For this final project I wanted to explore youth and identity. At first I wanted to focus on more of generalized idea of this topic, but as I continued on with the project, I realized that my own thoughts on this topic were to limited and continuing to create around this sense felt disingenuous to the idea of youth as applicable to a whole. This feeling of broadness was reflected on the first crit where my peers did not follow along with the theme of my chosen photos. after some reflecting and a trip back home spending time with family, I decided to focus the scope to my own identity as it is something that I understand far better, although one that I still struggle with. I embracecd this feeling during the creative process and I hope that it was reflected in this photo of my childhood in the Phillippines that was scanned and then digitally altered.
My motivation for this project was from a desire to understand my roots that lie in the time before I immigrated to Canada. I remember aspects of that time, like the house and the sensations I felt but not the actual memory of being there. Thing is, even though I don’t remember ever being there, there is undeniable proof that I was evident of this photo taken of me. Doing a little bit of research, I found that this phenomenon is called infantile amnesia. It is a common occurence where one connot not recall their early childhood. For me however, it feels like more than a loss of memory but a loss of culture as well.
Although the original photo was in colour, I went with black and white simply to be able to accomplish the flatness and tone of deterrioration of the repeated image. The three middle layers are also slightly transparent mainly to smoothen the the transition between the fully realized image to the now deterriorated, two-toned one. If I were to give this a title, I think I’d call it, “Dilapidation of Memory,” to further add context that this piece is about forgetting.
a journey that wasn't 