Research: Melissa Moore

Melissa Moore is a London based photographer who travels to Hornby in British Columbia, Canada, to produce many of her images. Upon visiting Hornby for the first time, Moore was taken aback by the beauty of the place and its relaxing sense of isolation, as well as the freedom she had to roam.

The idea behind Moore’s work is seemingly the connection between herself and the present surroundings. This is shown through her habit of inserting herself in the photographs she takes, hiding, blending and merging within the various environments, whether outdoors or indoors. Moore appears anonymous in her images by hiding her face. This lack of engagement with the camera suggests that Moore does not want the focus of the work to be on her, but rather how she as the model and the surroundings work as one in the frame.

    

Another way in which Moore works to blend in with the environments is through her choice of clothing. She chooses colours and patterns that are similar to her settings and that allow her to merge into background unnoticed at first. When positioning herself within natural environment, Moore wears neutral tones such as browns, creams and greens to emulate the environment, from wooded areas to seaside shots. These neutral tones are also used in Moore indoor shots, but patterns are also used in busier compositions, permitting Moore to disappear further into the clutter.

    

The clothes Moore wears in her photographs are from charity shops, which relates to my project theme of waste. Moore has taken these old, unwanted clothes and transformed them into having a purpose. The old has been reborn and given a sense of importance, a new opportunity to be something more that someone else’s waste.

    

This is the aspect of Moore’s photographs that drew me to her work in the first place. I am interested in the idea of taking unwanted items and restoring them to a higher purpose, showing that waste can be recycled and used again and again. I also feel that the way in which Moore integrates herself within her chosen environments gives a sense of rehabilitation. The clothing waste is shown to be ‘at one’ with its surroundings, so that not only has it been given a new purpose, it has also been able to fit I with the difference landscapes.