In the past week, I have taken photographs of additional models for this series. The variety of objects that people bring to the photo shoots are surprising, as unique as each individual who poses for me. The things we hold onto say as much about the person who has kept them as they do about the person they originally belonged to. They are steeped in memory and nostalgia, connections not only to the people we have lost, but also to the people we were at the time before we lost them, connections to that time of innocence.
Mary Ann: My Grandmother's Figurine
Cyndi: My Father's Book and HIs College Ring
Kevin: My Grandfather's Watch (which was passed down to my brother and then, after his death, to my mother, and then to me after her death)
Pam and Paul: Our Son's Dogtags
Carol: Joe's Book
November: My Dad's Watch and the Bracelet Containing His Ashes
Pam: My Sister-in-Law's Bracelet
Mary Ann: Mr. Carrot, My Dog, Clovis', Favorite Toy
jj: My Grandmother's Figurine
Faye: My Father's School Bell (which I also used when I was an elementary school teacher)
Kim: My Mother's Strawberry Pin
Anne: My Son, Ryan's, Sweatshirt
As one friend said recently, the objects only have meaning if we ascribe it to them. In and of themselves, they are simply material objects. Yet they come to embody the very memories and connections we seek to preserve.
Until next time...
Anne