GEFÜHLSERBSCHAFTEN / EMOTIONAL INHERITANCE

Sabine Bode's books “Die vergessene Generation” (The Forgotten Generation) and “Kriegsenkel” (War Grandchildren) inspired me to this photo project. Looking through photo albums, both my own and those of other families, I compared the pictures with my childhood memories. Our Memories are fed, among other things, by family stories handed down and “inner images” that can influence our development more strongly than we often realize. None of these “inner images” can be found in photo albums; the most intense ones often come from our early years. A phenomenon that generally accompanies and shapes human relationships is “transference” or “emotional inheritance,” as Freud called the unconscious process. It takes place not only between individuals, but also between generations, influencing their relationships in both positive and negative ways. This is especially true for traumatic life experiences such as war, surviving the Holocaust, torture, flight, expulsion, rape, or hunger, which cannot be processed and integrated by those affected. Those traces of the past may have far-reaching transgenerational effects on upbringing and development. I wanted to explore these emotional legacies with my narrative series of images.