PICTURE IT
WORK IN PROGRESS
A deeply personal project presented in two forms: a research prototype and a final soundscape. The work stems from an in depth exploration of nostalgia, inspired by thousands of childhood photographs taken by my father. Drawing from this personal archive and the emotions it evokes, I expanded my research through a prototype developed at the Eye Filmmuseum during the Research Labs. This process is forming an immersive soundscape that captures the fascination and complexity of nostalgic memory.
The Eye Fillmmuseum,
Amsterdam
The acceptance of what once was and what won’t be.
Nostalgia, It allows us to feel the moments once lived, to return to memories that still feel warm inside. Yet within that warmth lies a quiet ache, the acceptance that nothing will ever be exactly as it was, that time only moves in one direction.
The starting point of this work was a series of childhood photographs taken by my father, just as his father did before him. These images hold more than documentation, they carry atmosphere and a sense of innocence. Through them, I can momentarily step back into that feeling.
What makes nostalgia so powerful is also what makes it painful. It asks us to hold two truths at once: gratitude for what was and acceptance that it will never return. Though each person’s nostalgia is deeply personal, we all recognize the longing for the simplicity of earlier days for how something, or someone, once was.
In Memoriam of Frits de Bruijn
The prototype shown at the Eye Filmmuseum is a tent, designed as a way to start conversations about nostalgia with visitors, their input gives me a better understanding on how people feel and view nostalgia. A selection of childhood photographs is projected on the tent, chosen for the atmospheric feeling they evoke. Some images depict everyday surroundings, while others show vacations and sunny days, capturing the peaceful life of a carefree child. Objects surrounding the tent from my own childhood can also be seen within some of the photographs, adding another layer of personal memory.
Now meet stereotypical Jada!
My first stopmotion doll
I chose to create a character based on myself to lead the story, turning the work into a kind of time machine. In this way, I can look back on the project later in life and reconnect with the same nostalgic feeling, but from a different point in time. It also reflects a sense of missing my younger self, while opening up a conversation by placing my own experience at the center of the work. This character is purely used for visual instructions during the soundscape.
The character got some stereotypical features: like my green jacket and red bag that i always take everywhere. Combined with a very common bun and piercings.
The prototype presented childhood as something seen from a distance: a small tent, covered in my own images, that could be looked at but never entered like an adult reflecting on personal memory from the outside. The final installation inverts this. The tent is enlarged so the viewer can step inside and inhabit the memory rather than observe it. The content also shifts from personal to collective: the soundscape is built from conversations with people about the sounds, smells and feelings that trigger nostalgia for them. I used this input to create 4 scenenarios where everybody can reconize parts of childhood memories within the soundcape.
More soon...
A Project By
Jada de BRuijn
Made Possible By
Netherlands Film Academy​
Supported By
Birk Bouman
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