Project Proposal

Name: Imogen Jones

Working Title: Great Expectations

My idea stems from looking at the literacy inspired works of Tom Hunter and Dina Goldstein, whose effective use of literature enables them to create (in my eyes) successful narratives. I have a huge fascination for Greek Mythology and Symbolism so will use motifs found in the Iliad and the Odyssey (Homer) to influence my own narratives, but will bring them into the future with my work. Expectations for the human race have been the same since civilisation began, for example a heterosexual woman ‘should’ get pregnant and have children; the symbol for fertility was the pomegranate as seen on early Greek Statues c1200BC. I’d like to incorporate this use of symbols into my photography.

I want to produce this body of work as I feel that my interest in Greek literature will create an original narrative, as I am so fascinated I believe that this will show in my work and that I can keep focussed on it. Over centuries (from the dawn of civilisation really) expectations have been forced from generation to generation; the woman must bear children, the man must provide for his family. However the introduction of technology has meant that some expectations have changed, homosexuality used to be illegal in the UK (and still is in some countries) however science has determined it is not a choice and is just as natural as heterosexuality; and so legislation has changed for the better meaning that homosexual couples can get married in a church now. But does this mean that heterosexual couples are again going to be faced with the expectation of having children? Are homosexual women going to face the expectation that they should get married in order to live a “fulfilled life”? Will a transsexual man be expected to provide for his family?

As this project could get bigger and bigger rather than more focussed, I am going to mainly look at the expectations placed on hetero women to have children in the modern era by bringing motifs from Greek Mythology into the narrative. I myself, do not want children but I hear time and time again that my mind will change, that I will (for definite) want children; I don’t. But it is expected of me (and my partner) to eventually have children, and get married and have our own house. A reoccurring problem that some women are faced with, is the fact that if they can’t have children, they are lesser women. In some of my favourite Television programmes – Friends, How I met your Mother and Rules of Engagement – the main women find out they can’t have children and feel like lesser women because of this. Is this due to the pressure society puts on us?

We are constantly told it is a biological urge to want to produce offspring that we are natural animals and that’s why we’re here. But aren’t we much more evolved than to think of ourselves as just animals? If we were at our basic urges we wouldn’t have the technology we have today, we wouldn’t have an understanding of mental health conditions and we wouldn’t have any kind of civilisation.

With my images I hope to make the audience think about the expectations and pressure we put on other people in today’s society; there’s enough to worry about at the moment. I’d like to create a series of dramatic tableaus to show the timespan of a cisgender woman, from puberty up until menopause; with the expectation from those around her she is to have children. Like in Greek symbolism I will use the pomegranate as a metaphor for fertility; I’d also like to convey the images in a satirical way as in previous projects this style has worked for me. The intended audience is the general public, especially women; I hope to show that the expectation placed upon them is fairly ridiculous and that in this day and age they should be able to do what they want without feeling guilty about it. Although I feel that it would be set up in an art gallery, there would be an awareness campaign-esque feel to it, even without words to the picture.

As I’d like to show the timespan of the woman I’d have to get a series of models that look fairly alike to convey time passing; I think the hardest thing to do would be to get a young teenager looking woman to convey the beginning of the expectations. I’d like to use the studio for my work and create dramatic lighting there, but as there’d be different sets this might be difficult and I’d have to work on location with the portable light kit. As I live in Salford, Manchester transport wouldn’t be too much of an issue and there would be an abundance of locations I could use for the shoots. If I do decide to make my own sets the budget could be high, however I could borrow items or look in charity shops to make it more cost effective. The hardest set to make would be the hospital for the end of the narrative.