Bennett 04 By Hayley Bennett
Bennett 04 Hayley Bennett’s photography explores subjects around social justice and cultural contexts. The themes for this project titled Bennett 04 focuses on ideas of absence and loss around the relationship with her absent father created by the conditions of incarceration. Hayley has personal experiences relating to the themes of the project and a profound understanding of the distress, trauma and pain experienced by families who are affected by the penal system. Specifically, documenting the spaces and items that belonged to her dad such as an assemblage which documents his past life through his everyday objects and the personal effects left behind from his military days, specifically capturing his former hobbies or objects from the attic or toolshed. In contrast, the project also documents his present circumstances and is co-created with her dad whose contributions of drawings, letters and conversations reflect the status of their relationship, revealing the impact of separation. This installation is a full scale recreation of her dad's cell including outlines of the furniture based on drawings her dad and other inmates made of the space. The work is on the back wall, where his notice board would have been. This is to represent his living space and prison life together with Hayley's own images. The installation also reflects his interests and his identity through his belongings together with family images which highlight the relationship revealing the experience of her family and others as we go through forced separation.
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