THE Presence of Absence
The Presence of Absence is a decade-long documentary body of work that reveals the many layers of trauma, loss, grief, mourning, and healing, in the aftermath of war.
Inbal Abergil weaves stories of the Gold Star Families whose relatives were killed in action, together with still lifes of the loved one’s personal effects, and portraits of the Casualty Notification Officers who deliver the horrific news to the families of loved ones killed in military service. The still lifes reveal the survivors’s methods of coping with death, and how an object can contain the presence of a loved one, reminding us how painful and comforting it can be at the same time. The portraits urge us to look at what no family member wants to meet at their front door, and yet the notifiers knock on the door, knowing that everyone involved will be scarred for life; each time, they hope to remember their script and make no mistakes so that healing will be possible.
While every loss is unique, the Four-channel video brings our attention to four Gold Star Mothers who lost their sons and discuss how to continue living after the war. They offer guidelines for dealing with loss and how to approach others who might be struggling with grief. The photographs, personal stories, and videos in The Presence of Absence invite us to reflect on the poignant story of a community of survivors who keep the memories alive as they strive to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of loss, and invite us to create a platform for reflection and discussion of the human price of conflict.
Texts by Robert G. Bean, Kathleen R. Gilbert, Caitlin Margaret Kelly, and Stephen Mayes.
Designed by Jeffrey Jenkins Projects
Hardcover
24x30 cm
192 Pages
125 color ills.
English
ISBN 978-3-96900-196-7
N.O.K-Next Of Kin
N. O. K.- Next Of Kin examines the ways in which American families memorialize their relatives killed in military conflict. The photographs, spanning 2014-2017, focus on the personal altars and private displays of mementos and objects dedicated to lost soldiers. This response from Gold Star families must be part of the public discourse on war and its aftermath. N. O. K. Includes two volumes, one featuring photographs and one containing testimonials and essays.
Inbal Abergil is an internationally exhibited visual artist and an Assistant professor of Photography at Pace University.
Fred Ritchin is an author, curator, editor, and critic. He has served as the director of the NYU/Magnum Foundation Photography and Human Rights program, cofounder and director of Pixel Press, and founding director of the Documentary Photography and Photojournalism program of the International Center of Photography (ICP) School, where he is Dean Emeritus.
Carol Becker is a writer and the Dean of Faculty, and Professor of the Arts at Columbia University School of the Arts.
Maurice Emerson Decaul a former Marine, is a poet, essayist, and playwright, whose writing has been featured in the New York Times, The Daily Beast, Sierra Magazine, Epiphany and others.
Stephen Mayes Stephen Mayes is Executive Director of the Tim Hetherington Trust with 30 years of experience managing the work and careers of photographers in diverse areas of fashion, art, commerce, and journalism, most recently as CEO of VII photo agency.
BOOK DETAILS:
Hardcover (Two Volumes)
ISBN: 9781942084365
5 x 8.25 inches, 111pp each book
78 color photographs