Developing My Archive: on being

My visual research examines personal experiences surrounding homesickness and nostalgia. For most of history, nostalgia and homesickness have been linked together even though they differ. Nostalgia is a longing for a time, while homesickness is a longing for a place. Where we come from is an integral part of our being, but what we become nostalgic for also shapes what we become. My work explores the idea of photographs existing as a substitution for memory and how photographic manipulation can change how we remember events. Photography lets me explore and recontextualize my own idolized memory surrounding my transition from South Dakota and North Carolina. This method allows me to reclaim control over what I want to remember. Centering imagery around home and routine allows viewers to connect openly to various physical and emotional landscapes. This allows viewers to invest a part into the transfer and re-constructions of these personal memories. My work challenges us to focus and appreciate small moments we are surrounded by and how they shape our outward attitudes and understandings of what we consider home.

Rebecca Shay.

I hear you when I laugh,
We used to match so well. — Rebecca Shay. I hear you when I laugh, We used to match so well.

Archived from Under the Kitchen Table

I document these changes. Archiving this away from underneath the kitchen table. — Archived from Under the Kitchen Table I document these changes. Archiving this away from underneath the kitchen table.

For Once in a Dream

For most of my life, I’ve lived in silence
but once in a dream, I hear you close to me. — For Once in a Dream For most of my life, I’ve lived in silence but once in a dream, I hear you close to me.

Brother Where Art Thou'
I’ll imagine you nearby.. — Brother Where Art Thou' I’ll imagine you nearby..

Dad at the Ocean
I took my father to the ocean for the first time.
In this moment I found the place where the plains met the sea, where the earth touched the sky
and I wondered if grief had taught me to swim or to fly? — Dad at the Ocean I took my father to the ocean for the first time. In this moment I found the place where the plains met the sea, where the earth touched the sky and I wondered if grief had taught me to swim or to fly?

Mothered
My mother does not know how to swim, but she taught me to float.
is the feeling of floating that makes time stand still? Does it stop time from moving backward or forward? — Mothered My mother does not know how to swim, but she taught me to float. is the feeling of floating that makes time stand still? Does it stop time from moving backward or forward?

No Lifegaurd

Is it something we cannot resist? — No Lifegaurd Is it something we cannot resist?

Shipwrecked
We found ourselves shipwrecked somewhere safe and sound. — Shipwrecked We found ourselves shipwrecked somewhere safe and sound.

Wash on Cold to Avoid Bleeding
Washing on cold to avoid bleeding. — Wash on Cold to Avoid Bleeding Washing on cold to avoid bleeding.