Favorite Things


  • Photographer
    Kim Felsher
  • Prize
    Honorable Mention
  • Date of Photograph
    2013
  • Technical Info
    Digital Capture; Archival pigm

These images are from a collection of photographs entitled “Favorite Things.” While creating this series, I had the special opportunity to spend time with people of all ages and backgrounds discussing what their chosen possession means to them and why – how particular emotional significance was impressed upon the item. The objects absorbed the owners' sentiment and, before the camera, emerged animated and real.

Story

This project began four years ago when my dad, who had been diagnosed with late-stage cancer, gave me his watch. This watch was something about my dad that never changed - fashions, yes, hair styles, yes, his watch, never. In January 2013 this watch was stolen. When reflecting on the loss and the watch’s irreplaceability, I started thinking about how things become precious to us.

In this collection, I explore the relationship we have with our favorite things. While creating the series, I had the special opportunity to spend time with people of all ages and backgrounds discussing what their chosen possession meant to them and why.

Frank, a teacher and father, chose the hammer he found underneath his house. “I used it to build a chicken coup and my daughter’s treehouse. This hammer is well made and well lived – it’s sharp, solid and heavy” he said.

Sarah, a barista, selected her diamond ring. “My sister gave this to me after our dad died. She made me promise to never take it off. It signifies love, family and loss” she said.

Isaac, a four-year-old boy, picked his toy bubble gun as his favorite thing. He said he chose it because it’s “fun, gunny and funny.”

Through the conversations I learned that whether the belonging was new or old, used for play or for remembrance, they had all been impressed with remarkable emotional significance. And before the camera, the objects absorbed the owners' sentiment and emerged animated and real. 

You can create multiple entries, and pay for them at the same time.
Just go to your History, and select multiple entries that you would like to pay for.