Pact of Silence22 photographs, archival print, sound installation, 2016
Soviet photo albums often bear the traces of torn-out photographs, a measure taken primarily to protect the owners by expunging images of individuals who had become victims of the repressive machinery. When a photo album from the Solovetsky forced labor and prison camp (1923-1939) changed hands, transitioning from private ownership to the collection of a historical museum, 22 photographs were either partially or entirely torn out. I photographed the areas where these images had once been, capturing the remaining traces on the pages of the album. Rather than reconstructing the missing images, I work with voices: conflicting accounts of why the photographs were removed, fill these empty spots as a polyphonic sound.