I have decided on my final idea for the traces and memory project. I am going to follow the photo-essay idea with the subject being my great-nan. I am still undecided as to what format I will use, but it will be either 120mm medium format or 5x4 sheet film. All depends on my budget closer the time really. I plan to shoot first of all some portraits of her at her home. She lives with my nan and has pretty much been inside for the past 10 years. So she has made her room very personal and comfortable for her. I think portraits of her in her own environment would be a nice way to start off this project. I then plan to talk to her about her past, back to when she was a child, and get her to describe to me her fondest memories that she has and tell me where they were as well. I then plan to record her voice using a video camera or tape recorder as she talks about her experiences. I will then visit each location and shoot a photo of the site. And combine the two so the viewer can see the image and hear her talking about her experiences there at the same time. So you can see how much the place has changed since she recalls.

Although the place would have changed drastically, to her she is none the wiser, and as far as she knows it is exactly the same as she recalls. Her memory of the place that used to be there is unchanged, even though the location itself has changed.