My Friends and I

With this piece I wanted to explore the relationship between light, colour, and the subject while shooting on film. The film I selected for this project was CineStill 800T, a film which is known for its beautiful reproduction of light and colour. It's known for being shot at night when artificial and coloured lighting stands out the most, often leaving a cinematic feeling thanks to how the colours are captured. With this knowledge in hand I set out to create work which explored my relationship with my two closest friends. Over the last few years we've grown rather close, spending a lot of time having fun, working and even crying together. There have been a few times where we've felt disconnected from each other, as though we weren't speaking. This piece captures the emotions around these experiences that I've had. How I have felt that sometimes I'm chasing after her or trying to find her presence when she isn't there. The vibrant and pastel-like colours in this series help to emphasise various aspects of our relationship. We aren't always the best at communicating with one another but we both feel when there's distance between us. The stress of COVID-19 has been an interesting test for us, our relationship has been better than ever but we all feel the literal distance between each other. This series was shot before things started to get serious but compiled after Social/Physical Distancing became a major thing. In this way it was informed by both sides of this experience; How we have experienced our relationship in the past, but seen through the lens of how I view our relationship given our circumstances. As with much of my work it shares my personal experiences of life. This piece is unique because it is just as much about me as it is about my friends. It is a mirror, a reflection of how I view these relationships. How we are the same, how we are different and how our relationship ebbs, flows and grows over time. I am happy to have created this work, because it has helped me to learn more about this important aspect of my life.