Old Promises

Exegesis

Due to my experience with editing, the execution and editing of this project was quite simple and straightforward, however where this tested me was creatively, as I hadn’t written something like this in a very long time, and using just pictures to convey my message was something I found difficult. 

Constructing this project was seemingly quite simple, but posed its own set of challenges. I tackled multiple ideas and areas of focus in the initial stages; I originally was set on the idea of food, how we connect to it culturally and how it sets markers for important dates in our lives. I began taking photos to build on this, spending days combing through old photos and snapping a pic before every meal. However a week before submission I had a sudden epiphany. I was on the train back home, and had an overwhelming urge to write. And so the first draft of my poem Old Promises was made. I went home and immediately decided to further pursue this idea instead. Sending it to my friends, asking what they thought, and then going back to revise it all over again. This process repeated for a few days. 

My biggest creative inspiration has always been my sister. She cultivated my love for film and photography, buying me cameras for Christmas gifts and workshopping creative ideas with me. She left the country in 2019 in order to pursue tertiary education at New York University, something I both admired and envied, however over time the 15 hour time difference along with misaligned schedules and technological barriers slowly pulled us apart. This was my main inspiration for this photo essay, and so what I ultimately tried to achieve was to write a love/appreciation letter to my sister, acknowledging that even though we might not be as intertwined as we were when we were younger, I will still be here for her. This is why all photos I had included were of us together throughout the years, and why despite the overall ‘sad’ tone of the piece, it ends with a loving message. 

During this project I used the Zoom F3 mics borrowed from the resource centre to record my voice, Adobe Premiere Pro to edit, and all photos were taken from old family archives which were mostly taken on iphones. The music, The Light Between Us by Shaydow, was sourced from bensound, where I got a license to use it for this photo essay (License code: B4QTNUUTU6RYX5DC).