After Roger 2019
For my Senior Photography Capstone I created a body of photography work with a corresponding book, both titled “After Roger.” You can view the full digital publication here
My photographs pay homage to my family’s snapshots while simultaneously questioning their authenticity. By staging imagined recreations that testify to fragmented moments of aggression and emotion not captured on camera, the work uses family photos, stories, and memories to re-enact my perception of peripherals of the situations in the original photographs. My work continues to reference my family photo albums by staying true to the format of the original photograph. The process of acting as the primary model of the work allows me to mentally put myself in the position of my family members, and evokes feelings of gratitude for the strength that my mother figures have instilled in me.
In 2022, I was the last family member to move out of the tenement house that was owned by my grandmother, where we all lived under the same roof. She had sold it a few years prior, and slowly family members trickled out.
The night before I moved out, I created a set of 16:9 images as a continuation of "After Roger" to honor our home and pay tribute to the space that held our memories and experiences.
My grandfather passed away in the 1980’s before I had the chance to meet him. I continue to have many questions about him as a person, and his relationship with my grandmother and their family. The photographs of my grandparents dating and the family snapshots I admired as a child created a facade of perfection and normality, covering up what I later learned was a time of fear and violence. As I grew older and began to understand the struggles of my maternal figures, I became inspired by the incredible strength and perseverance of the women in my family.
