About this submission

Throughout my father's life, he struggled with several drug addictions, and after he unexpectedly passed away I began collecting an archive of letters, images, and recordings he left behind. The archive held a complex and revealing story of his relationship to prescription and illicit drugs, and glimmers of my distant relationship with him. I began creating my own archive responding to and reflecting on the information I had learned. It was hard seeing the story behind my father’s abuse as it reveled the man who lost himself. I began to deeply regret my inaction and wondered what I could have done differently. This led me to consider how I might turn my distant relationship with my father, and his traumatic and sudden death into a purposeful document.

Join the Discussion