Traces

Traces are, by definition, marks or other indications of the existence or passing of something. Evidence of a presence. Confirmation of participation. Examples of such traces are photographs, which document the existence of people, situations, moments. They are like engrams that come about through certain stimuli and experiences. This project is based on vintage photographs purchased from an image bank. Family scenes, vacation souvenirs, everyday life, suspended anywhere between truth and fiction. It is hard to figure whether they are spontaneous or entirely staged. We know nothing of the actual ties between the individuals in the photographs; we can only figure the truthfulness of their gestures and gazes. Who are, or were, these people in the photographs? Are they actors playing happy families, or real people whose photographs were put up for sale by the image bank? Some are present. Others vanish from the pictures, but always leave a trace. These images, modified in various ways, are wrapped in new content; the recollections of people and situations are transformed and gradually blur.