This series was created during C19 lockdown using items found around the house including the ‘impossible shoes’ (impossibly glamorous and impractical), the ‘imposter dress’ (an unworn impulse purchase from 15+ years ago) and a set of found 1940s colour negatives of women advertising everyday products. At a time when my domestic surroundings took on new significance, I wanted to explore photographically the transformation of objects through the medium of alternative processes. My aim to suggest these objects enjoy a liberty and life independent of my own. The images were shot on slow speed ADOX film. The shoes and dress suspended with fishing wire and lit to create drama. The colour negatives photographed, edited and reframed on a lightbox. I used a variety of processes and techniques including Lith, Chemigram and Cyanotype printing to create the final images. I distressed negatives with tissues paper and incorporated additional found objects including sewing equipment and Letraset stencil as photograms during the printing process.

Jo is a Hertfordshire based film and darkroom photographer with an interest in alternative processes and techniques including lith, cyanotype, salt printing and chemigrams. Jo’s photographic practice focuses upon constructed realities photography. Influenced by the visual style, mood and atmosphere of film noir, Jo uses dolls house furniture and models, found objects and photo collage to construct and capture photographic moments or stories. Jo is a RPS 100 photographic heroines nominee and a current 2020 analogue photography grant recipient of the Richard and Siobhan Coward Photography Foundation.