A Corner of Home Francesca Tamse
A CORNER OF HOME
Francesca Tamse
In the days that have passed and the days that are to come, we'll all be spending more time indoors. A Corner of Home collects photographic studies and new works made by artists in their immediate environments; small snapshots of the impulse to create.
Edited by Trine Stephensen and Joanna Cresswell
1. Where are you living at the moment and how has that environment shaped you creatively? Can you tell us about a favourite detail of this place and why?
Francesca Tamse: I am living in a flat that was formerly an ex-council estate in the borough of Hackney, in London Fields. It has been the most spacious place I’ve lived in, in my adult life. I remember having to live in a 2x5m shoe box in New York and always feeling the need to escape it.
Here, I have finally been able to move around freely and grab some lights and start photographing in my living room. My favourite detail in my home is the collection of mid-century furniture that came with the flat…my landlord’s have a handsome collection of chairs and tables.
I’ve been photographing objects in my flat while self isolating. As with most people who have been able to stay at home, it has given me this time to self improve and reflect but of course, create, which I truly find valuable and a privilege during these strange times.
2. How have you looked at the materials of home differently in the past weeks? Are there parts of it that have revealed themselves to you in new ways?
FT: I’ve found pleasure in looking at tonal beauty again throughout the home. As with photographing, I’ve returned back to basics and started shooting straight photography again. Doing this has led me to become more patient and decisive with placement of objects and light in comparison to instinctual, free-forming collage work. I've been processing some images in black and white also. It seems elementary, but I’ve been so used to always using bright colours that it’s been a joy seeing the reveal.
3. Tell us about how you’ve been using photography lately? What are you making or putting in front of the lens?
FT: I have been photographing my ‘bug out’ supplies which includes a dozen or so canned foods, hand soap and toothpaste. I suppose photographing them is like taking inventory of our essential things to survive a pandemic. Other things that I am photographing: drying laundry, my furniture and my pillow installation that is now compressed into a space bag.
