Memories_

“After a while I came to realise that I strongly associated particular meals or recipes to particular family members and memories.

And so as such each image is a study of one person, one recipe and the memory that entwines them together.”

“What is the magic of food? There is something that goes beyond the physical, beyond the plain ingredients. Really, the true joy of food that sticks with you is the experience of eating with people, the joy, the memories of those moments shared with people you love.

This became clear to me after I returned to London after 3 months spent at home in Australia with the family. During a bout of homesickness I realised that the most cherished memories were not the grandest events, but those quiet moments, the casual moments, those seemingly mundane moments around the dining table that later became fond memories.

As a result this series of images delves into the relationship between food, memories and people. While this series was shot late 2019 I think the poignant realisation of how, really, the seemingly mundane, every-day, quiet moments are those in fact those that we long for, cherish the most and fondly look back on during this strange, unknown and sometimes lonely period of time.

This series is an ode to my family. A small documentary on those moments that I’ve come to cherish during those three months where all events seemed to collide in a rare time when a large amount of the family happened to come to live in the one house. Multiple generations all living, cooking and eating together that was a rare treasure before everyone moved on into their new homes.

After a while I came to realise that I strongly associated particular meals or recipes to particular family members and memories. And so as such each image is a study of one person, one recipe and the memory that entwines them together.

This series also explores the idea of still life images subtly coming to life, to reflect the passing of time and the way those snapshots of life, those polaroid memories stored in the mind's eye have their own energy and emotion to them.

Subtle shifts in light, shadow and objects bring a subtle energy to the still life that blurs the boundaries between still life and video. I wanted to question whether still life really needs to be totally still at all? After all, past memories, present moments, are they ever truly still.”

Art Direction, Styling & Copy - Lauren Becker

Shot at Grey Shutter