Elizabeth Kamir
1. When was this photo taken?
1990
2. Where was this photo taken?
Somewhere in the Basque Country in Spain
3. Who took this photo?
I did.
4. What are we looking at here?
The girls pictured are the nieces of my then boyfriend (who would later become a celebrated filmmaker; Spain's Goya-decorated, national treasure). These little girls used to call me 'tía' all those years ago. I loved them. Our summer days were filled with pretend play and song and dance and I thought that they would always be in my life. And then for reasons I barely understand even today, I ran.
5. How does this old photo make you feel?
Wistful. Hailing from a small, complicated family back in my native lower Manhattan, my then boyfriend's carefree, loving family in Spain was to me the stuff of mythology. Quickly I became enmeshed in the fabric of this family; their otherworldliness was the antidote to my own life back in New York.
6. Is this what you expected to see?
No. The old roll of Tr-X that had taken up residence in my drawer for nearly 30 years always dared me to imagine. I never planned to develop it. I assumed if there was anything on the roll, it would either be something innocuous, like pictures of my grandmother or something embarrassing, like theatrical, nude self portraits. I might have taken pictures like that back then.
7. What kind of memories does this photo bring back?
The photos bring back a memory of time and a place, but more than that, they remind me of way I looked at the world as a young woman on the cusp of adulthood. These photos provoke a strong sense of longing in me; for youth and the illusion of its endless possibilities.
8. How do you think others will respond to this photo?
Behind these pictures of lost 'relatives' & girlish rapture is a young woman behind the camera, consumed by passion & uncertainty. But without the background, without the context, I am not really sure what people will see or how they will respond
