Gundega Strauberga

“Paper Pictures” is a reclamation of a missing photographic archive, by means of ‘borrowing’ and appropriating images. I take the position that the public sphere already contains all the objects needed for construction, or manifestation of my childhood memories. In an attempt to reclaim my family album, I appropriate three kinds of visual resources, both private and public. In doing so I explore the intimate connection of objects, images, and memory, and trace the blurry line between memory and imagination; eventually, I arrive at conclusions - and confusions - related to family photography at large, which seems to forever live in the liminal space between what is universal and intimate.

The installation showcases the methods and examples of interacting with the images used in the reclamation of an archive. With the installation, I question when it is valid to claim someone else’s picture as my own. In the film-essay “What is The Lifespan of a Calendar”, I engage with my father’s reasoning behind his choice to exclude photographs from our lives, as well as his appreciation for sublime nature imagery. Essentially, the work aims to reform the notion of what private archives can be, beyond the portrayal of family members.