The goal of the project was to create the antithesis of social media, and more particularly of Instagram. That platform has taken over the role previously occupied by photo albums. It has transformed what used to be single non-replicable prints shown only to close friends into infinitely available and existing digital copies of one’s memories. In other words the distribution of the pictures is controlled by Instagram and its algorithms as opposed to those who took the images acting as their own curators. To return to the idea of non-replicable images I elected to shoot some rolls of colour slide 35mm film and to cut each frame individually. These are then placed onto a light table in three columns to replicate the glow of a screen and the layout of the usual Instagram page.The pictures were taken on my favourite walk through London, they are emotionally significant to me as they have mapped my exploration and discovery of the city I had moved away from home for. And it is that connection that might incite feelings of discomfort when viewers will be asked to take the colour slide frames for themselves, essentially bringing into sharp focus what it means to see pictures of someone’s private life and how Instagram has normalised what was a very intimate and arguably violent act.

In terms of precedent and research I have tried to look into other uses of physical film as a direct medium in art. The works of Nick Gentry and his series of paintings made on reclaimed 35mm film was influential as was Phyllis Christopher’s Heads and Tails series. But the most significant influence came from Akram Zaatari’s Against Photography.

The idea that connects this project to distribution was based in the reality that by allowing Instagram to distribute our images and memories on our behalf instead of making prints of our world makes us forget the significance of our images. Taking a picture and uploading it has become so mundane that the excitement of receiving our prints is all but gone. We should allow ourselves to experience the full spectrum of emotion connected to making and seeing images by distributing our own physical images to ourselves and in turn distributing them visually to those closest to us.