I have been meeting up with people who I have met through the internet to communicate about my photographic series, and discuss what items they collect. So far, I have three subjects, all of whom collect very different items, either willingly or unknowingly. All of my subjects will remain unnamed for now, as I have not yet confirmed with them if they wish to be named or shown in my photographic work.
My first subject admitted to collecting buttons, after she bought a box full of them a few years ago. After talking to her further when we met up, it also became clear that she unknowingly collects receipts from her shopping trips in a tub under her sink. Although these are common things to collect, they have become a source of interest for me. It has become clear taking to this subject that her collecting does not affect her life, but she feels some sense of anxiety towards her collection if she does not know where the full collection is.
My second subject is a friend of mine, who collects newspaper clippings of things that happen in her local area. This is also a pretty common thing to collect, and I have heard of people keeping newspaper clippings of their loved ones in the newspaper for years, but remain in a box, untouched and unseen.
My third subject collects bottle tops from beer bottles that he drink, which was revealed has become quite a ritual, and causes anxiety if he were to accidentally throw one out. Although his collect stretches to a couple of hundred bottle tops, the anxiety he feels about his collection is what interested me. This subject is a hoarder at heart also, collecting newspapers, magazines and photographs of people he doesn't know in his house.
After meeting with these three subjects, I plan to construct some artwork from their collections. I plan to meet with them in the near future and see if the subjects will part with a small selection of their collection for my photographic project. I will keep you updated!
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