It wasn't a dream.

How are memories built in one’s mind? Which images of my daily life will stick? The series It wasn’t a dream is a cinematic family study made in the photographer’s own family, combined with shots of families in the township of Kliptown, South Africa. The photographer didn’t only explore how things are now, but also how they could have been, a journey of longing and nostalgia. In this way she finds beauty in everyday life. She is touched by the way people are trying to make the best of their situation, without disregarding their dreams. The families in South Africa were strangers to the photographer, though she managed to build up ties with them, even if they didn’t always speak a common language. What they always did have in common was motherhood, the basis on which the confidence was built. This intimacy is deliberately absent in most of the pictures. The perceived distance is stressed by the way the images are framed. What’s more, faces are often kept out of the picture. Hands and feet are apparent as a motif. A repeated bird’s eye view adds to the general atmosphere. By focussing on intimate scenes of her own family life the photographer invites us in. Nothing is set up, a lot of details the environment offers are used, but It wasn’t a dream is not a documentary. Likewise, the pictures from Kliptown are fragments of daily life there and only partly reveal its reality. This way the one behind the camera creates a trailer to reflect a certain atmosphere, the viewer is left the liberty to imagine the fascinating story behind it.