The pictures eventually came on... 

2021

13 min, 4:3 HD video with sound. 

‘The pictures eventually came on...’ reflects on two pandemics, through digital images, diary entries and conversations with family. Excerpts from the artists’ Great-Grandfather, Bertrand’s diary, written between 1917-1919 while serving in the army during WW1, are juxtaposed with conversations about the diary and images from the artists' camera roll between March 2020 - April 2021. Through digital glitches, quotidian moments, scrolls and stillness, the film offers a reflection on how diaries, both visual and written, express without being overtly expressive and rarely offer a full or comprehensive narrative. While the two pandemics are distinct, moments of limbo, tedium and loss echo in both diaries. 

The title is taken from Bertrand’s diary, when he went to the cinema in Batumi, Georgia, while on his journey back to England after Armistice Day, following his recovery from the Spanish Flu.