PictureBook – ‘The Burden of Self-Minerva’ – By Benamon Tame
Benamon does it again, with another fantastic sixth article for his Column PictureBook. In PictureBook Benamon concentrates on the the story behind the image. As Benamon himself describes it: ‘As Photographic artists we do not just capture stories but create them, the journey behind and the image we present. PictureBook draws on Images selected from my own story series but will also look at the work of the other story tellers within the community’.
Don’t miss this incredibly creative article from Benamon, another great piece. Over to you Benamon…. (foreword by Joanne Carter).
“Before her glass eyes the toys moved around, but she did not see them.
Like flickering images from a projector, strange memories played before her inner vision and overwhelmed her. Once she had tried fight it, but she was too new, herself to small and the Now too fleeting. Against the wave of days she was seduced and lost. Paper in the rain.
The other toys had watched in strange fascination when Syster had delivered the brain from its jar and laid it into Minerva. Her china head opened in fearful compliance of Loki’s curiosity.
Fasination turned away as they watched her sink into herself, small sounds and twitches, muttered words from forgotten conversations gave way to silence and the image of lifelessness.
The toys drifted away to other games and newer fascinations and Loki sought out other games.
© Benamon Tame – ‘The Burden Of Self’
Minerva is another casualty of the Toy Room, her story touches on the fragility of personality and how much of who we are is based on what we have experienced. Minerva is paralysed by the weight of memory from the brain Loki has given her. The flood of past events replayed and all the emotion attached to them, reducing her place to that of a mere observer, barely herself only in that herself is the point of observation. Her own sense of self is too new, no memory of experience to support it and compete. She is also caught by the richness and otherness of it, mesmerised and addicted to exploring another, giving her something the Toy Room could never give her.
© Benamon Tame – ‘The Burden Of Self. Typewriter remix’
Minerva took her name from the Roman Goddess of wisdom.
When looking at the remixes for Minerva I wanted to try and visualise the thoughts in her head and the butterflies beating against a window came to mind. Wings flickering like jumbled memories against the front of her consciousness . I also imagined Minerva caught up in a memory, watching the flight of butterfly, consumed by exploring all the detail of it and everything around, sounds and textures, the feel of everything and the myriad of emotions and strands to other memories. The butterflies are presented in mix, not quite as real as Minerva beneath them and tinted almost like a film negative.
© Benamon Tame – ‘The Burden of Self.Butterfly Wing remix’
The butterfly wing remix drew this quite boldy while the Butterfly thoughts remix took the main elements and combined them to create a visual shorthand for her mind and body”.
© Benamon Tame – ‘The Burden of Self.Butterfly thoughts remix’
Apps used for creating the images were Juxtaposer, Iris Photo Suite (now rebranded as Laminar Pro), ScratchCam, Pictureshow, Snapseed and Blender. The remixes also used Lo-Mob, Labelbox and Phonto
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter is a British photography journalist, editor, curator, and the founder of *TheAppWhisperer.com*, one of the world’s leading platforms dedicated to mobile photography and art. Since its launch in 2009, TheAppWhisperer has become an international hub for artists of all levels to discover, learn, exhibit, and engage with contemporary photographic practice.Built on principles of inclusivity, accessibility, and artistic excellence, Joanne has spent almost two decades championing mobile photography as a serious artistic medium. Through interviews, critical essays, exhibitions, competitions, and education, she has helped shape and document the evolution of mobile art on a global scale.Her work has taken her internationally, lecturing on photography and mobile art at institutions and events including the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, alongside appearances in the UK and Europe. She has served as a juror for international photography and mobile art awards across Portugal, Canada, the United States, South Korea, Italy, and the UK.Joanne is also the founder of *TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com*, one of the first online galleries dedicated exclusively to collectible mobile art, connecting artists with collectors across Europe, the United States, and Asia.Before founding TheAppWhisperer, Joanne worked extensively in print journalism and photographic publishing, including roles at a paparazzi photo agency and as deputy editor of a leading photography magazine. Her freelance journalism, criticism, and commentary have been published widely in both the UK and the US, with bylines in *The Times*, *The Sunday Times*, *The Guardian*, *Popular Photography*, *NikonPro*, *DPReview*, *Which?*, *Vogue Italia*, *LensCulture*, the *BBC*, and more recently, the *Financial Times*, where her published letters on photography continue to contribute to wider conversations around the medium.Alongside her editorial and curatorial work, Joanne’s own photographic practice has been exhibited internationally across the UK, Europe, South Korea, and the United States. Her work increasingly explores themes of grief, loss, death, memory, and the body.Her current research interests centre on grief, death, and poverty, with forthcoming postgraduate study leading towards doctoral research in these areas.Joanne is currently developing new long-form writing and photographic projects and is available for commissions, editorial projects, speaking engagements, and collaborations.Contact: joannetheappwhisperer@gmail.com)
One Comment
Catherine
Gorgeous tale and art, once again. <3
I felt a bit sad for Minerva at first, but then it changed as I read, maybe being lost in her mind/world was better than the reality of the Toy Room.
I adore both the remixes too! Bravo Benamon! xoxo