Western Boys and Western Girls

This project is an exploration of childhood memories. As a child, fascinated by the ’Wild West,’ I played cowboys and Indians often. This boyhood fascination was initiated by reading cowboy stories and books such as “Just William” and “Peter Pan” (which both featured boys playing at “red” Indians) and through treasured toys handed down from my father. Two objects, handed down to me as a boy, are still of enduring significance to me. These are a play wigwam and a wind-up cowboy on horseback. Dating from my father’s own childhood, they formed the starting points for this project.

This series of images explores the inherited memories, still triggered by these cherished objects. The integrity of my concept comes from its personal derivation. It was, and remains pure fantasy. I have not sought to explore the myth, or the authentic reality of the “Wild West’

This portfolio series comprises five distinct, but complementary, sub-groups of images. The starting point is the first image of my inherited cowboy toy, then developing through images of my farther, to childhood shadowplay and role-play games, culminating in a fashion portraiture outcome. The images have been created with a strong underlying conceptual intention. Each group of images explores a different aspect of memory, to layer on top of the last. I have strived to maintain a developing visual narrative, with coherence maintained across the series as a whole. For me, the series also reveals a personal journey. The images examine ideas from my past, evoked by handed down objects and memories of ‘wild west’ play with my father.