The Hidden Treasure of an Everlasting Bond

Drawing from personal memories of her childhood and combining her imagery with found family photographs, Anne Ackermann revives the magic and colorful world she’s been gifted by her father, to regain a connection lost too early in life.

Drawing from personal memories of her childhood and combining her imagery with found family photographs, Anne Ackermann revives the magic and colorful world she’s been gifted by her father, to regain a connection lost too early in life.

When I was a child my father told me that there was a treasure hidden by dwarfs somewhere in our home, an old country estate that had during his childhood and youth harboured a cinema named The Unicorn, a ballroom, a tavern, a farm and a family. The world he showed me was magic, limitless and full of adventures. Objects could be magic and I knew that if I just believed it hard enough I could fly.

I was 8 years old when my father died after a long illness. Since then I have always wanted to reconnect with him.

This work is about my recollecting of memories. In some ways, it is an ode to my father and to my own childhood. It speaks of grief and of Nature’s undeniable beauty and strength held deep within us.

My father, an engineer and passionate gardener, also liked to photograph in his spare time. He enjoyed documenting his family. An avid traveller he captured scenes from the countries he visited. Discovering boxes of his diapositives many years later inspired me to use them, together with my own images, to narrate the story of my childhood memories and to honour the lasting bond that I share with my father.

Words and Pictures by Anne Ackermann.

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Anne Ackermann (*1980) is a photographer and visual storyteller based in Germany working worldwide. She enjoys exploring narratives in visuals, employing text, archive materials and sometimes objects. For ’The most beautiful memory. Recollecting my father` she collaborated with story editor Régina Monfort. Find her on PhMuseum and Instagram.

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This feature is part of Story of the Week, a selection of relevant projects from our community handpicked by the PHmuseum curators.

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