'Inspired' Series - Elinor Carucci

I thought I'd write a little about the photographers and artists who have influenced my work over the years. My 'Inspired' series starts with Elinor Carucci:

Elinor was born in Israel in 1971, but moved to New York after graduating with a degree in photography from Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in 1995.

I first became aware of her photographic work after I was given her first published book, Closer, as a Christmas gift in 2002. As I pored over the images, I was hooked. That collection of photographs is astoundingly beautiful and really became a key influence on the type of work I wanted to make.

Closer is a collection of the most intimate moments in Elinor's life, from images of scars and stitches through to snapshots of members of her family in the shower. There is a lot of nudity in her images, but in no way is it pornographic or vulgar. Instead, it is a true example of the closeness of a family; a family who are relaxed around each other and share in the natural feeling of being naked.

It is the idea of capturing an intimate moment that no-one else will see or remember that attracted me to that way of making images. I endeavoured to catch what I called 'disposable moments'; moments that may seem insignificant and be forgotten in an instant, but on seeing the photograph are re-lived once more, or trigger a memory of that time.



'Red Curtain' - Elinor Carucci

Elinor's images seem almost dreamy at times; the way she captures the light in the room can create a hazy look which envelopes the image leaving the viewer in a dreamlike mood.

Intimate moments are key to her personal work, and in 2009 she presented a body of work focusing on her children. This caused criticism towards her decision to put her young family at the centre of an exhibition. I think the images are a beautiful document of motherhood, captured through a lens instead of a diary or 'baby's first years' books. To ignore a life-changing event like giving birth to twins would be a travesty to Elinor's personal work. It is her living diary of life through a lens, which would be incomplete if the children were omitted. The timeline just wouldn't make sense.

- Taken from 'My Children' - Elinor Carucci

I continue to make work following the same principles today. Whether it's capturing the mist as it rolls across the park in the morning, or the detail of my cat's paws as he snuggles down on my lap; the ice-cream covered face of my young nephew or a secret glance at my lover as we hurtle along on a train - all these moments are important to me, to keep them alive, to remember them forever.

Forever is the key.