Preserving Mercedes’ Memories | Conservando las Memorias de Mercedes
Sometimes moving forward involves bringing one back to familiar circumstances and places. As a child, then a teen, and later in my 20s, I had the opportunity to live with my grandmother. During each stage, I met a different version of her; older and wiser, but also fragile and more dependent. Every time the role of protector, teacher, and helper, seemed to change more and more. Once again, in my mid-thirties, I found myself sharing a roof with her, this time as a woman; two adults sharing and reconnecting through experiences.
Mami, as all her grandkids call her, has always been someone of strong character and resilience. Now, advanced in age and more vulnerable due to progressive memory failure, she refuses to let it take over her. These images intend to present her determination to not let it take over her and her fight to preserve her day-to-day memories and lifestyle. Her personality and circumstances, inspire me to understand her from a new perspective; not only as a granddaughter but as her equal. Through my work, I hope to document our acceptance of the changes that from now and until her last breath, she’ll endure.
Preserving Mercedes’ memories is a long-term project in which we’ll move forward forever, in an understanding and sometimes challenging way.