This is an ongoing project whereby the photographs are organised along the lines of the 16th/17th centuries' “cabinet of curiosities”. Gathered by a camera phone, they reflect interests in natural history, ethnography, religious relics and antiquities as well as other works. They have been selected and organised on personal interest and an aesthetic concern rather than any attempt at systematic or scientific organisation. The photographs are presented in a grid form with the potential for changing the arrangement, adding to the collection or reconfiguring the relationships between the images. In this way, the juxtaposition of images and objects aims to combine learning with entertainment. Each object, image or creature has been removed from its original context to be presented just as it is  - everyday items elevated to the status of museum artefacts.

 

 

Part of the rationale for the work relates to Andre Malraux’s notion of “the museum without walls” whereby photography facilitates the comparison of images and objects from disparate locations, yet can manufacture false connections, inappropriate comparisons and fanciful notions of natural histories. The absence of context or any further information aims to stimulate the viewers’ conjecture and exploration of ideas. Nevertheless, despite the initial appearance as a random collection of images, it has a strong autobiographical content and every picture has its story.