the things we leave

Of my four grandparents, I only met two personally, my mother’s parents had passed long before I was born. My time with my paternal grandparents was relatively short, 9 and 17 years respectively, but that made it all the more special. I’m so appreciative of every single piece of their lives I have had the chance to see; photographs, jewelry, little knick-knacks, etc. Photographs are especially important because they have been my primary way of getting to know my late grandparents; what made them happy, who they took pictures with, how they expressed themselves. This has led me to photograph the things and people that mean the most to me, what makes me happy, or moments that represent my feelings in an attempt to mimic the way I have learned about my grandparents. Many of my images focus on the spontaneous, fleeting nature of life; things that most wouldn’t notice, small details, chance situations.

‘the things we leave’ stems from my experience with my grandparents and what they left for me to find. The word ‘leave’ has two different meanings; to go away from and allow to remain. In this sense, we as humans, leave behind physical objects like people, places, and things but we also leave intangibles like feelings, impacts, reminders, etc. around us. The act of leaving can be both damaging and enlightening, creating a sense of contradiction. We leave trails for others to follow as we move forward, but we also leave our impact on everything before; a blend of tangible and intangible that creates the imprint of a life. All that my grandparents left has given me a sense of who they were; in the way they taught my parents, the activities they enjoyed, the items they collected, and the way others speak of them.