by Shena Mackay
First published 2009
Clare Carnevale moves through one of London's Royal Parks with her camera, officially working on a photographic diary that captures the daily rhythms of park life. She frames joggers, dog walkers, and families feeding ducks, but her lens seeks something more personal. Clare has developed a private ritual of "collecting" strangers who catch her eye. She photographs people who intrigue her, building an unofficial archive of faces and moments that speak to her in ways she cannot fully explain. The boundary between her public project and secret obsession begins to blur as she becomes more invested in the lives of people who will never know they have been captured. Clare must confront what drives her to document others and whether her artistic mission justifies the intimate surveillance she conducts. The story explores the thin line between observation and intrusion, between art and voyeurism, as Clare discovers that collecting people is more complicated than collecting images.
Genres: art, literary-fiction, contemporary, photography
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: obsession, unreliable-narrator
Setting: London, Royal Parks
Period: contemporary
16 pages · Paperback · The Royal Parks