Sam Robbins - At the Edge of Memory
‘At the Edge of Memory’ is a project which serves as a visual reimagining of the landscape of my memory and its disruption through the acknowledgement of troubled family history, pain brought on from the past of my parents, and memories forgotten altogether.
The project was first incepted when considering the reasons for my family’s move from Wisconsin, USA, to England when I was six years old. While growing up in England, it was unclear to me for many years what the motivation of our migration was. In fact, it was never obvious to me in my youth that there even was a reason other than my father being British and our new home having a more forgiving climate.
But as I grew up, it became clear to me that there were indeed reasons which were not talked about and were perhaps being hidden. Memories and futures we left behind to escape from. A desire to protect the next generation from the pain of the previous and, ultimately, to shelter me and my sisters from memories which were not ours to be burdened with.
The purpose of this body of work is to reflect on the past and consider how revelations of family history can change or alter memories of childhood, and communicate ideas of ‘postmemory’ and the inheritance of trauma to the second generation. These photographs focus on using imagery which communicates the fragmented and ambiguous nature of memory and are created using key triggers of my own memories which exist in particular imagery, including things like architecture, furniture, snow, language.
The six images which form this project were hand printed by myself using photogravure for display at London Free Range show in 2019. All of the images in this series are shot on 120 or 35mm film. Some are collages of multiple shots and a couple of the photographs use archival imagery.
