Set in an eternal present, Marcelle and Jean Podevin, "Maman" and "Papa," are standing in the middle of an islet within a Japanese garden.
They are happy together, they are getting along and they seem to know where they are going.
This image evokes the emotions that early photographs might have stirred in someone who received postcards from distant relatives or friends long ago.
The focal point of the image lies beyond its frame. This is an amazing sight that my parents are beholding, as if the object of their longing is revealing itself to them, but remains an enduring mystery for us. The right side of the garden mirrors the left, this is a place that can exist only in your imagination.
In some of my work, I strive to push the image beyond its frame, much like I did as a child, lingering by the postcard carousels in tourist shops. While my mother wandered through the colorful boutiques of Villefranche or Hendaye, I connected one postcard to the next like the panels of a graphic novel. Each card became part of an endless story, and those depicting the places we stayed lent a strange realism to my
wanderings, as if they validated the fantasies I conjured.
Jean-Francois Podevin / Whittier / 08-24-2024
This image is a revision in higher definition of the same which I created in 2004
for "Composite Memories" Part VI;" OCCIDENT"
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