LAST SEEN: Memories in Portrait
LAST SEEN: Memories in Portrait are two of ten short documentaries that form part of the the Queensland Eye Institute’s (QEI) LAST SEEN initiative. Through intimate testimonial, ten vision impaired Australians describe a cherished memory before they lost their sight. The documentaries form part of a of a multi-sensory showcase that included tactile art, audio soundscapes and music performance exploring the last memory of each participant.
LAST SEEN: Memories in Portrait was produced, directed and edited by Dean Chircop with the assistance of Stewart Tyrrell behind the camera and focuses on two subjects: Lorin Nicholson OAM and Eleanor Lee. Large-scale projection was used to convey inner visions of the outer world during Eleanor’s testimonial to deepen the audience’s experience by connecting emotionally with the participant’s recount and telling of the story.
CEO of Eye Institute, Mark Radford, asserted that “they [the films] pay tribute to the remarkable achievements of last scenes vision, impaired participants, promoting understanding and encouraging empathy for vision loss, and in doing, so bring attention to the importance of side saving research. The films original in style and in approach, conveyed more than just images”.
History
ERA Category
- Recorded/Rendered Creative Work - Film/Video
Funding type
- Self funded
Eligible major research output?
- Yes
Research Statement
RESEARCH BACKGROUND: LAST SEEN: Memories in Portrait are two short documentary films of vision impaired Australians, Lorin Nicholson O.A.M. and Eleanor Lee. Through intimate testimonial they describe lived experiences of cherished memory before they lost their sight. The aim of the research is to authentically explore the gaze of the blind through the idea that blindness can open surprising perspectives for those who can see. These films were produced in the tradition of acclaimed documentaries about people with vision impairment including Seeing the Unseen (2014) by Sofia Vaccaro and The Eyes of Me (2010) by Keith Maitland. RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION LAST SEEN: The films were produced as a textured portrait of people forced to confront the world without sight and combined conventional documentary techniques such as the use of archive still imagery to anchor the testimonials in a visual context, as well as creative methods such as large-scale projection to convey inner visions of the outer world during their testimonial. Multi-camera coverage was also used to allow participants to “be in the moment” without any need for repetition. The aim of this approach is to provoke the audience to consider that you cannot understand the subjects’ perceptions, without challenging your own. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE LAST SEEN was first launched at the official premier of the Queensland Eye Institute (QEI) in collaboration with Griffith University whilst shorter versions of the films were utilised in its social media campaign. This created significant impact for the films, allowing QEI to garner support for Last Seen campaign from the public. The films screened consecutively over 10 days in an exhibition space for visitors. in April 2023, the films were also uploaded to the LAST SEEN website with well over 4000 visits in April alone. Following this, in October 2023, the series of documentaries also screened as part of the Industry Day of the Brisbane International Film Festival where close to 120 people attended.Publisher
Queensland Eye Institute, Brisbane International Film FestivalPlace of publication
BrisbanePublisher URL
Confidential / Culturally sensitive
- No
Copyright notes
© 2023 Dean Chircop. The re-use is limited to personal use and permission from the copyright owner must be obtained for all other uses.Size of work
Eleanor's Story - 3 min 47 seconds Lorin's Story - 3 min 46 secondsNumber of discrete components
2 stand alone documentariesDate of recording
January 2023Estimated size of audience
5000Was the work disseminated?
- Yes
Form of dissemination
- Webstreaming
Scope of dissemination
- International
Did the work go on tour?
- No