Left Behind
Artist Statement
The photographic project Left Behind documents memorials to explore the artists’ own interest in the act of memorialising an event or a person. Left Behind has underlining themes of death, life and the human condition by exploring the reasoning behind leaving a memorial for someone. Memorials are used to remember and to pay respects to the person or person’s that have died. In this series the photographer explores other reasons for leaving a memorial, are they also for the family and friends of the person who has died or can a memorial be used to warn others of a dangerous area. Memorials can take place as either permanent or spontaneous. Permanent memorials, including monuments, statues or headstones have been used throughout history to memorialise historical events such as war and are commissioned by organisations or institutions. Spontaneous memorials are a result of a person, or person’s reaction to an event. These memorials are often placed in an area where unexpected, tragic event has taken place and family, friends and others touched by the event usually place the memorial. The images in this series depict various types of memorials from permanent, spontaneous to temporary mass memorials, the photographs all raise curiosity, melancholy and peacefulness within the viewer.
