London Art Fair Discussion - Fiona Yaron-Field

Control of the Frame: Power, Representation & Identity in Photography - Fiona Yaron-Field - "Up Close"

Thanks to Pam Glew, I was able to attend London Art Fair where I went to a discussion about "Power, Representation & Identity in Photography", organised by PhotoVoice. The second panelist to share their work was Fiona Yaron-Field. She spoke about her book "Up Close", a project about the relationship between her daughter, who has down-syndrome, and herself.

Fiona Yaron-Field explained that the book's contents wasn't intentional, she was merely a Mother documenting her child's life in photos. She also revealed that she has always kept a diary. One day the thought clicked to combine the two and express the loving relationship between a Mother and daughter. She feels the writing alongside the images isn't an important connection as they weren't created to be put together, they simply express similar affairs.

 The question "Don't you feel you are exposing someone who can't voice if they want to be or not?" was raised by a fellow audience member. Fiona came back with "Children love to be photographed... It validates them... They love to be seen." She then went on to personalise the question and explained that her daughter, now 18, is okay with the publication. "She hates to pose, if I told her to stop what she was doing to photograph her she wouldn't. We are simply playing."

  

Although, this does raise the issue of responsibility of representation. How far can you go without it being "wrong"? As long as the model gives consent then it's okay, right?

Peace out xo