Student Entry - Emerging Talent Awards

This series attempts to tell the complex story of my grandmother’s life. The recurring subjects represented in the photographs are my grandparents, Paula and Gershon, and my father, Ruby, their son. Paula Taub was a stubborn and indestructible woman, with iron flowing through her veins despite her small, fragile-looking appearance. While the series is focused on stories of my grandmother, I also tried to shed some light on my father’s childhood growing up with parents who were Holocaust survivors. After tales of his childhood are told, it becomes easier to understand where his impatience and sharp gallows humor stem from. Memory was hard on Paula. She was plagued with memories of loss and suffering for most of her life. Since the time when her mind began to slowly deteriorate due to Alzheimer’s disease, I’ve felt a strong obligation to not let a single day pass without remembering what my grandmother endured. Since her death on my 20th birthday at the age of 94, I’ve struggled with how to keep her memory alive. I believe that by telling my grandmother’s story I am honoring her and all the people who’s stories may have been forgotten.