Voor Hans (To Hans) by Vivian Keulards. Published by Schilt Publishing.
Fifteen years after she lost her brother Hans, Vivian Keulards travelled to the Berlin hotel room where he died. She lay on the bed where he had laid, looked out the window he had looked through, talked to the hotel staff — she wanted to step into what he had experienced in his last moments and start truly processing his death.
Voor Hans is a body of work specific to a tragic event – how does one visually navigate the profound grief of losing a family member? How is it that Hans had addiction tendencies and Vivian does not? How could Vivian bring humility back to the memory of Hans? She lets us know he was a husband, a father, he liked nice clothes and science fiction.
Simultaneously, Vivian has more universal goals – she wants to break taboos about pain, death and addiction. She proactively interviews people who struggle with addiction, trying to understand. She wants to dispel the silent pressure of her family not to talk about addiction. She wants us to know there is no “other”, it is all “us” – addiction is an equal opportunity illness.
The book’s design is fittingly layered – it leaves space for the viewer, plays with perspective, it helps us see more by changing our perspective. Photos of Hans at different stages of his life are integral to the narrative, and Keulards includes her own images to express her feelings: a white horse, heavy, unable to stand, is symbolic of her state of being at the beginning of the project. At the end of the book, an intimate self-portrait with rose thorns placed evenly down her spine shows us she is still in protective mode.
Honorable Mentions:
Dinosaur Dust by Zoe Childerley
ciprian honey cathedral by Raymond Meeks
Laura Moya is the Director of Photolucida, in Portland, Oregon. She organizes Photolucida’s biennial Portfolio Reviews event, Critical Mass programming, and Portland Photo Month. She has reviewed, curated and juried for many organizations.
www.photolucida.org
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