(2009-2012)
Home. The word conjures memories, feelings, imagery of people, even smells.
Maybe a building comes to mind, a picture of the place associated with the word. Yet it’s not the four walls, it’s what they represent. It’s not the windows, it’s what you’ve seen through them. It’s not the door, it’s the feeling of entering or leaving the place. It’s not the place, but the meaning we project onto it. The meaning of home is ours.
The people in the project ‘home’ have chosen to leave their home and homelands to move to another country, in this instance, The Netherlands. They weren’t immigrants seeking asylum or escaping poverty — though they may indeed be seeking a better life. For one reason or another, they have collected in Amsterdam, and are in various states of making a home, feeling the boundaries of their homelessness, or continuing to run away from home.
The images included in this series are 35mm black and white film. The project combines photos of the person in their home with essays told in the first person of each individual’s account of their perspectives of home.
Publications
- July – September, 2012, Publication in monthly newspaper AmsterDO; one person’s profile presented per issue with photos and complete essay.