Collecting Images- The Bag Project

I have been working on a series for my photo class in which I am creating "personality portrait collages" with images of personal belongs or things that I associate with certain people.  Each collage is being paired with a more traditional portraits.  When I proposed this project, it was suggested that I look at Ellie Brown's "The Bag Project".  This project is a series of diptychs where the subjects are both photographed  on a neutral background and then their belongings are dumped out and photographed.  The recommendation was certainly very appropriate.  There were several things about the work that really stood out to me.  The first was the title of each piece.  It was simplistic and really just said everything about it.  Each set is titled with the subjects name, age, and occupation.  Using these as the only non-visual keys really adds to the way the diptychs work to convey personality of the subjects.  Another thing that stood out to me that I hadn't really considered was the fact that the portraits were consistent based upon background, but the subjects it seems were encouraged to pose as they wished adding another element of self - expression.  The subjects themselves are made up of such a variety of people. Here is a sampling of Ellie Brown's work from the project:

Sophie and Sammy, 5.5, Twins 2010

Chris, 23, Park District Arborist, 2010

Cedric, 22, US Census Employee 2010

Ginger, 33, Magazine Editor 2010

Kathi, 48, Retired 2010

Ellie describes the project as allowing "the viewer a glimpse into the private world of another individual, revealing aspects of this person’s organizational habits, vanities, occupations and preoccupations."  

She goes on to write "It is the tension between the person and what they are attached to that constitutes the main point of interest in BAG. What do people choose to hold onto? What are the materials they feel they need to carry around with them? What is the correlation between how the subjects choose to portray themselves in the world, and the story that is conveyed to us by their intimate objects? Furthermore, what is the story of the objects themselves? Some are sentimental, materially valuable, some are part of a current of shared objects that pass unwittingly from person to person--—pens, flyers, elastic bands. How many things are in our bag now that we are unaware of, that have been passed to us and that we will pass on, never cognizant of when they appeared and disappeared from our lives? What are the objects in people’s bags that they are sufficiently attached to in the present to physically carry with them, but will be lost or unaccounted for in a few months time?"

These questions that interest Ellie Brown are very similar to my own questions and fascinations particularly what do people hold onto and the story that is conveyed by their intimate objects. The phrase "you are what you keep" comes to mind.  I am interested in stuff that people collect, things that some wouldn't even borrow with. I am also interested in the bigger picture choices of how people project themselves into the world, their individual self expression, and I love the way Ellie Brown combines and addresses these aspects of personality and identity.