She recalls many afternoons lying on her stomach, turning the pages of these albums, remembering and reliving particular moments of her past life. Afsoon lived her childhood through those images over and over.
For years Afsoon has been collecting old photographs, a habit which started in her late teens. She had just moved to Washington state and had discovered her love for thrift stores. Among the rhinestones brooches and pointed shoes there were always stacks of black and white photographs from the past, old albums and drug store printed photos, making her feel uncomfortable. Who were they? What were their stories, their dreams, and their plans? Nevertheless, these photos came home with her and became a part of her life. Confronted by all those people, unwanted, left in some bags outside second-hand shops, in cardboard boxes in the markets, forgotten in-between pages of used paperbacks her Unwanted series started. Afsoon gave them a new start, a new identity, they became her subjects and became artworks. These new lives can now go on living on a wall in a new home, loved and wanted.
Image: Afsoon, 2021, acrylic on canvas, H300 mm x W210 mm each.
Courtesy and ©Afsoon and Renée Pfister Art & Gallery Consultancy, 2022.
#afsoon #strangersinphotos #familyconnections #artforever #figurative #genre #familyhistory #memoriesandstories #discardedphotos #leftbehind #families #reneepfisterartandgalleryconsultancy #belovedstrangers