Born: 1987, Austria
Profession: Photographer
Lives and works in: Den Haag, Netherlands
When I was two years old, my father went into the forest with the intention of never coming back. For almost 20 years, my parents kept quiet about his suicide attempt. And yet, I was drawn to the place where the incident took place, and on its anniversary I was overcome with sadness. When my parents finally decided to tell me, it all started to make sense. This project began as a follow-up to a well-kept family secret. As I reexamined my parents’ trauma—places, objects, and memories I couldn’t call my own—I found it here, inside me. My body has always known. This is not just a story about a suicide attempt. This is about the impossibility of secrets, about what we share when we hide. It is about the pain caused by love, about the complexity of silence and the inexplicable sadness of a boy. Mom, Dad, this is your trauma, which you kept wrapped in countless colorful blankets, and yet you unknowingly handed it over to me in a loving embrace. I will carry it carefully.
