I’m still not really sure where I’m going with my Rethink/Lightbox Transition project and no idea how it’s going to look when in a month’s time, by which point it really has to be done. So far I have only a couple of portraits I quite like on an aesthetic basis but I’m not sure what they ‘insight’ they give into the mind/situation of English Gypsies, which was a criticism that was made of an earlier MA portrait project on Turkish Roma. This for me is a very abstract notion which I’m still struggling to get my head around, let alone to get it to shine through in my images. If one is trying to move away from stereotypical depictions of a community like this, and if a family actually doesn’t show its culture very clearly in their everyday life then in all honesty I’m not certain how to achieve this. If there are no real cultural signifiers – knick-knacks around the house, family photos etc – and they don’t do the obvious Traveller things like live in a trailer or keep horses, how is it really possible to capture this? And does it even matter if you’re trying to move away from all of that cliche stuff anyway? Does it matter if basically the pictures just paint them as the same as any other loving family or group of people – which is after all what they are? I could endlessly agonise over such things because to me actually this really matters. In terms of the images themselves I’m waiting for threads and themes to emerge…the reportage shots I have so far just aren’t doing it for me and I need to achieve some variation in the portraits when I return next weekend. I do have some ideas for a separate part of this project, which I hope will come about…Gotta just keep the faith…not easy for a stress-head like me but probably good for the character, if not for the nerves. Perhaps some audio interviews will tie this work together. Who knows but so far I don’t feel like I’m anywhere near doing these people justice….