Skype chat re Narrative project

Yesterday Andrew Conroy and I had a chat about my ideas for the narrative project.  I offered up my first idea, an abstract and somewhat intangible concept about walls, internal and external, which was met with a somewhat blank and then mildly puzzled response.  No! Sarah-Jane, something simpler and more accessible.  So, we went through some other ideas I had and the one that seemed more appropriate for me, given my interests, where I'm at, the need to expand on the sort of work I have so far submitted for the course is one that I had a while ago but have popped on the back burner for a while.  You can't do everything at once and I needed to get the other stuff out of my system first.

I have been thinking about hanging out with a family for a weekend or a series of weekends and recording family life, smiles, tears and all the stuff in between with any luck.

This idea stems from several places:

1. I have been doing family portraits anyway it's a natural extension of that.
2. Being able to spend more time with a family, as opposed to an hour or two, gives me an opportunity to try and capture something more substantial than usual.
3. In the long run this may be something I can offer to potential clients  - resulting in an album, and a bigger fee than I have so far charged for my work.
4. Alternatively it might grow into something else that is less about commercial photography and perhaps more interesting for me... we'll see.
5. I am fascinated by the way families work.  There are some universal traits that you find in families from all over the world and even across species and then there are others that are culturally specific, either on a macro or micro level.   
6. The sense of alienation or 'culture shock' one can feel when they spend time in someone else's family is interesting, and added to that - having a camera and trying to 'take' some of their lives gives another dimension worth exploring.  What is this for, is it art? Is it documentary?  Is it just an exercise to fulfil a course expectation?
7. Childhood memories I have of how I felt about other people's families in relation to my own are still very clear and vibrant in my head.  I spent a great deal of time trying to exist in other people's families during my teenage years, even bunking off school when my best friend who was at a private school was on holiday so I could inveigle my way into her family.  Some of us tend to find out own families very awkward and difficult. 
8. I wonder if that desire exists still in some other form and by embedding myself into another family for a few weekends I am continuing those earlier patterns of behaviour.
9. What is family?  What is kinship? Why does it matter so much?  Does it matter (yes of course, I would say, but there are those who cannot access that and are very dismissive, choosing to blank out ties to kinship, which seems weird and difficult for others to understand.  Why?)
10. I am absolutely interested in what is going beneath the surface within human relationships.  Whether or not I have the skill and experience to find any of that at this point is another matter - we will see.

Research:

Richard Billingham's Ray's a Laugh

Diane Arbus Matthaei Family shots and Westchester image

Jim Mortram Small Town Inertia

Tina Barney Family Album
Larry Sultan Pictures from Home

Most of these show quite extreme situations, apart from Larry Sultan's.  Which makes for interesting and dramatic images. However, I'm more interested in the mundane, the 'normal'.  Is there such a thing.... let's see.

Some books I have read that I know will come in handy:

What are Children for? Laurie Taylor and Matthew Taylor

Anthropology and Child Development Edited by Levine and New

Punished by Rewards Alfie Kohn

John Bowlby & Attachment Theory  Jeremy Holmes

Mother's and Others Sarah Blaffer Hrdy (Yup, no vowel in case you're wondering).

Finally, it was great to chat with AC.  I do wish OCA had the resource to offer more Skype (individual and group) tutorials.