This was my final project for my introduction to photography. Our project was to create a photo essay, and I chose to focus mine on grief. Following is my artist statement:

My project focuses on a topic that everyone faces at some point, which is loss. Losing someone you love is one of the most difficult things to experience, and can many times be confusing and hard to process. I’ve experienced quite a few significant losses in my life, but one thing my family always tried to focus on was how we can grow from loss, and continue living on and becoming the people that our loved ones would have wanted us to. In Mexican culture, el Dia de los Muertos is one of the largest celebrations of the year, taking place after Halloween, where families create altars and celebrate those who have passed before us. It is a culturally and religiously beautiful celebration, and brings a different perspective to how grief can be handled.

In the midst of this project, I got a phone call that my uncle had passed away unexpectedly. As expected, his loss was difficult, but one of the things that helped me, and that I admire the most is my dad’s resilience and strength, as he has had to bury all of his immediate family. Watching how he, and my mother, who has also had some very difficult losses, handle grief and incorporate faith and family into a beautiful celebration of life is inspiring. I think while loss is hard, it’s so important to be able to see the beauty that comes from the time that you spent with your loved ones, and the memories that you’ll be able to cherish forever. 

With this project, I tried to capture some of the beauty that I’ve seen come from different losses in life and the ways that we as a family have coped with loss. That includes grief, celebration, and remembrance. I paired images that represent what loss looks like for me, with black and white portraits of my loved ones who have passed on.