For my mini-exhibition I chose to focus on suppression. I’d like to look at how everyone, no matter who they are, has there own secret that they love to hide. A lot of people would rather hide and lock away their little, unknown secrets; however, those secrets never go away. All the while, shadow of that secret always falls near us where it calls us its home. In Metamorphosis, Gregor was the families secret. They all wanted to look away from him, and to an extent closed him off and locked him away from the outside world. Sadly, he never went away. Gregor’s shadow was always in their presence and even if they left their own home, when they went back Gregor was there waiting. In the end although Gregor died, he still lived in that house and he still has his remains there, so no matter how much they clean Gregor will never escape the family. All the family could do is forget their baggage which only slightly alters the image of Gregor, but ultimately leaves its permanent mark in their memory.
My photos chosen are a story in them self. My first photo is starting point where we see something that is not a pleasant sight, something that should be covered up and concealed. My second photo is a response to the feeling we have with such embarrassments, we just don’t want to look at them. To compensate my next photo shows how we try to lock away such feelings from prying eyes. We sometimes go far enough the add the extra lock as the fourth photo shows. The truly bitter side of it all is that shadows can still be cast through the doors openings, which is more vaguely stated in the fifth photo with the shadow casting on the sidewalk. I was going to end the exhibition with the sixth photo, but it did not seem right. Although that unpleasant part of us will call us home, we sometimes change what it is that is unpleasant about us which led me to the final photo with the mannequins. Sometimes we just forget about our unpleasantness and instead of going away, they die down and change, bringing forth something different. In life, I feel we constantly change the clothes our mannequins are wearing because we learn to get over them in order to move into the next phase of our lives.
Suppression is a loaded topic, so to apply it to a loaded story like Metamorphosis seems appropriate. The photo choice (although more than six!) shows a very realistic process of someone going thru suppression. The mannequin at the end is a really unique symbol to show how humans are able to adapt, forget, and move on. I do think that Gregor was more than just a secret to his family though. He affected them financially, socially, and emotionally, and by the the end of the story, they ended up resenting him. While the dealings of his family (towards him) do not exactly mirror the dealings of a secret, they did try to hide and forget about him, so in that sense they are similar. Either way, I thought you explored a unique theme in the story and posted effective pictures to illustrate that.
The idea of suppression is a fact that angered me greatly after reading the story. The Samsa family ignoring the thought of Gregor and tried to avoid him as much as possible. Having Gregor in the house when the family was trying to invite in boarders was awkward for them. It was like dirty laundry they did not want to be seen in public. The images you choose really relate to the idea. I feel the image of the door plays on the metaphor of hiding skeletons in the closet. Suppressing inner feelings can have a negative effect on the mind and body, so I feel it is an interesting action to interpret in pictures.
I’m glad your exhibition gave me a word for the way I felt through so much of the story. I had this sense of frustration throughout the story because of how I thought Gregor must feel in his situation: small, awkward, cramped, in the dark. Suppression is the word I was looking for, to describe Gregor’s predicament. The pictures you chose do a really good job of conveying that feeling, especially the picture of the close closet and the chain latch.