Edition May 2008
Work in progress. Hands and Health
The idea is that hands are an inseparable part of a persons identity. That identity is altered by the persons life and how they live it. Each person has a life in which they can live and be loved. The hand can display an intimate contact, making public the relationship between two people. In a picture it is hard to show just a hand. Without the body the isolated hand somehow denies the person, making their identity appear dead or lonely.
My project on hands altered by health has imposed an alternative way of making pictures. Firstly my need to sell pictures is placed into the background, so when I plan the picture I do not introduce elements which would make the work too obvious. For example introducing a flower, OK for a gardener but a crude devise when applied to someone who never handles flowers. Using a second persons hand was not my original intention but came from the reality that two people lived so closely together. So the second hand is a necessity in their lives.
The whole hand without a face thing is difficult for me too. It seems such a waste to be with the whole person and then just use their hand. So this is an imposed discipline and stops me from losing concentration and reverting to a portrait approach. I still find it a dilemma though that I want to show a persons identity and the isolated hand confronts me as being initially anonymous.
Relating the health circumstances which effect the use and appearance of the hand is difficult. I look for visual clues which can add meaning but the clues have to be a part of the reality.