Leo Bloom
Loose Memories, 2021
Inkjet Prints, Cooler
Dimensions variable
My memory is fickle.
Photography and photographs have always had a special place in my heart because of this. I’ve always been drawn to photo albums and photo diaries. The images captured, especially when candid, feels exceptionally absurd to me. There is an undeniable weirdness I get when looking back at images I’ve taken and reliving that memory again and again, each time reliving different things in those moments.
Phones have desensitized us to that feeling by allowing us to capture any moment any time we want. A ten minute scroll through our camera rolls can go through years worth of photos, and different moments each time.
In February of 2020, whilst looking through a closet full of long forgotten items, I stumbled upon an assortment of old compact digital cameras from the early 2000’s, as well as an old cooler filled with photo albums. Experimenting with the cameras and enjoying the memories brought on by the photo albums led me to wanting to create my own new photo album, and capture my last year in high school.
My project, Loose Memories, is the culmination of my idea to make a new photo album. After testing the many compacts and choosing the one that I thought worked best I began to take photos of everything that happened in my life. I attempted to capture things from food, friends, landscapes, objects, and beyond in order to create a comprehensive look at my life this past year, moment by moment. Sticking with the idea of creating a new, unique, and maybe weird photo album I chose (however many I end up choosing) and had them printed at walgreens in the classic 4 x 6 glossy print.
Instead of putting the images directly into a photo album I decided to instead fill the cooler that I had originally found the photo albums in with my prints, to recreate the feeling of opening a treasure chest full of moments.
Click on images to view individually.
