For this writing commission for Grain’s Covid-19 Responses project I have used the phrase ‘I am reaching out to you’ as a title and starting point. The text is a blend of critical reflection, and creative fictional and autobiographical writing. The critical element of the text analyses photographic works by Carrie Mae Weems and Elinor Carucci and reflects on a selection of intimate and domestic from Weems’ ‘Family Pictures and Stories’ (1981-2) and ‘The Kitchen Table Series’ (1990), alongside Carucci’s ‘Closer’ (1990s-2000s) series.
The research and text resonates during the Covid crisis as it is a multi layered meditation on the pandemic period as I have experienced it, from an acknowledged place of personal privilege, from home and through photographs. The text is interwoven with memories, new poems and diary-like entries and is a commentary on isolation, intimacy, parenthood, domesticity and family.
Read my commission HERE
Anneka French 