Exhibition Outtakes

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Today I’m sharing a few more outtakes from my upcoming exhibition – these won’t be included in the show at Standard Goods but I love them anyway.

Also, I’ve been meaning to talk more about the idea behind the photos — the concept and where it came from, the meaning of the title (“This Is What Was Once All Yours”), and what I tried to accomplish with this new work.

David John, the man behind the great website “You Have Been Here Sometime”, asked me some questions about this recently and he’s posted our conversation today on his site. I’m posting a short excerpt below.

“This Is What Was Once All Yours.” Where did this phrase come from?

Brian Ferry: “This Is What Was Once All Yours” is a line from a short story by Justin Taylor, included in his book “Everything here is the best thing ever.” I read it a few months ago and wrote it down – I think it’s such a loaded phrase. The line stuck with me and as I was thinking about the concept for this show, I saw my note and it immediately gave me an idea. Something about the phrase implies an active loss, rather than a passive one – where you have actively given something up. It also implies a sense of access and possession, but in the past tense. The photos for this show were all shot in the UK, where I lived from November 2009 to November 2011. I chose to move back to the US for a variety of reasons; it wasn’t an easy decision and I’ve missed many things about my life in London since returning home. London felt like a city that really suited me in many ways. I returned for a 10-day visit in early March 2012 and I wanted to explore the idea of giving up my life in the UK – and what I had left behind. I knew that it would be interesting to return to England only a short time after moving back to the US. My hope was to capture some of the things that I left in the UK – not necessarily specific things (like my old flat or a favorite coffee shop) but more abstract, emotionally-charged stuff. There is a sense of nostalgia, perhaps – but I think it’s more than that. I returned to England with a very different state of mind than when I left. It was important to allow myself to feel that change and hopefully let the change show in the photos I took. I wanted the work to explore change & transition and the mixed feelings that can accompany that.

DJ: Will you expand on the “more abstract, emotionally-charged stuff.”

BF: I wanted to capture something about the UK that is difficult to put into words for me – those subtle things that feel distinctive to me. It’s about memory and aesthetics and environment. I guess this is why I am a photographer – it’s easier for me to show you, not to tell you – I want to share a small part of my experience with you visually.

Head over to You Have Been Here Sometime for the rest of the conversation. (Thanks to David for the thoughtful conversation and for his support).

Generally speaking, these photos are a meditation on what I left behind in the UK. They feel different than my previous work in certain ways, too – so they are also forward-looking. Once the show opens on April 21, I’ll share the photos online.

More soon.