Cuttlefish bones - PhMuseum

© Giulia Menicucci - Image from the Cuttlefish bones photography project

i

After one of the last calls, I understood that she was not doing well anymore. It was the kind of moment when you realize everything. She asked me to pray for her. She never asked anything, she was never weak, always on track, always on her best. I went out almost running, trying to find the first spot where I could stay alone. Then I went to the beach. I sat down and created my ritual to remember her. G.

i

Since I can remember, every Saturday my family and I used to go to my grandmother’s house. My sister and I were the only grandchildren of his last son, so she was already old when I met her. I wish I had more time. We were sharing the same passion for art and our love for the color purple. I have a lot of stuff from her that I’ve collected after she passed. I like to wear things that she used to wear. And then there is this little thing where I can collect flowers. (Continue next)

i

This creates a line between my two parts. Because it’s from her but also because there are flowers from Indonesia inside, that is my other half. I.

i

He was the kind of person who loved to skate, not just for fun like every kid, but he constantly wanted to do it. After he passed I went to his grave with one of the two pieces of a skate that once he gave to me and a six-pack of beers. When we were young we used to spend every day together. Usually, I was the one who got us in trouble and he was the one who calmed the situation. Since he left I’ve started to be calm as well, I want him to be part of me, to be similar to him. A.

i

The objects that the people leave behind them stay here while they are gone. I remember clearly the backpack that the police brought back that day. She was the same age as me now, she was also studying art. We could have had so much to share right now. I would love to have her here. We were like siblings, we used to spend a lot of time together, dressing up and playing. It’s nice to think that I still dress up for fun and maybe it’s connected to her and her memory. L.

i

One day I went to see the place where they had scattered her ashes. I was with my friend’s sister. friend. After years without precisely knowing what had happened, she told me, and to give me some strength she gave me a stone from the collection of my friend. I don’t believe in stone energy but that little thing has become for me the translation of life. C.

i

Is always weird when you try to remember someone that you don’t know. I never met my grandmother but I always felt her presence in my life. Every time that I have to make an important decision I see a dragonfly. The same dragonfly that my family superstitions associate with her. C.

i

My dad and my stepmom bought the paints during a journey in Russia. I like the idea that this paint has traveled through all those countries. Now when I use them I feel like they create a connection between us. When I see this drawing I think that is her. She was always saying that she looked like a pear. I can maybe understand more about all the stuff that she left now that I know what happened. L.

i

He was my rolemodel of life. It is thanks to him that I do photography. After he passed I’ve started to look at old pictures and that is where I started to get passionate about photography. But the reason why I was looking at those pictures is that I was looking for his clothes. I remember that after he died my grandmother and my mother threw away most of his clothes. I didn’t know at the time why but I was already mad about that. (Continue next)

i

I like to wear his clothes, they have his story on them. I know that is a nostalgic thing, but it’s in a good way. For me remembering is important, the memory is important. Maybe it’s because my dad was an orphan and I didn’t know anything about him when he was young. Maybe that is why I’m so attached to remembering constantly. M.

i

We were speaking two different languages, my grandmother and I, so we never really had a conversation. I remember when we used to visit her, I would lay on her lap and listen to her speak another language. We had that kind of connection even if we did not speak. Having something she liked makes me feel like I know her a little more. But that’s strange, to bring something with you from a person that you’ve never really talked to. I mean I don’t even know her favorite color. C.

i

He never told us anything. He was a quiet man and my siblings and I are talkative people. Everything that we know, we know because he told his grandchildren. We found the violin in the dust after he passed. He used to play it until it became too expensive so he quit it. I like to think that he could have become famous. G.

i

There were some flowers in the kitchen the day that my grandmother passed away. Even kilometers away, keeping one of those flowers has been my way to tell her goodbye. G.