Reappropriation is Hard as Shit
Have you ever heard a particular song or smelled a familiar scent and been immediately transported to a past moment in time? When the weather is just right, does it bring you back to a memory? A place? A different life? Our senses and our memories are so powerful. That can be a great thing. Sometimes when I feel the need for comfort, I'll turn on an early episode of The Simpsons and eat macaroni and cheese, just like I did as a kid. I might be doing that exact thing right now in fact.
There are other times when my senses insist I return to a memory I'd rather forget; An entire life I'd rather forget. It happens to us all I assume. We get older, more mature, and we evolve into a different person. Growth is always a good thing, no matter how painful. Incidentally, it can be overwhelming when our past collides with our present. Photography has been such a useful tool for reappropriating areas in Chicago that hold some pretty dark memories for me. I've had the opportunity to revisit certain places in my life with an entirely new purpose after becoming a photographer. For the past few years, I've been setting aside these images from locations that I've had the opportunity to revisit with much brighter objectives, all with the intent of sharing them together in this terrifyingly honest blog post. It's taken me a long time to work up the courage to write any of this. Feel free to scroll through my new memories while I finish my macaroni and cheese.
