The Opportunity of Time – Part One [Emily Matyas]

In this “interesting” time of Pause and Pandemic, the rhythm of our daily lives has been altered.  For some, this is annoying and frustrating, but for others, it presents an opportunity . . . to take a deep breath and pursue what you never had time to do before.  This Pause is fueling creativity and learning.  Sure, socializing with friends and colleagues is severely restricted, and many of us are getting tired of ZOOM, but we are learning to look on the bright side.

Members of AZPA are right in the groove on this.

I talked to four of our members about their response to the current state-of-affairs, and it was fascinating.  Each is coping in his or her own way, but there are similarities in that lots of creativity is being unleashed.  Perhaps this sort of pause allows us the luxury to re-imagine, explore and poke around in new directions.

Jody Forster, Cyd Peroni, Larry Golsh and Emily Matyas generously spent some time talking about what they’re up to and their response to the pandemic’s restrictions.  None of them expressed extreme frustration – in fact the general observation was that while things are different, they’re not all that different.  Many photographer/artists work individually rather than in groups, so the Pause has been a time to work unhindered by meetings, extraneous driving around and obligations.  This is a time of opportunity.

We visit with Emily in this first installment and spend some time with Cyd in Part Two, Jody in Part Three, and Larry in Part Four. It was an inspiration to talk with these four photographers. I’m sure that every Alliance member has a story to tell. Hopefully this blog will help us get to know one another better. This is a chance to look toward the rest of our lives and take stock. 

Emily Matyas

For Emily Matyas, things don’t seem that much different.  She finally has time to progress on her body of work about ancestors – showing the experience of past generations.  And she has the opportunity to clean out her studio / office; and to organize old images and family stuff in the process. 

Many of her photographs have focused on her grandmother, who came to this country from Romania. Emily found the register of the ship on which her grandmother and aunt traveled to the US, and sure enough, the register listed the names of her grandmother and aunt, the person who would meet them, their destination, whether they could read and write English.  While her grandmother could not, her aunt could. 

She’s making montages and diptychs out of these photos and writing accompanying test that describes what it was like for her grandmother to come to the U.S. . . . to see through her eyes.  

Each of Emily’s montages showcase a scene with many people and minute differences.  She’s assembling various parts of images into something resembling a story told through a series of scenes.  One has Emily’s older daughter, herself and two others . . . four generations . . . arrayed in an abandoned house in the neighborhood.  The women are knitting and embroidering just as our ancestors might have done, while the little girl is running around. The adults sit, stitch and watch her. This scene could never have happened, but Emily’s grandmother would have loved spending time with the little one. 

Emily continue her work on diptychs showing scenes in Romania and the U.S. – images that go together visually and contrast her grandmother’s experience in Romania with what it might be in the U.S. today.  Emily would love feedback on this project. 

Emily was hoping to enter the Barcelona competition and also signed up for FotoFest, both of which were canceled.  Swannie was set to be one of her reviewers at FotoFest and reached out to Emily after the cancellation.  She asked Emily to assemble photographs for a woman in the Midwest to present for potential exhibition at universities and community centers.  Emily thought these would be good places for her work and appreciated Swannie’s support.  Technically it was hard to get everything together, but it was rewarding. 

Emily and Mark have done day hikes, been to the bombing range and to the desert west of town. They saw two or three rattlesnakes, and after one alarmingly close encounter they decided that bike riding around town might be a good alternative. 

Main Image Above: Ancestors – The Old Country, Tending the Bean Garden montage © Emily Matyas