Nigel Shafran began his photography career in the fashion industry. He later realised that fashion was not what he ‘wanted to pursue, because of the way it depicts women, and the aspirational values it promotes, suggesting you shouldn’t be happy with what you have’.
Shafran’s work mainly draws on elements from his personal life. He uses his wife’s whereabouts and a series which features stacks of washing-up with accompanying text listing the foods eaten to highlight how we organise and arrange our domestic surroundings. ‘What interests me isn’t grand themes, but the everyday. It’s the side of our sink, which is where we keep food waste and packaging before they are put on the compost heap or stuck in the recycling bin. It’s lit by the kitchen light.’
‘My work is about a build-up of images, often in sequences. There is a connection between them all. Basically, I’m a one-trick pony: it’s all life and death and that’s it.’
Shafran’s images are autobiographical, recording a series of trivial events in his life, the same routine events that most of us carry out daily but, never really consider. Shafran’s images reveal the facts of the meal/washing up events rather than the emotion surrounding it. He approaches his subject with a degree of detachment, in a manner similar to William Eggleston who records the banal and ordinary of everyday life.
By excluding people, Shafran has allowed the viewer to create their own narrative and meaning. He has chosen a very effective and subtle approach. Through the image and text, Shafran reveals the details, while the circumstances are left to the viewer. The inclusion of a person might, through body language, gesture and facial expression, channel the viewer towards a particular narrative.
Reference
Boothroyd, S. (2015) ‘Still Life with Nigel Shafran’, WeAreOCA, 7 May, available: http://weareoca.com/photography/still-life-with-nigel-shafran/ [accessed 20 Jul 2018].
Philips, S. (2010) ‘Photographer Nigel Shafran’s best shot’, The Guardian, 21 Apr, available: http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/apr/21/photography-nigel-shafran-best-shot [accessed 21 Aug 2018].
Shafran, N. (2015) Nigel Shafran [online], available: http://nigelshafran.com/ [accessed 21 Aug 2018].
Identity Place Photos 