This series of photos was taken in the period shortly after the death of my father, as I was in the process of clearing some of his personal effects.

Many people keep certain special objects as momentos of loved ones, and as a result, those objects take on a certain sentimental value and emotional significance for the particular individual. I was struck by how even banal every-day objects can be "special" in this sense, due to the private memories one may associate with them. I am trying to explore through these photos the tension between the banality of inanimate objects and the special meanings they may have for a particular individual, by posing the objects in an artifical context and setting which evokes my own memories. On the other hand, there is a contrast between every-day objects photographed in their "natural" setting as I found them, and those same objects viewed within the "artistic" conventions of still-life, which elevates them to a "higher" realm of significance while at the same time subverting those artistic conventions.