Blair Kemp

BA (Hons) Photography

The Moon and the Yew Tree

It's a great big Victorian house consisting of two- and a-bit floors. Fifteen trees hunch over it - (I counted), birch, chestnut, pine, oak, ash, and a great big yew that almost swallows it whole. Between the two lies a sizeable garden, the type that fits a greenhouse and a woodshed - with room to spare. Not much has changed in the last thirty years or so. The rooms where my mother and her siblings grew up remain untouched and the interior hasn't been decorated because my grandpa had been hoarder. But now he's gone, and feels like there's just this big clump of mass left in his wake.

I've began to see home not only as a placeholder for my formative memories but also as a base from which to embark on a journey. I like to wander, I like to investigate, I treat my subjects just as I find them - each wholly unique. What I hope to find is a common thread of humanity, faith and freedom. The Moon and the Yew Tree is as much about origin as it is return; it seeks to bind powerful symbolism from my family home together with the people, places and things I have gone on to encounter. Ultimately this is a work about growth and discovery but equally it's reflective of my roots.