Collage

The precious babies went back to school today, so it is back to writing the PhD thesis for me. I was drawn to a particular quotation by the anthropologist James Clifford, articulated in his text Roots:

'The purpose of my collage is not to blur, but rather to juxtapose, distinct forms of evocation and anaylsis. The method of collage asserts a realtionship among heterogenous elements in a meaningful ensemble. It brings its parts together whilst sustaining a tension among them' Clifford, J., Routes (London: Harvard, 1997), p. 12.

I decided to explore this through a photographic image, opting just to photograph the left side of my desk, as it is. There are, as Clifford asserts, heterogenous objects in a meaningful ensemble. A photograph of Chrisopher and I; two mugs containing stale coffee; a toy belonging to Lucy; a DVD of 'Mr and Mrs Smith', which Lucy and Izzy believe to be a film featuring Chris and I (!!!) and the books from which I am currently working.

And, for Christopher, as it is the third of the month:

'A portrait! What could be more simple and more complex, more obvious and more profound? ' ~ Charles Baudelaire