Housing Someone Who is Already Gone

A Tribute to my PawPaw

This project was a deeply personal exploration of memory and loss, dedicated to my beloved grandpa, or "pawpaw," who passed away. As a family, we continue to house his belongings—his clothes, his truck, his man cave—still present in our home long after he’s gone, as though holding onto the essence of who he was. I’ve always been incredibly close to him, but my six-year-old brother, who never met him, also knows so much about him through the things we kept. Even his man cave still smells like him. For this project, I aimed to visually capture the act of preserving a memory: how we keep the tangible traces of someone alive in our lives long after they’ve passed. I presented my work by displaying photographs I took of his items alongside a memory box filled with images, books, objects, and old papers that told the story of who he was. My goal was to invite others into our memories, allowing them to "meet" him through these items, and to reflect on the importance of preserving the legacies of those we love, even after they’re gone. This project was not only a tribute to my grandpa but also a healing process for me, finding comfort in the tangible remnants of his life.

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Fragments of a Memory

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