Narra Fortin Lost Loves
The inspiration for this project came to me when I was feeling emotions I barely even knew about. Everything was so raw and intense. I was mourning the loss of two people who were extremely special to me, my godfather and his wife. For a long time I was feeling empty and uninspired. I wanted to do something that was personal to me, something that would push me past my comfort zone. It’s been incredibly difficult to put all that heartbreak into words and photographs. What you see in these images is pure, it’s an immediate response to past grievances. I asked each of the people in this project to bring something tangible to have with them as part of the shoot, as I did in my self portraits. The idea behind that was so that a connection could be established between the subject and the deceased, regard-
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less of who they are to the audience. Connections are the only thing that ties people together. We make connections all the time. But once you’ve lost someone, that connection feels distant, and along with the memories, all we have are the belongings that you hold dearly because in a sense, it’s all you have left of that loved one. Losing my godparents was one of the hardest things I’ve had to face, but creating this body of work has given me a sense of peace, and getting to know the stories of others has been calming. Everyone grieves differently, but through this body of work I hope to transform the pain we feel into something radiant, and something that makes us vulnerable to our very core.
