Rachel Letchford

«House Studies is an ongoing series of un-staged images that began when we moved home last March.

Just days before the first national lockdown we moved to a remote setting in Kent, not far from where

I grew up. I already had memories of the wooded lanes and how dark and cold the winters could get,

this bought an uncanniness to the place; everything appeared enchanting to me, from the black dead

trees, the hooting of owls at dusk, and the transformation of light from day to night. Set well back

from the road the house had been empty for several years and the landscape was starting to take

hold.

These experiences coincided with my discovery of Jung’s shadow work, which, given the long, early

days of lockdown and extended time alone, gave me plenty to ruminate over. Running parallel to my

thoughts and feelings, the images developed over the months and seasons ahead and my inner self

began to synchronise with my surroundings. What started out as a documentation of a new physical

space, slowly became more about a psychological one. This can be seen in images such as Enter, a

moon lit portal into the dark, neighbouring woodland and My Chandelier, a giant stalactite found in a

dilapidated outbuilding. Lit with a torch and casting a defined, heavy shadow, it was a discovery that

was at once both terrifying and beautiful.

All of the images in the series were made using an iPhone, the freedom of this small, handheld device

allowed me to photograph the images as they appeared, without any planning or reconstruction –

they were just all around me and I photographed them.»

.

.

Rachel Letchford (www.rachelletchford.com, @rachelletchford), House Studies, 2020/21, digital photo, N/A

.

.

Text combined with the photograph:

“When the Soul wants to experience something she throws out an image in front of her and then

steps into it.” Meister Eckhart (Ronnberg and Martin, 2010)