Am I Late to the Party?

Wanda and Eddie lived three houses over from me, they were my neighbors for 19 years. When we moved to the block they would always hang out on their porch and always invited us up to chat. Years passed as I watched them age on that porch. After Eddie passed, we went over more frequently to keep Wanda's spirits up and provide her company. Though our relationship was limited to these short conversations, we always cared for her and were there if she needed anything. 

Earlier this year Wanda’s niece informed us she was moving into an assisted living home. We were saddened to see her go but knew it was the best for her. I volunteered to help her niece clear out the home, and after we finished she agreed to let me photograph the home.

 

 

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I’ve never been one to embrace the hard truths of life so I put off thinking about my mortality. Death is consuming, it’s always around us, it instills anxiety and fear in us for most of our lives. It’s an unfortunate reality that we all will face at some point regardless of how much thought we’ve given it.

 

This project was an internal confrontation: a mental sparring, a way to force myself to accept our existence in its finite reality. Throughout this body of work, I hope you will begin to feel my acceptance of these inconvenient truths as I transcend from room to room. 

I sought out traces of Wanda and Eddie throughout the house to garner whatever was left of their presence. I searched for an answer to it all. After spending countless hours alone in that house, it became evident that the answers I was looking for were unattainable. I craved for something to ease my mind. Ultimately, I came to see that one’s life doesn’t just have an end with physical demise, instead, it lives on in the perception of who we were, within everyone that we impacted.