Thesis: Anemoia

Apr 10

I have often wished that I lived in the past; the way life was simpler and seemed to move a little slower. People sat on porches and greeted passersby, wrote letters to long time friends, had dates at the local roller rink or drive-in movie, and ate family dinners at the family-run diner.

In the first semester of my second year at NAIT, we had to complete a thesis. Our task was to photograph fifteen different images based around a central theme of our choosing. My mom has always had an antique collection displayed above the cupboards in our kitchen, and I love still life photography, thus my thesis topic was decided: antique still lifes processed to look like they were taken on film.

When I was trying to come up with a title for my body of work, I knew I wanted it to have to do with nostalgia, but I didn’t want to name it “nostalgia,” as it didn’t seem artistic enough. So I researched synonyms for nostalgia and came across the term “anemoia.” Anemoia is defined as a longing for a time you yourself have never known. The term was coined by John Koenig, the author of The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. (Click here to watch the short video John put together for the word Anemoia.)

Though this assignment was stressful, as it was a large task to complete, I really enjoyed the process of creating each scene and seeing the end result. After shooting my first five images, I got into a routine and had a pretty specific set up for the rest of them. I wish I could have gone back and reshot the first five, but the deadline was only a day or two away, so it just wasn’t feasible. Overall, I am very happy with how my photographs turned out, so much so that I ended up shooting four more antique still lifes for my portfolio assignment this semester (look forward to seeing those in a later post)!

I hope the imagery I created leaves you longing for another place and time, and if you’d like to view the images as a slideshow, click below on the word “Anemoia.”

Anemoia