Blending History

By Suzanne Révy

In Judaism, there is a concept called L’dor va’dor which means “from generation to generation.” Whenever a ritual, a recipe or a family story is shared with children, connections wreathed with emotion are passed on from older generations to future ones. Like a treasured family recipe, photography has the profound capacity to bring traces of earlier generations into the present and future. Photographers Vaune Trachtman, Alayna N. Pernell and Jacqueline Walters explore personal memories alongside family and cultural histories in solo shows at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA through July 9^th, 2021. 

“Singlet” by Vaune Trachtman, from the series Now Is Always, photopolymer gravure with surface roll on Shirimine paper, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

“Tenement Roof #1” by Vaune Trachtman, from the series Now Is Always, photopolymer gravure with surface roll on Shirimine paper, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

In her series Now Is Always, Vaune Trachtman’s photogravures mix archival imagery with the contemporary sensibility of a person sitting shotgun in a car and watching the world pass by. Her primary source is vintage pictures her father made while a reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer. He died when Trachtman was six and by mining his archive, she resurrects his memories and creates a missing connection between their lives. Textured photogravure prints with images of passing scenes from a car are layered with vernacular snapshots of young children at play in amusement parks or at the beach.  In blending them together, Trachtman provokes a fleeting sense of nostalgia and a deeply felt bond with her father. In “Strand,” two boys frolic in ocean waves with helically shaped arcs of light dancing around them. The spirals recall strands of DNA, alluding to the attachment between ancestors and their descendants, and asks the question, can our DNA carry the memories of those who have passed on? 

“No Longer Peter Cohen’s Property #28” by Alayna N. Pernell from the series Our Mother’s Gardens, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

“With Care of Maudelle Bass Weston” 2020, by Alayna N. Pernell from the series Our Mother’s Gardens, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

Alayna N. Pernell photographs vintage prints cradled in her own comforting, protective hands. Six intimate prints – three in color and three in black and white – are part of an ongoing project called Our Mother’s Gardens. The color images share a warm palette, with Pernell’s hands poised in embrace of anonymous family snapshots, as if harvesting the ghosts of the past. The images are vintage prints taken from the collections at the Art Institute of Chicago, including the Peter Cohen collection, where Pernell was a student. Troubled that Cohen’s name was recorded as the artist rather than as the donor on a series of vernacular snapshots, Pernell reached out to him to collaborate in reconnecting the pictures with their lost families. In doing so, she challenges the pervasive disenfranchisement of familial narratives in vernacular institutional collections as well as the representation of Black bodies by white men. In one such picture, Pernell protectively shields the nude Black figure of a model photographed by Edward Weston.  The model’s tension is palpable and the contrast of Pernell’s gentle covering delivers a deft critique of the photographic canon.

“At the Edge of the Fens #34” by Jacqueline Walters, courtesy of the artist and the Giffin Museum of Photography.

“At the Edge Of The Fens #9” by Jacqueline Walters, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

Jacqueline Walters recaptures her childhood in landscapes near Cambridge, England in her series At the Edge of the Fens. Although we cannot smell the flora and grasses in the pictures, her rich palette and textured detail exude a fragrant sense of recollection. Overcast skies deepen her hues, mimicking the richness of Kodachrome, where red barns and yellow foliage set against brown branches invite viewers into the brambles and humble buildings. Walters writes that she was born in late autumn and this seasonal landscape from her childhood beckons her every year. These delicate compositions with lush features realize the depth of emotional connection to her treasured childhood memories. And importantly, Walters’ deeply rooted sense of place revels a prosaic yet enduring landscape that was touched by her forebears, and remains a place of eternal comfort. 

For more information: https://griffinmuseum.org

(Featured Image) “Strand” by Vaune Trachtman rom the “Now Is Always” series. Photopolymer gravure with surface roll on Shirimine paper, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.