Over the Hill - Tim Andrews Photography Project

I wasn't going to write about this project initially although it is one that I have been following for a few months.  It's an interesting project. Tim Andrews in not a photographer; I think he used to be a lawyer or something corporate in fact.  But over the last three years he has been photographed by over 300 photographers who he invites to take part in his project.  He started it by answering an advert when a photographer was looking for a model.  The project is interesting in itself because rather than a photographer recording his personal story through a series of self portraits the subject has taken it upon himself to manage that process, turning the usual photographer gaze upside down and inside out.  What makes it even more interesting is the fact that Tim Andrews is also managing an illness and through his project explores the fragility of his ageing body and self.  I have been prompted to write about this project after all because there is a sense of taking control, of agency which is extremely interesting for me and also because of the question of vanity - or lack of it.  Is this a vain project or is it a generous and extremely brave project, where Tim Andrews reveals what he can, through collaborative work, of his frailty and indeed failings, along with the more palatable aspects of who is he is.

My A5 project is currently in some sort of no-mans land while I think about what to do with it.  My aim was to explore a story that was about me and my family.  I have been heavily influenced by my reading of Family Frames by Marriane Hirsh where she discusses the role of family albums/photographs.  I have been particularly struck by the notion of photographs gazing back at us and informing us about who we are meant to be in this modern culture of ours, about who we are within our families.  Mostly people choose to have very flattering and rather unrealistic portrayals of themselves, their families - or am I just being incredibly cynical.  The reality of families, which are usually fraught with internal seen and unseen tensions, admitted and denied fractures, is not what is usually portrayed in the images.  In my A5 work I have tried to capture not only the happy, sweet and enjoyable moments but also some of the more painful moments and aspects of our family.  I am happy to look at these, to try and make sense of them, to use my project to deepen my understanding and empathy for all that is real - the good enough and not so good enough.  Despite having involved my mother in the taking of the photographs, letting her know what I was planning to use them for, she is not happy about the photographs and feel they are intrusive and unflattering, and that I have shown her little respect.  This leaves me in a difficult position.  And I am having to think about how to address this, how to solve it.

Which has led me to think about Tim Andrew's work.  A work where an individual has over the course of several years offered his body and self to artists so that they can explore aspects of him and of course themselves, their perception of age, of illness of maleness, an ageing and unwell body.  It's an extremely generous act - but one that he has been in charge of to some extent.  My mother on the other hand is not in charge of anything to do with my work, and perhaps I was expecting too much of her.  Perhaps not working collaboratively enough although to be fair to myself, I have tried to.  And in any case the work's underlying importance has only over time started to reveal itself to me.

I won't say more about Tim Andrew's project for now.  Take a look at it yourself.  There is a range of photography, some that appeals to me and some that doesn't.  But it's fascinating, especially when you consider how the subject is in control of it.  It's perhaps Tim Andrew's way of taking control of something when he is dealing with an illness that he has little control over.  It's really worth thinking quite about seriously in relation to the book I mention above which I will finish soon and eventually be able to write about.  How I resolve my issue with the images, I am less sure about just now, but am sure I will find a way.

Tim Andrews