Questions

I have 3 slight variations of one shot. The one on the left is the first one, and the two on the right have yet to be color balanced. Which one has a more interesting composition? I can't get rid of the shadow on the far left of the original, because it's from a wall.







Bill posed:

Why would anyone else care about pictures of your family? (paraphrased)

Why would they? I am interested in that change that takes place in the family dynamic after you left home and then start returning as a guest in that very home you grew up in. I am also interested in the physical change that takes place. I think that is easier to see.
Are these two separate ideas?

Statement

I've been putting off writing a statement for my new work for a while now. Partly because I will actually have to focus and make work according to that statement. I think that commitment scares me for some reason. Being out of grad school and not having the feedback on projects that I'm used to has been hard on me.

Here goes:

My childhood bedroom now stores boxes of my grandparent’s photo albums, my sister’s belongings from college, my mother’s wedding dress, and my father’s random supplies. With the exception of a few photographs hanging on a mirror and the yellow painted walls, nothing in that room reminds me of my years living there. This place that I once called home is no longer my home. My life has been in somewhat of a transition state since college. I have not considered any of the places I have resided in as home.

I am interested in the changes that have taken place since I have lived in that house. I am interested in the objects my family surrounds themselves with as well as my constantly evolving relationships with those family members.

Family Photos, Doug Dubois

His images are full of tension. The family seems unhappy and almost overwhelmed. They rarely interact with one another. Often, even though there may be more then one person in the frame, they are usually not acknowledging one another. The rare acknowledgment by one subject is almost never reciprocated by the other. I think his portraits use light nicely, but some of his candids seem static. I don't always understand how some of the interior shots fit in with the rest of the series other than the fact that they have been taken within the home environment.
The series is interesting. It has gotten me to question what kind of photographs I'm trying to make of my family.