1st Attempt

Here  I've juxtaposed ‘sacred’ objects with more mundane ones, experimenting with the idea of objects as symbols and how unusual juxtapositions can alter how we read them. Although I have my own ideas about what each image represents, the viewer is left to make their own connections. For example, the image of the chalice surrounded by rubbish for me suggests how the blood of Christ symbolised by the wine in the chalice washes us clean from sin during the service of Holy Communion. For someone else the image could be quite shocking or mean something completely different but the hope would be that it creates some sort of response (emotional/intellectual?) from the viewer as they try to make sense of it. This work has made me aware that I am approaching symbolism from a very naive semantic position and need to spend more time researching in this area.

The technical approach, almost like product shots for a magazine, removes any sense of mystery from the objects, divesting from them their ‘aura’ of holiness. I also need to think more about where I take the photographs as context plays such an important part in how we read an image. In some ways divorcing the object from its traditional setting might enable us to see it afresh however if the image focuses the viewer on the material properties of the object it may lose all connection with theological concepts and deeper meanings.