Charkow
Ellen Korth is a visual artist, known as the maker of, among others, the international award-winning ‘Utilité’ and the photo-art book ‘Jorinde, purchased by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
Ellen Korth: “Fascinated by the Japanese culture and my own journey through life, I photograph peculiarities in everyday life. I then incorporate these in a total work of art consisting of photography, interviews, music, film, objects and book art.”
“This project is about the search for my mother’s identity, who in World War fled II from Charkow (Ukraine) to Germany and later to the Netherlands. My mother kept silent about her past right up until the end and made all the pieces of evidence of her existence disappear. Who was this woman with a suitcase full of ripped up photographs; this woman who made that same suitcase disappear without a trace?”
“The search for identity and ‘Heimat’ are the themes of this project. I have linked this quest with topical photo reports of people in the Netherlands. People who are Heimat-bound. Bound to places, houses, gardens or to sharing happy lives together. For three years, I have followed six Dutch people in their daily lives and captured intimate moments.”
Winner of the International Photobook Competition 2017 / Los Angeles