FAMILY. “Father”, by Diana Markosian, and “Chamber 207”, by Jean-Michel André
Can you remember your childhood with a camera? Do images, which are capable of holding the dead near us, also have the magical power to repair the past, to replay it to change the rest of history? Among all the photo books that these days explore the minefield of autofiction and painful family archives, two do powerful work, as if to answer yes to these questions…
The American Diana Markosian had already told the fantasies of success of her mother, who emigrated to the United States, in a project between documentary and fiction, Santa Barbara (Aperture, 2020). Today she is signing a subtle and touching little book, Fatherabout his reunion with his father in Armenia, after fifteen years of absence – his mother having left for the United States with her children suddenly, without ever being heard from again.
With its velvety red cover which gives it the appearance of a diary, the book depicts the photographer's attempt to reconnect, her discovery of the vain efforts taken by her father to find her in the United States. United, the apartment remained a mausoleum to the memory of the past and their joint efforts to make up for lost time.
Old images of the parental couple or of childhood, unanswered letters and administrative documents mix with the photos that she takes on site, with the help of her father, to try to reconstruct their story. He lends himself to the exercise, with measured enthusiasm: “I don’t have enough sweaters for this project”he complains when she asks him to change. The sober words of Diana Markosian, as well as the images of everyday life, above all testify to the shared regrets and the gap which persists, even if photography becomes for them a ground of exchange, beyond words.
The book by Jean-Michel André Room 207winner of the Nadar Prize, stirs up much more tragic memories. Or rather an absence of memories. While in 1983, on the road to vacation, he shared a hotel room in Avignon with his sister, his parents sleeping in the next room, his father was murdered with six other people. Enough to shatter his childhood and his memory, at 7 years old. The book has the feel of an investigation into the traces and locations of the event, combining press cuttings, objects from the period, family photos, and images of the hotel.
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