Family Overlap
When I open my eyes I photograph them; when I close my eyes, I listen to them
For 25 years I looked at them, I portrayed them, I captured them, in order to keep them forever. Immigrating and maintaining close relationships seemed to be two incompatible concepts. But they turned out not to be.
I watch them hanging on my walls and listen to their recorded voices, our conversations. And suddenly the language, what they say, no longer matters. It doesn’t matter if they look at me. It doesn’t matter if they are no longer here.
It’s about that feeling that you get when you close your eyes and you don’t see them anymore, you feel them…
My project includes between 20 and 25 portraits and an audio file looped in speakers placed in the four corners of the exhibit room. The pictures are printed on 18 x 24 in giclee paper.
The chief concept of the project highlights the relevance of family and culture in spite of the meaningful change resulting from immigration. Evidently, such a project resonates with the mission of the IHCH.