Missing: The Family Album
My mom has albums of old family photos enshrined in darkness behind clear film. So many memories and stories; so much familial history fading, like the yellowing pages they’re on, with the years.
Having left my birth country and immediate family members at a young age, these artifacts hold more mystery than memory for me and leave me pondering my Korean heritage: Who’s that? Are they still alive? Is this person related to me? What’s their name?
Family Korean bbq with the cousin
“Counsin” (no name!)
Growing up in the States, I’m accustomed to Uncle Bob being “Uncle Bob”. Koreans often use titles only, not-so-much names. Uncle Bob may be simply “Uncle”. It’s a way of showing formal respect in a culture immersed in social hierarchy. More specifically, an “uncle” has a different title depending on whether he’s on your mother’s or father’s side. His title changes further dependent on whether or not he’s married. And, different, yet again, based on relative age.
My parents wedding in 1967 in Seoul, Korea, with extended family members
Complexity and ambiguity add to the mysteries. Those black and white images seem to evoke miniature “Missing Person” posters for me; all the while presenting clues to the past.
With “Missing”, I set out to create a set of posters/flyers/milk cartons that implore for answers: Missing, Lost, Reward, Help Me, Most Wanted, Vanished, Found. These new “titles” assigned to distant family members and loved ones align with a sense of loss, yearning and curiosity.
Since debuting this project, others have shared similar feelings about their own ancestral pasts; feelings not relegated just to families of immigrants, to be sure. Perhaps it’s the universality of loss and longing that makes us tear a number off a flyer or look twice at the back of the milk carton.
P.S.
Aline Smithson - Visual artist, educator and editor based in Los Angeles. Aline, an instructor at LACP, created the class “Shooting with Intention”, an intensive workshop exploring tools and ideas for making visual work - “Missing” was developed during a homework assignment: Use old family photos in a new way.
LACP - Los Angeles Center of Photography, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting photographers and photographic arts.
Korean family and kinship terms - 90daykorean.com