The sisters’, Monica and Larisa’s grandmother burns hay as part of the spring
cleaning ritual at their homes. The grandmother’s role was to be their prime carers after
their parents left to work in Spain; because there were scarce employment opportunities
where the family lived. Larisa confessed that she and her sister cared, cooked and fed
their grandmother instead. Their grandmother ‘s house shares the same court yard.
Vătava, Mureș, Romania, March 20, 2024.
Intervals of warm absence: The daily life experience of those left behind in Romania
Alexandra Corcode | Romania, Romania
Photographer: Alexandra Corcode
Exhibit Title: Intervals of warm absence: The daily life experience of those left behind in Romania
Location: Romania, Romania
The project focuses on the daily life of Larisa, 18, a high school student living in Vătava, Romania, whose parents worked in Spain for 5 years. Through the project I visualise the absence of the parents by observing the interactions with her sister, boyfriend and grandmother, but also the mental and emotional hardships of a forced maturity.
How does the absence of migrant family members affect the daily lives of those left behind? According to the Global Migration Report 2022, Romania is the 17th largest country of origin for migrants in the world, and according to Save the Children 2023, almost a quarter of children have a parent who has worked abroad. There is a lot of focus on those who leave and not those who stay, without asking what it feels like to be left behind by your family, especially at the beginning of your life. I want to challenge the perception that migration only affects those who leave, by highlighting the impact on children and asking how this will affect the future with a generation of children who have a fragmented presence of their parents.
Alexandra Corcode (b.2000), is a Romanian visual storyteller based between The Netherlands and Romania. Her focus is on documentary photography, and her images aim to offer an emotional and psychological portrait of Romania that is poetic, dramatic and picturesque. Alexandra's practice is characterised by its openness to engage with various individuals, communities, or ideas, fostering a sense of inclusivity and diversity in the creative process, extensive research and an immersive approach to her subject matter.
Through her photographic practice, she wishes to bring awareness on overlooked complex situations created by inequality, migration, poverty, tradition and loneliness, being interested in using the photographic medium as a means to create encounters that establish relationships and question territories through memories, resilience and generational transmission, with intimacy and dignity.
alexandracorcode@gmail.com
@alexandracorcode
www.alexandracorcode.com
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