Louise Mary Gardecki (née Guido), or “Nanny,” was born January 31, 1931. She is the youngest of eleven children. She was born at home, in East Kingston, New York, a small Italian-Catholic community along the Hudson River, in the Catskill Mountains. In 1950 she married Stanley Gardecki, my grandfather (“Poppy”), and together they built a house next door to the one she grew up in and would go on to have six children; their youngest daughter is my mother, Theresa.
I grew up in New Jersey, three hours south of East Kingston. Every visit to Nan’s was like being transported to another time and place. A place filled with stories and memories of the past, a testament to the life she and Poppy had built. With these images, I set out to open a door into a world that is special to me and my family.
Nan keeps our history and stories alive by displaying photographs of our family all around the house. I’ve spent my whole life studying these photographs and the stories that come to life when she reminisces about them. These artifacts are also the largest connection I have to Poppy, who died unexpectedly when I was three years old.
My photographs of Nan and her home are stories and memories that continue the narrative of our family history. These images show how and where she lived, where my mom and her siblings were raised, and continue Nan’s passion for keeping our lineage alive. The project depicts ordinary moments, material culture, and spaces that I’ve known my entire life.
While my initial ideas always remained the driving force, there was so much more I discovered. The realization of my grandmother’s mortality became more evident with each visit during this project. The experience of witnessing my loved one aging, and thus emphasizing the inevitable reality, was a difficult aspect of this experience. The process of working within my family created a new dynamic. When I started, I was digitally preserving the story of Nan and who she was to me. But as the project continued, I discovered that examining her life through photography would also reveal connections and conflicts within my family and the impact Nan has on all of us.
This is 9 Bogart Street.
