I just wanted to write a message here for everyone who has taken so much time and care to write to me, leave messages and such beautiful comments over the last few days. I feel like a broken record, writing yet another thank you post, but I feel it is important that I do this now, after I have managed to read all your words. I began trying to reply individually on the diary this morning but to do the same here is almost impossible, and that breaks my heart because so many of you have shared such deeply personal stories. I am struggling with how to write this in the right way, how to not appear too general, or gushing, but to be heard in a sincere way. I am grateful to all of you and often recognise familiar names with fondness. Over these past five years there have been many times when I have felt worried I couldnt keep going with this series, or have made myself ill in the process, or the fear I felt when I gave up my fashion career to take this on full time. If it wasnt for the support and the belief you have given me in the potential of this project I may have never made that leap. Closing the series this week was a different kind of presentation from me, in the sense that really the photograph was more intended as a fading memory, the dissolving illustration on the last two pages of a storybook, as the tale ends and Katie returns home. The words of the diary were almost more important and also necessary in order for people to understand why the scene looked the way it did. There is reason behind all of it, every element - it was continuation of Katies path that began back in 2012 with her trail of yellow leaves - a symbol of her long journey home, inspired by the yellow brick road and its mantra Theres no place like home . The precious robin (something you cannot see until you view the diary) became an extraordinary moment for myself, and clearly for so many of you too after discovering the fact it was real. These moments throughout the series have been indescribable, and are the reason why I live to make these photographs a real life experience, it is extraordinary and enriches life in a way I never knew possible. So finally after all this emotion, to end the week with the meeting with a publisher I have long hoped would be the one... and for it to be a success is truly impossible. For years I have dreamt of the book being produced in a way that brought every element together - the real life and the fantasy. The finished photographs but also the diaries which for me are inseparable to the pictures. The behind the scenes photos of us in all the glorious chaos , celebrating the struggles, the fun and the love it has all been born from. This project began in my kitchen whilst I worked a full time job and commuted for 4 hours a day to work, it should have been doomed, but despite all odds and with your support it has grown and blossomed. Now it is on the cusp of becoming the thing I had always dreamed of it being, a beautiful book in my mothers memory. I have confidence it will be a treasure, the publisher is committed to making something that is as equally magical and as beautiful as the pictures.Produced in a way in which we can all finally hold the project in our hands as a complete body of work. I will write more about how this will develop in the coming weeks once I have signed the contract, but for now I just wanted to share my excitement with you all. So thats my final ramblings, thank you for this week, I hope you read this with the genuine emotion I feel and the sincerity that I need to get across to you all xxx (and have a lovely weekend :) ! )
Posted on: Sat, 08 Nov 2014 12:21:56 +0000
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