Research - KayLynn Deveney

One helpful part of today's session was that I got pointed in the direction of this photographer. KayLynn Deveney's work isn't spectacular photography that you'll never have seen before, yet it's interesting and thought-provoking and life captured still.

The project I'm looking at is 'The day-to-day life of Albert Hastings' which is pretty simple yet lovely at the same time. She met Albert when he was 91 and he is definitely a survivor. His wife, daughter and his grandson have all passed away and so now he lives on his own. For his age he seems in good health and also in good spirits. He is lucky that he can still do the day to day aspects of life and take care of himself.

It's a simplistic project, Deveney photographs the simple, day to day activities and Albert wrote annotations of what he was doing below. It adds the personal touch of his writing and his thought and in some pictures you get an element of himself with how he talks or rather spells stuff. I also love that he becomes a co-author of the project rather than just the subject. I think it makes it more about the identity and less about invading privacy.

I need to get the book out of the library as it shows an even more personal touch than the online images suggest. It not only includes his annotations but also his poetry, drawings of clocks and family photographs.

It's made me think that perhaps I need to look at a more personal touch for my own project. Whether that be my own family's wishes and exploring them in detail or going back and looking at family photographs and letters.