Τhe Last Visual Traces
Elena Efeoglou, Τhe last visual traces, 60x130cm, 2015 ongoing
This work constitutes a photographic archive based on photographs found on the tombstones of a military cemetery in Greece during the 1940s. The photographs originally present the portrait of the dead but today due to their physical erosion, they have lost their initially narrative content. These photos are important elements in the Greek tomb, as visual objects that contributes to the memory preservation. They are an integral part of the burial ritual and they have cultural and social symbolism. This visual archive shifts the research interest beyond the portrait, to the materiality of the image. As the portraits fade over time they leave the slightest trace on the paper, thus as the image fades over time, it reminds us of the temporality of our own existence.
Elena Efeoglou, Τhe last visual traces, 2015