My Father’s Things

Wendy Aldiss

event-detail-person-vertical — Wendy Aldiss

This event has concluded

Dates: 02 Nov 2022 - 19 Nov 2022

Location: 107 Redfern St, Redfern NSW 2016, Australia

Hours: Wednesday - Saturday: 11:00 am-5:00 pm

Entry Fee: Free

Exhibition Event:

Official Opening 10/11/2022 6:00 pm

Genres: Fine-Art, Photojournalism/Documentary, Portrait

Grief is a universal experience. The way people deal with grief differs across the world and even within families. When photographer Wendy Aldiss suffered the loss of her beloved father she turned to her ‘safe space’, taking photographs. Setting up a makeshift studio within her father’s house she began photographing his things. Her father, Brian Aldiss, Grand Master of Science Fiction, artist and poet, had a huge collection of books, art in addition to objects of the everyday. Over a twelve month period Wendy photographed everything he had; the 9,000+ images resulting in a fascinating portrait of the man and a cultural record of design and creativity across 92 years.

Looking at the images of well worn garments, books, tools and family photos prompts viewers to think about their own things and what will happen to those possessions when they are no longer alive. How will we deal with our own parents’ or grandparents’ things when they die? Through the sequence of images submitted we get a sense of the process Wendy went through, from full house complete with the occupant’s spirit to an empty space devoid of nearly all its contents, and some of the objects themselves. There is even her discovery of a message left for her by her father on the back of a painting she had always admired. It represents a unique collection.

This work can be presented in numerous ways including print format and video format.

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Wendy Aldiss

Focusing on the human condition and our experiences therein, the work by photographer Wendy Aldiss is influenced by the people around her and moments in the key stages in life. Her evocative portraits connect to her sitters, their environment and depict their emotions and experiences. Her work has been widely exhibited in the UK and Europe. In 2018 Aldiss documented her late father’s possessions in their entirety. Clearly a way to keep her father closer for longer, the resulting body of work resonates with all as a reminder of family members no longer alive and provides a visual anthropological study of one person’s life through their possessions. Based in Oxford, England, she was nominated for the RPS 100 Heroines in 2018. www.aldissphotography.co.uk

Wendy Aldiss
February 2022
(I am represented by L A Noble Gallery, London – Laura Noble is the point of contact : [email protected])