Gina Soden is an English photographer based in London who travels throughout Europe in search of places to create images that explore 'the boundaries of beauty, decay, nostalgia and neglect'. She is shown to show interest in abandoned structures and locations as the majority of her work includes this as the subject. At the heart of Soden's work is the beauty of the 'unique architectural character of each location' which is 'heightened by their painfully slow transformation after years of abandonment'.

I really like the overall aesthetic of Soden's work. I think the way she takes advantage of the natural light in the spaces she visits is beautiful, making her images have an aged, soft look. This aesthetic aids the thematic motifs of nostalgia, time, and decay that run throughout all of her pieces. Depending on the location, the colour palettes vary; however, as well as aiding the overall aged aesthetic of Soden's work, they add to the mood of each individual piece/project as a whole. Some of the colour palettes make the images look eerie and unsettling whilst others make the image appear to be something taken from a romance novel. I also think that Soden's work as a whole is very cinematic. Aided by her lighting techniques, each photograph gives off a powerful energy that I always link to cinema. 

This series seems quite personal to me, though not to Soden. I think it looks like someone's home with the many bedrooms, offices and living areas. However, the images also come across as unnerving as we wonder why all of this furniture was abandoned, especially as there are items that seem to be haphazardly discarded as if they were only recently used with the intention to return. The way Soden has used light, however, makes the images appear calm and almost romanticised with juxtaposes the unsettling undertones that are created. Upon first glance, one would assume Soden was simply documenting yet another mysterious location; however, it was only after deeper thought on this series that I became aware of the disconcerting undertones.

'How Long Is Now?' is described as a series 'that plays with a powerful paradox' because 'the viewer might think the photographs only depict the past: past dreams, past lives, past structure', when what we should be interpreting from the images are ideas of the 'present and our perception of passing time'. the series is supposed to make the viewer enter a period of 'profound reflection about the meaning of time, and our understanding of the present moment - of Now'.

Much like many of the other images in this series, the overall mood of this image is melancholy. The sense of abandonment is delivered through the physical deterioration of the building and the titular tricycle. I think what makes this image more unsettling for us is the connection the tricycle has with children, it makes us wonder what happened to the child that owned the tricycle and that thought leaves us sad and disturbed. 

An interesting feature of this image is the symmetry that is created through the two doors on either side of the room, one to a cupboard/wardrobe and the other exiting the room. I think it is intriguing as to why Soden decided to include those two doors slightly ajar in this wide angle shot, whether it was even her choice at all or simple a coincidence. 

I plan to look deeper into Gina Soden's work in the future by researching into all of her projects as all of them link to my working idea at this moment.

References:

https://ginasoden.co.uk/