The Luxury of Memory


  • Photographer
    Ananda van der Pluijm
  • Prize
    Honorable Mention
  • Company/Studios
    Ananda van der Pluijm Photography
  • Date of Photograph
    May 2013
  • Technical Info
    Leica M Monochrom / Nikon d700
Story

Eularia (65), her daughter Daria (35) and her three children, have lived without men in a small hut in Tanzania for many years. They are both widowed and take care of the children together, who have to grow up without a father. They share a hut with no warm water or electricity, and make a living with selling firewood and vegetables. The family belongs to the Hehe tribe, and it’s custom not to keep anything belonging to the deceased. To them, memories are a luxury, and life goes on. Even though they have suffered many losses and face many daily challenges, they find happiness in the little things they have.

Photography is a powerful medium to remember and reconstruct and I use this ability to tell a story about the memory and memorial of a father. The Luxury of Memory is about finding happiness in the little things you have. It’s a visual research of what you have, if you have nothing to remember.

I started this project because of a personal loss. When my father died in February 2013, I hadn’t seen him in 25 years. At the cremation I was struggling to recognize him. The ceremony was very impersonal and I have nothing left of him, no memories, no burial site. Afterwards, I searched his house, and there were pictures everywhere. He had continuously been remembering and reconstructing the past of our broken family. When I got the opportunity to create a new body of work in Tanzania, I decided to use these experiences. Working together with this family was a healing experience, where the family and I reconstructed our losses, gained valuable memories and left behind our burdens.

The project is made into a book and exhibition, and will consist of these elements:
1. Photography:
• A document of vulnerable daily life without men.
• A trace of the father through bloodlines. In order to find him, I took portraits of the family members, focussing on the parts that resembled the father the most.
• A reconstruction the love-stories of the grandmother and mother. Because husbands died, houses broke down, wedding dresses and rings lost, and possessions given away, I located their memories in the village.
• An inventory of their possessions.
2. Text and audio:
• A record of the love-stories and songs for remembrance and grief.

The selection for the Deeper Perspective Award is based on the document of vulnerable daily life of Eularia and Daria. All elements will be combined in the book and exhibition.

You can create multiple entries, and pay for them at the same time.
Just go to your History, and select multiple entries that you would like to pay for.