For this jaunt down memory Lane, we had to take an image, recreating a childhood memory. After trying trialing self absented portraiture by getting a child to stand in for me, and just some images that spark some nostalgia, I decided to include myself in the image. As this section is all about self portraiture. I thought it best to include myself as an adult, standing in for the childhood me.
This was taken when I was trying to decide whether to take a self portrait or get someone to represent me as a child.
After creating a mind map of things that remind me of childhood nostalgia, I choose the subject of Comic books, I used to love comic books as a child, the perfect escapism for a young boy, before the age of and computer games. It used to be a rare treat to get the bus into town with my pocket money and peruse the comics at the comic book store. Even when I didn’t have any money, it was still great to look for the next edition or look at the Star Wars and other figures they had for sale.
A treasure trove
My older brother had a big impact on what I liked when I was growing up. Him being six years older, his tastes always seemed more grown up than mine, so I was forever stealing his stuff or wanting to read the same things as him. This is where 2000AD comes into it, that comic always seemed like an adult comic compared to the Marvel comics I was reading. I would always want to read his hand me downs and so became a genuine fan.
Best comic ever written
Our local comic book store was called Purple Haze and it boasted a modest collection of comics and memorabilia but is was all we knew. It was nothing like the great comic book store that I took this photo in for the recreation, which was amazing! It bought back all the memories of searching for the limited editions, back in the day. I showed the photos of the day to my brother, which included a framed front cover, of our favourite ever edition of 2000AD. This sparked some nostalgic conversation on who’s best to play The main protagonist of 2000AD Judge Dredd and why there was not a decent run at the movie franchise.
I think the final image recreates my memory well, it does a good job of recreating how the shelves of comics just seemed to go on and on.
Ben's Blog 