Project 1 – Telling a Story

I will first admit that taking a look at ‘The Dad Project’ by Briony Campbell was very difficult for me when I myself have witnessed a very close family member wasting away and dying from cancer.

How does The Dad Project compare to Country Doctor?

Both have the obvious similarity of medicine surrounding the subject in a way. While The Dad Project captures the last bit of Briony’s fathers life, Country Doctor captures the everyday life of a doctor. Both have powerful, emotional images, and both may come under criticism of ‘how could you take a photo of that?’ with images of poorly children (Country Doctor) or your dead fathers hand (The Dad Project) and both of these may stir up general criticism.

However, almost every photo in Country Doctor has the doctor in it, but The Dad Project contains more photos of other things, such as Briony herself, things to do with her dad and hospice related things. We get more context surrounding the subject with The Dad Project which I think gives it more impact as a story rather than it just being a collection of photos of a person.

What do you think Briony means by ‘an end without an ending’?

I think she means that the story physically has an ending, that being after the death of her father, but it could have had a further ending. His funeral, the family continuing to grieve, going through his things, recovering etc could all have been potential endings for this project. But it also doesn’t end because his life did, Briony & other relatives still survive, so her dad continues on with them, genetically, personality wise (as we will always have traits similar to our parents) and they’ll always remember him and his life.

It’s an open ended project due to what I’ve said above. It’s such a powerful and moving project.

 

References:

Campbell, B. (n.d.). The Dad Project – Briony Campbell | Photography & Film. [online] Brionycampbell.com. Available at: http://www.brionycampbell.com/projects/the-dad-project/ [Accessed 23 Aug. 2019].

Magnum Photos. (n.d.). Country Doctor • W. Eugene Smith • Magnum Photos. [online] Available at: https://www.magnumphotos.com/newsroom/society/w-eugene-smith-country-doctor/ [Accessed 23 Aug. 2019].