A stranger gave me his family’s 35mm slides. With this unexpected gift I embarked on a journey on reimagine the elasticity of these photographs.

From the first image I projected, I was transported to a place where I became a part of these forgotten memories. My role changed from viewer to participant.

Stripped of their previous emotional engagements, these family travel pictures have transcended their purpose of being visual archives and have become tools of processing my surroundings in a novel way. I have been able to push against the perceived limitations of my residence. These four walls that once seemed an embodiment of constraint have expanded, allowing me to redefine my reality.

This was my thesis for the Certificate in Fine Art Photography at the Photographic Center Northwest (PCNW) in Seattle, where it culminated in a gallery exhibition. That same summer, the photograph of the cup and mandarin peel was featured at PCNW’s booth during the Seattle Art Fair. Soon after it was on display during Cleveland Print Room’s Peer Show. Then in December the photo series expanded slightly for a solo show commemorating 30 years since the end of communism in Romania.