The theme that underlies this photographic project came to mind as I was looking at an old, large album containing numerous photos spanning the time frame from around 1925 to 1975. The contents of the album are mostly photos taken by my maternal grandfather, Grandpa Franco, who worked in photography and surveying in the Military Air Force. It is the story of two lives coming together to give life to my maternal family. My grandfather carried his work and passion into his daily life, and his images captured significant moments of his life and his world. In my project, I chose to reinterpret some of these photographs, showing how time has left its mark on places and people. Some subjects depicted in the original images are no longer with us, while others have changed surprisingly. The main themes my project addresses are the passage of time and absence, which invite us to consider how precious the time we have available truly is, and especially highlight the changes that the passing of time carries away with it.
To create the shots, I involved my entire family, who helped me retrace the moments captured in Grandpa’s photos. Through memories, emotions, and antique objects, I was able to realize my project. Many objects in Grandpa’s photos have remained, and I was able to reuse them, trying to capture the same perspectives, or nearly so. The places where the photos were taken are almost always the same, highlighting how time has changed them as well.
Photography is the union between reality (what actually happened) and the past (what was). It attests that what I see in the photo actually occurred or existed. This is a certainty; what I see is the real in the past state; a reality that can no longer be touched; from the moment I take a photograph, that instant is dead forever and will never return. Photography doesn’t say what is no more, but only and surely what has been, and its essence is to ratify what it portrays, as if it were a certificate of presence. Every photo in my grandfather’s album has a personal meaning for me that no one else can have, since they are juxtaposed with the shots I took. However, as these photos begin to make sense for those who see them, they start to wonder what happened between the two shots; the answer is simple: the passage of time has taken away moments and transformed people, objects, and places.
Thanks to this photographic project, I was able to live through the storytelling and memories of my family members of moments when I wasn’t there. It’s as if I could spend time with my grandparents. It allowed my family to come together to take a leap into the past.
«Sono solamente passato dall’altra parte: è come fossi nascosto nella stanza accanto. Io sono sempre io e tu sei sempre tu. [...] Non sono lontano, sono dall’altra parte, proprio dietro l’angolo.»
Henry Scott Holland
