picture has returned to her childhood home after the death of her last remaining parent. The greenhouse was the pride and joy of her father and he spent many happy hours here tending to his plants. Since his death no one has really been in there and his cap is still hanging where he always left it. She hasnot set foot in the place for a long time, but on finding some old photos of her dad she felt compelled to go and look at them in the place where he so loved to be. As a child she was constantly sent down the garden to find her father and tell him his dinner was ready or that someone needed to talk to him on the phone. That always made him grumpy at being disturbed. She could never understand the attraction of the place then , but now on her own with her memories it seemed the perfect place to remember.”

“Lost in memories but keeping them secret.”

“The person in the photo is having a moment of quiet reflection. She has chosen to sit in the greenhouse and look at pictures of someone that means a lot to her, and who has passed away. The greenhouse is somewhere that the person who passed away spent a lot of their time, and they were always happy here. She is surrounded by things that belonged to the person – the checked cap, the gardening tools – which all hold memories for her. She has sought the peaceful solace of the greenhouse to think about the person to whom the greenhouse belonged. This is someone she misses a great deal, but she finds comfort in the familiarity of her surroundings. She is grieving a loss, hence time spent in this special place is precious to her; it is healing, and it is cathartic. She feels the need to be here, to bring herself closer to the person she has lost. This place to her is a sanctuary, an oasis of calm in a busy, turbulent and sometimes chaotic world”

“I think the picture shows the end of a chapter in a man’s life, to whom the person (Jayne) in the photo was close. The end of the chapter could be that he has died, or that his health has deteriorated and the house is being sold. The plants growing through the glass to the right of the picture imply that the gentleman has not been able to pursue his gardening for some time. Everything in the greenhouse is well kept, and has a place and purpose, so he would have cut the shrubbery back if he was able. We know it was an older man’s domain, as the hat is a gentleman’s flat cap. The greenhouse has been a place where the gentleman has been happy and proud of his growing. This is shown by the gardening tools in the terracotta pot, they have been carefully returned to the pile in the pot. The teapot on the shelf reminded me of my granddad, who had specific containers for jobs in his greenhouse. I felt strongly that the teapot would be used for plant food! Jayne was close to this person and she is taking time to remember the times they shared in his greenhouse and the man who is no more. She is closing her personal life chapter and mourning it’s passing”

“The story that I see being told in the picture is of someone who is dealing with grief and the loss of a loved one. The person is sat in a place that was very special to the person she has lost and is looking through pictures that also reflect the past glory of the greenhouse. From the objects around the shot, you can see personal objects of the person who has passed, the scissors in the foreground are rusty and tell, alongside the missing panes of glass that the greenhouse has been allowed to fall into disrepair, it also indicates that that person passed a while ago, as does the plant in the far right background and again, ivy growing into the greenhouse through the missing panes reflect the neglect. The personal possessions in the greenhouse, the flat cap and the teapot are reminders of the person who once spent time in this place. It’s interesting to wonder the relationship between the person in the B&W picture and the person in the picture being held. Did the greenhouse get passed down from Father to son, does the state of disrepair reflect that the greenhouse is no longer needed or will be passed down and relocated?”

“The subject is not wearing gardening clothes and looks sad and thoughtful. She is viewing photos, some containing an elderly gentleman in a gardening setting. Together with the B&W photo this is clearly his shed and with the level of decay is shows he is no longer able to live there or, more likely alive. Some time has passed as scissors are rusty all pots are barren and vegetation outside is encroaching inside through broken panes. The B&W image further emphasises that the glory days were a long time ago. The cloth cap has not deteriorated the same as its surroundings and may have been placed there latterly as a homage. This is where the subject goes to feel a connection with the man in the photos. The setting helps the subject to reminisce in a location that was very important to the man and was the place where he was most happy” 

“It looks to me like a woman is taking some time away from the rest of the world to remember someone who’s passed away – my assumption is her father based on the pictures of an older gentleman. Based on the photos and the hat that’s hung, I believe the greenhouse that she’s in belonged to her father and it’s been kept and she visits due to its sentimental value. As there aren’t any plants flourishing and tools have rusted, I’d suggest that some time has passed since he’s gone. As she’s in the greenhouse at nighttime, I took that to mean she might be visiting in secret so she can be alone with her thoughts. Based on the fact there are photos there, I also took that to mean that there may be a frequency to her visits”

“There are two ‘angles’ for me. Firstly having worked in health and social care for much of my life I have seen and experienced loss and how it can impact different people in different ways. The second angle is more personal, being of the age now that we are, beginning to attend more funerals than weddings, I’ve experienced loss of friends and family and the associated grief quite a bit recently. As a keen gardener too I can appreciate the before and after state of the green house. So I don’t know Jane but if I were sitting there I would be grieving, this includes the sadness you’d expect but also filled with the happy memories of sharing that space with my relative in the picture on the wall. I have plans to do them proud and get the greenhouse back to it’s former glory. But for now I sit and remember happier times…”

“I see a lady sat down at a table that is in a greenhouse. She is staring at a selection of images of a gent and his plants. There is a hat hanging on the side that would have been worn by the gent in the pics. The greenhouse was his pride and joy, but he has been unable to make use of it recently due to his advanced years. Gardening was his hobby for a very long time. Competitions were not his thing, but anyone calling round would comment on the variety of plants and how they would like a garden like this. The glass is broken, the plants are intruding, nothing has been planted recently. The tools in the pot are rusting. The teapot on the shelf would have contained used teabags for use in the garden. She is reminiscing  about the times she would find him in there when she called round to see him. Unfortunately he has recently passed away and the house will be sold soon”

“In this emotive image I see a woman fondly reminiscing by looking at photographs in a place of personal importance.  The photographs are placed in a manner suggesting that they depict a special person. The greenhouse setting appears to be missing some of the life that was present when this special person was around. There are dead plants, rusty tools, empty pots and ivy creeping in indicating a lack of love and attention. She is surrounded by personal things which provoke memories and the image gives the impression that were a significant part of this special person’s life. The personal items and photographs indicate an older person who loved gardening and nature. Her posture and facial expression indicates that she is thinking of someone who was important to her and is trying to connect with this person. There is a clear difference in the depth of colour and shade as my vision scans from one side of the image to the other. Where the woman is sitting there is more light and colour which shows life and the present, which is further enhanced by the greenery outside. The other side is an image of darker shades and the past”

References

[1] Fletcher R, 2020, “Assignment 5: Making it Up”, OCA Blog Post, https://richardfletcherphotography.photo.blog/2020/12/24/assignment-5-making-it-up/