Click here to view the opening reception gallery.
I was not prepared for the emotion I felt walking into Darcy Padilla’s exhibit, “The Julie Project.” I’ve seen bits and pieces of this project over the past three years, but none of those pieces prepared me to walk in and stand in the visual span of seventeen years of Julie’s life. All of the images are black and white- the moments captured, incredibly intimate, humbling.
Reading the quotes and conversations, I realize these people would have lost each other long ago- Darcy has held the pieces of this story across their moves, illness, prison, birth, death… I realize this type of story plays out constantly in the world for many, many families. The pieces slip away or no one cares to remember the details. We see the summation of cause and effect in a homeless face on the street every day. It can be too complicated, uncomfortable and painful to ask why. Darcy asks why for us- Julie’s is the rare story that lives to be told.
Andy Patrick, founder of Fifty Crows, mentioned in his opening talk: these images can be hard to look at. The words that stuck with me were something like: “I hope you can’t stop thinking about these images- I hope they make you cry.” I thought about those words as I walked out of the exhibit, because I saw many people cry in the exhibit- and I, myself, was teary almost immediately. Why does that matter? When you feel something you look at the world differently. This exhibit is an invitation to feel something. Where that takes you- is up to you.
Marantz PMD 660 User's Manual .PDF
Kat Nyberg | Photo + Multimedia 
