Reading ‘Furious Love’ by Nancy  Schoenberger  and Sam  Kashner prompted my research into the lives of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.   

Using visual narrative,  I attempted to tell the story deepening my understanding of the parallels between the actors, the characters they played, and  their  on and off screen dynamic. Not knowing where the character begins and  the actor ends fascinated  me and became a way to observe their personal life through their on-screen presence.  

Inspired by the work of John Stezaker, Christian Marclay, Nicola Provost and Sophie Calle, this project involved collecting photos, covers and pages of gossip magazines related to Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.  

From stills representing the Burton-Taylor films, I created digital collages that layer film and text  chronologically to uncover the ‘true’ relationship of the couple – hereby blurring of boundaries of the on screen/off screen identities and merging fact with fiction.