Turning of the Sun

Turning of the Sun explores the idea of ‘home’ in its broadest sense; examining themes of childhood, myth and national identity. Since 2014, I have been returning to the place of my childhood in Latvia. The photographs I take attempted to portray a particular sense of place; both one from my own memory of childhood, and the place as it exists today. Merging documentary and performance, these images embraced ‘play’ as a strategy for making pictures. Asking my sitters (often family members) to pose and consider the photograph’s construction, my images are a negotiation rather than mere observation. The images articulate my relationship with place and memory, but also consider wider themes of national identity. The title, Turning of the Sun, refers to continuous change and the cycle of the seasons, that is so important in Latvian culture deriving from its pagan roots. It also refers to the succession of familial generations and my own return to my birth land.