SUZY BRAYE
PHOTOGRAPHY
'Here I give back the keys of my door'
A project on the theme of home
Not long ago I left the house I had lived in for 16 years. These images capture what was left in my empty home when the packing was done and the contents removed. I could move freely round the house, unencumbered by the accumulated possessions of a lifetime, engaging with the space in the building itself, without familiar things to distract me.
Packing for the move had reminded me how attached I am to things that resonate with memories of people I love – my mother’s wooden spoons, my father’s manuscripts, my children’s favourite toys and books and their many artistic endeavours. These are things that in many respects mean ‘home’ to me – they help me feel grounded, safe, connected. What, I wondered, would be left of my home once these things were packed and taken away?
What remained was the light streaming through the front door, through which so many people had passed; the invitation of the staircase, the backbone of the house, running up three floors towards the skylights; the twists, turns and angles of the ceilings and walls; the lofty windows shaded by floating fabrics through which I and others had watched the changing garden seasons.
As a landscape photographer, I am accustomed to representing and interpreting what I see around me, rendering it recognisable and respecting its authenticity. Experimenting with more creative approaches has been a steep learning curve, yet has enabled me somehow to capture the ethereal nature of the light in my house, the dream-like quality of the empty rooms, the colours that resonate with traces of contents now removed - the fabrics, books, furniture and pictures that helped me create a home. Abstraction has provided a way to show shape, form and pattern previously hidden.
I don’t have a conclusion to my question – what remains of a home once the things that make it home are gone? But as I finally left the house and closed the front door behind me, no regret pulled me back. Using the empty rooms as a reflective space had enabled me to close a chapter, knowing that my home goes with me.