Recently, I took some more photo series on the topic of labour. My ideas did go a bit on the darker side, but i’m quite interested in photographing everyday activity that feels like emotional labour. This blog is a continuation to my first blog that was made regarding the first photo sequence.
Photo sequence #2
The way you feel about yourself really changes if the actions that you do feel like labour or not. Washing my face in the morning is something that feels like emotional labour to me, as I deal with skin problems. Most days, it doesn’t feel like labour. But on my bad days, I would often find myself spending more time looking for problems about my face, rather than actually getting ready for the day. It’s an emotionally draining way to begin and end the day.
I’m quite happy with the way the images turned out. Especially the photo on the bottom right. I like how the low shutter speed captures the movement of me moving closer to the mirror. But there is still room for improvement. Looking back at these photos, this series could’ve had more range of movements in the process of washing my face. Three of the images are just me looking at myself blankly, and the other two are just similar low shutter speed images.
Photo sequence #3
This photo sequence touches on the idea of using labour as a tool to avoid a different kind of labour. In this photo, she is preoccupied with practicing her guitar skills, and she does this to avoid cleaning her room. The clutter building up on the table symbolises the idea that her responsibilities that she’s been avoiding are also building up. It comes to the point where it becomes unavoidable to ignore; As seen on the background of the image in the middle.
This sequence is a metaphor of how no matter how hard people try to distract themselves, the real labour that must be done will always be on their mind.