Summary

Far more than a flat surface upon which to dine, the kitchen table can be the heartbeat of a family. It’s a place to gather, to talk and to reconnect. But what, exactly, is it that makes the kitchen table so important to the family? Even in today's contemporary world, the modest kitchen table continues to be a center of activity. Meals are prepared at it, homework is done under a mother’s watchful eye at it and games are played around it. A seamless representation of the life that inhabits around it. However, the way one envisions the kitchen table isn’t always an accurate depiction of the family status. Appearance is everything, and insecurities lead us to put on an act to create the illusion of a perfect american home. In reality, the divorce rate in the united states is over 50%, more than four children die every day as a result of child abuse, and 15 million people are currently affected by alcohol abuse or dependency. Through this project, i’d like to depict the truth behind the mask families put on to hide the truth. Corruption in the home is something almost everyone can relate to, affecting a majority of our generation. This project is inspired by “The Kitchen Table” series from 1990 by Photographer Carrie Mae Weems. Weems, through a collection of black and white film prints, accurately depicts what she says to be "the battle around the family", between men and women, friends and lovers, parents and children. Each moment captured is a glimpse into the relationships that exist in an attempt to expose a broader truth. As she plays heavily on the depiction of African Americans in her work, I strive to play more on the ideas of deception. Through a diptych comparing the “appearance vs. reality” motif present in many american families, I plan to play on the idea of a social documentary style of work. The photo will be inhabited with subjects and objects, central to a kitchen table. The tone of the first photo in the diptych, being light, pulled together, inviting and inhabited, will be representative of the “appearance” pole, while paired with a second image, being bare, cold, and expressive of the “reality” of struggling families. The contrast of the two images will create a powerful dynamic, because the scenes will be exactly the same, but the inhabitance of each kitchen table will show truth and debunk the illusion that fools so many. I plan to create an atmosphere that reflects the structure of a family, and exemplify that as it collapses, the heartbeat of the family does too. 

Calendar

Week of November 17

• Sketch  different scenes, each displaying a family dynamic
• collect equipment (camera, lights, memory card, camera)
• travel home and begin acquiring props for shoot

Week of November 25

• Conduct all shoot, creating two different scenes in the same kitchen; keeping camera on tripod to maintain consistency
• begin editing and post production

Week of December 1

• Finish editing and creating diptychs
• export all images
• upload 

Budget

List of equipment already owned: Canon EOS 7d, Canon D1 Mark V, Alien Bee Studio Lights, PocketWizard Remotes, SD and Compact Flash Cards, Card Reader, 17” Macbook Pro, Aperture, Photoshop, External Hard Drive, Kitchen tables, props for scene set ups

If decided to use people as subjects, incentive to make them help me, i'll probably bake them something