Michelle
Caron-Pawlowsky
Half a Grapefruit for Breakfast, 2021
Half a Grapefruit for Breakfast is a series that examines the ways in which we reconstruct memories over time. Drawing on neuropsychological memory studies, this project looks at how memories are stored in disassembled parts and later recreated from those parts when they are needed. The act of rebuilding a memory is mutable, and memories are subject to change at each instance of being remembered. By looking at objects of sentimental value with histories both known and unknown, memories associated with these objects are recreated, sometimes relying only on the “memories” evoked and implanted by the objects themselves. Half a Grapefruit for Breakfast attempts to recreate memories never previously photographed by constructing new iterations for the camera, altering external landscapes to mirror internal landscapes. This series considers themes of sentimentality, (re)constructed narratives, and vulnerability, as well as the subjective and fallible nature of truth inherent to the photographic medium, one inextricably linked to the work of memory.