Esther and Howard Present: Chromalife

In early 2022, my Aunt and Cousin began digitizing my Grandfather’s old family film reels. This would coincide with what would have been his 100th birthday. He passed away in 2019 at the ripe old age of 97. He suffered from Alzheimer’s toward the end and I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye as I had relocated to Oregon from my home state of Indiana. I was amazed when I saw the footage. I was struck by the modernity of it. Yes the clothes and the cars are evocative of the time period in which this footage was shot, mid-1950’s thru mid-1960’s, but the color -- the color is so lush and bright. Conversely, the only photographs that exist of my grandparents during this time are black and white. It never came up in conversation, but viewing one hour and twenty minutes of footage, my Grandfather had quite the cinematic and photographic eye, especially when it came to capturing my Grandmother. So many shots were carefully composed and sequenced. I immediately knew something needed to be done with this material. I went through the footage frame-by-frame and selected particularly interesting shots and then edited and juxtaposed those stills together to create new photographic works. A collaboration of sorts and a way to have one last interaction with a man who means so much to me.