Briony Campbell – interview
Briony Campbell interviewed by Heidi James about her project The Dad Project (a year on) published by oodee
Heidi James: Your project is incredibly moving. Was the project a catharsis for you?
Briony Campbell: During the weeks and months immediately after Dad's death, I was so immersed editing the work that I felt I was with my dad; that we were still collaborating, and he was still helping me understand our relationship. But as I was spending these days exploring his death in great detail, there was no risk of wandering into a state of denial. And the intensity of emotions forced my grief to be bound in with my creativity - it became a productive grieving process. I know that period is hopelessly empty for most people, so I felt lucky to be in this situation.
In the 3 years since dad's death, the project has begun to feel less about our relationship and more about what it can offer to other's relationships. I get regular emails from people who have seen the work and tell me how it has touched their own lives. I am so comforted by the thought that each of these people carries something of my dad, no matter how small, into their lives. He dedicated his life to helping people make better relationships and through The Dad Project he can continue do this somehow. That is an incredibly a cathartic idea for me. Although he'll never see the results of our collaboration, he is The Dad Project.
HJ: How did the introduction of the camera become the eventual solution to the problem of feeling conflicted between dedicating your time to your dad vs continuing your normal life?
BC: I couldn't have known from the beginning how right it would eventually feel - it certainly didn't begin that way. But as Dad got weaker and our hearts heavier, the photography forced me to look more closely. The project gave me the strength to resist the temptation of carrying-on-as-normal. We all wanted that to be an option, but of course it wasn't. Nobody wants to embrace that fact that someone they love will soon leave them, but the purposefulness of the project made it feel a worthwhile struggle. Eventually there was nothing left to be hopeful about, but we had the project. When Dad could no longer contribute to a conversation he could still be part of a productive process. When I took a photo he gave me something.
HJ: Looking at the images, one is aware of the immense privilege it is to be present with a loved one as their life ebbs away. Has the experience altered your feelings about mortality at all?
BC: I don't think I had distinct feelings about death until I lost my dad, so I would say the experience formed my understanding of death rather than altered it. That was an important realisation for me; that you can't really know death until you've suffered it's effects. I gradually realised that I was now part of a majority in the world who have felt those effects; a majority that no one wishes to be part of, but everyone will be. Through the conversations I've had with others (including many strangers) due to the dad project, I've become aware of how little people talk about mortality, and how this silence enhances the pain for so many. I'm now interested in encouraging conversation about it. I think the journey that The Dad Project has taken me on has enabled me to talk very easily about death, and that does feel like a privilege.
HJ: The images are almost classical in their composition. I wonder if you were consciously composing each image or if it were an unconscious coming together?
BC: I think composition has always been my most instinctive priority as a photographer and the pace I was able to work at allowed me as much time as I needed to consider every element of every moment. A dying man's moments are slow. The most significant part of this project; the story - was an unconscious process as I was continually struggling to understand it myself. This was painful as a daughter and frustrating as a photographer, but at least the way I made each picture was in my control. From my earliest thoughts of making the work I knew that above all I wanted to make something beautiful. I thought that if I could make photos people wanted to look at, then my dad's story could be of value in future - and that was the best tribute I could give him.
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