'Keep Smiling' (2015) Taken from the 'Letters Home' project

Looping slideshow of 28 photographic diptychs (2 min 20 secs) 

The 'Letters Home' project (2015-16) considers the generational difference in modes of communication, reflecting on the role of analogue photography and traditional letter writing through a re-staging of the self as a student in the early 1990’s. ‘Keep Smiling’ (2015) is a looping slide show sequence of twenty-eight photographic diptychs that feature extracts from letters received from Waterman’s grandparents and past boyfriends during her time away at university in south-west England. 

The fragmented words of support, love, regret and loss are juxtaposed with close-up views of the few snapshots taken at the time, re-photographed to emphasize the physicality of the print surface. A certain intimacy with these precious artifacts is created by focusing on certain words, or tightly cropping into the image, without revealing too much to the audience. Whilst the work is deeply personal, a reassuring tale is evoked through recognizable phrases and familiar poses.