Project statement:

It was fate that I was named after my grandmother and would grow to possess so many of her physical characteristics and personality traits.

After her death, I acquired a suitcase of negatives and photographs of my grandmother taken by my grandfather over the span of their fifty-year marriage. Seeing her as a young newlywed, a businesswoman, and a new mother allowed me to realize how multifaceted and complicated she was.

From the hundreds of images, I began to cultivate a smaller collection of photographs that seemed to be the most telling of her life. Parts of the photographs felt familiar, while others seemed foreign, but everything about them was fascinating.

I took my collection of inherited photographs and recreated the moment that was captured. Formulating my own opinion on who she was in each image, I attempted to feel her emotions, emulate her expressions, and put myself into her world. Leaving behind my identity I attempted to imitate her completely.

But at the end of the day you cannot change yourself into someone else, and any attempt becomes a pretense. Consequently, a layer of artifice became apparent in my photographs. These discrepancies emulate the fact that every moment is new and different—it is impossible to live even a single moment of the life of another person.

Bio and contact:

Kellett Junker received her BFA in photography from the University of Georgia. She works and resides in Athens, Georgia.

Kellett is an Athens, GA, based photographer.
You can contact her by e-mail: ckjunker@gmail.com