Introduction

Imagined Narratives is a body of work which explores a set of relationships between 'found' photographs and possible narratives arising from them. This process was arduous and complex. Initially it involved exploring possibilities through published sources, the most important of these was a recent book of photographs by Robert Flynn-Johnson entitled 'Anonymous' (Flynn-Johnson 2004) where the rationale for the collection is that each of the photographers is anonymous (neither the viewer nor author knows anything about them). In the introduction William Boyd writes:

'The anonymous photograph makes us ask, with new concentration, what it is about a photograph that elevates it above the casual and banal… and why some images move and enthral and remain in our memories – like paintings, like pieces of music' (Flynn-Johnson 2004:12).

Found photographs fascinate me; I find myself frequently returning to them in my art practice. Photographs that I have collected over the years date from the late 1800s, to the present day. I'm particularly drawn to 'snapshot' type images where the subjects stare straight into the camera. When I look closely at someone in an old photograph, and they in turn appear to be looking back at me, it's as if the time and distance between us has dissolved and I'm exchanging looks with someone I know. Some are private photographs, intimate images of family life. Others are public photographs. What is it about them that I find so compelling? Roland Barthes observed that even with public photographs we tend to provide a private reading: 'Does that train still run through our town?' 'How old was I when that happened?' We link images to our own existence. They are a testimony to our existence, 'a certificate of presence' (Barthes, 2000).

Susan Sontag talks of photographs as 'incitements to reverie' (Sontag, 2002: 15). I shall be exploring the idea that found photographs enable us to reflect upon our own existence whilst also having universal meanings and relevance. This work is concerned with found images and I shall be looking at the term 'found'. Many contemporary artists have turned to the found image[1] - but in relation to art practice what is a found photograph?

With particular reference to a body of work by the Iranian photographer Yassaman Ameri, titled Inheritance [1999-2004], I intend to illustrate how this artist can subvert the original meanings of found photographs, in the process giving them new and universal relevance and meanings, differing from or additional to their original intent. I shall show how found photographs are a valuable resource, available to artists, in a contemporary context.

Following this I shall be looking at a collection of old photographs in my possession. The photographs are of Christian Missionaries in Papua New Guinea (PNG) in the 1920s. My intention is to examine these images and explore the various ways they can be perceived, (subjective perceptions, dependant on culture and gender). My goal is to recontextualize the photographs, making it possible to view what could be seen as relics of a long dead and forgotten past, in new and inclusive ways. With new readings, my argument is that found photographs become re-located in the present and function as a unique and valuable resource with relevance to us all.

Finally I shall be looking at the artworks I have produced in response to the photographs of PNG. My intention is that the work has a contemporary relevance, rather than functioning on a purely personal level.