Blue Bag
Foreword
1. Decide on a place in London where you would like me to photograph you.
2. Think about what you will do with a blue plastic bag for the photograph.
3. With my assistance, you will need to ensure that your body, the object and your chosen environment are included within the frame of the photograph.
After you have been photographed, the bag (previously used or new) must be passed on to someone who is at least 10 years older or younger than you, they must not be directly related to you and should not know the person who has passed the object to you.
Thus began a project that united a group of 30 people through a series of unusual, collaborative portraits involving a blue plastic bag. Ubiquitous in the UK a decade ago, these corner shop bags were transplanted by Dowling to other places – Havana, Los Angeles, Cape Town, Beirut, Ekenäs, Kochi and several cities in Mexico – where they were less familiar.
As the project travelled to these diverse cities, an adaptation of the instructions was required. Yet for Dowling, the core methodology needed to remain consistent: choice of location, consideration of the bag within the portrait, and choice of the next participant.
Dowling worked in partnership with each sitter, ensuring each portrait was a balance of their and her ideas as they explored narratives together. Although very much a collaboration, the series showcases the individuality of those who took part and the unique contextual locations and situations from which each participant heralds. The final portraits forge new narratives that are serene, disturbing and funny all at the same time.
Blue Bag can be considered a portrait of our world at an exigent point when the production and use of disposable plastic have been called into question. We can wonder if, in 100 years time, people will question the significance of this blue material threaded through each page of the book.