The Things That We Can't Forget (2021)

Red Store Street

Red Store Street is a series of photographic moments in which I reflect on my childhood. The work examines nostalgia for a simpler time when I would take road trips down to my grandparent’s house. This project includes images created in small towns, on two-lane roads, and at playgrounds where my childhood memories were formed.  These images ask the viewer to consider their own early recollections of place and time.
In my youth, small towns intrigued me. I was drawn to their emptiness and wondered what it would be like to live there – to have a different life. I photograph the places that I grew up in order to reflect on the challenges of my childhood – including a divorce that left me as the care-taker of my young sister. These images transport me back to a simpler time. 
Left Behind
Left Behind
Stack
Stack
Casey's
Casey's
Memories
Memories
Potholes
Potholes
Route
Route
Back Then
Back Then
Dead End
Dead End
Empty
Empty
Lost Friends
Lost Friends
Never-Ending
Never-Ending
No One
No One
Where's The Train
Where's The Train
Zamderletti
Zamderletti
H.O.R.S.E.
H.O.R.S.E.
Treat
Treat
Hopscotch
Hopscotch
I-74
I-74
Emma Peterwas is a Chicago-based photographer. She is currently enrolled at Bradley University where, in 2021, she will receive her Bachelor of Arts in photography with a minor in art history. In her project, Ritual, Peterwas focuses on young women and their use of makeup. By documenting the mutual ritual of make-up removal with disposable clothes, she captures intimate moments where these women shed their make-up masks to reveal their true selves. Peterwas current project, Red Store Street, focuses on nostalgia and the loss of childhood through the documentation of small towns.  In addition to her work as a fine art photographer, Peterwas also works as a freelance photographer specializing in portraiture.
To see more of her work, check out: emmapeterwasphotography.com 

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