SALLY SMOKER PHOTOGRAPHY

Nine Lives (2024 - 2025 )

My Grandma always seemed indestructible, like a cat with nine lives. I believed she would live forever, never truly imagining a world without her. This illusion shattered in June 2024, when my parents broke the news to my sister and me that our Grandma had been diagnosed with stage 4 endometrial cancer which had spread to every part of her body. After her passing in November 2024, I had to confront the unimaginable and begin living my life without her presence. 

Nine Lives  explores loss, memory and absence through my experience of witnessing my Grandma’s decline in health and subsequent death. The project weaves together contemporary photographs taken in the aftermath of her passing with archival images taken from family albums. Through mixed media techniques and film photography, I document not only the physical deterioration of illness but also the process of solidifying memories of those we lose. This work stands as both a personal reflection and a wider meditation on how we remember, grieve and find ways to carry forward the memory of those who have shaped us.