Microscope Photography as an Emotional Visual Response to the Issues of Loss, Belonging and Identity
Description
This article focuses on the usage of microscope photography to present an emotional response to personal memories of what Yugoslavia was in my experience and on my understanding of issues of loss, belonging and identity, related to the specificity of the Yugoslav social context. Its focal point is the female interpretation of people, ways of life, buildings and human artifacts belonging to the historical period of communist Yugoslavia which once were, yet no longer remain. The work with archives, especially the photographs which originate from my personal family possession, brings closer these ghosts of the past times to the present moment. At the same time, photography is a means to investigate the society during and after the period of Yugoslavia, using site- writing visual narrative. The usage of photography as a vehicle for meaning making, allows an insight into the lives of people during communism through the lens of my closest family members. Autoethnography as a research method combined with personal narrative allows a deeper understanding of culture and values of Yugoslav society and their subsequent clash. Photographic practice-based research allows an insight into individual stories which form a deeper understanding of the pre- and post- war Yugoslav society and political circumstances surrounding it.