Peter Pflügler presents his project Now is not the right time at the Lodz Fotofestiwal 2024. Here is his text !
When I was two years old, my father went into the woods with the intention of never coming back.
For almost 20 years, my parents chose silence about his suicidal attempt. And still, I found myself drawn to the place where the incident happened and on its anniversary a wave of grief washed over me. When my parents finally decided to tell me, it all started to make sense.
This project started out as an investigation into the traces of a well-kept family secret. While I was revisiting my parents’ trauma – its places, objects and memories that I could not call my own – I found it here, inside myself. My body always knew.
This is not only a story about a suicide attempt. This is about the impossibility of secrets, about what we are sharing when we hide. It is about pain inflicted out of love, about the complexity of silence, and the unexplainable sadness of a boy.
Mum, Dad, this is your trauma, that you kept wrapped up in countless colorful blankets and yet unknowingly handed over to me in a loving embrace.
I will carry it with care.
Peter Pflügler
Bio
Peter Pflügler is a visual storyteller from Austria, living in the Netherlands. He studied photography at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague. His work centres on the dynamics of secrets and intergenerational trauma.
His project “Now is no the right time” deals with the transformative power of silence in a family. It has been published as a book by The Eriskay Connection in June 2023.
https://www.eriskayconnection.com/now-is-not-the-right-time/
Fotofestiwal
June 13-23, 2024
https://fotofestiwal.com/2024/en/
