Homescape: An Exploration of the Meaning of Possessions

Heidi Dalgarno

Homescape explores the meaning of possessions through photography and writing. It is inspired by the Japanese form of poetry called haiku, traditionally a poem about nature with seventeen syllables, in three lines. I am interested in the details, the small stories, and the simple objects that make up our lives. I took the discipline and grace of haiku from writing into image, and also out of its expected context of nature into our interior landscape--our homescape. In the process of creating this project I took hundreds of photographs, wrote haiku, and researched the subject. Homescape is comprised of seventeen photographs, each focused on an object in my home. Below each photograph is a haiku. The photos vary slightly in shape and size, but are much smaller than their 17" by 22" frames. The marriage of these images and texts gives the viewer a unique experience, different from viewing either on its own. The accompanying preface uses parts of my research paper of the same name. Our most intimate environment is our home. We tell our stories in part through our possessions: those which are intertwined with our most meaningful experiences and relationships. Each of us has stories to tell.