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Ellen Cantor Fine Art Photography

 

“Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.” L.M. Montgomery, The Story Girl
 

My images are conceived in the family album. By photographing and re-contextualizing precious mementos I have sought to understand how life proceeds and then, ultimately, disappears. I document the artifacts of the past in order to enrich my present.

In “I Can Only Remember What I Don’t Forget,” I examine how families archive and pass down memories from generation to generation. This work responds to a universally relatable experience, of sifting through the items left behind, determining how to incorporate our inheritance.

This exploration of objects from the past led me to explore the books of my childhood.  In “Prior Pleasures,” each photograph of a vintage book is taken using a multiple exposure technique, incorporating end pages, illustrations, and text allowing old favorites to come alive for a new generation of readers.

This led me to the series “Letting Go/Holding Go.” As I looked around my home of forty years, I realized I had accumulated many unneeded objects. Photographing each one prior to donation transformed the items into a still life — evidence of all the life lived within these walls. However, there are items I can’t bear to let go. The second part of the series  ‘Holding Back incorporates those items that hold memories to special to release.

“VISUAL DNA…the language of photographs” encourages the viewer to ask what is the most important part of an image. Using deconstructed parts of found photographs and overlays, I introduce another strategy of deciphering visual information.

My newest series “Mimi and Her Purses” explores memory from another point of view—by saving the items of a favorite relative, Mimi is able to honor their life.

 

 

Ellen Cantor Fine Art Photography | Artist Statement