Photographer Chrystel Mukeba is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this documentary photography. These images are from her project ‘Confrontation‘. To see Chrystel’s body of work click on any image.
During the summer of 2007, I started taking pictures of my grandmother after my grandfather passed away .
I saw her alone in this big house, turning around, thinking about my grandfather. We often talked about life and other things, than I realized that I did not have any pictures of my grandfather and it was sad and frustrating. People come and go in our lives and sometimes it’s difficult to remember them. It’s Important to leave a fingerprint, so I decided to do something more seriously than a simple family portrait.
Three to four years ago, I started to take pictures of her house and things that surrounded her as well as intimate portraits, some of them while she was in deep thoughts. I was trying to capturing beauty and vulnerability of her old age. This process helps me not to be afraid of the future.
We talked about the dead and I think this helped her too. Sometimes I had my camera and didn’t take any pictures. We just talked. I wanted to wait for the right moment. My grandmother is now 92, sick and blind. It’s hard for me to see her fading away, but I’m really happy that this, still ongoing project gave me something more about her.
Brussels, Belgium
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By Chrystel Mukeba
