From the first moment you discover you are pregnant you enter a vulnerable phase that you don’t really know when it will end. Perhaps never, perhaps it will be a state of perennial questioning of your certainties, of a mismatch between your individuality, who you want to be and who they tell you to be.
Everyone finds something to tell you about it. But, at least to me, no one ever said that I would begin to think concretely about death, as it did. At my death, because the advancement of life is related to the growth of a newly born human being and therefore the projection of a future in which I will grow old, get sick and die becomes real. But death hangs everywhere, because you are also afraid of dying prematurely and leaving orphans. Or you have an even more distressing concern: the possibility of your child dying before you.
I am convinced that one of the ways to survive these fears is to know that they are completely natural, and the best way to realize this is to confront those who have similar problems. In this sense, the sincerity of Who is changed and who is dead by Hawaiian photographer Ahndraya Parlato is a breath of fresh air compared to idyllic and self-righteous tales of parenting.
The photographer starts from two autobiographical events: the suicide of her mother and the birth of her daughters. From there she built a complex narrative that intertwines the anxieties and contradictions of motherhood, the relationship between mother and daughter, and death. Without choosing a single genre or a single language, she alternates personal stories and reflections with frames of her mother’s ashes, landscapes, still-life, sculptures and human figures seated and covered by a veil, in the same way as the “hidden mothers” that we find in Victorian photography in which, due to the very long exposure times, to portray a child alone, a mother was needed who argued, but without being seen. As he tells in an interview with Paper Journal, for Parlato the need for different styles arises from a moment of boredom towards the photographic medium. Choosing a multidisciplinary approach represented a new challenge and a way to get to grips with the complexity of the project.
Who is changed and who is dead was published by Mack in 2021, but until July 16 it is also exhibited at the Spazio Labò in Bologna. Furthermore, from 13 to 15 May Parlato will hold a meeting with the public, a workshop and a guided tour of the exhibition.
(Giovanna D’Ascenzi)