I Want This Enlarged

is based on a note found on the back of a 2x3 inch photograph that depicts my father Arthur holding a weather balloon in front of a meteorology station in Lingayen, The Philippines. Dated November 1945, it states, “Here I am Folks! My job in the Army. I want this enlarged so I can show it to my grandchildren.”

When Arthur died of cancer in April 2009 at the age of 85, we uncovered a plastic bag full of the letters, photographs, and memorabilia that he exchanged with his family back in Brooklyn, NY, while serving in the US Army-Airforce during World War II.

Through photographing, scanning, enlarging, assemblage, and collage, this body of work explores the effect that enforced globalization had on the world through the reconstruction of this archive left behind by my father’s family.

As the generation that ‘changed the world’ dies off, the desire to preserve and discern its complex meanings beyond the larger thesis of combat and genocide seems paramount.