Documentary photographer Marc Wilson, who specialises in visualising and re-telling the memories and history set within the landscape elaborated on his practice through an informal talk. Marc opened this discussion with a question, “Who do you make your photographs for? Yourselves? Others? Or the people within the photographs?”. As a documentary photographer the most important consideration are the people within the frame and their stories; Marc emphasised this statement following his question as well as reiterating the importance of the story frequently throughout the talk. With this presence of a story, the ability to communicate this to others is also a vital skill to practice. This talk itself manifests itself as a vehicle for the work as discussions help these stories maintain relevance. I was thoroughly engaged with what Marc was telling us, his passion and devotion to share the stories of these individuals was clear to see.
Marc’s first published piece of work “The Last Stand” documents the presence of unoccupied military defences around Europe. This project was started in 2010 and completed in 2014; to me the length of this project indicates the scale as well as the importance of these forgotten monuments. I could relate to Marc in the sense that he also feels these overlooked moments in life deserve a new interpretation and appreciation. With this project the shots are heavily researched and considered and this translates perfectly to the visual qualities of the photograph. The entire composition of the shot relays the story of these places effectively by capturing the essence of the second world war. I found this attention to detail incredible and was engrossed by the series. An image that stood out to me most is the following…
The way the ocean seamlessly transitions into the shoreline is stunning. It presents this vast and empty landscape before me which is then interrupted by this harsh concrete bunker placed directly centre within the frame. This comparison between the soft sand and rigid bunker is a great method of declaring this structure as something foreign or out of place. The landscape appears to be swallowing the bunker, gradually overwriting this history which Marc is trying to preserve. Whilst this is occurring the presence of this structure remains, perhaps as a constant reminder of the memories of this landscape.
Following his discussion around “The Last Stand” Marc shifted his focus to another one of his projects “The Wounded Landscape” which was developed over the span of 10 years. This body of work details and relays the stories of 22 individuals who suffered from the effects of the holocaust. The content of this series was very heavy, although Marc felt this information needed to be documented and shared, which I agree with. The images within this work are a combination of digital and medium format film prints, often showcasing places of significance with each feature in frame being a strongly considered aspect of the overall composition. Each individual image told its own story, which was strengthened through Marc’s accompanying narration.
The information Marc offered was extremely insightful. His way of approaching a project and his determination to do these stories justice invoked me to step back from my own work and really think about where I want to take it. I feel like through this discussion I have understood the importance photography has in visualising these connections we have with the world we inhabit. The emotions we feel, that cannot be expressed fully through words, showcase themselves clearly through a visual medium such as photography. These fleeting moments become solidified as a part of history and realised as something that should be documented.
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