This work explores themes of memory, parental dynamics, power over the family history and the release through the return. I present this through both digital and analogue photography, usage of archival objects, collage and documentation of response to a significant event.  All these ideas are centred and rooted around a prominent childhood memory of mine, that I have always come back to throughout my life. Until now I have never been able to respond to or explore to this memory/event. Since I can remember, I have always desperately cried out to cut my long hair, that my mother adored, off.  And my father, who had long since separated from my mother, decided to take me to get it cut without my mother’s knowledge. In her horror at the sight of my hair and my father’s failure to listen to her wishes, she reacted strongly by not allowing me and my father to see each other for over 6 weeks. 
Previously, I had not considered this memory past my own experience and feelings, but after researching more into the subject of memory, I had looked at this event with an outside perspective. Is this memory entirely mine? Is it not just my own, but built upon the stories I have been told about this event from my family? 
Eventually this derived into looking at myself as well, where I thought about my personal history connected to my hair. Since I have been able to decide for myself, I have always grown my hair out to be horribly long and then chopped it off to my shoulders almost in a cycle. I have been returning and repeating this event without even recognising it.