Front

2005-2007

Front deals with the notion of borders, boundaries and the edge, using the family group and the beach setting as metaphors. For this work, I travelled to beaches in the UK and around Melbourne.  I approached families and groups of friends who had made temporary encampments, or marked out territories and asked if I could be part of their family for a moment.  I took over the role or position of a woman within that group – usually the mother figure. I asked to take her place, and to borrow her clothes. She then took over my role and photographed her family using a 4×5 camera (which I had already carefully set up) under my instruction.   While I, a stranger on the beach, nestled in with her loved ones. These highly performative photographs are shaped by chance encounters with strangers, and by what happens when physical and psychological boundaries are crossed. Ideas around the mythological creature the ‘shape shifter’ and the cuckoo are evoked. Each piece within the series is titled by the name of the woman who I replaced within the group.