In
our unpredictable world there is one certainty we can always rely
on, yet death, when it comes is never easy. Max Kandhola’s
astonishingly beautiful photographs are a conciliation on the struggle
to understand the process of dying. In this poignant body of work,
Kandhola photographed his father in the final stages of terminal
illness. His intensely personal and honest images confront us with
the intimate and often painful reality of death.
Following
his father’s diagnosis with cancer, Kandhola also spent
two years meticulously collecting and photographing fragments
and debris from his chemotherapy treatment. These serenely abstract
images form a counterpoint to the haunting final photographs
made at his father’s bedside.
It
is difficult to view such images with ease. Our society dictates
that we turn away from the unthinkable inevitability of dying.
As Kandhola says ‘Death is a taboo subject in England.
The camera is brought out at times of rejoicing, like weddings
and christenings. I want to show another side that speaks directly
to the viewer about the need to feel at one with the final process
of life’.
‘Illustration
of Life’ is not a macabre compulsion to shock, but arrives
from a desire to address the inevitable ending most of us refuse
to acknowledge. For Kandhola it is a memorial to a much-loved
father, and an attempt to understand that loss. The result is
a profoundly moving narrative that challenges our ideas of death
and questions the way in which it is represented.
Max
Kandhola (born
UK, 1964) is a photographer whose work often focuses on the uncomfortable
theme of death. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally,
including the National Museum of Film, Photography and Television
(Bradford), Photofusion (London), and Light Work, (Syracuse,
New York).
‘Illustration
of Life’ is
an Impressions Gallery Touring Show, in partnership with Light
Work USA and supported by Nottingham Trent University.
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