In this area I will be uploading both old and new images and will sometimes discuss particular circumstances concerning their creation.

October 25 2008:

I spent yesterday with Pauline. She now has an assistant, Mary, a middle-aged Ghanaian woman, who is coming to help clean the house and take care of things that have gone unattended for months, even years. After Mary left, Pauline and I spent some time in her bedroom as she rested. I noticed a box on the floor next to the bed, which I had never seen before. I asked my grandmother what it was and she responded that there was an important dress in the box. We both agreed that the box’s new location was a result of Mary’s cleaning, and for the time being, that was the extent of the conversation. As time passed I began to wonder why the dress was “important” and then questioned my grandmother about this fact. After a great deal of prodding, she divulged that the box contained her burial dress. She acknowledged that no one had ever seen the dress, but joyfully, in eager expectation, asked me if I would like to see it. Honored, I said yes. She asked me if I thought it was beautiful. I confirmed. After thoroughly examining the dress and other artifacts contained within the box that are to be placed in the casket, grandma closed up the box. She then averred that no one else is to see the dress until her funeral.

As I am still ‘unpacking’ this set of events and trying to comprehend their significance, let me leave you with a photograph I made, and Pauline’s explanation for purchasing her burial dress, plot, and tombstone before her passing… “Nobody has to do anything for me, just put me in the wagon and take me out there.”