by Alexandra Silverthorne
The images presented in this book were created in the year following a friend’s cancer relapse and near-immediate death. The 76 images look at moments of celebration, wonder, and stillness in my own life in an attempt to infuse it with some of the same determination, thoughtfulness, and grace that was ever-present in her life.
The series was captured with a recently-discontinued peel-apart instant film on a fickle hand-me-down Polaroid Reporter camera. I was attracted to the unpredictability of both the film and the camera and how this seemed to echo the unpredictability of life, itself.
Photographs: Alexandra Silverthorne
Text: Julie Poitras Santos
Conversation: Annie Mahon
Editor: Anna Rutenbeck
Printed by Edition One Books (Berkeley, CA).
Cover embossed by Michel Droge at Pickwick Independent Press (Portland, ME).
Support provided by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities (Washington, DC).